The Dell Axim family of personal digital assistants was Dell's line of Windows Mobile-powered Pocket PC Devices. The first model, the Axim X5, was introduced in 2002, while the final model, the Axim X51, was discontinued on April 9, 2007.
Background
X5 family
Dell entered the personal digital assistant (PDA) market in 2002 with the debut of the Axim X5. The base-level Axim X5 had a 300 MHz Intel XScale PXA250 processor, 32 MB RAM, 32 MB flash ROM, a Type II CompactFlash slot, an SD/MMC slot, a 16-bit QVGA (240 × 320 dots) TFT display, a speaker, a microphone, and a base price of US$279. A high-end Axim X5 came with a 400 MHz Intel XScale processor, 64 MB RAM, and 48 MB flash ROM for US$349. Early models shipped with Pocket PC 2002, but an upgrade to Windows Mobile 2003 was offered and came preinstalled on some refurbished units. Despite rumours and speculations, further versions of Windows Mobile are unsupported. However, efforts have been made to port Linux to the system. Although the Axim X5 was regarded as an affordable Windows Mobile device at the time it was released, affordability came with a size penalty: The weight was 195 g (6.9 ounces) and the size was 127 × 81 × 18 mm (5 × 3.2 × 0.7 inches). The Axim X5 came with a rechargeable battery that would last for about 8 hours.
The Dell Axim X5 was superseded by the Dell Axim X3 and subsequently X30, a follow-up to the Dell Axim X5 boasting a more compact design and with lighter weight.
Many Dell Axim x5 units have issues with the touchscreen failing and a realignment failing as well, even after a hard reset. There is a design flaw inside the unit that causes this. The inside portion of the home button will rub against the touchscreen ribbon cable and eventually wear through the protective coating and ground out the touchscreen. The fix is to take the unit apart and put a very small piece of electrical tape over that portion of the ribbon cable. This requires removing both batteries, clearing all data from the device (similar to a hard reset) and delicate work in taking the unit completely apart.
X3 family
Dell Axim X3 was launched in October 2003, and came in three models: the Basic, Advanced and X3i which was the same as the Advanced model but added WiFi 802.11b wireless networking. All featured replaceable battery, an SD slot, fast processor and transflective liquid crystal display. Unlike the X5, the X3 didn't have a CF slot.
All three models looked the same with the exception of the X3i which had a WiFi antenna nub on the top right corner. The Basic and Advanced models varied in processor speed and amount of memory. All models had Intel XScale PXA263 processors and Intel StrataFlash ROM.
The Basic had a 300 MHz XScale processor, 31 MB of RAM and 32 MB of ROM. The Basic model came with a USB sync cable (users could purchase a cradle separately). SD slot, WiFi capability and Infrared port included.
The Advanced model had a 400 MHz XScale processor, 64 MB of RAM and 64 MB of ROM. The Axim X3i added WiFi to the Advanced model configuration. The Advanced and X3i came with a chrome finish weighted USB sync cradle that can also charge a spare battery. In all other respects, these units were identical to each other.
X3 came with a user replaceable 950 mAh Lithium Ion battery, which could be replaced by an optional 1800 mA extended battery which doubled run times.
X30 family
The Dell Axim X30 was the first Dell Pocket PC to include Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition on all models . This was also the first Pocket PC to include the Intel XScale PXA270 Processors.
The High-End X30 includes a 624 MHz processor making it the fastest Personal Digital Assistant or PDA at the time it was made. The mid-level model includes everything the High-End X30 does with the exception of the cradle, and uses a 312 MHz PXA270 Processor instead. Both the high-end and mid-level models had built-in 802.11b Wi-Fi Certification, Bluetooth 1.1 compliance, 64MB of Intel StrataFlash ROM, and 64MB RAM, while the entry-level model had 32MB SDRAM, 32MB of Intel StrataFlash ROM and no wireless capabilities. All X30 models include a standard SD/MMC/SDIO slot, replaceable/rechargeable battery, a 3.5" QVGA TFT 16-Bit color display, and Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition.
SDHC Cards will not function. Only SD cards of 4GB or less will work.