Dell Axim X50v

With solid performance at a solid price, there's a lot to love about the Dell Axim X50v. Dell has used its standard business-friendly strategy and packed just the right useful extras into this unit, including a 3.7-inch VGA screen, a blazing 624-MHz Intel XScale CPU, and Wi-Fi and BluetoothNnot a bad deal for $499. The unit's one high-end extravagance is an Intel graphics accelerator with 16MB of video memory, which speeds up the process of loading pages and makes the X50v a compelling choice for productivity and multimedia. Although, at 6.2 ounces, the Axim X50v is not lightweight, its 4.7 x 2.9 x .6-inch shell is tapered and easy to hold. Plus, Dell includes both CompactFlash and Secure Digital memory card slots, so you can expand the 64MB of storage space with ease. In addition to the usual basic controls (a four-way control pad, launch buttons, and a voice recording), the x50v also includes an eminently sensible Wi-Fi power button, which is a great improvement over having to launch a special application to turn the radio on and off.

While getting Wi-Fi to work with Pocket Internet Explorer was a bit of a hassle in the past, it was a breeze with the latest version of Windows Mobile. The second we hit the switch, a connection wizard asked us to choose from available hotspots and select whether we wanted to connect to the local network or the Web; two clicks later, we were surfing away.

We found that pages loaded quickly, due to fast average connection speeds of 1.2 Mbps within plain sight of our access point, as well as from 20 feet away and through a wall. The multimedia accelerator doesn't hurt either; pages seemed to load noticeably faster than they did on the HP iPaq 4700, even though average processor performance was a smidgen slower, scoring 41.3 for integer operations and 19.24 for the floating-point VOBenchmark test.

The extra boost provided by the graphics engine does take a bit of a toll on the battery, however, which lasts just 3.5 hours. But the Dell also delivered the fastest sync performance of any handheld we've ever tested, taking a mere 9.5 seconds to transfer our 1,000 contacts.

Our favorite feature of the Axim X50v is its support for Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, which automatically syncs your favorite audio and video files stored on your PC to your device. The player also sports a refined design, support for album art, and enhanced skin settings to change the overall look. If you own a Media Center Edition-enabled PC, you can even watch recorded TV on the go.

For people who want snappy multimedia performance for loading photos and surfing the Web, or even displaying presentations via Dell's optional VGA-out connector bundle, the Axim x50v is just about perfect. Users who don't expect to use many multimedia applications should consider the less expensive Axim X50, which includes a slower 520-MHz CPU and a lower price of around $430.