New releases
Dell Axim X5
Dell´s debut handheld is high on features and low in price, making it hard to resist, but Australian release dates are still elusive.
Dell´s Axim X5, is available in a US$349 ($624), 400MHz flavour and an even more palatable 300MHz version that retails for just US$249 ($445). That´s an excellent price for a PDA of any flavour, but sadly Dell has yet to commit to an Australian release of the Axim. Given the normal tax and import markup we tend to see on products of this type, we´d be surprised to see the 400MHz X5 come in at less than $700.
Armed with a 400MHz XScale processor, 48MB of ROM, and 64MB of RAM, the Axim has plenty of processing power and storage to spare. On top of that, the unit bristles with ports and slots. However, all those components make the Axim a bit bulky—the unit measures a healthy 12.7 x 8.13 x 1.78cm and weighs 196 grams.
The 64K-colour transflective display measures 3.5in diagonally and offers a 320 x 240 resolution. Power users will appreciate the fact that both CompactFlash Type II and SDMMC card slots are onboard and that the lithium-ion battery is not only rechargeable but also removable.
Battery life is the Axim´s forté—Dell rates it at 8 to 10 hours.
—Roger Hibbert and Alex Kidman
Price: US$349/US$249, local pricing TBA
Release Date: TBA
Sony CLIE PEG-NX70V
Sony´s CLIE-NR70V—with its swivelling screen, built-in keyboard, and integrated camera—came out this spring, it was the most groundbreaking Palm device to hit the market. But it was not without its flaws. In it successor—the CLIE PEG-NX70V—we´re happy to report that many of the earlier model´s problems have been fixed.
For starters, Palm´s new OS 5.0 is onboard. There´s also a faster 200MHz processor, compared to the NR70V´s 66MHz chip. The large, 320 x 480-pixel screen looks very sharp—it´s quite possibly the best display that we´ve seen on a handheld—and the user interface/launcher has been redesigned for the better. Sony has also improved the voice-recording capabilities and the camera. This new CLIE still comes with only 16MB of built-in memory.
Another new feature is the CompactFlash Type II slot on the back of the NX70V; it adds a little girth to this somewhat hefty unit. Currently, the only accessory for the slot is Sony´s wireless LAN card. The slot will eventually work with other CompactFlash add-ons but only after the drivers are developed. Australian release dates are yet to be announced.
—David Carnoy
Price: US$599, local pricing TBA
Release date: TBA
Acer S50 and N20
Handheld manufacturers usually get fairly religious about operating systems, which is why it´s interesting to see Acer has one foot planted firmly on each side of the fence. Acer has two models that run Palm OS—the s50 and s60—and two models running Pocket PC 2002—the n20 and n20w. We took a look at the n20 and the s50.
The entire range features in common brushed aluminium casings, clear and bright colour TFT displays, and Memory Stick slots. It is curious that although Acer offers a choice of operating system, it has chosen a proprietary expansion interface, rather than the more common choices of SD or CompactFlash. An expansion sleeve that accepts PCMCIA and CompactFlash cards is available for the Windows-based n series.
The n series has a 400MHz XScale processor, 64MB of memory and 32MB of flash ROM. It has the more recent version of Pocket PC 2002 (2002½?), which features mostly cosmetic improvements over the original 2002 OS. The only difference between the two models is the n20w has a built-in 802.11b wireless system, and costs more as a result. The n20 ($999) looks suspiciously like Toshiba´s e310 ($849), though the specs are closer to the soon-to-be-released e330 ($899). The battery is rated for a fairly standard eight hours.
The s series handhelds have audio recording and playback features. The s60 has a headphone jack, while s50 users have to make do with a tinny internal speaker. Both have 33MHz DragonBall processors, 16MB of RAM and 4MB of flash ROM. At AU$599, the s50 is very reasonably priced, significantly cheaper than the Palm m515, and cheaper and less clunky than Sony´s Clié PEGSJ30G. At that price, you´ll have to do without a cradle—just a cable to connect to your PC. The s50 also lack the Clié´s handy side scrolling wheel.
—Josh Mehlman
Company: Acer Australia
Price: n20 AU$999, s50 AU$599
Release date: available now
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