Friday, February 27, 2004
The Dell Axim X3i Review
Posted by David Prahl in "HARDWARE" @ 10:00 AM
You Want 802.11b With That?
Figure 8:Connecting to Access Points is a snap.
After performing a hard reset and turning on the wireless transceiver (which takes 5.4 seconds), the X3i found my wireless network in 1.2 seconds. The Pocket PC Thoughts Web site loaded 12 seconds later. I don't know about you, but any device that can connect itself to a new network and load a Web site in less than twenty seconds is amazing. Apparently the iPaq 4150 has a similar connection scheme, but the wireless radio needs to be turned on from within the Operating System. Users of the X3i can re-map the wireless button to do something else, or assign a different button to enable it. I found surfing the Net to be very pleasant, and ended up using my wireless network more than I would have if I was using a removable card.
The device's range is exceptional. A true story - I was able to connect to an open 802.11b network with the X3i and visit Google.com while driving past at 40 mph (well, I wasn't driving, someone else was :) ). Wireless "dead zones" in my house are no more, because the X3i gets a 60-80 percent signal where my X5 gets a marginal signal or none at all. Another cool thing about the X3i is the fact that the antenna lights up when you're sending or recieving data. It's not too noticeable in regular lighting, and is very hard to take a picture of. 8O
Figure 9:Yes, I know it's out of focus! But you get the idea, right?
Figure 10:Detailed connection and configuration menus!
Figure 11:A view of current APs, which is updated every few seconds.
Figure 12:Advanced settings in the included wireless utility.
