Full Review

So what does the much talked about x50 give? The answer to that question depends on what you want it to give.

The x50 has an ample processor, running at 500Mhz - to handle all the nice and neat features - like pocket word, and even the more demanding windows mobile version of media player.

Much more importantly, if you go on the web, you can actually gain new downloadable software, not tied to Microsoft (nothing against MS, but its nice to have a change once in awhile)! There really is hardly an end to the possibilities, but that is also true of any well performing PDA!

You can watch lengthy videos on it, but the screen isn't really bright enough to overpower the sun on a bright sunny day out in the car, which is a negative - in an otherwise lake of positives. You wont be able to transfer massive avi files and watch them on your PDA; you'll need to use windows Movie Maker, to resize them for mobile sized files - this is to be expected, and is easily done and very worthwhile!

If your working on a task (e.g. your using pocket excel or word in a working environment, or doing research for your work), you only have around 3 hours of power, but the freedom of being able to do research or writing - on a PDA, is ACE - believe me! Its nice to have and hold, it beats paper for me!

It has Wifi internally, so you can connect to local networks and surf to your hearts content with the mobile version of internet explorer! It even comes with a mobile equivalent of windows messenger (msn with mobile 5.0)! It has blue tooth, that in my opinion, is better for surfing the web than the more power hungry Wifi!

On the power note – you can upgrade the battery to a more substantial one, something you will likely do if you become really attached to this device!

I used my PDA with the originally supplied Operation system - widows mobile 3.0, but eventually upgraded to windows mobile 5.0, an upgrade that worked perfectly fine with the x50. The new OS fills in a few gaps - notable, it includes a mobile answer to excel, something not available with WM 3.0!

There are rumblings that maybe mobile phones will take over the PDAs role, and so its not really worth getting one! I disagree there! The PDA x50, quite old (got mine 2005, and its 2007 now!), is still an impressive spec for a computer that mobile! I don't mean to put down the concept of an hybrid PDA-phone, but for me, a phone should be small, durable, have excellent build quality and hence usability and reliability, and it should look nice - those are my considerations; I don't have any other needs from my mobile.

When I want a PDA, I want usability and performance! I want to be able to do as much of what I can do with my PC, away from my PC!

The last point I will add is on design of the device. Its nice; its curvy, not square! There are a few annoying buttons either side, that I rarely use, that do things like turn on Wifi, which can be annoying when they are accidental pressed (something that rarely happened to me).