Introduction A few months ago, I decided, against my Palm-centric leanings, to try a Windows Mobile PDA. Partly because of the nice-looking VGA screens, partly because of the increased data capacity of having CF and SD slots, and partly out of curiosity. After a browse around, I decided on the Dell Axim x50v. On paper, there is little to distinguish it from the main competition, the iPaq hx4700, aside from the iPaq's odd 4-way navigator and bigger screen. Bigger screen means bigger PDA, and small was preferable, so the Axim it was. After a steep Windows Mobile learning curve, a few weeks later I still couldn't get the Axim to work as well as my current palmOne devices, the T5 and the Treo 600. The GAPI display routines Dell were using to scale 240x320 programs to VGA made the x50v appallingly sluggish in some programs, notably iSilo. I would frequently come to the unit and be unable to start it even with a reset, and had to remove the battery. One-handed use was out of the question. WiFi crashed with alarming regularity. Worst of all, leaving the Axim in the cradle for a few hours, Active Sync kept the screen on, and actually burned a line into it. I was shocked that LCD screens should be vulnerable to burn-in, but a check through the AximSite forums revealed that this is not uncommon. A couple of days of working my way through the Dell support-drones, the unit was replaced. The change of unit allowed me to dismiss the lingering question that my first unit was an abnormality. As my final attempt to see if I could make the unit usable, I arranged to have the RAM upgraded to 128 Mb, courtesy of PPCTechs. Because I'd done it via a UK company to avoid dealing with customs hassles, I had a few weeks without a PPC. About the same time, I'd seen a number of references to the FSC Loox 720, with a very similar spec to the x50v, but with 128 Mb RAM already built-in. After a little forum banter with Loox-owners, it sounded like FSC had done a lot of things right where Dell had failed, so I decided while waiting for the x50v upgrade I'd buy a Loox, and see if it was all it was cracked up to be. To the winner, a place in my pocket. For the loser, a place on eBay. Here's the result of my comparison, based on over a month’s experience with each. Build quality Overall, the Loox feels better built. There’s not much difference in size and weight, though the Loox is actually slightly longer than the Axim. Whilst both units are creak-free, the Axim has a definite rattle, because of the key-lock slider. The battery cover on both the x50v's I used felt loose. The Loox cover seems solid when installed, though it does feel thin and fragile when you take it off. General usage The Axim is surprisingly sluggish, even at the (faster than Loox) 624Mhz processor speed, probably not least because of the GAPI issue. This has though, now been largely resolved in the A02 flash upgrade released by Dell. Using "automatic" CPU clocking on the Loox and the Axim, screen redraw speeds are indistinguishable. The main program I use that is optimised for the Axim's graphics chip is the excellent Betaplayer, and using this, the Axim is faster than the Loox. For a sample movie, the Axim decoded video 2.5Mbps, compared to 1.8Mbps on the Loox. Does this make a difference? I can’t imagine encoding a movie over 1Mbps, because of storage considerations, so both units are well up to this, but if power management is sophisticated enough, the Axim might achieve an extended battery life this way. Screen At first look, the 3.7 inch Axim screen is brighter than the 3.6 inch Loox screen. White is more pure and crisper. However, once you look at a range of colours, and particularly darker colours, the Axim screen shows some deficiencies, appearing washed out, blue, and not reproducing colours as faithfully as the Loox (eg. photos attached). There is an issue with x50v screens that image burn-in can occur. I saw this first hand after a month's use with a persistent line, and there are other cases documented over on the Aximsite forums.   Extra connector functionality The Axim can be plugged into an external monitor with a cable, so you can play Powerpoints or just "mirror" the screen. Conversely you can plug some USB devices into the Loox with a cable. Which feature is more useful is a function of whether you need either feature, or how easy the feature is to add to a device lacking it. There are ways to add VGA-out functionality to any WM device via a CF or SDIO card, though there is currently no way to plug USB devices into a WM device, other than the built-in Loox ability. WiFi With the same usage patterns, I've had far more problems with the x50v WiFi crashing out. Seems to be a feature of most Windows Mobile devices, but it's only happened to me once over the past month with the Loox, and typically it crashes out at least once a day on the Axim. I should point out that the programs I had loaded on the Axim and Loox were entirely the same. The only way I could remove this problem on the Axim was by removing the Today plug-ins. Not really an acceptable solution. Styli I am not at all keen on the Axim or Loox styli; are palmOne the only folk who know how to make styli right? The Loox stylus is easily slipped out, and some folk have lost them, though there's a spare in the box. The Axim stylus is a little longer and a little thinner and more secure in its silo. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to carry around a stylus-pen to use either PPC for any length of time.   Buttons Personally, I prefer the layout and feel of the Loox buttons. The side buttons on the Axim are very easy to accidentally press, which is annoying if you've got one mapped (as default) to wireless on/off. Notably, Dell addressed this with their recent ROM upgrade by requiring this button to be pressed twice now. Because the Loox requires a little more pressure on the side buttons, and the side is recessed, I’ve never accidentally activated a Loox side button. The Axim does have a keylock slider. This is useful, but the FSC Loox keylock is almost equivalent, except if you want to leave the device on whilst in your pocket. One nice feature of the Loox is that you can configure a longer press to run different programs or functions. Overall, the Loox has the same number of buttons as the Axim, plus the up/down/select rocker on the side. Useful for document reading, though the rocker select does not always do the same as the five-way navigator select.   Camera The Loox camera isn't brilliant, but fun. May well be useful for emergency use, but I won’t be taking holiday snaps with it.   The Cradle The Loox cradle is possibly the best-designed cradle I've used. The device slots in easily without any pressure, you can just pull it forward to get it out. The x50v cradle requires some force, and needs the device to be pushed in and pulled out straight up and down. Both the x50v and Loox cradles have a space for a spare battery, though I have noticed that the spare battery can be dislodged from its slot when the Loox itself is put in. The Loox cradle doesn't seem to charge both spare battery and Loox simultaneously, since the battery charge light goes out if the Loox is being charged. The Axim cradle charges both simultaneously. Speakers The Loox has two speakers; one best placed for internet phone applications, The Axim has just the one. Unfortunately, apparently no applications yet make use of this functionality, by disabling the speaker near the microphone to avoid echoes.   Memory The standard Axim has half the RAM of the Loox. I find this a considerable flaw, since program access from internal RAM is noticeably quicker than from non-volatile store or flash cards. Reset-holes It is a little disconcerting that the Loox reset hole is right next to and virtually indistinguishable from the microphone hole; if you use a paperclip to reset you could easily find yourself destroying the microphone. The Axim reset hole is large enough that you can use the stylus point to reset, the Loox isn't. Conclusion IMHO at the moment, the Loox is the better PDA, for which you pay about £50 more. What you get is a better-designed, more reliable device, with a better screen. For what it’s worth, I still use a Treo 600 as my main PDA – it’s just too useful to be able to arrange an appointment one-handed when I’m talking to someone, scroll through a shopping list in Asda, or check my email wirelessly -and in any case I need to carry a phone anyway. But when the time comes to edit documents, read PDFs, watch movies, view photos or play SimCity, the Loox is my device of choice, and the Axim draws close to the end of its stay on eBay. If only there was a decent WM e-book reader available.