Windows Phone Thoughts: Axim X5 Specification Clarification

I've got some good news and some bad news: the good news is that I have confirmed with someone at Dell that the screen on both models of the Axim X5 is back-lit transflective. There was a lot of speculation going on about this, so I'm happy to report that the Axim X5 will have a screen hopefully as glorious as the Viewsonic V35. And at a $199 price point? Amazing!

Now for the bad news: the SD slot is not SDIO compliant. My contact tells me this is because Dell didn't feel SDIO peripherals were common enough yet. I can see the logic in that - other than Bluetooth cards, what else is there? It doesn't bode well, however, for those of you wanting to buy a device and use it for at least a year - I expect to see SDIO 802.11b cards out in 2003, along with a Margi Presenter-to-Go VGA output card based on SDIO. However, remember that you have a CF Type II slot - I think it's a reasonable assumption on Dell's part that SD will be used for memory, and CF will be used for increased functionality.

And to those calling this device "a brick", be fair in what you're comparing it to - it can ONLY be compared with other dual-slot devices like the e740, Loox, etc. To compare its size and weight with a single-slot device like the V35 is unrealistic.