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Dell rocked the PDA world when it released the Axim X5 Pocket PC a little over a year ago. The Axim X5 proved that a Pocket PC didn't have to be expensive to be jam packed with features. The company, which hadn't had a PDA option before, quickly became one of the best selling handheld vendors. It is now number two in Pocket PC sales behind Hewlett-Packard and the vaunted iPAQ line, while firmly entrenched in the top five overall in the PDA market.

The Axim X5 came in both entry-level and high-end configurations with dual-slot (Compact Flash and Secure Digital) expansion, a 65,000 color screen and Intel XScale processors (300MHz in entry-level model and 400MHz in the high-end model). The more expensive Axim came with 64MB of RAM and a docking station, while the less expensive one has 32MB of RAM and a USB sync cable.

While these features were impressive, they were housed in a bulky and not very attractive package. The lack of any wireless technology also proved to be a shortcoming, as a number of PDAs came out over the last year that feature either Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and even a combination of the two.

Dell solved most of these issues with the release of the Axim X3 series towards the end of last year. While the Axim X3 won't win any prizes as the most handsome Pocket PC in the world, at 3.0 x 4.6 x 0.6 inches it is much slimmer and more comfortable to hold than the previous Axim series. In fact, in sort of a basic utilitarian sort of way, it is kind of attractive.

This new series comes in three models. Like with the Axim X5 handhelds, Dell has bundled a lot of features for a good price. One of the three models in the X3 series is the first Dell Pocket PC to include built-in 802.11b Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi model, which is the one we're reviewing, is called the Axim X3i. It sells for $349.