In my research to find a PDA that would be a suitable platform for remote control applications such as TotalRemote, WinPDA, Novii, etc. I saw a bit of excitement about the Axim X30's consumer-grade IR, which would give these apps a 25-foot range. My X30 arrived last Friday and it is painfully clear that this is *not* a capability of the X30.

With these applications I could operate my home entertainment devices at a maximum of 6 feet. When I called Dell they confirmed that this is all I should expect from the IR transmitter (though it can use Bluetooth or 802.11b at longer ranges).

Is anyone aware of any CF slot based IR extender that will work with the Axim X30, or any other PDA models that actually *do* have consumer-grade IR?

That is partially correct; no Dell PPC has what could literally be termed a "CIR" port. They are just reasonably powerful IrDA ports that can work decently for CIR applications.


Hmm, sounds like the kind of misinformation you would get from OUR technical support guys! I have gone over this will the Dell tech support guys, who I am afraid have a different job description than the guys who make decisions like calling a strong IrDA port "CIR". I thought we all agreed that while the Dell-authorized specs on IrDA may say that it is only for extremely short-range transception, that the physical reality of their PPCs (post-X5) have been such that we all agreed that a nebulous phrase like "up to 30 feet with consumer gear" was indeed valid, dependant on your testing procedure. For them to go back and say that the X30 does not transmit over _SIX FEET_ is in direct conflict with what I KNOW to be true, what Dell's partners have TESTED to be true, and what Dell explicitly intends to specify in terms of "CIR" capability. I am not going to speak for Dell, but the number _I_ have been given as Dell personal internal benchmark is quite a bit more than 6 feet.

FYI, I am sitting at my desk controlling a Sony DVD player set up slightly over 35 feet away, and it is working flawlessly on both a X3 and X30. You WILL get different range results dependant on various characteristics of your gear, but SIX FEET? No...


--Don

I'm glad the Axim works well for so many folks. Unfortunately, since nothing in the doc that I have claims that the IRDA transmitter should have the range most customers are seeing, and it is capable of performing as documented (short-range IR transfer with another PDA), I don't seem to have a basis to ask for an exchange, or a reason to expect that an exchanged unit would perform better.

Can any reader address the question about IR extensions & software known to work with the X30?

My X3 has a range of 7 metres max, depending on the sensitivity of the ir receivers: my Plasma is rather blind which restricts the range to approx. 4 metres.
However, it seems certainly dependant on what software you use- PDAWIN and TR seem to yield identical ranges, whereas Netremote's range is definitely less & varing within their beta builds.
I remember Don having tried both the X3 and the X30 and finding X30 had somewhat less range though quite acceptable, which is why I bought the X3 (cheaper too) and I'm very happy with it compared to the Ipaq 3970 that never gave me a range over 3 m, and that was with CIR addressed.
The only negative difference with the Ipaq is slower push response and ccf page changes.
Barend

Agilent makes an IR transceiver that is a compromise between IrDA's 850nm wavelength and CIR's 940nm wavelength. It also has stronger output than older IrDA transceivers. I would guess that Dell is using this or something similar with the same capabilities. When modulated at the CIR receiver's carrier frequency, range should be adequate for typical use, although it is unlikely to have the range of a dedicated, high power, CIR emitter.

What software are you using that gives you such short CIR range?

Just FYI:

Dell has never used Agilent IrDA transceivers, just plain old totally-non-optimized-for-CIR Vishay parts. Frankly, looking at the datasheet it is hard to believe it works as well as it does. ;)

Total Remote's IrDA range used to be inferior to TVRC, but we figured it out. I have little doubt the Netremote guys will as well. They are clever buggers.


--Don