Wow...some interesting experiences with battery life, etc, from Roy and trueblue. I've got a couple of Axim X30's and the battery life is great--lasts for days/couple of weeks with normal use, which isn't much really. There are 'extended life' batteries available for these units that doesn't add too much weight or bulk (
extended battery axim x51 items - Get great deals on Cell Phones PDAs, Electronics items on eBay.com! ). I carry one or two when out hunting to back up the normal battery in my X30.
Talked to Gus last night at Patagonia Ballistics and, although not highly reccomended, he says it is possible to load LoadBase onto your PPC SD card to reduce the amount of RAM it uses up. I've done this with other programs to avoid sucking up RAM, so might give it a shot. I've had my Axim X30's for 3 years now and they seem to be working fine still.