New gadget - SPV M500

Realizing I couldn't head of to Reboot without carrying electronic gadgets (hey, notebooks and digital camera's are so passé) I went to the Orange shop and picked up a new phone (in case you're wondering: I signed up for two more years and they give me the thing for free). I've been a user of the classic SPV for two years now and beside the usual Windows crash every now and then, I've been a happy user. I liked the way I could adjust everything, file things the way I like, download skins that meet my needs (a big clock e.g.). What I noticed is that I like the agenda function. If I take my phone with me, which is almost all the time, the agenda comes with it. And it synchronizes with Outlook pretty well. What I missed on the classic SPV was the ability to write something down fast. Therefore I carried a foldable keyboard in my bag, but it still took time to click in the phone and start typing. That is why I've chosen to experiment with a PocketPC Smartphone, the Orange SPV M500 (practically the same as the T-mobile MDA compact, i-mate Jam or Qtek S100).

After a getting-to-know-each-other-session during the ride to Copenhagen, we understood each other well enough to at least use the basic functions. I really love to take little notes with the stylus without having to type frantically on my notebook. It feels less obtrusive grabbing the PPC to make some notes than opening a laptop. I like the look and feel of the little machine. It's got a slick design, the stylus fits in very good without having to worry about losing it (a spare in the box). Orange was very kind to include a 512 MB SD memory card as well, so I immediately transferred some music to listen to on the road. The sound quality is not that great (especially when you have to turn all volume levels to the max whilst sitting on the train with all the windows open on a hot afternoon), but I think it would be great for listening to some 'talk'-podcasts.

Big downside so far: I would love to twist the lay-out of the today-screen (that's jargon), but in contrast with the 'normal' SPV phones you have to pay for software that supports the cool stuff. Enough themes that are available for free, but I'd like to display a clock in the middle of the screen. So far I haven't found anything that is free and works on my machine. But probably I'll just need to search a bit more.

Permalink | TrackBack (by Elmine Wijnia on June 16, 2005 10:12 PM)