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Orange SPV C500 Review
The Orange SPV C500 makes your office mobile. Connect to the Internet, check your email and synchronise or transfer data to compatible PCs using ActiveSync, Infrared or Bluetooth.
Orange SPV C500 Review (Expert)
The SPV C500 is the first SPV that we can take seriously as a mobile phone. Improved size, Bluetooth performance and battery life make it more usable than its ancestors, while the evolved operating system is much more pleasurable to work with. In fact, we only had four real gripes with the C500: its odd five-way rocker, its lack of a cradle, the inclusion of a now-outdated VGA camera, and the choice of the miniSD format for storage. Despite these, the C500 remains a good-looking Smartphone with performance to match. What's positive: Size and looks; faster performance; great battery life What's negative: Odd memory card format; difficult rocker; only 0.3 MP camera
Ditching the mini-joypad of the SPV E200 was a great move, and we found the rocker and action buttons very easy to use. We also like the small size of the device, although the headset connector is on the bottom edge, which means you need to store the phone upside down in your pocket to ensure that the connector doesn't get disturbed. Battery life was exceptional. We tried our usual looping MP3s test, leaving the radio on but allowing the screen to dim after 30 seconds of non-usage. We played music from a miniSD card and set the volume as loud as it would go -- which was remarkably loud while retaining relatively good quality sound. We achieved nine hours and eight minutes of battery life. During real-world testing we have managed to go for several days between battery recharges, although using Bluetooth does deplete the battery rather more quickly. We encountered the dreaded Windows 'wait' icon more than once, and until this is eradicated the Windows Mobile smartphone platform can’t be described as totally user-friendly. That’s Microsoft’s problem. We also feel that a lot more on-board memory is required: not all applications will run from memory cards, and network operators surely want users to download plenty of applications and data.
Being a long time Pocket PC user I found Microsoft's entry into the Smartphone business more interesting than most. Pocket PC sales have not been as good as they could be, and I have to admit, I've started to find mine more and more useless with the influx of new mobile phones that can do just about everything I want from a PDA. The Orange C500 Windows Powered smartphone is my 2nd Microsoft based phone I have had from Orange, the first one I started off with was the rather large in size E200 model shown below left. The major problem with previous Windows Based smartphones has been battery time and the size of the unit, well things are about to change with the introduction of the new C500 phone from Orange.So overall an excellent Smartphone from Orange, the call quality is excellent, the features have been improved and are far less buggy than before. The processor is faster so everything loads quicker and runs better, battery time has been turned around far more than I expected it would be with 4 days without a recharge breaking any record I have set with my old E200. The design is what will entice people more than anything else though, the E200 seemed more like a brick, but with the smaller look and thinner size, this is the smartphone to get right now.
With the latest C500, we finally have a Smartphone for the public. It has easy integration with Outlook, great phone functions, and a size that won't have people asking the age-old "is that a phone, or are you just happy to see me?" when the phone is in your pocket. While there are a few bugs with the C500, none of them are show-stoppers, and they won't affect the majority of users. Users wanting to move to a Smartphone will find the C500 a great place to start. The familiar Windows interface will be a breeze to navigate for any user. Pros: * Excellent form factor * Improved Bluetooth function * Improved battery life * Bright and easy to read screen Cons: * Still a few bugs * No cradle * No WMP10 upgrade available yet * Joystick isn't that great for gaming
Orange SPV C500 Review (User)
@adonis i cant get the sp3 either just because they dont sell those phones here in belgium or else i'l have to import 1 from the ukgrtz wacko
Great review adonis. Sounds like the thing to have,cheap too imo at £150.After seeing the themeing capabilities (from simons) im seriously thinking about it.Shame it looks so terrible,when's the one that was designed in this decade gonna be available?
why not try to get the i-mate sp3? or can you not get that either?why can't you get it?
i want it to but i have 1 problem.i cant buy the phone in belgium grtz wacko
I have this phone now too. It really is as good as Adonis says it is, but if you are on O2 PAYG, and want to use POP3 email and/or MSN messenger then think again - O2 say you can't use them. However, I have managed to get free internet access now by some strange stroke of luck
i got it on orange pay as u go for £149.99 £30 to unlock it at home using the usb cable, took < 2mins.
how much does that phone cost and can you unlock it ?grtz wacko
very nice thx for the info
QUOTEDoes it play my K700 encoded mp4's with aac audio ? it supports the mp4 codec as it records in that mode, but not the aac sound, only amr.QUOTEFull screen video playback - is that in landscape mode to get the most of it ?well this is varied, depending on if your playing with pvplayer, then it only plays in landscape mode.but if you play it in the multimedia folder, then you can play it any way you want. you can rotate it anyway you want, zoom into it or out of it. flip it horizontally or vertically.if you use windows media player (which only plays wmv, wma, mp3, files) then it is only in landscape mode, and no zoom or anything.my favourite is the multimedia album, with that you have a lot of power over whatever your doing, be it jpegs, gifs, 3gp, or mp4 files.
thx for the review Adonis I guess the phone is just as nice as I expected it to beThe big screen do appeal alot to me A few questions: Does it play my K700 encoded mp4's with aac audio ? Full screen video playback - is that in landscape mode to get the most of it ?
some pictures taken using the c500
some pictures taken using the c500
some pictures taken using the c500
some pictures taken using the c500
here is a simple review for those interested:the spv c500 is a welcomed addition to my experience in mobile phones. Althugh i never liked the idea of owning a "smartphone" this has really suprised me. when i look at the features of my spv and the first mobile i owned (ericsson ph388) i can see how much mobile technology has advanced in such a short time.the most impressive thing about the spv is the size of the phone and screen, the phone itself is really small, and smooth, (you think your gonna drop it everytime), although not as smooth as the k700, and not as slippery i might add.the second thing that you can't but notice is the size of the screen, it's massive, this is what most attracted me to it, as i spend most of my time on the pc, looking at my mobile screen hurts my eyes. although the k700's screen was bigger than the nokia 6230's, after a week with my spv i couldn't see the k700's elegance which had embraced me when i had it first.with the addition of fullscreen movies and zooming on .3gp, .mp4 videos and all pictures, there really is no contender. whilst zooming in on pictures, the quality isn't lost until you zoom in a LOT, and i can say you can zoom a heck of a lot, sometimes it takes a few seconds to zoom back out again the phone has a unique five-way stick thingy...which at first takes a little time to get used to, but what doesn't? now though it feels like an extension of my thumb.the buttons are a good size, and responsive. there is a camera button on the right side of the phone for quick camera access, and doesn't need to be pressed for a long time like it did with the k700. on the left is the earpiece volume control.the menu system on the phone is much similar to your normal windows Os start menu, press start to find yourself faced with options for various menus and applications, which can be selected by using the navi-thing or the numbers assigned to them from the keypad.the menu itself is smooth, and responsive, but does slow down when you lots of applications running in the background, (which can be cleared using task manager).the phone supports mini sd cards for memory expansions, and allows the user option to install programs to mini sd, which i would recommend, as more free space means quicker your phone will run. it comes with a usb cable to connect with your pc using microsoft active sync, the ability sync, calender, contacts, tasks and inobx. you also browse the phone using the usb cable and active sync, the browins is just like windows, you can cut and paste things around on the phone or memory card, add folders and rename files if necessary.the phones contacts menu is pretty comprehensive and impressive, and includes many options i would never use, mind tho it is aimed at the business man. the options include fields such as, spouse, children, address, e-mail, web page, scretery fields, and variosu secondary options for those also. you use the contacts menu to add custom ringtones to numbers, (something which puzzled me for a while) the supported formats are .wav, .wma and .midi. an mp3 options is available but will need 3rd party software purchase.the phone includes various applications which include, windows media player 9, pv player, multimedia album, msn messenger, internet explorer, java player and file explorer. many other forms of application are available via 3rd party.the phone isself supports the following media types, .midi .mp3 .wma .wav .3gp .mp4 .wmv .asf. .jpeg/jpg. .gif .bmp other formats such as .mpeg/mpg .avi are available via 3rd party applications.the camera quality is very good for a vga camera, there several modes: photo (supports 640x480, 320x240 2x zoom, 160x120 4x zoom), video 176x144 2x zoom, 128x96 2x zoom), mms video (same as video but with file size restrictions), photo id (176x180 for adding to contacts), picture theme (various templates)the camera supports various modes for photo enhancements:-auto-daylight-incandescent-fluorescent-night-grayscale-sepia-cool-manual adjustmentthe bluetooth on the phone is stable and does what bluetooth should do...it works!although the lack of sending files via bluetooth is not available with the file manager included, it can be added via 3rd party application (smartexplorer version 2.02)the phone can be skinned, which is a must for me, although there is a lack of fully skinned themes which include startup and shutdown screens, warning screens, and menu screens, this is more likely due to a lack of software application which allows such options, currently most applications, will allow the skinning of colour scheme and the homescreen (main standby screen). the addition of plugins can be integrated into skins, which allows such things as lcd and analogue clocks on the standby, quick access to task manager, windows media player, and photo plugin which displays photos in your folder on the standby screen and changes them via your settings.the major concern is the battery life of this phone, you'd think with all the added features, the battery would be dead in a few days, not so, i usually have to only charge it every 3 days, and believe me i'm always listening to music and watching videos on it, not forgetting the most important aspect....making calls with it in conclusion:this phone is a huge step up from the k700 and similar phones, it's the best amongst it's competitiors, is small and packs features.if your looking for features packed into something small, with the options of expandability and added features as time passes on, then this phone is your choice.a full review should be up soon, with pictures and comparisons (time premitting)
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