I’ve had my SPV M5000 from Orange for nearly 3 months now so I thought I’d write an update. I’ve been posting my thoughts over at Windows Mobile Forum, but here’s a summary of my views so far.

First off, the Specifications:

Operating System: Windows Mobile 2005
Talk Time: 5 hours
Standby Time: 10 days
Weight: 285g
Radio: 3G, GPRS, Wifi, Bluetooth
Camera: 1 Megapixel plus second camera for video calling

Form Factor

There’s no getting around the fact that the SPV M5000 is a large device. It’s larger than almost every phone I’ve tried and it’s also larger than most PDAs.

Much of the bulk is caused by the built in full qwerty keyboard. The keyboard is much larger than most phone thumboards and hence takes up more space in the device.

The large form factor makes this device a bit uncomfortable to use as an everyday phone. If it’s in your pocket it will way you down a bit and if you are holding it up to your ear it’s a bit conspicuous.

Despite this, I still use mine every day as a phone. The main reason is that I’m too lazy to take the sim out and swap it into my C500 if I’m going out. It’s not too bad so I just put up with it. I did get a bluetooth headset but I haven’t really used it much. If I start doing a lot of driving I’ll probably use it but for everyday use I can’t be bothered faffing with it and just hold the phone up to my ear.

Phone Functions

The phone uses both GPRS and UTMS networks and switches from one to the other automatically. There is a theory that it’s possible to miss calls when the phone is switching between the two but I haven’t noticed this myself.

Normal phone calling seems pretty good. Signal is probably not as strong as my C500 but I’m living in the middle of big city at the moment and can always get a good signal. I haven’t really tried out video calling much yet although it seems to work OK.

Internet Functions

The real reason I got this phone was for it’s web-browsing and email functions. With the UMTS 3G connection, web browsing is much faster than a GPRS connection. Web pages in PIE (Pocket Internet Explorer) load at sufficient speed to make web browsing feel pretty much like browsing on a PC. The resolution used by PIE doesn’t really make the most of the VGA (640×480) display on the M5000 which is a shame. The new beta of Opera Mobile is a lot better and you can see most of the screen on most websites using this browser.

Email downloading is again much quicker on the 3G connection and really allows you to quickly check your messages while you are out and about.

Another great feature of this phone is the ability to use it as a mobile broadband modem. With the M5000 plugged into a laptop via the usb connection, you can browse the web at broadband speeds on your laptop wherever you are - train, car, hotel, airport, etc. It’s like taking a wifi hotspot with you wherever you go! The only downside of this is how much you pay for the data you download. Prices are getting cheaper all the time but it’s still quite an expensive way to get connected.

Multimedia

The main multimedia function I use is the camera. The large, high res screen is excellent for taking pictures and video. The resolution isn’t that great but it’s pretty convenient for taking a quick snap or video.

I’m not really one for listening to MP3s on the move but Windows Media Player 10 is included and apparantly its a pretty good Mp3 system, especially when combined with the desktop version.

I was intending to copy my DVDs across to the device for watching on the move but I have yet to do this. Apparantly it’s fairly easy and you can get a couple of movies on a 1GB card.

Pocket Office

As well as Pocket Outlook, the device comes with Pocket Word and Pocket Excel. This means you can edit and view your office documents on the move which can be pretty useful.

Summary

Overall I’m very happy with the SPV M5000 from Orange. It allows me to keep in touch with my websites and email when I’m travelling and I’ve found the usb modem function a real lifesaver.

As a phone, I’d prefer it if it was lighter and smaller but I’m prepared to compromise because of the great internet functions.

If you’ve got any questions, we’ve got a lot of M5000 users over at Windows Mobile Forum.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 30th, 2006 at 8:44 am and is filed under Reviews, Windows Mobile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.