Orange C500 Smartphone

I'd got to that time again, just over 12 months after renewing my mobile contract with Orange, when various third party parasites start phoning you to try to get your business by 'selling' you a free upgrade.

It's usually only to stop these pests that I bother to upgrade. If my phone has a battery that lasts a few days, lets me make calls, and send text messages then I'm happy. I'm not normally into the cameras, mp3 players, organisers etc.

I had been thinking for a while though of shifting up from the current Nokia to something else.
I admit, I'm a Nokia fan. The phones aren't the smartest normally, but those Finns know how to make software that is easy to use. Anyone who has ever tried a Motorola will almost certainly also have thrown a Motorola at the wall at some point. Nokia have always used the same user-friendly basis for their software, and in a few minutes you can easily work out how to use everything on the new phone.

This though, is the first time since 1996 that I have gone for something other than a Nokia. I looked at the current offerings from them, and everyone else, and decided a new Windows Mobile-based Smartphone was the smart choice!

I'd never looked at them before mainly because of the size. Why would I want a bigger phone, which is only bigger because of the extra 'feautres' I don't actually want anyway? Well, the C500 on Orange is a small, neat and very clever phone.

As a Nokia user, it only takes a few minutes to master. It does help that its Windows based, so we know half the routine already. The phone takes Mini-SD cards, which means you can throw up to 1gb (currently) into the slot under the battery.
Plug it into the supplied USB cable, or fire up the bluetooth and within 30 seconds, the contact list has sucked my 200 entries from Outlook 2003 into the phone. Superb!

Battery life is a very respectable 4 days and the phone charges from the USB cable too, so if you have it plugged into that during the day, you'll keep the juice topped up.

The camera is very good, and allows for some good video clips...Well, as good as you can expect from a telephone!