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Orange SPV M600 PDA phone
Windows Mobile push email comes to Orange
Making a call has been made much easier on the M600 that it was on M500 thanks to a revamped and vastly improved phone application. The virtual buttons could still be made bigger, but you can at least use your fingers, something that wasn’t really possible on the M500.
At 10.8 x 5. 8 x 1.8cm, the M600 isn’t any smaller than its predecessor, but the rounded corners and the smooth, black finish makes it much more comfortable to hold than the M500 was. At 150g it’s not too heavy either, although it still weighs about 50g more than your average mobile phone.
The accessories in the box consist of a USB-to-mini-USB cable, a charger, a carry case and a stereo headset with microphone. The headset is different to those provided with previous SPV devices as the cable is sheathed in braided nylon, which makes it quite stiff, but hopefully more durable. A small square piece of plastic houses the volume control, the answer button and the microphone, and the earphones can be clipped behind your neck.
There are a couple of minor flaws with the M600. The main gripe is the tinny sound you get from the speaker, but using the headset eliminates this problem. The second issue was that the review sample locked up a couple of times during testing, though a soft reset always solved this. However, this is unlikely to be an issue on retail models as my unit used a pre-production version of the operating system.
Considering that you can get the M600 for free on a £40-a-month tariff, it’s affordable, although for anyone looking at a cheaper contract, expect to fork out £99. The i-mate JAMin, a version of the M600 that's not tied to any specific network, would set you back £425 without a contract.
Verdict
The Orange SPV M600 is an affordable, fully featured Windows Mobile 5 smart phone at a bargain price. It lacks 3G support, but with EDGE you still get fairly decent download speeds and, if you need faster access,the built-in Wi-Fi support gives you the option to access hotspots and other wireless internet links. ®
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