Eten M500 - Part I - Externals

Eten M500 Pocket PC Review Part I - The Externals Supplier : SmartDevicesDirect.com Manufacturer: Eten Product : Eten M500 Pocket Pc Colour : Black/Silver Cost : £299 ex vat; £351.32 inc VAT Supplier Product Web Site: Eten M500 PocketPC Home Page : SmartDevicesDirect Building on previous 4WM hardware reviews, we have been fortunate enough to receive an Eten M500 Pocket PC from SmartDevicesDirect.com! Which as I hope the review illustrates, is a serious contender in the small form factor Pocket PC sector. Many thanks to Nick France from SmartDevicesDirect for providing us with this great opportunity!! For your delectation all photographs are thumbnails which may be clicked on to load a image. Official Specifications Operating System - Windows Mobile™ 2003 Secend Edition software for Pocket PC Phone Edition Processor - Samsung S3C 2440 400 MHz Processor Memory - 128 MB Flash ROM, 64 MB SDRAM Display - 2.8", 240 x 320, 65,536 colors TFT LCD Dimensions - (LxWxH) 111.7 x 60.7 x 22 mm Weight - 170 g Communications - GSM quad-band 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, GPRS Class B / Multi-slot Class10 Camera - Built-in 1.3 mega pixels, up to 1280 x 960 resolution Expansibility - SDIO card slot Interface/Audio - Built-in microphone and speaker, external stereo headset jack Interface/Data - IrDA, USB Sync, USB host (via cradle) Ergonomic Design - Touch screen for stylus or fingertip, navigation button, power button, 2 quick application buttons, send/end button, record button, volume control Battery - 1440 mAh Li-Ion, rechargeable, replaceable. Talk time: 3.5~4 hours, Stanby: 150~200 hours, Pocket PC usage:10~15 hours* depend on usage Software(pre-loaded*) - Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Voice Recorder, Notes, Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player 10 (MP3, WMA and WMV), Calculator, Solitaire, Jawbreaker, Inbox, Microsoft Reader (eBooks)*, File Explorer, Pictures, Terminal Services Client*, VPN Client, Infrared Beaming, Clock, Align Screen, Memory, Volume control, ClearType Tuner* (*except for Asian languages) E-TEN Exclusive Applications - Backup Utility: Utility for Backup/Restore to Main Memory, Memory Card or Flash Disk Phone Tools: SIM Toolkit, SIM Manager, Incoming Call Recognition(Personal pictures, Personal ring tones), Speed Dial, Phone Setting, Call Filter, Scenario Wizard, MMS Composer Multimedia Tools: Camera, Image Maker, Multimedia Manager, Multimedia Player, Photo Wizard Utilities: Quick Link, Battery Meter, Zoom SMS, Configuration Wizard Packing List - E-TEN M500, stylus, cradle, USB sync cable, AC adapter, headset, leather case, Companion CD, quick start guide. I always get excited when I get to review a new piece of hardware, I have to fight the urge to rip the packaging and release the device from its confines as soon as humanly possible, so that I can get some photographs of the packaging & contents, which has to come before the real fun begins! The Eten M500 arrived very well protected, within the courier packaging, the retail box was encased in bubble wrap. So no fear of your device being damaged in transit! Within the retail box, a familiar sight, the individual items that make up the product offering are housed within a carton, holding them securely in transit. And the more delicate items are further encased in more bubble wrap. The retail carton itself is emblazoned with pictures of the M500, and a brief description of the features of the unit. A visually appealing package, which is much the norm for consumer electronics these days! As with past reviews, and with other PDA’s I have owned, that all important next step, the initial charge!! If only they came pre-charged, it wouldn’t be so long to wait, to get down to playing! I dutifully set-up the cradle and plugged in the power supply, which is where I found the first unusual aspect of the Eten M500’s design! You cannot charge the device with just the power supply on its own, or just the power supply and the cradle. The supplied sync cable must be used in both instances. On closer inspection, the proprietary connector at the PDA end of the sync cable has an input socket for the power supply, and both the PDA & cradle only have sockets for the proprietary connector. The Eten M500 can be charged via a PC’s USB socket, both standalone using just the cable, or docked using the cradle/sync cable combination. As with the Dell Axim X50v that I reviewed previously, the Eten’s cradle has been subject to good design practices, and incorporates an extra socket to charge an extra battery, whilst the main battery is being charged within the PDA itself. It’s good to see that this trend is growing within the industry, as people start to rely heavily on their PDA’s, a second battery can be a godsend to extend the usable time when away from mains power. Looks wise, the Eten’s cradle is very space age, very Star Trek, with the PDA rising from a silver disc. I like it, and it looks very good on my desk! Aesthetically, the M500 is visually pleasing on the eye, following the current market colour trend of silver/matt black. The M500 slots firmly into the mini-PocketPC sector, alongside the aforementioned HTC Magician, better known in its retail guises as the MDA Compact, the Imate-Jam & the XDA Mini to name but a few. When I first unpacked the M500, I thought it was the same size as my Magician, but as you can see in the photographs, the M500 is slightly larger, being a tad longer and thicker. Being a long time MDA Compact user, I did notice the extra thickness straight away, and it took me a few days to get used to the increase size. It may be an issue for some, but the feature set of the M500 is very comprehensive, so don’t dismiss it out of hand (If you’ll pardon the pun!). The Eten M500 comes with the industry standard top-loading Secure Digital card slot. Not much more to say on that! Unlike the HTC Magician, the Power button is also on the top of the unit. Left me scratching my head for a while, being used to having the power button on the side!! Once again, standard practice in most Pocket PC designs these days, the M500 comes with a removable battery, which is a great boon for those on the move without regular access to a mains outlet. Although this does require the purchase of an extra battery, it does extend the useful working time and usefulness of the PDA, by simply swapping when the first runs low. The battery itself is rated at 3.7v, 1440mAh, and is of the Lithium-Ion variety. Another shift away from the Pocket PC norm is the location of the stylus. Rather than being located top-right as with most Windows Mobile devices, the Eten’s stylus is located bottom right, at the back of the unit. Although in practice this didn’t prove to be much of a problem as I got used to wresting it from this new location after a few minutes! The stylus in itself is innovative, a telescopic affair! Closed it is quite small, comparable to styli found on other Pocket PC’s, but extended, as you might guess, it’s quite a bit longer, which makes it much more comfortable to use!! Top marks to Eten on this innovative approach! The Eten M500 hosts another slight design difference in the buttons it has on the front of the unit. The usual call/hangup buttons of the Phone Edition devices are present, as is the contacts button. The last button is the difference, rather than hosting the calendar access, the button launches the M500’s built-in M-Desk application, but more on that the application itself in the next part of the review, I don’t want to spoil you too soon! . One thing I have noted very early on, the Eten M500 has a very small joy-pad, especially for one with large fingers like me!! In saying that, it is functional & usable with a little practice, like most things. The left hand side of the M500 hosts three more function buttons, in the traditional Pocket PC fashion, giving access to the Camera, Volume, well a Volume slider rather than a button to be precise, and the Voice Commander application (more on that later!!). Also found on this side of the device are the hardware soft reset switch & headset/headphone socket. The right hand side doesn’t host any function buttons, but has the same matt effect finish. I found this to provide an excellent grip surface when handling the PDA. Attention turned to the back of the Eten, we find the built-in camera. The Camera on the M500 is placed at the top right of the device, in contrast with the HTC magician and XDA-II, which have their camera’s located more to the middle of the device. I found the position of the camera increased its usability, as I was able to grip more of the PDA without getting my fingers in the way of the lens! One very salient point to note here, and a very impressive one, is that the Eten M500 camera incorporates a built-in flash. An extremely welcome addition, and one that I didn’t notice straight away, as I only RTFM in extreme circumstances, when all else fails. How did I notice the flash you may ask, well, I only noticed because the flash is automatic, and fires itself at low light levels. Top marks to Eten for including such great camera enhancements! The screen on the M500 is very clear and bright, following the norm of being a 240x320 QVGA TFT LCD in specification, will we ever see a VGA screen on a small form factor PPC? In my use of the PDA, the screen on the Eten also seemed stronger than the screen on my MDA Compact, if that makes sense. It gave me the feeling that it would withstand the rigours of daily use quite easily!! The supplied headset is virtually identical to those found with other Pocket PC Phone Edition devices. The Microphone widget houses a volume wheel, and a button for answering/ending calls. The only thing I would wish for here, and this is to all manufacturers, not just to Eten, is that they would supply a couple of foam pads for the ear plugs! In their naked form, they just won’t stay in my ears, and I always have to resort to either swapping them around, or trying to find somewhere to purchase extra, which isn’t an easy task these days (unless someone knows better & can recommend a supplier!). The M500 is supplied with a nylon case as part of the over-all package. The case holds the device horizontally on your belt, and is secured there by a belt-loop with press-stud fastenings. Although the case offers a pretty good level of protection to the M500, the press-stud fastenings don’t quite make the grade. In use, I found that every time I sat down, or maybe brushed against something (As mentioned in previous reviews, I am quite clumsy!!), I found that the press-studs came undone. Now, with the cost of a Pocket PC, I find this a bit worrying as the case could then work itself loose from your belt, and depending where you are, it could be a very long way to the floor! So, prospective owners take note, as with most PPC’s, it’ll be worth investing in a third party case! External Pro's & Con's Pro's • Small Form Factor • Aesthetically Pleasing • 1.3Megapixel Camera with Flash • Telescopic Stylus • Removable Battery • Battery Charge slot in cradle Con's • Case - Insecure belt clip • Sync Cable required when charging device, both in & out of cradle. • Slightly larger than HTC Magician External Conclusions The Eten M500 is an extremely good looking small form factor Pocket PC. As stated in the review, the screen is clear & bright, making it a very usable device. That being said, it isn’t as svelte & sexy as the HTC Magician, which may be an overriding factor in people’s choice for the ultimate in portability, it is an incredibly slim margin, but noticeable, and only takes a short while to get used to the extra thickness. Top marks to Eten for including a camera with a flash, a feature which I’ll take a closer look at in the next part of the review. Expandability is catered for with the SDIO Secure Digital card slot, so no complaints in that sector. The only real gripe is the case, it really isn't secure enough to carry such an expensive piece of equipment!! External 4WinMobile Rating: 90%