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Until now, I have never bought a mobile phone because my Criteria for buying one was pretty damn strict. But, finally (after waiting pretty much 5 years) one that meets most of my requirements was on sale and as soon as I had a chance to test it out for real I bagged it (there was no way I was going to buy it without trying it out for real). |
| Criteria | Pass/Fail |
|---|---|
| No more than £300 | Fail but close – £330 |
| Large color screen (minimum of 4 inches). | Pass– 5 inch screen |
| Can play music files in “ogg vorbis” format (using headphones). Can play videos. | Pass but needed to install better media player than the default (e.g. coreplayer rather than windows media player) |
| Storage space for any type of file. | Pass – 8GB hard disk + 2GB miniSD card + USB port for pendrive. |
| Easy to attach, full-size Qwery-Keyword. | Fail but close – Large magnetic keyboard but doesn’t allow touch typing. |
Can Browse the internet for free
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Pass – T-Mobiles Web’n’walk on 3G. PocketPutty |
| Location can be shown on map | Pass – This has GPS and TomTom works really well |
| Can run my own code on it | Pass – Can do (but I haven’t tried yet). I want to be able to load my Java cocktail program to tell you what you can make given different ingredients. |
| Decent battery life. | Pass – The battery lasts all day, even after watching 2 hours of video on it. |
| Doesn’t use a Microsoft OS and doesn’t require Windows for interfacing with PC. | Fail – It runs Windows mobile 5 🙁 |
The screen is huge and bright, perfect for viewing movies on the coach to work. The internet connection speed is unfrustrating and the browser supports tabs. The input methods are flexible (there’s a touch-screen, mouse nub, keyboard and a mode where you tilt the device to scroll). It has SatNav. It has more than a 3 hour battery life. In short – It’s pretty magic.
The big disappointment (and something that I’m deeply ashamed of) is that it runs Windows. I get very excited about open-source software and I don’t enjoy kicking it in the teeth but my hands are up, I’m guilty this time. It is only the 2nd time I’ve paid for Windows and I hope it is my last. Please forgive me.
