Is the C500 a smartphone

[Guest xenophobe]

Thanks, that's at least how I see it. I have added RJShortcuts, Smartphinger Monitor and CityTime plugins to my homescreen to do everything I want it to do without going into nested menus too much. I absolutely love the cocept, and browsing through all the downloadable homescreens is a testomony to how configurable these devices are

The Windows Smartphone platform is still in it's early stages and isn't as refined as other platforms (Symbian, PPC, etc..) but the potential is strong and it shows. It's at what, the second edition of 2.0 basically. Imagine the difference between Windows 3.1 and Win95 and XP. Things will improve and I'm really excited to see the next generation candybar smartphones with D3D, nVidia Mobile GFX processing and the software others will program to follow.

[Guest DarkJedi]

i kinda find it funny how one person said, "there are no cracks or serials for smartphone". guess u haven't been looking hard enough. if u build it, they will crack it. i'm not saying i do any of that crap, just stating a point that ur being a little naive.

[Guest mirpy1]

just to add my 2 pence worth, i was a die hard symbian fan having nokias galore the last was a nokia n-gageQD games were fantastic, but from a new user point of view the series 60 software is easy to get hold of and there is plenty of it! i mde the switch to c500 on a friends advice and there were times i wish i hadnt, its just getting used to the OS were as the symbian did it for you downloads and stuff.But then i watched a dvd on my c500 mmmmmmmmmm game over!!!!!!

[Guest mavisdavis]

Hmm... £150 for P910.    262k colour screen.  Huge resolution.  Managable size.  20 days standby.  I think we have a winner!  Now I just need £150!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh come on. How much does a 1gig DUO Card cost.

I never look for the things a device can do as alot of them can pretty much do the same thing nowadays but a major factor is the cost of running them. my 512 card cost my £46 my 1gig cost me £150 but I got it when it the day they were released.

As for your coment on the cost of apps have you ever helped Beta test anything?? The reward is usally a seriel key for your trouble. I cant see this happening in the Symbian forums. You also get a feeling that giving a coment or remark to the developer about the software they are developing has helped to shape the way Smartphones have come on. :lol:

Just my 2 cent worth Enjoy Symbian whilst it lasts

[Guest mike_freegan]

But then i watched a dvd on my c500 mmmmmmmmmm game over!!!!!!

You can watch DVDs full screen on P900 and P910 (even P800 with the right software) as smooth as C500! Just need the right software. P910 has a quicker processor and is built to play videos full screen!

a major factor is the cost of running them. my 512 card cost my £46

Check this out dude, I bought a 512 mini SD for £39 2 days ago. That was the cheapest I could find it. Memory stick pro duo is much cheaper. Get your facts right!

Memory stick duo

Good point Xenophobe! Don't think of the phone out of the box as the finished product, think of it as the starting base.

Symbian UIQ is much the same. There are way more 3rd party apps for Symbian! Pxxx is much more customizable than SPV. The thing one muct consider is that the handset is desight primarily to use the apps its supplied with. They always run smoother than 3rd party apps.

Symbian is more customizable but doens't need it as much.

Windows is less customizable and needs it more!

My point is that there are some basic apps that should come as standard and you shouldn't be expected to put on yourself. Symbian UIQ standard software still works and loks far better than SPV 3rd party software!

Remember guys, a smartphone should make difficult tasks easy, not easy tasks difficult. Something the SPV range has got backward.

[Guest mike_freegan]

On a different note, Orange refused to give me my money back as I used a promotional offer which voids my Orange care :/

If anyone has a p900 or up that they would like to trade leave a message here or in the swaps section :lol:

I think I will put a post on www.my-symbian.com challenging someone to port a similar symbian OS version to the C500... Really can't see it happenning lol!

[Guest DarkJedi]

i honestly don't know what crack ur smoking, but getting a P910 for $300 is out of the question, and i'd like to see where u exactly got it. as the P910's here are at least going for $500-$800. and if u can't stand Smartphones, then why the badword are you here? go back to howard forums and rant and rave about how great symbian os is in their own forums.

[Guest Confucious]

Mike - get a P910 if you think it's so much better. personally I think the C500 is a much better phone, if you don't, fine, you have a choice. The C500 does everything I want in a nice small form factor. If you don't like it get something else

[Guest mike_freegan]

if u can't stand Smartphones, then why the badword are you here?

Well as I just said, Orange will not take my C500 back as I bought it on contract with the "reccommend a friend" offer. Therefor they can't get me out of the contract :( Not even when I offered to pay the £150 extra for a P910.

Hence, as apoor student who can only afford one contract I'm stuck with the C500 for the next year so I may as well make the most of it.

Ok, more reasons to assert the shitness of this phone:

1. No way I can tell to edit tasks once I have entered them (Pxxx lets you set priority, alarms, edit etc). WTF is that abput?!?! Lazy software design.

2. DOESN'T synch with Outlook in terms of notes. I had to Download extra software to do this which is more expense.

3. Silent doesn't actually make the phone silent. Media player and games still make noise. How does it expect me to play games in lectures when there's no way to turn the volume down on a game before its opened :lol:

4. Realise that you can do this by turning down the earpiece volume. However, some of this lovely 3rd party software I needed to install to bring this piece of crap up to a standard almost describable as a smartphone managed to corrupt something and the volume buttons had stopped working.

I had to factory restore my phone, loosing all the 3rd party software and serials. Great. Took me ages to re-install it all. If the phone came with decent software I wouldn't have needed to install stuff in the first place unless I had a specific need which Microsoft coudn't have been expected to account for (thats how a smartphone should work).

5. Because of the above my phone is now security locked again. I have another hour to look forward to of applying on the orange developers website to get it unlocked.

How can you say £150 is alot to spend on a P910? Even if I spent £150 on 3rd party apps for my C500 it still wouldn't be as functional as the P910 comes as standard... and the hardware and software would be crapper.

Oh yea, I checked and P800, 900 and 910 all let you check tasks, calender, notes etc with one hand when the flip is closed so it IS fair to compare.

I have had more problems with the C500 in 2 days and 5 or 6 3rd party apps installed than I did in a year with my P800 (which I remind you has been improved twice since then by P900/910) with about 45 3rd party apps on it. P800 didn't NEED 3rd party apps to be an aceptable smartphone, they are only extra whereas C500 need such apps to make it half the smartphone of a 2003 P800.

[Guest xenophobe]

Umm... you do realize that a P910 and a c500 are two different classes of devices. :lol:

My ford truck is better than your ferrari... :roll:

[Guest DarkJedi]

then stick with the p910 and quit bitching about it. seems that Smartphones aren't made for n00bs like u. oh well i guess.

[Guest mike_freegan]

you do realize that a P910 and a c500

Tell me about it :lol:

Smartphones are made for idiots who don't know better. The user interface and software is primitive and has obviously not been thoroughly tested before sending it on the market. Correct me if I'm wrong butisn't ur status "n00b" aswell?

I would go back to P900 had I ever had one!! I had a P800. It was made years ago and was the first in its range. Microsoft are still lagging behing Symbian's 2002 effort. 3 years is a long time in terms of technology.

Sorry if I come across as having a go at y'all, but I'm really poor (hence I bought a free phone) and can't afford to replace it. I'm just pissed that I sold a good phone to end up with an annoyingly s*** phone. My life was on that P800 and I assumed that in the years that have passed since it was released, the rest of the smartphone community would have caught up with symbian. This phone just makes organizing my life and having fun and listening to media on the move alot harder. I do law so I have abusy schedule.

None of my friends understand what I'm on about so I have to rant on here...

...but then isn't that why this forum is here?

-Mike

(PS i am begging if anyone has even a s***-up old P900 I will trade for a shiny new C500.. please?)

[Guest DarkJedi]

if u think that a Smartphone is a lot harder to figure out, then ur a bigger n00b than i thought u were. and trade a $300 phone, for a $500 phone, ur a little rediculous if u ask me, but then again, u were rediculous from the start.

[Guest mike_freegan]

if u think that a Smartphone is a lot harder to figure out, then ur a bigger n00b than i thought u were. and trade a $300 phone, for a $500 phone, ur a little rediculous if u ask me, but then again, u were rediculous from the start.

I didn't say it was harder to figure out. Its un-necissarily harder to use in terms of ease of use and accessibility and all the effort one has to put in to make it even acceptable.

trade a $300 phone, for a $500 phone, ur a little rediculous if u ask me

Sounds like a good deal... If thats correct I have made $200

[Guest xenophobe]

Yay, you're poor and you wasted your money. lol. And you call smartphone users idiots? LMAO!!!!

[Guest DarkJedi]

no kidding, beggars can't be choosers!!! LOL.

[Guest mike_freegan]

And you call smartphone users idiots

When did I do that. I think the users are lovely. I think the phones are idiots :lol:

no kidding, beggars can't be choosers!!! LOL.

Think you've hit the nail on the head there. I'm just trying to make the most of a bad situation.

[Guest Drewtech]

I have been using mobile phones and PDAs for over 10 years - I even had an Apple Newton. I have used Nokias, Motorolas, Psions and iPAQs. I have even developed software on the original Symbian platform. I have been using a C500 for the past two months and now for the first time I am using a single device to manage my contacts, tasks, calendar, timelogging, GPS directions and even wake me up in the morning. Yes, I have added some third part software but that is part of the point - I am even developing my own software for the things that I need and the phone doesn't provide as standard.

The C500 is not perfect but it is the closest thing on the market to it. It might not suit the way you live and work but it is what I have been waiting for for over 10 years.

[Guest Confucious]

The C500 is not perfect but it is the closest thing on the market to it. It might not suit the way you live and work but it is what I have been waiting for for over 10 years.

Exactly! :lol:/

[Guest xerxes]

...When I bought a PC, I went for one that was the best it could be coming out of the box, then set about adding on programs that made it do what I wanted it to do.  Basically, you have to use this mentality when buying a Smartphone.  You buy the basic phone, then decide if you want to make it a business phone, a gaming phone, or just a show off phone that does lots of things purely because you'd NEVER expect it to be able to!

In short, it's a change in mindset you need when you're switching from a phone to a Smartphone.  Don't ask what it can do out of the box, ask what it's capable of doing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That isn't really a fair comparison. A Smartphone should be able to do the standard phone things (e.g. send and receive contacts via SMS) out of the box. I agree that you shouldn't expect the phone to display Excel sheets or be a GPS without buying extra software but the basics should be there, particularly when 90% of the dumb phones out there can do it as a standard feature.

This is even more annoying when you find that there are some features you cannot get even with add-on software.

A better comparison would be buying a top end PC and finding that there was no email client. Then when you download a client you find that you can send email but cannot receive it!

[Guest Tomas Kocanda]

I agree that even in WM2003 are some functions missing. I personally would like to see:

- finding contacts in MMS by pressing T9 (same way as in SMS contacts)

- sending VCard (at least default nubmer) via SMS

- when composing message, after . shoud be automatically big caps (does not matter if there is space or not)

- receiving phone call should have higher priority then GPRS data, so downloading e-mails or loading web page should pause for incomming phone call and not reverting it to voice mail

Many other wishes from 2002 has already been solved - like hoding button for longer time will bring the number (great when filling registration codes for example) etc.

I think, platform seems to be fast and will be faster in the near future. Much much more memory and much faster. System is OK and need only perhaps some really fine additions and would be perfect. Even people like Mike will be happy if there would be couple minor improvements. So, hopefully WM2004 will be even better and the phone features will be without any missing features from standard phones.

On the other hand, have you tried to make a phone call from regular cell phone recently? I had to use my older Nokia 6310i for a while (different operator) and I could not even make phone call. I realised, that I don´t remember how I store contacts and without exactly pressing right contact name from the left to right, it will not find it. On the smartphone I don´t care about it for two years. It will find me any name does not matter if I look for part of the name. Not many other phones have this feature and this is, what I think is much much more important then receiving VCard contacts. How many times do you make phone call a day? I call maybe 50, maybe 100 times a day. With 500+ contacts I would be mad to remember all the names exactly. Smartphone find is major feature for me, if we are talking about regular phone call features.

[Guest xenophobe]

When did I do that.  I think the users are lovely.  I think the phones are idiots :lol:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Smartphones are made for idiots who don't know better.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Guest Confused Stu]

Guys, don't want to come across as too much of an old fart here, but we need to be careful. One thing I've always been proud of with MoDaCo is that you can get a healthy debate going on where you have people with vastly different opinions without the debate resorting to pointless name calling and slanging.

Let's remember that some people will have different opinions and we might well feel they're completely wrong, however we need to make sure their comments are welcomed in the same way as we would like our comments to be.

Name calling doesn't help anyone and will just alienate new members from joining or posting in the forums. Come on guys, let's show everyone that Smartphone users genuinely are a cut above the above mobile phone and net forum users! :lol:

OK, rant over. Just wanted to get that off my chest before this topic became a battleground between two opposing camps!

P.S. Was NOT picking on anyone in particular with this post!

Edited February 13, 2005 by Confused Stu

[Guest mike_freegan]

Smartphones aren't made for n00bs like u.

^He started it :lol:

A better comparison would be buying a top end PC and finding that there was no email client. Then when you download a client you find that you can send email but cannot receive it!

That's exactly what I mean. Some things you expect as standard. I accept that if you want your phone to do something exceptional, or PDA like, or want to customize it, then it can't be expected as standard, but anything sold as a phone should have basic phone functions.

Buying a smartphone with no "delete all inbox" function, or no alarm icon on the display screen is just plainly crappy software. You shouldn't have to add things like that yourself. Just because its a smartphone doesn't mean it shouldn;t come as an acceptable product. It should come acceptable and you should be able to make it exceptional to suit your needs. Insted I spend hours and dollars trying to make it perform even the most basic phone functions. This inevitably ends up corrupting things even before I try to make it do anything beyond basic phone functions!

Like buying a sportcar with 1000bhp, ABS, electric everything, GPS as standard, but then finding out it had no brakes so that although it was drivable it lacks something that you would be surprised to find that even a 1960's mini that has been rotting on a scrapheap has.

AND knowing that you have to buy a 3rd party brake kit which could blow up you car just to make it roadworthy... AND even when you buy the brake kit it still wont work as well as the brake kit on the haggared old mini as it isn't as well integrated into the cars original intended design and will probably fall to bits every 20 miles.

Even though you can drive at 300mph and take corners with speed, you can't park because there's no way of stopping.

Lets's face it, the C500 is as standard unacceptable in terms of basic phone features and poor at being a personal organizer. It's the worst of both worlds instead of the best. It's a shame as the hardware is capable of so much if only they had done ANY consumer testing! They tried too hard with the complicated features and neglected polishing the phone features which are difficult and costly to replace.

-Mike

[Guest xenophobe]

I purchased my first mobile phone around 1989 and have had one ever since. The SMT 5600 is by far the best phone I've ever owned. As JUST a phone, it does everything any of my other phones have ever done, and it does so much more.

Some people can never be happy, and some people have expectations that can never be met.

Why continue trolling this forum when you've already made it clear that you hate smartphones.

From the sounds of it, you'd buy that 1000bhp sportscar, and complain that you don't get the gas milage of a Cooper Mini.