Review - SMT-5600 as a notebook replacement

[Guest sracer]

It seems like the older I get, the larger gadgets seem. When notebooks were released, laptops suddenly seemed huge. Pocket PCs made notebooks seem unwieldly. Well, the worm has turned again and with the advent of Windows Mobile-based Smartphones, Pocket PCs now have "brick-like" tendencies.

My latest gadget (an Audiovox SMT-5600 smartphone) was the only electronic device that I took with me on my latest cross-country trip back to NY. As a veteran "mobile warrior", I previously used notebook PCs, and Pocket PCs, plus a cell phone for all of my electronic needs. But this was the first time that I used a single device for EVERYTHING.

My travel pack consisted of my phone, AC adapter, extra battery, both T-Mobile contract and prepaid SIMs, a 512MB miniSD card, Freedom BT folding keyboard, 3/32-to-1/8 stereo adapter cable, and standard "hands-free" headphone/mic.

I loaded up my 512MB miniSD card with: Ocean's 11 movie, Meatballs movie, a few hours of music (Santana, Malo, and UltraLounge), some electronic Bibles, a few games, Pocket Streets Maps, and various notes.

When I boarded the plane for the flight to NY, I put the phone in "Flight Mode" (turns off the cell service portion of the phone) and fired up Meatballs. It was a fun way to kill 90 minutes of the 6+ hour flight. When the movie was finished, I fired up some music and jotted notes on a yellow pad for the upcoming singles character study. Took a break from studying to play a few games of chess on the phone (the computer opponent kicked my butt) while music played in the background. After that, I loaded up the UltraLounge playlist and tried to catch a few winks.

I had a stop-over in Detroit, so I took the phone out of "Flight mode" and did a little web surfing... catching up the news, latest articles on Slashdot, etc. Eventually I made it to NY. Checked the battery level remaining... 80%!

While in NY, I visited with my parents and my brother and his family. I had some music that I wanted them to hear, so I attached the 3/32-to-1/8 stereo adapter to the phone and connected it to the audio inputs on my parent's VCR (yeah I know, but they don't have a stereo system). Music playback from the phone thru the VCR to the TV was surprisingly good. My parents were amazed by the capabilities of this phone.

At night we'd watch the NBA playoff games, and I'd place my keyboard and phone on a folding tray table. I'd do a little nighttime surfing and email reading, as well as use Agile Messenger to IM my wife. Other days, I'd type up my notes for my study.

On the trip back, I watched Ocean's 11 and did more studying.

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I have a T-Mobile contract plan ($19.99 a month) plus their $4.99 T-Zones plan. (I need the $4.99 T-Zones plan for internet access). Unfortunately, it only comes with 60 anytime minutes, and since they charge $.45 a minute after that, I have a T-Mobile to Go prepaid SIM. That only costs $0.10 a minute. So when I run out contract minutes, I swap SIMs and use prepaid minutes.

It cannot be overemphasized how useful it is to have an integrated device that does so much. This phone is a lite-PPC, videocamera, digicam, MP3/WMA player, portable movie player, games, ebooks, notetaker, and PIM. Having Pocket IE with built-in connectivity is more useful than I initially thought. Although I had a 2nd battery, I never needed it. Unlike a PocketPC which will drain completely after 3-4 hours of hard use, this phone was very miserly with battery consumption. No matter how much I used it, there was still plenty of battery life.

Using this smartphone as my only device for a weeklong trip has exceeded my expectations. I was pleasantly surprised at just how much I was able to accomplish with this phone.

My only complaints are that Pocket IE is still as limited as its PPC cousin, and there is no general provision for landscape mode on the phone. Except for those two issues (which are not unique to smartphones, I had to deal with the same issues with a PPC) this has been by far my best experience with mobile devices.

Audiovox SMT-5600 Final Grade: 9/10

T-Mobile, T-Zones, TMO-2-Go final Grade: 9/10

[Guest smeg36]

Good assesment. I have had similar experiances with my SMT5600, and now my SP3i. Although I always keep the old X50v (Pocket PC) on hand just in case there is a wifi network or website that is to limited by the Smartphone PIE.