Advise Wanted on Which To Choose - DECISION MADE

[Guest rameses]

The contract on my C500 is up for renewal in less than a month and I quite fancy getting a PPC as my new device. However I can't decide which one to get. As I understand it the i-Mate Jam/QTek S100/Orange M500/T-Mobile MDA are all the same apart from their appearance. I have found what look to be some good deals on

http://www.buymobilephones.net/store/merchant-2-34.ihtml

and if the devices are all the same then is there anythingelse I should base my decision on other than price. (Curreny unavailability of the M500 taken into account already).

Then there's the ETEN M500 to consider, how does this compare to the others, given a choice at the same price which would be better?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Edited July 14, 2005 by rameses

[Guest confused and hungover]

from what i can understand, the ETEN M500 is about the size of an M2000 and has basically the same specs, with the exception of 128mb internal memory which, i believe, makes it one of the first phones that will be able to upgrade to WM2005.

[Guest Samsonite]

i would have plumped for the Orange M500 if it had been about purely as it would have been an upgrade and meant less hassle than an operator or number change. Also, it would have been on a better network than the T-Mobile MDA Compact...

The Qtek or i-mate variants are available from loads of sources on the web but i have never seen one on the high street so it depends if you are happy to buy on-line. I did and was completely happy with the service from a1comms.co.uk

I am not aware of any major operating differences between the variants but having seen a recently updated ROM from i-mate, it makes me wonder if Qtek (the one i've got) will have an update soon. One issue i have with that is their website is in Swedish or Norwegian. If this worries you, go for an i-mate! If it REALLY worries you, go for a fully UK supported model on Orange or T-Mobile.

I do think my Qtek came SIM unlocked as i recieved a sheet detailing how to put a CAB file into the unit for o2 MMS/GPRS settings that looked very generic to all networks and indeed the webpage on a1comms had all the options for all the networks (contract and PAYG)... Just means that i have flexibility for network choice should i need it...

[Guest confused and hungover]

.....further to what i said earlier, i do have an orange SPV M500 and i wouldn't swap it for anything else :)

[Guest mutleyboy]

the eten m500 is quite a bit smaller than the m2000, its only slightly bigger than a jam.

Think something along the lines of the size of the sonyericsson p900 and you will be about right

[Guest rameses]

Guys, thanks for the advise, I have decided to go for ther ETEN M500.

[Guest bleugh]

The contract on my C500 is up for renewal in less than a month and I quite fancy getting a PPC as my new device.  However I can't decide which one to get. As I understand it the i-Mate Jam/QTek S100/Orange M500/T-Mobile MDA are all the same apart from their appearance.  I have found what look to be some good deals on

http://www.buymobilephones.net/store/merchant-2-34.ihtml

and if the devices are all the same then is there anythingelse I should base my decision on other than price. (Curreny unavailability of the M500 taken into account already).

Then there's the ETEN M500 to consider, how does this compare to the others, given a choice at the same price which would be better?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A better deal is had there

[Guest rameses]

I received my Eten about two days ago and have been driving the wife mad as I haven't put it down since.

It seems pretty straight forward so far, but I did have a problem with setting up the GPRS for o2. (o2 customer services were absolutely no use what so ever, but as ever Modaco came to the rescue).

Overall, I'm really glad with my choice. :)