M500 vs XDA Mini S

[Guest Shera76]

Hi,

I'm torn between SPV M500 and XDA Mini S. Which one is the best? I like the look of XDA but apparently M500 is more stable? :roll: Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Guest brykins]

I'm torn between SPV M500 and XDA Mini S. Which one is the best? I like the look of XDA but apparently M500 is more stable?  :roll:  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I've had both - though my M500 was an MDA Compact (same thing, different case).

The Mini S feels a lot slower (I hesitate to to say IS a lot slower as it may not be) and is a LOT fatter - if you take the sliding screen section off of the Mini S then you're about the same thickness as the M500.

Mini S Pros: keyboard, wifi, WM5 (for future compatibility)

M500: smaller, lighter, faster, WM2003SE (for stability)

I though I'd use the keyboard on the Mini S but found I didn't - thought it may have been a stop-gap between a PDA and a candy-bar style of phone which is a lot easier to text on, but there's no way you can type on the Mini S with one hand - and my typing wasn't that much faster/more accurate than my stylus text entry. Also thought I'd use the WiFi but here in the UK there really aren't that many open hotspots to use so....

....I went for the MDA Compact II from T-Mobile. All the benefits (size, etc) of the original MDA Compact/M500 but with WM5 (some teething trouble but is settling down now and will be more future proof) and with a 40MB per month data allowance so negating the need for the WiFi - over 1MB per day is more than enough for email/MSN and the odd bit of web browsing.

Really - you need to go into an O2 or T-Mobile store and hold and play with the XDA Mini S / MDA Vario to see if you can live with the size and if you think you'll get on with the keyboard (oh...and that awful stylus as well).

[Guest Peppermint Hippo]

Got a Magician and Wizard and prefer the Magician. Almost for the reasons above. Better stability, faster and slimmer. I too thought i would need the keyboard on the Wizard but never used it.

[Guest Shera76]

thank you, I'll pop in to a store to have a play. Im more tempted to get the mini as its silver & looks better than M500!

[Guest Pondrew]

Moved to Pocket PC Help & Advice (from Smartphon Main)

[Guest Shera76]

moved from main.

Id appreciate your thoughts..

[Guest Pondrew]

If u mean me, I'd say despite the downside (slower processor?) in the XDA Mini S it's still the obvious choice. The M500 is crippled by less ram so if you DO decide to go for an HTC Magician make it the S110 with it's 128meg ram. If you do this though there's no guarantee you'll ever be able to upgrade to WM5 in which case you'll be left with a capable device but with an outdated operating system.

Have you looked at the MDA Compact II as a possible cheaper alternative to the XDA Mini S? Very similar spec and WM5.0 but without the keyboard or wifi.

[Guest Shera76]

If u mean me, I'd say despite the downside (slower processor?) in the XDA Mini S it's still the obvious choice. The M500 is crippled by less ram so if you DO decide to go for an HTC Magician make it the S110 with it's 128meg ram. If you do this though there's no guarantee you'll ever be able to upgrade to WM5 in which case you'll be left with a capable device but with an outdated operating system.

Have you looked at the MDA Compact II as a possible cheaper alternative to the XDA Mini S? Very similar spec and WM5.0 but without the keyboard or wifi.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, Pondrew.

MDA Compact II is only available on T-Mobile? I dont get reception on a Tmobile phone in my house so that rules that out.

I liked M500 untill I saw the XDA Mini. Mini seems to have a better design, a keyboard and newer windows mobile o/s, but in terms of perfomance M500 seems to get the thumps up. I'd like a PDA/Phone thats no bigger than M500/XDA mini, dont like the bigger ones.

[Guest vodkagirl001]

Well just to add my 2 cents worth as I was in the same quandry as you.......I opted for the M500 on an O2 contract lol.

There were 2 main reasons for this, the first one was size, I went to the O2 shop and tried out the Mini, personally I think the keyboard is not that great, the buttons are quite small so I think alot of men (not being sexist lol just that generally men have bigger fingers than women!) may have trouble with fat finger syndrome!! The Mini, although when measured is not that much bigger in size than the M500, does actually feel alot bigger, and chunkier!! The other thing that did not impress me was the slowness of it, the guy in the shop got a new one out for a demo, and it just seemed to take forever to load up ''it's because it's the first start up'' I was told so I thought OK, but then when he passed it to me for a play, it was not responding, he then soft reset it and had to start again, the same thing happened, he took it to a collegue who had resetted it, by this time I made my excuses and left. I went to the orange shop, they did a demo on a new phone, it loaded up 10 times quicker and had no problems at all. This swayed my decission to go with the M500, and you know what......I love it!

[Guest Shera76]

sorry for not updating you soon..I went for the XDA Mini and Im pleased with it ;)

thanks for all your replies.