I'm grappling with which device to get next to replace my C500 Smartphone

My current C500 Smartphone is one of the few mobile telephones that I've been happy with for more than the first month or two of ownership - I've had it for two years now. I use it to read/write email whilst on the move, as a personal music device and as a GPS via a bluetooth receiver.

I'd like to take advantage of 3G and my handset is getting rather battered (it's had a hard life) hence it's time for a change.

I recently tried a prototype device that was similar to the one shown below:

I really liked the big screen, anticipated 3G support (I don't know if the device pictured is 3G), integrated wireless with WPA support including certificate authn and the ability to open attachments with pocket Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

For me the best feature was probably the one that won't even make it onto the specification sheet - you can turn off the audible incomming call alert AND not have to suffer "vibrate". I hate "vibrate" when my phone's on a solid surface as it's often louder than my regular ring tone.

I hope that the features I've described are retained in the production device.

Comments

• Anonymous
  July 07, 2006
  Oh, I'm with you on the vibrate issue. Why do people insist on setting their phones to vibrate and then leaving them on the table in the middle of a meeting...
  
  Surely some bright spark could come up with a "on a hard surface" sensor to turn off the vibrate.
• Anonymous
  July 08, 2006
  Avoid the C550 and C600...
  
  And avoid 3G, unless you know other ppl with video call capability...
  
  I've recently moved away from smartphones and 3G, mainly because in the 14months i had the handset and service, i managed 1 successful video call, and discovered my network doesn't provide 3G content...
• Anonymous
  July 10, 2006
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  July 12, 2006
  Using a 3G mobile as a broadband modem was all I mainly used my 3G access for, especially as my network gave me a free 3G access for the first 6 months...
  
  The data rates are amazingly good for net access on the move... Usually just shy of half meg broadband speeds...
  
  Another option might be the vodafone 3G data access PCMCIA card... (Assuming it's laptop based access your looking for)