Dopod C500

Print

Email

Bookmark

Share

QWERTY keyboard mobile devices are a misunderstood lot. When people think QWERTY, they associate it with big, bulky and ugly-looking devices. Handhelds with full keyboards can look gorgeous and slim, too. Take the Samsung Ultra Messaging i600, Nokia E61i, Motorola Q q9 and the Dopod C730.

Dopod's C500 looks set to challenge the adjectives big and bulky. At last count, there weren't many mobile devices with a numeric keypad and full QWERTY keyboard. The closest match would be the Nokia E90 Communicator, but that's not a handheld you can put in a shirt pocket without looking dodgy.

Upside:
One of the biggest advantages of the Dopod C500 is its size. The handheld is considered small for a device that hides a full QWERTY keyboard beneath its 2.4-inch LCD screen and a numeric keypad. We've seen a number of mobiles, such as the Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 and the Nokia N95 with soft-type plastic, so holding the C500 which uses a similar material feels somewhat familiar.

The numeric keypad is a boon for users who are frequent SMS users familiar with the T9 input method. They will also appreciate a QWERTY keyboard for longer messages or Word documents. Sliding out the keyboard to the right is done in one fluid motion and it locks into position with a muted "tok". Adding a touch of user-friendliness are the Cap and Fn buttons that light up when activated.

Like the C730, the C500 will be one of the first smart phones to sport Windows Mobile 6. Unlike the Smartphone edition on WM5, the new OS will come with Office Mobile by default. Read more about WM6 here.

Unlike most phones which require the user to remove the battery to insert the SIM card, the C500's SIM card slot is on the underside of the top lid. So there's no need to slide out the battery cover to remove the cell and swap cards.

Downside:
Right-handed users may find the camera feature on the C500 a little inconvenient since the shutter button is on the left when the phone is held sideways. So instead of using their right index finger to snap a shot, they have to rely on the left index digit for that purpose.

While it's impressive to be able to fit a full QWERTY keyboard on a compact device, we're not quite sure about almost every key pulling double duty with an additional function, which may result in more keypresses. The keyboard is also a little wide and our thumbs had to stretch over a longer horizontal distance when typing messages.

Outlook:
The Dopod C500 is like the QWERTY device for the undecided. It's convenient to slide the keyboard out when the need arises and hides away neatly to assume the look of a traditional candy-bar phone. The smart phone is expected to be available this month and the good thing is since it comes with WM6, there's no need to worry about upgrading from WM5.