There is a slight learning curve when using a Windows Mobile Smartphone for the first time. And I loathe having to learn how to use a mobile phone. But when I saw the dopod C500, I knew this little gem was worth the time spent on getting used to the interface.

dopod has endowed the C500 with the Windows Mobile 6 Standard Operating System, and to my delight, have actually spent time and money, to produce a device that looks good.

At first glace it looks like a candybar phone with a numeric keypad. But slide the bottom half of the phone to the right reveals a QWERTY keyboard hidden behind the vibrant 2.4 inch, 240x320 display. The sliding mechanism is a joy to use - smooth, fluid-like, with a slight spring action and it locks into place.

What really impresses me is the size of the dopod C500. It's really sleek, and did I say it looks really good? Quite an engineering feat from dopod since most devices with QWERTY keyboards are bulky.

Comparing the dopod C500 with the Motorola RAZR.

The numeric keypad and the navigation buttons have adequate tactile feedback, but I found the numeric keyboard too small to SMS confidently. I kept jabbing at the wrong keys with my fat thumbs. Fortunately there's the QWERTY keyboard. 

The QWERTY keyboard even has backlight. 

At the heart of the dopod C500 is the TI OMAP850 processor running at 201MHz. There is a slight lag when running applications and the spinning beachball appears occasionally, but only for a spit second. In general, I'm fine with the speed of the device.

There's a microSD slot so you can add more memory to the 128MB ROM, 64MB RAM in the dopod C500. I'm pleased to find that the microSD slot and the SIM card slot are easily accessible. Some mobile phones hide them behind the battery, making it quite a hassle to get to them.

The microSD slot at the side, covered by a rubber cover. 

The SIM slot behind the screen when you slide out the keyboard. 

The dopod C500 can function as a music device, supporting Bluetooth A2DP and it also has a mini-USB port that functions as a power, sync and audio jack. It would have been perfect if dopod had included a 3.5mm headphone jack, but perhaps it had to be sacrificed to keep the size down. If you don't have a Bluetooth stereo headset, dopod has included a stereo handsfree kit in the package.

The mini-USB port, also covered by a rubber cover. 

The speakers on the dopod C500 is pretty good. Better than my Motorola RAZR that is louder, but less refined.

There's a 2MP camera, but no macro function. Strangely, the shutter button is on the left side which is not really comfortable for right-handers. 

For connectivity, you've got GSM Quad band with GPRS/EDGE. And it also has WiFi so you can surf at your favourite coffeeshop.

The battery life of the dopod C500 is pretty good. I use it primarily as a mobile phone and it lasted me 2 days, and is still going strong. The official benchmark is 175 hours standby time, 7.3 hours talk time.

What do I think of the dopod C500? I like its good looks and I love the size. It's hard to believe there's a QWERTY keyboard ready to spring out when you need it. Too bad there's no 3G connectivity, but not everyone has 3G. At least it still has EDGE support. Great screen, good battery life, good build quality. My dislikes? The numeric keypad is a little small for me, no macro function for the digital camera and the strange location (for right handers) of the shutter button. Oh, and the chrome accent around the numeric keypad is a fingerprint magnet.

Official details from http://www.dopodasia.com/global/products/smart_c500/smart_c500_fea.html

Review made possible by Gadza World at Queensbay Mall (Digital Bay) (tel: 04-642 8601). Contact them for details.