E-ten G500+ Review

The Taiwanese company E-Ten, a not so important Asian mobile manufacturer, has announced the G500+ in the second quarter of this year. The device wanted to be an updated version of the earlier G500 Pocket PC, featuring more internal memory (256 MB), and FM radio. Having a limited model line-up, determined E-Ten to produce only strong and reliable devices. After managing to enter the market with a successful device, M500, the Taiwanese company's products became better and better. A good example is the M600 model, which featured WiFi connectivity and the new Windows Mobile 5.0 system. Next on the market was launched the well-known G500 model, which had a design based on the older models, only it was made a little bigger so the producer can fit in a GPS receiver. The latest model launched on the market, the G500+ quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 Mhz) GSM, is just a mirror of the G500 in terms of design, having exactly the same measures and specification with some exceptions.

Design

As I have stated above, if you are familiar with the G500 model, the G500+ will mostly sure look like its accurate replica in terms of design. Same measures 119 x 62 x 23 mm and same weight, 191 grams. No slimness, just pure strong compact design, with no remorse for measures or weight. The design suggests the target of the device more than its technical specifications. If you are looking for slimness, you won't find it in this model, because the bulky G500+ contains, even if we're talking about a small part of the frame, a GPS receiver. On the back of the Pocket PC there's an anti-skid rubber, which runs on 1/3rd of the device, the camera lens with self portrait mirror, and the speakerphone system sound speaker. You can find the stylus silo at the bottom right, which feels more efficiently rather than top of the device. To no surprise, E-TEN managed to fit in a large telescoping stylus, which feels extremely comfy. On the front of the device, you can find the usual call ''send'' and ''end' buttons along with the two Windows Mobile 5 softkeys below the display. Two buttons above the display launch E-TEN's speed dial application and their Desk launcher application, but you can easily reassign these if you wish. On the right side you can find the small miniSD card slot, and on the left side, there's the camera button, together with the volume slider, voice command button, reset button and the 2.5 mm stereo headphone jack. You can fit the SIM card in a slot to the left of the battery on the back and a slider lock holds the battery in place (don't forget about this one when trying to detach the battery). On top of the device, you can also find a small place where you can fit in a GPS external antenna. Other than that, the device looks pretty solid with decent finishes compared with its size. I don't think they could've made it better.

Processor and Memory

E-ten's G500+ features, like its predecessor, a Samsung S3C2440 400 MHz Processor and includes 256 MB Flash ROM, 64 MB SDRAM. That doubles the memory size available for storage compared with G500. Testing the device, I couldn't notice any flaws when working with multiple applications; on the contrary, I was really amazed by the speed of the processor. Also, the big Flash memory makes a fine addition for the device, enabling users to store even more information such as contacts and files, additional applications, or extra GPS maps directly on the device without the need for additional memory cards. This could be made an example for its speed and smoothness when working with the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.

Multimedia

The 1.3 megapixel camera can take shots at different resolutions such as 1280 x 960, 640 x 480, 320 x 240 and 176 x 144. The camera with LED flash has 4x digital zoom and can save pictures in JPEG and BMP formats. Also, you can use the camera when recording 3GP video clips at a resolution of 320 x 240 or lower. It features a wide range of applications and settings including: white balance, special effects, timer and continuous shooting of photos. The quality of the pictures is rather mediocre. Don't try taking pictures in places with low light, but the outdoor pictures look pretty decent.

E-ten G500+ features amazing 192-Polyphonic voice sounds, and support for running MP3 files. The music lovers will be more than satisfied when using the integrated MP3 player, because it has great sound when listening to the stereo headphones. Its only annoying drawback is the rubber that protects the 2.5 mm stereo headphone jack, which is very hard to pull out. The 2.8 inch TFT 65k colors display offers a great experience, its colors being much brighter than most of other Pocket PCs. Also, the device supports both portrait and landscape modes and has a shortcut icon on the bottom of the Today Screen for quickly changing screen orientation. The G500+ comes with Voice Commander, a voice recognition system that works for voice dialing (by name or digits) and issuing voice commands to the PDA ("start calendar", "today's appointments" or "what can I say?") to bring up help and a list of possible commands. The voice recognition works well enough. The FM radio can be easily changed in different bands like USA, Europe or Asia. It keeps a strong signal most of the time so you won't have any problems when listening the radio posts in your country.

Communication

The device has pros and cons when it comes to communication. It lacks WiFi, but you can use its Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, also it lacks EDGE and IrDa, but you can use GPRS and USB. Not the best in terms of communication, the device features a pretty cool GPS receiver with SiRF Star III chipset. Tests show that it's very accurate when used in car, and registers only a few lags when you enter zones with low signal reception. E-ten included several exclusive software utilities for the best possible GPS experience, such as: Satellite Data Update, a utility that can shorten the positioning time of GPS signals to as little as 10-20 seconds, and also the potentially life saving Location SMS application which allows a user's GPS coordinates to be sent to any SMS enabled phone at the touch of a button.

The Good

The device is good looking and it makes a great choice for those who need a PDA, phone and GPS, all in one single device. The GPS receiver is excellent, and the add of more internal memory allows users to think twice before buying a miniSD card for memory expansion. The 1440 mAh Lithium Ion lasts about 2 to 3 days on a charge (no GPS use), which is pretty good. The simplicity of the device can only be equaled by its fast working processor.

The Bad

Probably, the most obvious would be the lack of WiFi for such a new device. But that wouldn't be such a tragedy, unless the device lacks also EDGE or UMTS. Only with GPRS connectivity, the device will just reach data speeds of 30kb the max. Other than that, no bad things about this one.

Conclusion

E-ten G500+ makes a fine addition to the Taiwanese company portfolio, and to any users that will buy one of these devices. The device is a very good choice for users who need a good reliable PDA with GPS. Its price might range between $500 and $600, depending on the regional offers, which is not much at all. The Pocket PC is available in Romania through Omnisoft Company. You can buy this device (or any other E-ten device) from here.

Standard kit:

Smartphone USB-synchronization cable Charge Car charger Car holder Headset Carrying case CD with software Documentation.

Here are some snapshots of the device: