The Audiovox SM5600
by Russell Johnson
STORY IN MP3 AUDIO 4:10
I
have always been intrigued by the notion of a do-everything personal device. My
military career (roughly paralleling the heroics of George W. Bush) exposed me
to the M1 steel helmet. The "pisspot" as it was called, was a wash basin,
cooking cauldron, latrine, shovel and, if caught with your pants down, you could
bonk somebody over the head with it.
I
thought the Swiss Army Knife was a cool idea but I rarely had use for a screwdriver
and a corkscrew on the same day. Mine ended up in the "unclassified"
drawer in the kitchen along with the half-dead batteries, rubber bands and expired
lotto tickets.
Same
for the PDA. My wife bought one, found it fiddly and a waste of time, and sold
it on E-Bay.
And,
call me strange, but I have always hated cellphones: carried one as only as a
necessity. I could never figure out the menus. I panicked the first time someone
sent me a SMS message, thinking it was either a virus or a testy message from
God, and shut the phone off.
Ah,
but hope has sprung for this entrenched weekend warrior. I have found a personal
device, at least as useful as my old M1 that caused me to reassess my bad attitude.
It is, sound reveille: the
Audiovox SM5600 SmartPhone.
My
wife and I were due for new phones and plans from
Cingular, which we subscribe to only because we travel internationally and
their GSM phones work almost anywhere, better in fact in Delhi or rural Thailand
than at home. She bought a Treo 650 (see her review next week) and I bought the
Audiovox.
The SM5600 is a Windows Mobile Edition phone. It looks
like Windows and quacks like Windows, so if you know Windows you'll
master it quickly. This little 3.7 ouncer will provide you with a
half-fledged shirt pocket PC that does most of the really useful things
you laptop does, including Outlook email, a calendar, task lists, web
browsing and video. It synchs up flawlessly with your laptop or desktop
to transfer you entire contact list including phone numbers and emails.
It plays high-quality stereo audio. Add to that, usual phone stuff as a
VGA camera and camcorder and voice memo and you have a device that will
inspire you to leave the laptop at home.
The SM5600 is not for big time email users as it does not have
a QWERTY keyboard, forcing you to key in John Wayne-style phrases. If
you of "the enterprise" I would recommend the Treo. But its brilliant,
color 2.2 inch screen works perfectly for reading email, email
newsletters and limited web surfing. Its stripped-down version of
Internet Explorer allows you to bookmark web sites and even media. We
use it as the modern equivalent of a transistor radio, listening to
Connected Traveler Radio in stereo anywhere in the world. The device
comes with stereo earbuds and serves as a good MP3 player. We added a
1GB mini-SD card. Not the storage of an iPod, but far more functional
and with long battery life, estimated at 140 hours of standby time. I
can believe it as I rarely put mine on a charger.
It also has an excellent speakerphone, better than the fixed business
phone in my office. When driving, I toss the SM5600 in ashtray and it
works great.
Fashion-wise, this device will easily fit in any pocket without
altering your line, if you are blessed with a line. I often carry it in
my shirt pocket as it is not much larger than a card case and is
virtually weightless.
So, what's not to like?
The little rocker button navigation system is difficult to use. If you
press it wrong it will sent you off in the wrong direction. The keys
light up brilliantly in the dark but are small and symbols are slow to
key in. The camera shoots rather soft pictures, even though I did
manage to shoot a panoramic with it, stitching the photo together in
PhotoShop, with good results. Also, once you turn on an application,
you have to go to the Task Manager on the menu to shut it off. It may
be all right to leave it running but it can slow down your phone. I
have put task manager on a voice command so all I do is shout "Task
Manager" and up it pops. Sounds kind of weird in a crowd.
But, all in all, I love my little Audiovox SM5600: You can't pee in it,
you can't whack the enemy over the head with it, but it has become my
trusty pal. And unlike my other Windows machines, it has not crashed
once.
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