The X500 has all the basic features that Windows Mobile has to offer. You have basic calendar functions with appointments, calculator, PDF viewer, tasks and a lot more. The X500 also comes complete with Microsoft Pocket Office which includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint. With Word and Excel you can not only view documents but edit them too. If you use a word processor like Microsoft Word, it may be a good idea to get an external keyboard. There are quite a few available but they differ in price range, some use Bluetooth technology while others use infrared.
The X500 has a lot of advanced features like a 2 mega-pixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, GPS, GPRS & EDGE and FM radio.
The X500 has an excellent 2 mega pixel camera. Although there are a lot of camera phones these days with better cameras and more mega-pixels, the pocket PC standard is now 2 mega-pixels. The camera has a mirror for self portraits and a LED light for flash. A cool feature that is included with the camera software is the ability to edit the picture in paint. The camera produces clear pictures during the day or in well lit areas but not in the dark even with the flash.
The built in Bluetooth version 2.0 which is now the new standard, is much faster and has a better range than the old 1.2. The X500 also supports A2DP stereo over Bluetooth for wireless media streaming.
The X500 also has Wi-Fi built in that supports both b/g wireless signals. The home screen plug-in also has a shortcut for Wi-Fi, in which you can configure all the settings.
The built in GPS works great with the X500. The GPS chipset is the same one found in the HTC P3300; the Sirfstarr III. The GPS works great but the downside is that the X500 does not come with any GPS software. The P3300 comes with TOMTOM preinstalled but only gives you the option to download one city. I tested the GPS on the X500 using iGuidance GPS software. The program works fine but overall I felt that TOMTOM is easier to use which uses big icons. One aspect of the iGuidance software I liked a lot was the setup application. The GPS setup application automatically detects your GPS settings and is excellent for people who do not know how to setup their GPS. This app does all the work for you! ETEN has included some extra GPS features and are not found on the P3300. Three programs which are included are: GPS Viewer, location SMS and Satellite Data Update. The GPS viewer shows your GPS signal, how many satellites you are connected to, location in degrees, speed and direction. The location SMS is a small program that sends a text message of your location in degrees. The person you’re sending it to needs a GPS phone in order to find your exact location. The satellite data update is a program which downloads your location information which makes finding a signal and location faster. In the program you can setup to download at a certain time after the data expires or you can download manually when connected to the internet. On average the GPS data expires in three days but only takes seconds downloading. The P3300 also had a similar app which downloads GPS data while synced with your computer. When you open the GPS viewer or location SMS programs the GPS automatically turns on and starts searching for a signal.
Eten has added a lot of great programs to there ROM which are exclusive to ETEN phones and will not be found on other Windows Mobile devices. Under programs there is a multimedia folder and in it are the following programs: image maker, image wizard and multimedia manager. The image maker is a paint program and is identical to the paint program found on your Windows computer. When you take a picture in the camera application you have the option to open it directly in the image maker to edit. Image Wizard is another program dedicated to editing your pictures. With this program you can add borders and frames, crop the image, rotate it, doodle on it etc. Multimedia manager is a program for viewing files on your phone. It is almost like the viewer found on most Windows mobile devices but adds a few minor features.
Another great feature that ETEN has included in their ROM is speed dialing. The speed dialing is set to the left soft key as default. When you press the speed dial it goes into a menu with a grid of contacts that you call often. Let’s say you call “home” more than any other contact, home will be number one on the grid. All you have to do is tap the contact and it will start dialing. Another feature of this program is that it opens a small on screen keyboard and allows you to type the first letters of the contacts name.
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4.5
