Pete Paxton
11-21-2007, 07:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.tracyandmatt.co.uk/blogs/index.php/2007/11/21/asus_m530w_aries_review' target='_blank'>http://www.tracyandmatt.co.uk/blogs/index.php/2007/11/21/asus_m530w_aries_review</a><br /><br /></div><em>"The Asus M530w has a full qwerty keyboard and but it's not a slider. That means it's fairly big, pocket calculator size, and certainly looks rather geeky. However, for the form factor chosen, it's making the best of things really. It looks and feels expensive, and the black/silver colour scheme look good, if a little unoriginal. At 65 x 117 x 13.8mm, it's a pocket filler, but because it's so thin – it really isn’t as bad as you might expect.The front of the phone is roughly split half and half with the 320x240 screen, and the QWERTY keyboard. Between these areas, we have the common smartphone button configuration, including a direction pad, with OK button, home and back, and the softkeys. We can also see the standard phone controls. The buttons are slightly concave, and feel very nice and tactile."<br /><br /></em><img border="0" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/500/spt/auto/1195660885.usr11642.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br />If I were to trade my Dash for any one device right now - the M530w would probably be it. I like the look of it and according to Tracy and Matt's review it's a pretty slick device. They do point out that's it a little big and that there is no HSDPA, but with double the processor speed of my Dash, good battery life, WiFi, 3G, WM6, and a front facing camera, as well as a 2MP camera, this thing shines. My only gripe is a big one. There is no 850 frequency to be found so I can't use it here in the states. If you want to know more, head on over to Tracy and Matt's <a href="http://www.tracyandmatt.co.uk/blogs/index.php/2007/11/21/asus_m530w_aries_review">review</a> for some nice pics and good information.