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I’ve been using the SPV M5000 for a while now and although I wasn’t overly keen on it at first, it’s really grown on me. The M5000 is my regular companion whenever I attend a press briefing these days, and I’ve become adept enough with the keyboard to be able to take notes at a fast enough pace to negate the need for paper and pen. It also allows me to keep up to date with my email when I’m out of the office, rather than having to trawl through 200 messages the next day. Basically, the SPV M5000 has given me an alternative to my notebook and 3G data card – if I know that I’ll be writing some content and uploading articles to TrustedReviews, I’ll take my notebook and data card, but if I just want to keep in touch with the office and stay up to date with email, I’ll throw the M5000 in my bag and save myself the extra weight of my notebook.

There’s no denying that the SPV M5000 is a great little device, but it comes at a cost. Orange told me that an Orange Business customer will have to fork out £475.88 and then figure out what kind of price plan to go for. Personally I’d go for a data only price plan - £20 will get you 65MB of data allowance a month, while £45 will get you 1GB a month. Of course if you want to use the M5000 as a phone as well you’ll need a voice plan and add a data bundle to it.

Interestingly, a quick look around the web turned up a good deal at www.scancom.co.uk. Here you can pick up the SPV M5000 for £100 including VAT on an Orange Business 400, which gives you 400 any network minutes a month for around £50. Of course you’ll want to add a data bundle to this – 25MB a month will set you back an extra £16.

Verdict

The Orange SPV M5000 is a great device for someone that needs this kind of functionality in their pocket. I’ve come to rely on my M5000 quite heavily, and find it an invaluable tool. However, it is expensive to buy and to run, so if you’re an individual that pays your own bills it might not seem so compelling. But if you’re a business user that needs to be connected and productive wherever you may be, ask your IT manager to sort you out with one of these.

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