This is an update to the review I wrote last year (see further down). I've owned the T-Mobile MDA Vario mobile phone for around 18 months, so I wanted to share my experiences following my early impressions.

First things first: it still works! The phone never suffered a malfunction during its time with me, although the screen does occasionally go into 'zebra' mode (black and white stripes) without warning, so I suspect it was on its way out towards the end (I recently bought a K610i, so I now use that). Battery life was still good - I could go four or five days without recharging.

Now for the gremlins - and there aren't many. Actually, the first problem I encountered wasn't with the phone but the 'pouch' it came with. It's designed with a flap that's held in place with a couple of concealed magnets. Trouble is, those magnets are pretty strong and caused me all manner of hassles in car parks for the first few weeks of ownership, because they 'wipe' the information on tickets with a magnetic strip. It took me a while to put two and two together, but when I did I found myself having to be very careful to keep the phone in one hand and ticket in the other. Annoying to say the least, because every time the ticket was wiped I had to press the 'assistance' button on the car park payment machine. The magnets had no effect on my credit or debit cards.

The other annoyance was the speed of the processor in the MDA. I never updated the software on it because: a) I didn't want to lose any of the data on it, and b) I didn't really know what to do anyway - I've read that speed does improve if you update it. Anyway, it meant a short delay in everything you did with the MDA. Not hugely annoying, but a pain nonetheless.

A final gripe of mine was the MDA's size. Yes, I knew how large it was before I bought it, but as I'm not a woman and don't own a handbag, I had to carry it everywhere I went. Putting it in your pocket just isn't feasible. You can clip the pouch onto a back (or front) pocket, but it sticks out a mile and you feel a bit of a berk wearing it like that. I guess that's what you have to put up with when using a PDA.

These gripes aside, I still like the MDA, but I have gone back to 'candybar' phones for the time being. Thanks for reading.

The MDA Vario is a very multi talented device which gives you many options but if you are looking for a device that is predominately used for making phone calls look elsewhere!

For the last few years, I've carried a mobile phone, laptop and PDA when out and about on business and this is both inconvenient and slightly embarrassing. Who wants to look like a mobile electrical store anyway? About a year ago, after a month of waiting, I managed to get an MDA Vario and it has really changed my life. (I mean that)

This phone is a wonder. A little box of tricks, that does so much more than you would think. I have it on a T-mobile account, which also includes Web N Walk. It is always connected to the internet, logging into both my work and home email accounts every 10 minutes to check for new arrivals. I can access the web at any time through GPRS, and can even stream music and video using the built in version of Wimdows media player! I have MSN Messenger and Hotmail wherever I am; the office can send me an instant message instead of calling me and this makes life so easy. There is a built in camera, but with only 1.3MP, dodgy optics and a rather underpowered LED light, this is more a gimick then a useful tool. Being a Windows Mobile device, you get the full Microsoft Office pack, including Word, Excell and Powerpoint. Naturally, Microsoft Outlook is there, and can be synchronized with both your work and home PC's. Installing extra programs is no problem and there are plenty out there, many of them freeware. The phone software and hardware is very good. Being integrated very well into the rest of the device software.

The spec list is pretty impresive and includes:

Bluetooth audio
Bluetooth data
Colour screen
Data compatible
GPRS
Games
Handsfree included
Includes digital camera
Infra-red (IrDA)
Instant email
Java enabled
Optional car kit
Personal organiser
Picture messaging (MMS)
Polyphonic ringtones - MP3's can be set as ringtones as well.
Predictive text
Sync with PC
Vibrating alert
Video calling
Video capture
Video/audio player
Voice activated dialling
WAP
Web 'n' walk internet

You'll notice corporate Blackberry is missing, but the firmware update I installed added Push email, with works with server systems. Don't ask me how, I never set it up. I just kept using POP3 email as I understand this old technology.



As for using the device, once you're used to it, it is both simple and quick to do almost anything. The keyboard slides out from behind the screen and as soon as you do this, the orientation of the screen changes from portrait to landscape. The keyboard can be a pain to use, but once you've got used to using two thumbs, it gets easier. The touchscreen is accurate, and responsive, I can even get away with using my finger for most things as apposed to the rather fiddly stylus. Internet speeds are good, with even full PC biased web pages downloading quickly and without too much fuss. The built in software quickly realigns the page so that it can be viewed on the small screen without too much of a problem. The only issue I have found is with the way a PDA works as standard. Programs don't close when you hit the x button. So the device slows down the longer you use it. This is easily rectified by going into the settings and shutting programs down there, but as always, this is a pain and can take up time. A lot of the slow-running and crashing was rectified by downloading and installing a firmware update. But this also meant losing all data on the device, so unless you know what you are doing and make sure you back everything up, this can be a pretty frustrating and scary thing to have to do.

Battery life is good compared to phones I've had before. 2-3 days between charges is good in my opinion, considering how much the thing is used. I even plug headphones in and use it as an MP3 player!

As far as the build quality is concerned, I have been less then impressed. It feels very plastic, and the keyboard already clicks into place with more of a slosh then a firm click. The stylus is built into the bottom of the phone, and is designed to click into place. This has gone the same way as the keyboard and the stylus cannot stay inside it's slot. Why oh why didn't they build it into the top like most PDA's? At least then, gravity would be more of a help then a hindrance. My stylus is now held in with blu-tac! A really hi-tec answer to the problem. The screen has lasted well, with no scratches (and I don't use a screen protector) but this may be down to me always treating the thing with kid-gloves. The phone is a bit bulky, but is smaller then most PDA's so I really can't complain there.

This phone is a real boon, with well thought out features and software. The only small niggles being the build-quality and related life expectency. If you are looking for a really handy device, that does pretty much everything you could ask, then look no further, it's brilliant. Just that pesky build quality.

Great phone. PDA and Sat-Nav would recommend it to anyone

This is my first PDA phone. I got the T-Mobile MDA Vario because I'd just switched to T-Mobile from Orange and they were offering it for free on an 18-month contract (Flext) where I pay around £30 a month. Needless to say I researched it for quite a while before ordering it, and overall I haven't been disappointed.

First things first. The screen is nice and large, and looked great before I put the (supplied) screen protector on it. It's essentially a piece of plastic film and while I was able to apply it without any bubbles appearing it certainly dulled things down. But I guess if I hadn't put it on the screen would be full of scratches by now.

The slide-out keyboard is great. It'd be nice to use all fingers but you can't rest the Vario on a desk and simply type away because: a) the keys are too tiny and close together and b) it rocks about and won't sit still on even a flat surface. You soon get used to using your thumbs, though, and there's a form of predictive texting you can use if you're typing long words (just select it by tapping it as it appears in a list on screen). The keyboard still seems to snick back into place quite well but I can imagine things loosening up as the months progress. Watch this space.

In normal (phone call) use the screen is in 'portrait' mode. However when you slide the keyboard out it automatically changes to a landscape view, which is pretty cool. When you wake the Vario from sleep mode, though, it sometimes get confused about which way to turn the screen, even if you haven't had the keyboard out. It's getting a little annoying because the Vario is a little slow in operation and you have to wait a few seconds for it to make its mind up.

The Vario is more than able to operate as a mobile phone. Call quality is good, signal strength has been as good as any mobile I've ever owned and there are plenty of ring tones to keep the kids amused. It uses Windows Mobile v5, which is okay (I use an iMac G5 at home), but the processor is only 200mhz. I've also used a Bluetooth hands-free with it very successfully.

The stylus is pretty neat at first glance - it's telescopic and tucks neatly into the body of the Vario. However, it's far quicker to use your finger to select something on the screen - although it helps if you have a fingernail to select certain items, especially when surfing the web using GPRS or wi-fi. Use the former and web browsing is very slow as you can view actual web pages on the screen (and everything can take an age to load). Find a wi-fi hot spot if you can.

Battery life is hugely dependent on how much you use the phone but you can change all manner of energy settings to maximise life. At first I had it set up to automatically check my email account every 15 minutes via GPRS but soon discovered this was a mistake. Even hourly intervals left me having to recharge every couple of days - so I now only use it to check email on a manual basis, which it does very well.

So overall I like it. It's not the glitziest phone on the planet but I put practicality and usability before kudos - and this is one of the best I've ever owned.

I am very happy with my T-Mobile MDA Vario mobile phone. It has a huge number of features, and they all appear easy to find and use.

The WiFi is useful sometimes, although I must admit I don't use it as much as I thought I would.