Ericsson Mobile Companion MC 218

...as an owner of an Ericsson phone instead bought the Ericsson MC218, which is practically the same machine (but grey instead of black and silver). It uses the same software, but comes with some additional software too. BUT- There's no point buying the Ericsson version unless you already own an Ericsson mobile phone. The MC218 comes with a modem that you clip the bottom of your Ericsson phone (see picture above). This is very useful as it allows you ...
...synchronise your Outlook with the Ericsson via a cable. This is very useful. It comes with a CD that you download onto your PC. You can back up the contents of your Ericsson for peace of mind. All in all I've been very pleased with the Ericsson. I've got over 450 names, addresses and telephone numbers in the contacts section and use the diary constantly. It does everything I could possibly expect it to do, and use the e-mail function more than my ... more

I was in the market for a PDA originally, because I wanted a cheap and easy way to send and receive emails on the move. I was starting up in business and didn’t want to use my company email system or computer.

I wanted to buy the Psion series 5mx, but as an owner of an Ericsson phone instead bought the Ericsson MC218, which is practically the same machine (but grey instead of black and silver). It uses the same software, but comes with some additional software too. BUT- There's no point buying the Ericsson version unless you already own an Ericsson mobile phone. The MC218 comes with a modem that you clip the bottom of your Ericsson phone (see picture above). This is very useful as it allows you to download/upload all the contacts on your phone's memory. You can edit the contents of your phone using a keyboard, instead of doing it on the phone. Also, the modem is used to send/receive e-mails, SMS and faxes via your phone as well as surf the Internet and WAP.

If you use a computer, you can synchronise your Outlook with the Ericsson via a cable. This is very useful. It comes with a CD that you download onto your PC. You can back up the contents of your Ericsson for peace of mind. All in all I've been very pleased with the Ericsson. I've got over 450 names, addresses and telephone numbers in the contacts section and use the diary constantly. It does everything I could possibly expect it to do, and use the e-mail function more than my PC e-mail! The Epoc software is truly excellent, and very intuitive if you use computers regularly. In fact it really runs my life.

The screen is LCD, which being a bit dated is still very functional. (I think a small coloured screen is probably a bit unnecessary anyway).

Another really useful thing about the Epoc machines is that you don't need to close any files when you've finished using them. I keep the address book and diary open almost all the time, and simply turn off the PDA with them still open. This is a huge advantage over a PC.

However, there are some down points:
1. Firstly, although the Ericsson MC218 or Psion Series 5mx is considerably more powerful than a Palm Pilot, it's far too big and heavy to fit into a shirt pocket. If "small" is really important, you'll probably want to look for something else e.g. Psion Revo or Palm.

2. When I first bought it, it was very tricky and confusing (for a non-techie) to upload the Internet/email software and settings. What's more, Ericsson Support were far from helpful. It was several weeks before I managed to use the e-mail/WAP and Internet functions. This in my mind was pathetic. Especially as I had to make several calls to Ericssson support, often with no solution at the end of them.
The rest of the software, however is easy to use, and even the internet/e-mail is very straight forward once it works!

3. The IR port works quite well, but you have to align the phone with the back of the MC218, which you can only do on a tabletop or flat surface. This is fine unless you want to use the WAP function on the move- impossible if you are standing up, and hard if you're in a car as I've discovered. Hopefully, the new Bluetooth (radio link) technology will take care of this, if the MC218 will support it.

4. The keyboard often sticks. This takes some of the fun out of using it, as you have to revise everything you type, and fill in the missing letters to between 5-10% of the words. Surprisingly, the size of the keyboard causes me no problems at all. (I type with two fingers anyway!)

On the whole, despite all the criticism, I couldn't live without it, and don't regret buying it over another PDA. But that was back in November 1999, and as far as PDAs go, that was quite a while ago. It still serves me well, but with the new generation PDAs out with all the latest technologies e.g. Compaq iPaq, I doubt I would have opted for it today.
 

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