OK, first things first, the VM800 is one hell of a pink phone, so if that's not your thing we suggest you look away now...

Still reading? Good, because as well as its cute chrome cover, the VM800 has plenty of plus points to draw you in. Labelled a 'budget Blackberry', the phone features a QWERTY keyboard, quick access to social networking sights and, perhaps most importantly, a cost-effective way to surf the internet thanks to a very competitive web tariff rom Virgin Media. 

The VM800 is available on pay-as-you-go for just £39.99 when bought with £10 airtime, plus you get 300 texts thrown in. Even better, if you top up £15 a month then you get free web access for six months - 25MB a day or up to 1GB a month, which is more than some monthly data plans. For those who don't top up £15 a month, you pay just 30p a day for 25MB web access. All in all, a good value way to use the net from your mobile.

If you're into social networking then the VM800 is particularly good, with a 'My Friends' shortcut that takes you straight to sites like Facebook, MySpace and Flickr. Also on the menu are a 'News' service providing headlines that direct you to the whole story, and 'Weather', which displays data from Accuweather. These shortcuts are especially useful because unfortunately the phone doesn't have 3G, meaning data speeds are slow. 

Although the phone lacks 3G, it does have Bluetooth, allowing you to share data and chat hands-free to friends using a Bluetooth headset. It also features an FM radio and music player (headphones provided - you can't use your own sadly), as well as a camera. With only 2 megapixels and no flash, the camera is relatively basic, but fine if you're just taking a few snaps for Facebook. 

There's also a Micro SD Card socket so you can carry around more songs by buying relatively cheap memory cards as an iPod alternative. An 8GB card costs around £12, giving you as much space as an iPod Nano.

The QWERTY keyboard seems unnecessarily small given that the phone is the same width as a Blackberry, and the slanted keys take some getting used to. However, once you get the knack of it you can compose texts and emails much faster than with a regular phone - it's just a shame it lacks some more sophisticated features such as automatic capitalization after a full stop.

The main advantage of the VM800 is it's affordability. Although internet speeds are relatively slow and the keyboard and camera aren't what you'd get in a smartphone, you're also paying hundreds of pounds less - and still getting web access, some good apps and the hottest of hot pink handsets.