Ok, so had a quick read through the manual when I first got the phone, and it says that the phone charges through the USB port, and it is possible to tansfer data during this time.
Can't get it to work. Used the USB cable and connected to laptop - whilst it was possible to transfer data, I think the USB port on the laptop wasn't generating enough juice to power up the device?
This was a Windows laptop. My older G4 Mac Powerbook is well known for having under powered USB ports, so wasn't expecting that to be able to charge the phone, but though the Windows machine might have done. Is there a way to check the power output of the USB port?