This phone's not allowed while I'm sunbathing in the nude.
Written: Sep 26 '04 (Updated Jan 29 '06)
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Pros: Feature rich, small enough to fit in a pocket; can be used internationally.
Cons: The antenna, calling via voice, my apprehension about Motorola
The Bottom Line: Depending on your provider it works anywhere! This is a great phone. It seems they have worked out the kinks of the 300.
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| jo.com's Full Review: Motorola V600 |
UPDATE: 1/29/06
My phone has passed on. Although I can still call out and receive calls in I can't see the screen. This phone is not made anymore but can be found on eBay. For the right price I'd recommend it still. I enjoyed it very much.
We bought the Motorola V300 cell phone after returning the BlackBerry. Using our phone at the time was a modem a must for us. When we realized the Blackberry doesn’t have that feature we went looking for one that did. After writing to T-Mobile twice and three V300s later T-Mobile and I negotiated a number of things. One was an upgrade to the Motorola V600 camera /modem phone which I am reviewing. This is being written by the “person on the street” in person on the street language. I will leave specifications at the bottom but I hope my review will help you decide in plain language if you want this phone.
The software and cables that enable the modem capability have to be bought separately. This is called a Data Connectivity Kit. In addition there is an extra charge for this service. The phone is WEB enabled as well.
Features of my Motorola V600:
I had a distinct advantage since the V600 is more like the 300 than unlike it. I had the 300 down pat and was able to utilize all the functions and had including taking pictures and e-mailing them. However I wasn’t always successful. There were times with the 300 that the recipients did not get my picture. I have e-mailed pictures from the 600 and have had success each time.
There are 8 icons (which can be made into text rather than looking at pictures)- phonebook, messages, recent calls, multimedia, get more, games and applications, settings and office tools. I have them in text finding it much easier to use. If you get this phone make sure you figure out this option and in my opinion use the text rather than the icons. It will make your use of the phone a lot easier if you don’t have to use the arrows to move from side to side or up and down to find the feature you want. You can order these in anyway you want. For example if you want to see your phonebook first you can do that. If you want games first you can do that.
Each feature has operations within them. For example you can voice record the name you want to call. Note: the name has to be saved to the phone. It took me quite a while to figure this out on my 300 so I’ll save you time. When you go to "store" the number and name it will automatically save it to the SIMS card. For those of you who have not owned a phone before the SIMS card is a tiny chip that is found under the battery. If the name is saved on the SIMS card you have to change it so that it is saved to the phone. You’ll scroll to edit and then see “store to” and you’ll select that and check phone. That is the only way you can record a voice. The only negative to this is that if you are just trying out the phone for two weeks don’t record too many voices because you will lose the numbers. Since they aren’t saved to the SIMS card that will go in another phone you’ll have to put the numbers in again.
Any feature you want to use says select, exit, edit, change or back. You will use keys on the phone to move from screen to screen.
Messages allows you to create messages (text, picture, or send to an album); message box, access your voicemail (and change greetings), and quick notes which are already written on the screen from which to choose. You can make up your own. You can access recent calls made. Multimedia is where you can access the pictures taken and add the sound you want your phone to ring. This phone allows you to assign a ring to people. You will see a Get Moreicon which has a T. These are the t-zones and not accessible unless you pay extra. You will have to talk with your provider about the charge. Now that I am not using the phone as a modem (information in a moment) I am paying the additional money and have t zones so I can get e-mail, use the Instant Message feature and goodies like what movie is playing in the area I am in or what the weather may be. I don’t play games on my phone, but you can! Two are already downloaded for you. You can download others – some for free; some will cost you money.
Settings is a very important feature. This is where I have personalized my phone with a greeting, a color style, and wallpaper. In fact, I took a picture of Hanna, my almost 1-year old Pomeranian and she is my wallpaper. It didn’t cost me anything to do this but it will cost you money to send pictures. Again, check with your provider on that. You will also be able to choose if you want your phone to ring, vibrate or do both and if you want it loud or soft. You have your call forward and caller id information here.
Using the camera is a piece of cake and a lot of fun. You can store a picture and save it or discard it if you don’t like it. It can be saved and sent later or even downloaded on your laptop. This really isn’t necessary since you can send the picture from the phone. Having this camera with me is just “neat” – what else can I say- it’s a great little toy. While I was waiting for it to come I had no phone. I found myself several times without my camera wishing I had my phone to take a picture. There is even a mirror on the front so you can take a picture of yourself.
Let me talk a bit about the modem capability. This was crucial in our decision initially to buy the 300. The 300 failed us in this area. I was hesitant to go with Motorola again or even a modem phone but I did. I want a laptop. Having a modem phone and a laptop means I can go anywhere and get online as long as I have reception. The connectivity kit I mentioned above comes with software that is easy to install. Although we tested the 300 before we went on our summer trip, we had lots of problems. I have tested the V600 with my husband’s laptop in all parts of this state since I’ve gotten the phone and so far so good. I’ve had no problem using it as a modem. I am truly hoping that either the problems I had with 3 phones were a fluke or that the 300 is just a lemon. The computer is slower with the modem phone but I can live with that.
More about the phone:
This is a very cute flip phone with a silver metallic finish. The picture you see is of the V300. The 300 had a rubber type feel (Called Soft Touch) to the top and back of it. I like the silver. It is very attractive though I am careful not to scratch it. I haven’t gotten a cover yet but am using the holster that the V300 came with. A holster is just that. The phone fits into it and has a clip on the back. A small piece of material goes around the external antenna to hold it in place.
The time shows up on the front cover. (You can set it for analog or digital.) It is a small phone – not the tiniest on the market but one I can put in my pocket easily. It weighs 4.4 ounces (.1 more than the 300) and is 3.5 x 1.87 x 0.83 inches which is a tad smaller than the 300.
What I like and what I don’t like – my experiences:
I really like the camera ability. In spite of recently purchasing A href="/content_121868160644 it is a lot of fun to always have a camera on me.
I like the ability to use the e-mail function, AIM services and other additional "cost" features. I like the fact I can record myself. I can record, for example, a note to myself to pick up milk at the grocery store if I am somewhere without a pen or paper. In general I like the features of the phone.
My phone came with a charger (not a car charger, however and a hands-free headset so I can talk without holding the phone.
It has a 128 x 128 pixel internal display - up to 65,000 Vivid Colors (CSTN). The screen is really clear and sharp. The screen is a good size measuring 1 1/2” in length and a little less than 1 1/4” in width.
The design of it is identical to the 300 so there are still things I don’t like. I don’t like the antenna. I was so used to my old Samsung. Nothing could be as comfortable to hold as my old phone. There are warnings in the manual about the use of cell phones. One is to not touch the antenna while on a call. I hold the phone from the bottom, I hold it from the top and nothing is really feeling comfortable. I end up holding the entire phone, which makes sense, but inevitably I am going to be touching the antenna.
I don’t like the fact the first screen I see when I open the phone are the t-zones and camera screen. The time and date show up there but I would prefer the main menu to come up when I flip it open.
In order to voice call a number in your phone book (I already told you that they have to be saved to the SIMS card) unlike my Samsung, which when I flipped it open I just said a name and it called, on the Motorola I have to push down the activation button on the right side of the phone in order to make the call by voice. You have to press it twice which I don’t like if I’m driving. It isn’t as user friendly as I would like. Perhaps they don’t make a phone user friendly enough for me!
The manual is very good but when I was learning on the 300 it wasn’t good enough! The Motorola site was not helpful to me. Calling Motorola is useless because you get a recording and if your question isn’t on the list of Frequently Asked Questions, then you are out of luck.
You will get a bit more talk and standby time with the 600 than with the 300. The 300 got me 180-440 hours of talk time and up to 120-200 hours of standby time. The 600 provides up to 210 - 450 minutes of talk time and 135 - 240 hours of standby time using the 700 mAh Li-Ion battery .
I don't find the clarity of sound as good as other phones, including the Blackberry and Samsung. I was hoping this would be fixed with the 600 but I have the same issue and it isn’t T-Mobile’s fault on this count. My husband’s free after rebate Nokia has reception in rooms I don’t. When I had asked T-Mobile about that I was told that fancier phones have more “guts” and sometimes the reception isn’t as good. I don’t buy that. I think it is a Motorola issue but I do get reception well enough in my house to be satisfied given all the other features the 600 has.
One major difference in the 600 is “The V600's quad-band technology allows for voice calls in 125 countries and data activity in 30 countries where roaming agreements are in place."
Just like you can assign people different rings you can assign different colors of lighting to the caller, voicemail or text message. The screen savers and backgrounds on all the screens are bright and easy to see. I can barely see my husband’s Nokia screen.
The phone has 5 MB internal storage memory. That is more than enough to store backgrounds, ring tones, games, emails, and text messages
A complete list of the features and specifications I may not have mentioned will be below my final thoughts. Some of these I did mention but in plain terms such as not using the term Bluetooth for the modem capability. Features such as this will also be added below for those of you who like the technical terms.
Jo’s Final Thoughts:
The cost of the phone varies so much depending on the plan and the rebate of the moment. It says that the retail price is $369.
So far so good. A couple of times when I called customer service because of problems with my V300 I was told they had some problems with them. Other customer service reps disagreed. I do think they may have ironed out these problems because the phone has been problem free. It is pricey unless you sign up but considering it acts as a modem and a camera and is really feature rich, if you can get a good deal give it a try. I would use the 14 day trial period with this phone to make sure that it works for you in various parts of your state!
Also note that this phone has to be shut off for at least 5 seconds each day to update. I found that out when the time didn't show up on the front cover. I called customer service and was told to shut off the phone and turn it on again. The time then showed up and I was told to make sure I do that each day.
Please feel free to ask me a question, leave a comment or tell me what this non- expert has left out! Thanks.
Taken from www.motorola.com
Specifications
· GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz
· GPRS (2u/4d) AMR
· 3.5 x 1.87 x 0.83 inches - size of phone with standard battery
· 4.4 oz - weight of phone with standard battery
Highlighted Features
· Alerts - 21 Embedded MIDI Ring tones
· 4 MP3 Ring Tones
· 22 Khz Polyphonic Speaker with 22 Level Support
· Embedded and Downloadable (01) J2ME Games - Stuntman, Bejeweled
· User-customizable - Softkey functions, Main Menu and shortcuts
· Video Clip - Download and playback with sound (01) (10 sec)
· Integrated digital camera (VGA quality) with zoom and brightness adjustment
· Situational Exterior Lighting
· Caller Group Profiling - Ringer & Icon
· Phone Book - Up to 1000 entries plus up to 250 on SIM card
· Picture Phone Book - Up to 1000 entries
· Voice Activated Dialing and Feature Recall
· Handsfree Speaker
· VibraCall® alert
· Multimedia messaging - Picture / Photo + Text + Sound
· EMS 5.0
· iTAP™ software for simplified text entry - anticipates the word you are trying to spell when entering text in email, short messages or other edit modes
· SMS - Chat one-to-one
· Quick Messages - 10 user-definable SMS
· Group SMS
· Nokia Smart Message Receive
· Instant Message Support - Wireless Village 1.1, Embedded Client
· Email Support - STMP, POP3, IMAP4
· Calculator with currency converter
· Date and Clock
· Datebook with Reminder Alerts
· PIM Functionality
Talk Time Features
· Provides up to 135 - 240 hours of standby time using standard battery (20)
· Provides up to 210 - 450 minutes of talk time when used with standard battery (20)
Display
· 128 x 128 pixel internal display - Up to 65,000 Vivid Colors (CSTN)
· Reads 7 lines of text, 1 line of icons
· Blue backlight on external display
Data Features
· WAP Browser version 2.0 (01)
· CE Bus (USB/Serial)
· J2ME Programmability (01)
· Synchronization with PC (Software and accessories sold separtly)
· Internal Memory - 5MB
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 359
Recommended for: World Travelers - Works Anywhere and Everywhere!
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