Updated Review - From 4 star to 2 star (Not a good phone)
Written: Feb 04 '02 (Updated Jun 13 '02)
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Pros: Styling, comfort, talk time (when you can stay connected)
Cons: No clock, menus are a pain, no vibrate, consistent dropped calls
The Bottom Line: Because of continuous dropped calls and ridiculously difficult phone book accessibility, I can't recommend this phone.
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| DCannon's Full Review: Motorola V2282 Cell Phone |
After 6 months with the v2282, I've updated (or should I say "downgraded") this review from 4 stars to 2 stars. I'm leaving the basic introduction paragraph, afterwhich my review is quite different from the original.
After many years of doing just fine without a cell phone, I finally decided the convenience would be worth giving it a try...especially considering the “wireless wars” going on right now producing low-cost, feature-packed plans. So I’ve spent the last month looking over carrier plans online, calling carriers directly and getting a feel for how they conduct business and treat customers, and talked to every friend and acquaintance I know with a cell phone about their carriers, phones, etc. For my needs, I finally went with VoiceStream, who provides the Motorola v2282 free with their plans. Since I’ve never had a cell phone, I have nothing to compare it to, but I’m somewhat of a cordless phone aficionado and at least know good sound quality, build quality, useful features, etc. and I’ll do my best to provide a useful review.
I’ve seen enough cell phones to realize the v2282 certainly isn’t the best phone on the market, and after 6 months of use, even considering I got this phone free with the service activation, it's not worth messing with. My first v2282 had to be replaced and the replacement has the same problems which I'll cover later.
To its credit, the v2282 is a very comfortable, stylish phone with good sound & clarity (when a connection can be maintained long enough to HAVE a conversation) and battery life. I got a cell phone for emergency situations, driving trips, to let people know if I’ll be arriving late, etc, so it serves my basic needs. The physical size of 5.25 x 1.875 x 1 fits easily into any small hiding or storage spot. The fixed antenna extends the total length another inch. The first V2282 I got with the activation had a nicely finished black face with easily-readable, backlit silver buttons and a bright, contrasty display that can be adjusted to the user’s liking via the menus. The replacement has a light gray/silver face. Volume for both incoming calls and the fm radio (yes, an fm radio) are easily controlled by 2 buttons on the left side of the phone (viewing from front). The fm radio is activated when in standby mode by a single button on the right side of the phone. If you’re listening to the radio and a call comes in, an alert tone is sounded. You can then accept the call by pressing “OK”, or if you don’t want to take the call, you can either press a volume button to stop the alert and ignore the call, or press the “C” (clear) button. By the way, the fm radio quality is actually quite good and reception seems to be excellent.
Construction quality is excellent and is obvious when handling the phone. Nothing rattles or feels loose....very tight.
My phone came with a horribly ugly blue cover, a double ear pod headset, 120V charger, belt clip, user manual, and various other printed info. I recently got a car charger for it at Target for $12.99. The V2282 uses three AAA-L NiMH batteries that are longer than standard batteries, so locating replacements in your local department stores will be extremely difficult. I tried to find batteries with a higher mAh rating to increase performance and talk time, but had no luck due to the longer required length. Initial charging is the same process as with cordless phones, requiring at least 14 hours. It’s then a good idea to go through a few cycles of completely discharging (until the phone turns itself off) and recharging the batteries to “form” them and attain the best performance and longevity. After the initial 14+ hour charge, recharge until “Charging Complete” appears in the display. With proper initial charging and recharging, the V2282 provides commendable talk time and performance. Advertised talk time is “up to 210 min” with 135 hours of standby time, and I’m getting pretty close to those figures. Naturally, extreme temperatures, not properly maintaining the batteries, using the radio, operating in an area of variable coverage, etc will affect performance.
As far as menu features, there are just too many to cover or even list here. It’s easier to go to the following interactive web site that covers the basic menus and operation of the V2282. It’s a cool site where you can click on buttons and the corresponding info appears in the display, etc. Much can be learned about the V2282 at: http://209.184.201.39/handset_simulator/motorola_2282.html. As I said, one of my biggest complaints is the ridiculous menu system. You have to go through several button presses to get into the phone book to find an entry by location or name. Ridiculous!! I only have 5 numbers that I’d ever routinely call, and I’ve programmed them into the 1-touch dialing, so I don’t need to get into the phone book. But for people with a long list of contacts, the menu system will quickly become a chore. It would seem to me any cell phone should immediately access the phone book by pushing one button, then using up/down arrows to scroll. Instead, the V2282 has a dedicated button to call in to check messages....but no dedicated button to get you directly into the phone book.
The V2282’s processor seems a bit slow, but not objectionable. Sometimes after powering up, when I press a number key for 1-touch dialing, I’ll get “Busy....try later” a couple times. Apparently it takes the system a while to set itself. Once set, it’s fine.
Now....about the serious problems I've had since using the v2282. Ever since I've had the 2282, I've experienced the frustration of consistent dropped calls. I live in a major area with two VoiceStream towers in the area, so usually have a strong signal, but still had call after call dropped with freshly charged batteries and a strong signal. At first I chalked it up to "typical cell service", but after finding out my friends who have the same carrier never have this problem, I began to question VoiceStream customer service and received a myriad of different reasons for the dropped calls. They checked the towers in the area and there were no problems, so they suggested it may be the phone and did a handset swap. Unfortunately, the replacement v2282 didn't solve the problem. I still got consistent dropped calls and a noticeable electronic pulsing background noise that was driving me nuts, which existed in both v2282s. We tried a new sim card, which didn't help. Finally, after being dropped several times within a few minutes while trying to contact a family member recently, I contacted customer service for what seemed like the hundredth time and said, "That's it!!!...I want out of the contract and I'm not paying the early cancellation fee. I haven't been able to maintain a call without being dropped since I've had the v2282" and blamed it on VoiceStream. Thankfully, I got a very cool customer service rep who said he'd do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of the problem, and if all further attempts fail with no other possibilities, he'd personally assist me in getting out of the contract. He checked everything he could from his end and determined it had to be the phone itself since he hadn't received any reports of similar problems in the four years he'd been with VoiceStream. Sure...there will always be certain areas where service will be interrupted by terrain and other situations, but where I am, dropped calls shouldn't happen with a strong signal and full battery power. He suggested trying another phone, so I told him I wished there were a way I could try a completely different brand without having to buy one....like a loaner. So he called a couple VoiceStream stores in my area to see if they'd give me a loaner for a couple days just to see if it'd make any difference, and if so, I'd buy the loaner. But neither store would go for it, which actually shocked the customer service rep...and myself. So as a last effort and wanting to keep me as a customer, he said he'd utilize VoiceStream's free handset replacement policy (for damage or loss), consider my v2282 damaged and just send me another phone for free with a choice between a Motorola T193 or Nokia 3390. There's no way I wanted another Motorola, so didn't hesitate to go with the Nokia. I received it within two days and it's been trouble free with no dropped calls and no annoying electronic pulsing background noise. Just clear, uninterrupted connections. Thank God! The Nokia is also light years simpler to use and very user-friendly. Plus it has many more useful features than the v2282 like direct phone book accessibility, vibrating answer, clock, and voice dialing. The 3390's processor is much more responsive than the 2282 and is just a better product overall. No more Motorolas for me, at least with VoiceStream.
As a final thought, I must say that as with any cell provider, VoiceStream's service isn't perfect but now with the Nokia 3390, it's fine and customer service has always been excellent.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): Nothing-Free
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Epinions.com ID:
DCannon
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Location: Madison, AL
Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 5 members
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