Goodbye Moto ! (Motorola V220)

Member Name: thegarleon

Product:	Motorola V220
Date:	28/12/05 (769 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's smalll

Disadvantages: Not many gadgets.

I thought the search for a new mobile phone was over when someone kindly bought me a Motorola V220. I now know what phone I NEVER want to see again! If you are any good at word play then you will know what I mean when I say " what a shile of pite".

-----A new phone. GREAT, oh but wait-----
I was so delighted to be handed a new mobile phone as a present that at first I was taken a bit by surprise. It's not every day that someone buys you a Motorola phone. I have always had Nokia, Sony and Sagem's in the past. I don't know why but I expected a lot more from this brand than I got. I am used to a standard small mobile. The clam shell design of this would not have been my first choice but I thought "what the heck, it's a gift so be thankful". The phone is very small and also felt a little bit flimsy when unfolded. Hmm, so far not very good. The fact that it didn't feel right should have set alarm bells ringing straight away. I was given one pre set for the Orange network. I have used Vodaphone for the past year so thought I would give Orange a try. I am not that technically minded but in the past have been quite quick at setting up my mobile phones to be a bit more personal than they are when they come out of the box. This one proved to be a bit of a challenge.

The navigation system is a bit awkward, as are the menus. You can use a couple of pre set themes to make it look a bit more like "Your Phone" than when it came out of the box.

I am a male and a James Bond fan so I like my little gadgets. This phone is very thin on the ground when it comes to the Q-department. Yes there is a little screen that shows who is phoning when the phone is shut, this is so you can tell who is phoning before you open it......but my old phone shows me on the screen who was calling. So no big wow there.

Yes there is a camera that can take pretty good pictures and even zoom and move them.....but when I went to send them to my pc I noticed there is no Bluetooth or Inra red send function !There is a usb symbol on the side but a quick check of the box shows a lack of CD rom or lead. So I take it you have to buy them at additional cost. So am I just supposed to send any good pics to my friends by mms? What if I want to keep them? Hmmm again warning bells. No Infra red for my laptop, no bluetooth for the desktop and it's flimsy. Never mind it's a present.

Aha video player! Great, a little video clip. Great that must mean that I can record video, might buy that usb lead after all.....nope, it can't record video. It can only play video downloaded from WAP sites (Wireless Application Protocol created for mobiles, yes I am a Smart Arse, infact It's not just my rear that is smart!).

The speakerphone is tinny and the ringtones are just plain dodgy. They sound like they are comming out of a novelty Christmas card.

-----Oh, I take it you don't like it then?-----
In a word......Yes. I don't like it. This phone is a bit pants. Infact as far as I am concerned it's Bridget Jones Style big pants with some worrying tan stains. This phone is no use to a gadget needy, real ringtone sound recorder, infra red picture sending pay as you go user like myself. However it is now in the possession of my Good Lady Wife. Waste not want not. It sits nicely in her handbag alongside her lippy and make-up. This is more a no frills girly phone.

-----Technical bits-----
The battery life is fairly standard so far. Mrs gets about 3 days average to minimum text and call usage before having to charge it up.
The screen is colour and at 65k colour it looks pretty good. Just don't think you are going to be able to see those nice pictures on your pc unless you fork out for the usb lead to link it up.

You can send and receive mms (multi media picture and sound) messages, but only play video sent to you or downloaded from a third party.

It is a dinky little phone so the buttons are a little fiddly for chubby digits. It is 8.5cm by 4.5cm in a silver case.There is a pink version for the ladies or men of confused orientation

Polyphonic and mp3 ringtones can be downloaded and used but you can't seem to record "live" using your children's voice or a daft message of your own choice. There is an absolutely useless motomixer thingy that lets you "create" your own tone. After about an hour of mucking about I had created the mating call of the Dalek. At least that's what it sounded like to the guys with plungers and flowers at my front door.

For those of you who travel to the States or Canada it has tri band. But you would probably have a better phone with you to connect to your laptop by Bluetooth if you travelled a lot wouldn't you?

-----Is that it then? Have you finished ripping this to bits?-----
No.....IT'S PANTS !!!!! Buy a Nokia for the same price with more features. Or even a Sagem with far More features that is less fashionable.

Thank you for reading

Summary: Clam not for me.

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