Looks good, but that's just about it (Motorola V3690)

Member Name: tombillyard

Product:	Motorola V3690
Date:	12/06/02 (78 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Small, Light

Disadvantages: Bad reception, Archaic operating system

I was a late starter in the world of mobile phones; I'd resisted them for many years. However, the time finally came where I decided that one would be far too useful to do without. I'd seen adverts for the lovely Motorola, and when it was free with my contract I had to have one.

Having played with friends' Nokias in the past, I was rather expecting this to be as easy to use and as functional as them. Sadly I was somewhat wrong. The menu system is fine, but it just doesn't have the feature set that even the most basic Nokia does. A particular niggle of mine is the fact that, while it will display the number that a text message is sent from, it won't match that number to one in your phone book, leaving you to search for it yourself. Very irritating.

The antenna and reception are also dreadful, far, far worse than other phone models. A friend on the same network as me gets almost perfect reception on his phone in the same spot my Motorola struggles to get any.

Oh, and did I mention that it turns itself off at regular intervals completely without warning, and that the flip up display is so unreliable that it's had to be replaced twice in a year? Sadly, both are true.

But it's not all bad; it's fantastically small and light, and the battery lasts for ages. It's not completely rubbish, but I wouldn't choose it again.

Summary: