Motorola C139 (AT&T)
-
"C139 can't walk and chew gum at the same time!" on by EnqMindz
Pros: Outstanding battery life! WAY up there.
Cons: Calendar-reminder function does NOT work DURING a call! Why NOT? I *RELY* on this feature--or rather I DID rely on it with former Nokia phone.
Summary: Cingular "upgraded" its GSM network to dual-band (850/1900MHz), and forced former AT&T Wireless customers such as myself, to abandon excellent basic phones, like the Nokia 3590, for the rather disappointing Moto c139.
Sadly, every user menu in the c139 is both less friendly and less intuitive than Nokia's. And the printed manual for the c139 is an abomination, with many outright omissions. I rate the manual a 1, whereas Nokia's was a 9... night and day difference in user documentation.
Then one day, for no reason, ALL of my user-specific data, NOT in the SIM, just EVAPORATED... POOF! Phonebook was in SIM, so OK, but all my User Settings, Recent Calls, Speed Dials, Calendar appointments, Tone selections, Shortcuts--GONE! Spent a couple angry hours re-entering it all... GRRR!
(Cingular tech support was clueless. They actually said they had NO bug reports on the c139! As an engineer of similar products, I KNOW this is just not possible! GRRRrrr!)
The voice quality is also slightly inferior, sending and receiving. Phone or new network? Not sure. With the Nokia on single-band 850 GSM network, people on the other end often thought I was on a landline. Nobody makes that mistake any more. Boo-hoo.
But failing to sound, or even display/vibrate, calendar-alarms just because a call is in progress, THAT is just boneheaded and unacceptable, since there are no technical obstacles to this. A DEAL-BREAKER. I will soon be trading out the c139, and good riddance. -
"Very simple with a few glitches" on by JVerderame
Pros: Small, utilitarian and super cheap
Cons: Glitches in the software require daily restarts
Summary: I purchased this phone in Europe unlocked so that i could use it with the different "pay as you go" services through out europe, as i was traveling through several countries. It has served me well, well enought that other members of my family have purchased them too for the same purpose. Pretty solid and straight forward on use, it does have one area where it is not quite right. For one it seems at least with TIM service in Italy to not be able to recieve multi page SMS messages. Additionally it ocassionally glitches on SMS messages and must be restarted to cure the glitches. SMS messages are not damaged in the process. Overall it is a good simple phone. As a plus the battery lasts way longer than my RAZR (which is on its second batter in 1.5 years of ownership, erg...)
-
"just what i needed" on by white stripes
Pros: works great good signal streanth
Cons: none that i can think of
Summary: great basic phone
dependable,love it! -
"Utilitarian" on by phone.horse
Pros: Good standby time, lightweight
Cons: Poor owner's manual
Summary: This is my sixth cellular phone. It seems reliable and suits my needs. However, the owner's manual leaves a lot to be desired. For instance it does not tell you how to delete an address book entry. Now, how basic is that? I found out myself after what seemed like hours of trial and error. Another example is that the owners manual does not tell you how to shift to uppercase while composing a text message...well, actually it does, but the way it tells you simply will not work...no matter how many times you try. Perhaps some day I will figure out how, meanwhile the person on the other end will think I don't appreciate the value of capitalization. Also, the manual dwells ad infinitum on how to compose your own cell ring. Who cares? In closing, I guess the phone is okay but this is the worst celluar phone owner's manual I have ever had to deal with.
-
"Great basic phone!" on by btcomputergeek
Pros: Great reception, no dropped calls
Cons: Display turns off every 30 secs
Summary: This phone is a good basic phone because it has good quality reception. I only paid $19.99 for it because it was on sale at Radioshack, and it was worth every penny. I am on the Cingular GoPhone network, so it was prepaid. I used my existing GoPhone SIM because my older phone was dropping calls, amd I needed a new one. The phone came with $10 airtime, so in a sense I only paid $9.99 for the phone.
Write a Review
Compare to other cell phones
Compare selected
Check coverage in your area 
%20-%20Cell%20Phones%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/motorola-c139-at-t/4852-6454_7-31973621.html&x_breadcrumb=8900:3488:3504:6454&x_arw_bkts=MAD:high_wireless_switcher){kind=small}