Yamaha Home Theater
- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 43 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"This is a RAZR?"
Pros: Build quality, nice screen, flash, music player
Cons: only 2Mpix, Verizon ringers, auto-focus sound
Summary: This is a slightly less conventional revue to give you an idea of some of my own likes and dislikes. Several things which weren't mentioned in the Cnet review...or reviews anywhere else:
* Fingerprints - I think if you Google "fingerprints", the first search result will be the Ve Maxx. We all know this. However, all you have to do is go "HaHHHH" (exhale out) on the hardened glass surface (not plastic) and wipe it across your jeans/shirt/friend's arm sleeve and voila!...its clean again. Stop complaining about this. Or get the leather case. Or get a life.
* The reason the auto-focus button is placed where it is -- something that almost every review of this phone seems to question -- is because it's directly opposite the camera module mounted within the phone. Auto-focus mechanisms are part of the camera sensor itself, so it really has to be there. Pressing this button is optional...you can take a picture just with the "take photo" center menu button, but AF takes a much sharper picture. You can actually press the AF button and not wait for the auto-focus to correct, and the subsequent pictures taken with the menu button are usually in good focus. I do not like the beep tone when pressing the AF button however, which you cannot disable, unlike other photo shutter sounds.
* The flash isn't just a flash...it is a veritable headlamp. If you need a flashlight, take out your camera phone, enable the flash, and press and hold the shutter button. Very effective. I'm surprised Motorola didn't design in a flashlight function for this very bright light.
* 2.0 Mpix was the reason I got this phone. I don't know why Verizon only seems to think we all want 1.3Mpix. I really wanted 3 or 5 Mpix like some of Nokia's phones offer, but those phones are on GSM and GSM does not work well where I live, so I'm stuck with Verizon and their 3-year old technology. When using the auto-focus as described, pictures are very good. Without using AF, pictures usually work fairly well, but some can turn out blurry.
* This phone is made of rubber-coated metal and scratch resistant glass, not black and clear plastic. Wow, you mean there's something made in our modern world that's not plastic??
* The phone seems to go to sleep, something that Motorola processors sometimes do. When I first bought it, I kept missing calls because the phone seemed to be so busy in 'idle mode' that it couldn't wake up in time for a 4 to 5 ring cycle. After missing the call, it would then wake up in time to beep with a message waiting indicator, and indicate a "missed call". Signal strength is around 5-7 out of 10 in my home...that should be enough to ring right away...it always has been with 5 other cell phones used in this house over the last 5 years. It rarely does this problem now...though sometimes it still does. Sometimes it remains asleep for a few seconds when I pick it up to make a call...unless you open the flip, pressing any button on the outside does nothing for about 10-15 seconds. This phone does so much else well that I've learned to live with this occasional problem, but of course you may not like this. I had another early version Ve Maxx that failed to focus at all and returned it...got the one I have now, whose serial number is only 8 counts off that original phone. Maybe I got stuck with a bad batch (bought the phone in May 2007 right after it became available).
* I disagree with the speakerphone complaints. I can hear it just fine and others say they can hear me just fine. I do not use a headset. It is true that on maximun volume, distortion becomes noticeable.
* Ring volume is good, but not the loudest I've heard.
* I have inadvertently pressed the capacitance-sensitive music buttons on the front a few times, starting up the music player when the phone is in my pocket. I stopped wearing phones on my belt because I didn't want to look like the 40 year man I am, but rather like a 20 year old dude I feel like. If you wear it on your belt, you probably won't run into this as much.
* Some people in reviews elsewhere complained about the screen size, and 64K of colors (not 256K). Trust your eyes. I went from the venerable LG VX8000 and its huge screen to this phone. Guess what?? They are almost identical in size (like, 1 mm off in one height if I recall). And "only" 64K colors? Folks, I've taken a lot of pictures on this and my last phone, and it's color is FAR superior. If you don't like the phone for other reasons, well, OK. But don't make your buying decision because it only has 64,000 colors. I mean, geez, if this stuff worries you, you've got more problems than picking the right phone.
* I love the music player, even if it does occasionally start on its own when its in my pocket. It's not the same capacity as an iPod, but it works for me. I did not at all like the headphones the Motorola/Verizon packages in the media kit. They fit poorly, falling out of your ears, and the slack in the wire slaps against your face whether you walk or jog. The plastic clip is on the headphone wire is useless. Buying yourself good headphones is an option, but then you'll need the headphone adapter (included with the phone, but a bit clunky).
* Yes you CAN use Motorola Phone Tools to download your own ring tones...you just need to accidently not upgrade beyond version 4.3.6.
* The battery is pretty decent...I get away with charging every 2-3 days, although music player and long talk time would need charging daily.
%20user%20review%20and%20rating%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/motorola-razr-maxx-ve/4864-6454_7-32432738-3.html){kind=small}