Motorola V180 (Unlocked)

Summary: I picked the V180 relying on CNet's review, and "satisfied" comments from my cousin and boss, both have V180s, the former with AT&T and the latter with Cingular. I picked it even though this was not a free phone then. I have had the phone for four months now.

Anyway, the phone:
1. The battery life is terrible, I usually charge it when it drops to 1-2 bars (out of 3), but that happens usually by the third day - and I am not constantly on the phone, either (an hour a day max). CNet reported 9 hours of talk time and ten days of standby. Ha!

2. Flimsy build quality. Plastic, very bad. I also have a prepaid Tracfone Motorola v60, that is SOLID (though again, bad battery life). V180: I never know when it will break (hasn't in four months, though). Lousy buttons on the v180, great buttons on the v60.

3. Have to open the phone to set to vibrate, also have to lower the volume all the way to "vibrate" and then "silent". Darn thing beeps all the way through - embarassing in meetings etc. My v60 has a special button on the outside, that can be used to change the ring style without opening the phone - and with just one beep (loud/vibrate/silent/etc.)

4. Have had the call drop ever so often (I live in Champaign, IL). A one-hour conversation with my advisor took four calls. The fourth call, my advisor says "you should get a new phone". This was (then) just one month old. Similar results when I chat with the afore-mentioned cousin.

5. Bad call quality (volume). Have to keep adjusting the earpiece to listen to conversations. Have had reports my listeners can't hear anything, or my volume is too low. That often happens when I use a calling card (for international calls), so maybe that's the reason; then again, I have had problems otherwise as well. CNet: "good call quality". Ha! That was the reason for choosing the v180 over the then-Motorola "free" phone (I think it was the v551) - I preferred the clamshell Motorola over the candybar Sony Ericsson.

6. The AC adapter supplied is rated only for 110 V/60 Hz. I am writing this from Thailand, which has 230 V/50 Hz, but some outlets have 115 V (not sure how the 50 Hz - 60 Hz difference works - have no wish to fry my phone). My laptop, iPod, digital camera (Panasonic DMC-F1) all work with the included adapters and 230 V/50 Hz. But my Motorola can't be charged (at least, not without an additional transformer). Anyway, I don't use the phone here - roaming is $1.99/minute (though when I get back to the US, I plan to unlock my phone so I can use cheaper local SIM cards - calls to the US from Thailand are just 7 Baht/minute!)

7. Not very loud ringtones, I have missed calls just being in another room of my apartment (no other noises/sounds). I have also missed calls keeping it in my jeans' pockets. Though I must admit the alarm function works (but then the phone's just a couple feet from my ears!)

Hmmm.... as I write this, I wonder WHY I keep the damn thing. Could it be the two-year contract, two-year wait to upgrade, and $$$ for new phones without service? Maybe. But the calling plan from Cingular is good/convenient - my chats with at least two cousins, two good friends, and my boss are free minutes, and those are the most common calls. And I have over 450 "rolled-over" minutes in four months (though I might have over-estimated my calling needs). And the Yahoo! e-mail and IM services built-in (partly Cingular, partly Motorola) are good - I don't have Internet access at home, but check e-mail on my phone instead (Gmail rocks - free forwarding to Yahoo, and 1 GB).

Hmmm.... I have to check on my mail-in rebate, which I haven't received almost two months after I mailed it in; check if I can exhange this phone (perhaps it is just this instrument). I almost feared AT&T's service culture had crept into Cingular, when they charged my $4/minute for an international call after I had signed up for their international calling plan - took me an hour's talk to get them to remove the charge, but now I don't have an international calling plan on my phone.

UGH.... if it hadn't been for my cousins and friends also being on Cingular, and their roll-over minutes, I would be tempted to switch to Verizon (my experience there being only the landline service, I must admit). Verizon's CDMA technology was another factor for choosing Cingular (GSM works in India and Thailand).

So... hopefully this review is somewhat useful, now that I see Cingular is again offering the v180 as a free phone. UGH^2