- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 5 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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3.0 stars
"Zipit has it's perks and misses!"
Pros: SMS,EMS,Internet Radio,Multi-protocol IM similar to computer versions,large screen,back-lit keys,MP3 player with album art,photo viewer
Cons: Can't SMS/EMS to pre-paid phones,cost money for IM/text for a year when it was free,freezing happens when listening to music and photos,server-side connection errors,3 hour battery life
Summary: I bought a Zipit early this month to pull away from the $20 a month unlimited fee that my pre-paid service charges for SMS/MMS/EMS/Webmail/IM.
I have mobile AIM and Yahoo plus email on my phones,but it costs alot to use plus requires a calling plan of the same amount,thus making the fee $45 for web,IM/email and 200 minutes!
Cheap to some but I don't need the calling minutes.
So I stopped using it,and headed to something SMS/EMS/IM only.
And that choice was the Zipit Z2.
It's for kids albeit,but adults can use it too if they want.
It looks like a small laptop to most,so that's not an issue.
And it fits in well with other messaging phones spec wise.
But the Zipit Z2 has some misses.
Just around Feb 7th,the service fell offline for two days!
From late Friday afternoon to early Monday Feb 9th, it was down!
Every connection gave an error on their end.
It was pretty annoying and I bet others saw.
Luckily the support staff(Jebecca)is pretty nice and gets to all concerns quickly.
Another issue they have is the texting/IM feature.
It is no longer free,it only lets you text people using regular cell plans not pre-paid,and it only shows the basics for IMing.
I had a time trying to text my friends on their Sidekick pre-paid plan and my mother on her pre-paid plan too!
Yet clearly it is stated on their site that texting works with over 20 suppliers!
One being Virgin Mobile,which is prepaid in all areas but the UK.
And this is the pre-paid service me and my mother used!
I could not send a text to my mothers cell or even a test message to my old cells.
It wasn't until I mentioned this to staff,that I was told, "our texting provider doesn't support pre-paid like Trac Fone and Virgin Mobile". Ha!
Also,every first IM and text sent out from your Zipit Z2 gives away advertisements that you are on a Zipit,along with the link!
It does this every time you send your first message to someone on your list.
even if you've messaged them before and close the message window.
Opening it again and resending a text or IM,brings up the annoying ad!
Zipit Wireless needs to cut this issue from their texting.
They also still are tooting their old info about free IMing and texting,and that's outdated. Many new customers are confused.
Not to mention the boxing and booklet they send out is outdated too now.
They offer a link in FAQ to the new booklet,but it too is a bad link.
Zipit Wireless needs to correct it's branding and details about texting/IM.
Other than that it's a fairly good messaging device and better than other mesaging phones and even the Sidekick,which doesn't offer fully multi-protocol IMing at once,or a back-lit keypad.
Battery life is like that of a cheap entry-level laptop. Lasting three hours at most.
The site says up to seven,but that's only if you dim the display and only IM/text at short intervals.
Zipit Wireless Messenger 2:
