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"A great leap in Portable PDA style Cell Phones" on by mmettner
Pros: Great Design, PDA/Cell Phone hybrid, excellent interface, and just a plain fun phone.
Cons: Not supported in United States, yet???
Summary: I started on a simple journey, a journey to find what I would consider the next evolution of Cellular Phone. If you can believe it, one had already exsisted. During my searches I wanted a few simple things...... 1. A great phone. 2. A PDA 3. Mobile email. So why didn't I just look at Blackberry you ask? My response simple, every PDA / Cell phone hybrid I have seen made me feel like I would be carrying a boat anchor with me. I started to become frustrated as I searched and found more and more cellular phones that made my old palm pilot from 1998 look like a sleak device.
Then by chance I came across a new phone released in Hong Kong. I don't know what made me review this phone but all I can say is, there is a God. A English text, Quad Band GSM phone began to perk my interest. I thought, hmmm even though this is a Hong Kong phone this would work with my local (Cellular One of Michigan) service. Then I started digging into the features, size and style.
I will start with the features and let me tell you being able to use a stylus to write, or keypad out text messages will make it hard for me to ever go back to a standard key pad phone. The pop3 mail availability, and full HTML web-surfing are nothing short of genius. A 2 megapixel camera, which can be used while the lid is closed makes for a new definition of "quick shot"
Oh by the way did I mention this phone is about as thin as a razor and slightly smaller than a Motorola V555, and without the external antenna??
I wish I could allow you to see this phone, it's styling is without a doubt far beyond any cell phone currently on the market, even the new pebl if your into that sort of phone.
With a simple swap of SIM card I was able to start using the phone for sending and receiving phone calls. With a small amount of time digging into the settings I was also able to set the phone for full English Capability. Actually if you picked up my phone right now you would be hard pressed to tell it was designed and released in Hong Kong. I'm hoping this was Motorola's Intent, and perhaps eventual plan to release this phone in the states??
Cellular One of Michigan was able to send me the MMS internet connection settings, (note we used my cell companies Motorola Razr MMS settings and it worked)
All in all if you are a techy person who wants a phone that will turn heads, this is the must have phone of the year. Thus far I've had this phone for a week and not short of 50 people have begged for me to find them one. (hi-mobile, Cell-Hut for starters)
I'm not sure if, or when, Motorola will support this phone in the states, and I will admit the phone doesn't sink well with my PC yet (software update coming soon)
To sum it up, this phone is small enough to fit in your front pocket, and has enough features and digital accessability to keep you busy for hours of fun. -
"Excellent all round smart phone offering" on by izzyinchicago
Pros: Styling, applications, cell phone coverage
Cons: US carrier's lack of support
Summary: I previously had a V600, 388 and 388c. (388 and 388C are the earlier versions of the A1200 w/ B&W and color touch screens respectively) and lately a Razr.
I have had the A1200 for a month.
This phone has much better cell site coverage than any of my previous phones. Cingular/Razr combo did not work well at either of my offices, and dropped calls on the way to and from home. This one never does.
The MP3 player capacity is easily expanded with the purchase and install of a larger memory card (comes with 128 Meg, upgraded to 1 G from Best Buy for ~ $70). It easily holds 240 songs now.
The FM radio works well, but requires the headset to be plugged in. I am guessing that the FM radio antenna is built into the headset cabling, else why wouldn’t they let it operate through the speakerphone like the M3 player can.
Love the sound quality through the headset when listening to music or the radio. MP3 player will run the battery down in ~ 3-4 hours of LOUD music
GPRS works well, except the Cingular site is clumsy and not user intuitive like the TMO site (previously I was on TMO, but switched to Cingular to try and improve coverage through Cingular…. (Big Mistake, despite their ads that they never drop calls!).
Touch screen is responsive, the stylus is smaller than my 388 and 388C, so takes some getting used to, but no antenna on this unit, and very small and sleek.
I can’t get 2 of the CMCC specific banner applications moved off the main screen, but that is likely because I got a China Mobile (CMCC) specific version that has their applications hard coded onto the banner at the bottom of the main screen.
The PC tool for syncing is pretty easy to use HOWEVER I find that recurring meetings in MS Outlook do not seem to get captured in my phone, only 1 time meetings.
You can use the phone as a thumb drive as well as an MP3 player. I have not synced using blue tooth, instead, opting for the USB cable.
I use the Razr’s bluetooth ear piece with my A1200, but I am not that impressed with the “Discovering capability”, nor the sound quality. It could be the Bluetooth headset since the phone works wonderfully without it.
I am page 100 of the 168 page user’s manual and some stuff is a little vague (like using iTUNES with it). I had to forage for the manual (a DEc/2005 draft) since the shipped version was in Chinese!
I have not figured out the voice command part of it yet, and the voice command button often get pushed when I am putting it back into the holder, so I end up with it saying to me “PLEASE SAY A COMMAND” , but it stops if I ignore it (repeats the question once more than stops).
The Business Card Reader with OCR is also wonderful. I have already used it a couple of times and in general it works quite well. The handwriting recognition is also quite good. It allows you to write letters side by side (2 boxes) to speed up the entry.
Love the phone, love the applications, would cry like a baby if I lost it! -
"The Ultimate Phone" on by nick101in
Pros: All the possible features in one phone, good looking, smart,, Fast and intelligent, good battery life
Cons: Nothing Much but the flip sometimes gets irritating
Summary: Just got my phone a week ago, i'm very happy and satisfied with the phone, atlast motorola has comeup with something that has the potential to Conquer the Market.
The Phone has all the features I require. The camera is one of the Best I've seen and so is the Screen.. 262K Colour Screen is just awsome.
The One Feature that Surprised me was The Business Card Reader.. The Phone actually scans all the details from a business card and fills it up in ur contact details.. love that feature.
The only irritating part is the Flip(sometimes).... it is slightly irritating to open it but you get used to it in sometime. Some of the features can be accessed without opening the Flip,,like the camera and some others.
In Short if u are thinking of buying a high-end phone, u won't get any thing better than this, for the same Price. The Only thing the phone lacks is a WI-FI connection feature.
I bought mine after reading the reviews at CNET itself ... and i don't regret it.Updated
The Flip actually protects the screen and Motorola has acted very smart by adding a speaker on the flip in such a way that it gives the phone a totally different look.. I hate Flip Phones BUT i don't mind it on this one. -
"truly awesome phone" on by leslie22
Pros: Sleek, sexy, functional, compact
Cons: difficult to open, rubber plugs annoying.
Summary: I just recently aquired my A1200 from Hong Kong as well...about $360USD. Phenominally sexy, great functionality, comfortable to wear/carry/hold/use (ok, so it's still new!). I had a 388c previously (also an asian Moto xDA phone), and for the most part, Motorola makes a terrific/durable small xDA format phone. I had even dropped the old phone in the river before, so I was sold on considering it's apparent next-of-kin, the A1200. I was at one point considering the Q, as well as a new blackberry power-house, but I really do not do enough email to have a dedicated KB or Data package and surely did not want the size (also why I like the A1200).
After purchasing it and using it for a week, the only negatives I find so far are the Flap...the finger notches are indeed very small, so be sure you have at least one good fingernail ! (alas, I've finally found a cure for biting my fingernails!).
Lack of a dock...no base connection that would allow for docking...only an offset (lower-right)USB connector that is annoying to connect into that rubber-thingy-plugged connection port (same for the headphone plug port). The 'nib' for grabbing the rubber plug is very small, and difficult to pull out. I almost expect it to break off at some point !
More +'s...The GUI is very sleek and user friendly, and I love the clear cover. I have the black phone, and they solved the "slippery phone" syndrome by using a 'grip' coating. Not quite rubber, not quite paint. Provides a finish I know I will not be easily dropping and and without that trendy body-glove Uber-sport look !
Screen resolution, FM Radio, Headphones, Camera...all work great.
I have yet to reliably test battery up-time and the blu-tooth. The 'Ming' (it's chinese name) shipped with a spare stylus and battery as well as several cool apps, including a very friendly Sync program.
I dropped in my Cingular SIM, and viola....cell phone, so no troubles yet.
I highly suggest this phone if your a little hung-up on the looks of your gadgets as well as the function, and you don't want another "laptop" for your belt.
Worth it?....definately. -
"Amazing hardware, very poor software and user interface" on by yanivaloemail
Pros: Beautiful, touchscreen, small
Cons: Lots of software bugs, really bad user interface, user interface is not flexible, screen is very sensitive to scratches, may pop-up 2 windows every time you make a call, no 3G
Summary: This is an amazing piece of hardware: beautiful, small, nice buttons, and most important - it includes touch screen. However, the software of this phone is the worst I've ever encountered in the last 10 years in any electronic device. The user interface is terrible, full of bugs, and not flexible at all. Take a look in Motorolafans.com forums to get an idea of the number of flaws in the a1200 software. If you are a Linux fan, and expect to be able to rewrite some applications for the phone, then think again, because Motorola made it impossible to change most of the phone functions. Motorola could make this phone get a score of 9 out of 10 by improving the user interface.
Hardware:
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The phone is beautiful, small, light, and feels good in the hands. The screen shows nice pictures, and the touch-screen functionality is accurate. The buttons and joystick feels good. However, there are 4 main flaws:
1) The flip is hard to open with one hand - not like in other Motorola phones. Sometimes when trying to answer a call I open the flip and then my finger slip and it closes and hangs the call.
2) The touch screen is very sensitive to scratches. DO NOT drag the pen on it, otherwise you are seriously risking in a new scratch on the screen. This is a very strange characteristic for a touch screen phone - why couldn't they pick the same materials as other companies (Sony-Ericson for instance) did many years ago ?
3) Some users reported that the color pilled of the silver button on the side of the phone. However, mine is in good condition after 2 months of use.
4) This phone does not support 3rd generation - strange for a phone in this range of prices.
Overall, taking all the cons into consideration, this is still one of the best hardware used for cellular phones at the present time.
Software:
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Don't be lead by the beautiful appearance of this phone and by the fact that it is using Linux-based operating system. The phone software and interface may make you sorry that you bought it (well, I'm not sorry about buying it because this is the only option for small touch-screen phone with flip). Well, were to start ? Take a look at the forums of Motorolafans.com, and see how many issues are involved with this phone, what kind of strange (and sometimes dangerous) hacks you need to do in order to fix some problems, and how many issues are unsolved. This is not how a cellphone should be !!! Here is a short list of some problems:
- There is no tool to update the software of the phone, so if Motorola fixes a bug, there is no official way to get the fix.... So you're stuck with what you bought.
- Every time that I make a phone call, two (!!) pop-up windows appear on the screen, and freezes everything for several seconds. One of the windows is saying that I have a voice mailbox (who doesn't ? we are in 2007, aren't we?), and the second widow says something that no one understands (I asked in some forums, and nobody have a clue about the meaning of this message). Just imagine, two pop-up windows every time that I make a call !!! Some guys in motorolafans.com have found a solution to the first window - if you disable your voice mail, then the window may disappear (given that your provider let you disable call diverts). Well, so if you don't need a voice mail, this might be the phone for you...
- The volume is not sufficient for many users.
- The phone internal Opera web browser makes unexpected internal errors in random occasions (on the same web page it might work flawlessly one time, and fail on another).
- The interface between the phone dialer and address book is not good. For instance, you can not write a number in the dialer and then store it as a contact without dialing the number first. I can not point on the exact other problems with this issue, but it is definitely less comfortable then other phones that I used.
- Scrolling down the list of contacts in address book if very slow - unless you drag the scroll bar with your pen which will scratch the screen.
- You can set the email reader not to download large emails. But then it does not even let you know that you received such emails.
- The phone (at least mine) reboots itself with no particular reason from time to time. This is not a big deal, but it is definitely strange behavior.
- Motorola programmers (not all of them are good according to the results with this phone) set the shortcuts to important applications on the main screen. Their choice of "important" applications is strange however: the video camera got one of the 5 icons. The ring style settings got the second shortcut, etc. You have the choice of changing the shortcuts, but only 2 of the 5. Which means that you will always see the video camera, web browser, and ring style shortcuts on your main screen, but will have to spend much more efforts to access your real favorite applications.
- On the main screen there is no indication whether you set up your alarm clock (and, as you may find out in the hard way, in order to complete setting the alarm clock you have to click the appropriate "save" button).
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You got the idea. There are so much more of those annoying "features", or bugs, or whatever you want to call it. I will just save you the time and stop right here.
Well, some of you might say "but it is base on Linux, so the community might be able to solve all those issues". Wrong ! Motorola have made it impossible for the community to fix most of those bugs. There is no source code for the important stuff, and no official tools to compile, debug, etc.
Good luck with your phone....
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