A great buy despite a few flaws.
Written: Jun 20 '03 (Updated Jun 20 '03)
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Pros: Features, size, speakerphone
Cons: Battery life, little customization, dim in some conditions, pricey.
The Bottom Line: A great phone that makes day-to-day communication possible without even flipping your phone open. Bigger than most, more fragile than some; but still a solid buy.
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| piacoa's Full Review: Nextel Motorola i90c |
With my previous service provider, I shelled out the $400 for a full color camera phone with built in zoom and flash. Great. I had a sub-standard quality digital camera and paid an arm and a leg for it. When I made my switch to Nextel, I decided that I wanted a solid buy; a phone to use for -- talking. Something that I could use with a few button pushes and move on with my life. And it was a toss up between the i60, this phone and the i95cl.
The phone won; hands-down. I couldn't see myself paying the money they wanted for the i95cl, with seemingly only moderate feature improvements, and enjoyed the external caller ID capability of this phone without the unnecessary flair the 95cl offered. So, while this phone was moderatley expensive, it was a better alternative than the other Motorla flip phones out there, so I gave it a try.
Wow. I loved it! I'll start with the exterior. A very good place to start. Or is that "at the very beginning?" I can never remember. In any case, I personally don't like phones so small they get lost in your pocket. I also don't like phones that can double as a projectile that can do permanent damage if thrown at somebody. This phone is a great combination between the two. It easily fits in your pocket and does so without making you have to buy new sized pants with larger pockets. The caller ID display is great, and using the buttons on the top, you can automatically activate the speakerphone (which works great and with only moderate quality loss) while the phone is closed, accessing numbers from the "Recent callers" list. You can adjust the volume and activate direct connect from the large (but not overpowering) buttons on the side. The phone has an option to blink a pleasant green chrip when you're in service on the upper right hand corner; a nifty feature for showing off your phone. If you're in to the tiny phones some competitors offer (for example the v60), you may not find this phone to suit your needs. Oh, just be careful. You can tell by the material that dropping this bad boy may quite possibly result in a new phone purchase against your will... :-/
When you open the flip, you're greeted with a spiffy looking blue backlight and key pad light. This works great in no-light or sunlight conditions however if the room is slightly dim, it can be a hassle at times to read the screen. The keys are big and easy to use in navigating through the menus.
Speaking of menus, this phone has lots of them. And it even allows you to rearrange the main menu (as well as shortcut keys) to your liking. I find the voice activated dialing feature useful, just say the name and you're set. Again, the speakerphone is infintley useful, especially when driving. You have seemingly endless personalization options, allowing you to customize (and download new) ringtones for each phone line, instantly toggle vibrate mode and speaker volume, and have several different ring styles that are readily customizable.
The phonebook feature allows for 250 entries and pages of phone numbers for each entry. I've yet to find a feature that allows custom ringers for each entry, but its a small price to pay for the other features offered.
Unfortunatley, for a Motorola phone, you'd expect better battery life. This offers about 200 minutes talk time and 75 hours standby, though with constant use, these figures can decrease dramatically. Since I charge my phone every night, I have no issues, however can see where not having ready access to a charger might pose a problem.
The direct connect feature is a breeze to use, highlight the name and use the magical PTT (push to talk) button and you're on your way. Speaker can be adjusted to annoyingly loud to politley quiet to fit your situation (and or mood ;)).
Overall, I'm very pleased with the quality of my phone; I've had no problems and it seems to offer great reception even with relativley low signal strength (not that I get that often from Nextel).
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 299
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Epinions.com ID:
piacoa
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Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 1 member
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