Free Money!
Written: Aug 31 '04 (Updated Sep 10 '04)
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Pros: Good phone at a Great Price that can be upgraded via software.
Cons: Small keys,not good for BIG FINGERS. Need USB Cable to get pictures out.
The Bottom Line: If you or someone are looking for a cell phone, Why not give this a try. It cost nothing and you get $50.00 back.
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| eddiey18's Full Review: Motorola V300 |
I am familiar with the Motorola V600 as I have been using one for about 4 months.
I want to experiment with different flashes and flexes (OS and Software). Instead of using my V600 as my test bed, I obtained a T-mobile V300 for about $200.00 on eBay. I choose the V300 as it is the cheapest V series phone that I was able to obtain. I planned to give it to my friend in Hong Kong next time I visit. Since Hong Kong and China do not use 850MZh there is no reason to get a quad band phone. (I am not using this V300 to make calls; all I am doing is trying out different software on this phone. I am going to customized it prior to give it away).
The current Motorola V series Phone consist of V300, V400 V500/V525 and V600. There are other V series phones that are being released but other than the V620 the other V series are more different. Some newer V series phones run on CDMA and GSM or the new EDGE and GPRS.
These V series phones are flip phones. They are all GSM phones. V300 is a tri band (900, 1800 and 1900 MHz in US. Some with 850, 1800 and 1900 in Canada) world phone. V400, V500/V525, V600 and the coming V620 are quad band (850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz) world phones. V300 and V400 do not have Bluetooth. V500/V525 and V600/V620 are very similar. V600/V620 phones have changeable cases and external Event lights. V500/V525 and V600/V620 have video play back. V620 has video recording. In the US, most of the V300 phones I have seen so far are T-Mobile branded, V400 phones are Cingular branded. V500 is an O2 branded phone and V525 is a Vodafone branded phone. V600 was available from AT & T, Cingular and T-Mobile. Cingular recently dropped V600 and only carries V400. The branding means that the phones have custom Flex (software) for the service provider. That does not mean the branded phones cannot be used with another service provider.
All of these phones can be modified and customized with various flashes and flexes. All you need is a computer, an USB Motorola Cable and PST. PST is Motorola software that allows you to change and update the flash and flex on Motorola phones. Mobile Phone Tools (MPT). MPT is a software that connects your Motorola to your computer so you can sync Calendar or transfer sounds, video and update your software. The USB cable is available from Motorola or after market sources. This Software is floating all over the internet. If you visit HowardForums or V600.org, you will find what you need.
Since most of the internal of these V series phones are the same, the V300 can be modified to function just like a V600, minus the Bluetooth and quad band. Motorola is going to release the V620 soon and that phone has the capability of recording Video. Since the hardware of that phone appears to be identical to the rest of the V series phones. It would be not be long when the necessary Flex, Flash to be available on the net.
This V300 is very similar to the V600, please read my review on the V600. http://www.epinions.com/content_143806598788
Unlike the V600 this V300 case is made of plastic in Blue color not metal. The case is covered with a spongy rubbery material which is very nice to touch. If you are into touchy and feely thingy, this is the phone to have. This is the phone to match your jean outfit. It is lighter than the V600 and the antenna is shorter(it is not really shorter but it more round at the tip and it appears to be shorter). The display is identical to the V600 which is very sharp and bright. The only one thing that I do not like about this V300 is the key pad. The numeral keys on this V300 have 2 shapes. They are shaped like Dots and Dashes. The 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 0 are shaped like Dots and the rest are shaped like Dashes. The advantage of this arrangement is that one can feel the keys without looking. The more you use it the easier it is to press the right keys. The bad thing is that the keys are rather small and set almost flush. So pressing the keys requires a more deliberate action.
There is really nothing really bad about this V300. It does not have Bluetooth and is only tri band. These are the only differences that I would count. Yes, the V600 have changeable covers, it has Event Lights and have Video Play back. However, these are not really things that matter much. I turned off my Event Lights (it still turns on when the phone rings), both phone looks fine the way they are now. By the way the case of a V300 can be changed it is just not as easy as the V600 which can be replace the battery cover and slip off the metal case without any tools. Since the V600 cannot record, the video play back is just there and not useful. By the way, the V300 can be flexed or SEEMS edited (using the USB cable to edit the software on the phone) to enable this video play back.
I am really having fun with these both of the V series phone. I have installed custom ring tones via the USB cable. The Speaker plays 21 polyphonic (24 chord) ring tones. It is Mono but it is surprising loud and clear. AT & T charges 99 cents to download per ring tone and $1.99 per polyphonic ring tones. I am able to make my own from CD’s and convert the tones into MP3 format. I have also loaded about a dozen games in each of the phones. I never thought I would play games on my phone but most of these games I am familiar with. A lot of these games are similar to the old arcade and PC games. Even Pong is available.
If you speak another language and would like to have this phone read that, it is possible as there are language packs out there that can be flash over the existing flash. This is not hard to do.
If you get this phone, my suggestion is to get the USB cable so that you can extract the pictures that you take with this phone. The phone does take VGA (640x480) pictures. While it does not have a flash, it can take decent picture if the condition is right. Most V series are branded; it should not stop anyone to get the phone that he/she likes and go with a different service provider. The web browser and email setting can be set up easily as most service provider can to an Over The Air (OTA) push and load the settings to your phone.
Most of these phones can be obtained at a cheap price from a Service Provider. You want an unlock phone. Unlock means that you phone is not locked on to use that service provider only. This would enable you to choose whatever service provider as you please. You can also get a prepaid phone card to use while in overseas. Cingular does not lock the phones. So V400 phones are most likely unlocked. T-Mobile locks their V300 but will provide 8 digits unlock code if you have been with them for 3 months and have a balance of less than $100.00. If you have a friend that is using T-Mobile, you could ask him to obtain an unlock code for you (you would save $25.00). AT & T locks their V600. T-Mobile also offers the V600 but T-Mobile disable the 850MHz band because T-Mobile does not operate the 850MHz band. The T-Mobile branded V600 can be made into a quad band phone simply by flashing and flexing. All V500 and V525 that I have seen are from UK. These are not locked but most likely branded O2 or Vodafone. Any locked phone can be unlocked for a fee of about $25.00 (Read my report on V600).
http://www.epinions.com/content_143806598788
This is really a good present to give to your kids or get it yourself if you need a new cell phone service. If they or you do not use Bluetooth, and there is good signal from T-Mobile, you should just get the V300. I paid about $200.00 for mine because I do not want the service contract. You can get a V300 with a service contact (some with one year and some with 2 years) for free. There is a promotion now and you can get $50.00 back. Use the $50.00 to get an USB cable from eBay or some other source. Download the drivers and software and you are all set to go. This is a camera phone, that does messages, sync to your Outlook Calendar, does email and web surfing. MP3 songs and JAVA games can be loaded using the USB cable and a computer.
UPDATE (09/10/04)
If you flash and flex this V300, it would make this into a Quad band phone. People in Hofo phone forums has reported that after this phone was flashed and flexed it operated in areas that only has 850 MHz band. So the difference between the V300 and V400 is only the looks and the keyboard. Just be aware that you might void the warrenty if you flex and flash the phone (you can alway reflash and reflex to make the phone appears to be stock).
You can a Free phone plus $50.00 back. Is this a good deal or not?
Hint to the above question, my son has a V300.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200
Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy
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Epinions.com ID:
eddiey18
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Member: Edward Yee
Location: Southern California
Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 1 member
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