Here's the real poop on the pager!
Written: Aug 22 '01
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Pros: Small, lightweight
Cons: Check the service first, only 1 antenna, small buttons!
The Bottom Line: This pager may be good for you, but check it out first, otherwise you will be like a fish without water!
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| DennisM's Full Review: Motorola Talkabout T900 2-Way Pager (Black) |
Well, Motorola for many years has been one of the most trusted names in communication equipment. They make radios for law enforcement, digital voice scramblers, cellular equipment, and now a consumer 2-way pager! The operative word here is consumer. This 900 is not really for the professional who travels a great deal or a salesman always on the road. They are targeting these pagers to the teenage market, to keep in touch with their friends, and occasionally, heaven forbid, their parents! As a father of two sons, I know what that means!
The unit is small in size and easy to carry, but therein lies a problem. Some people find the display hard to read. Others complain that the keyboard, a QWERTY copy off a keyboard or typewriter, has buttons way too small!
Before we go into any more pros and cons, let's take a look at what this is. It is a small 2 way pager with a display and a keyboard in a clamshell type configuration that closes up. The unit can be used as a standard pager and display just a phone number, or it can display a message. By the way, just an aside here, be aware that service providers can charge you dearly for extra messages!
The one thing that makes the T900 unique is the fact that you can respond to a page or a message. You can hit reply, type a message, select an address from your address book, and press send! In theory that's quite simply how it works! Let's now look at the reality, not the ideal way you think it MAY work!
The key word when you buy a home has always been location, location. The keyword when you purchase a pager of this type is service provider, service provider! A pager, either one way or two-way is totally useless unless you can receive and/or send a signal. That is the problem I had with my T900. Usually it was able to receive a signal with no problem, but sending, now that was another story. I would honestly say that about 95% of the time I would get a message on the display that reads Storing Messages. This means there is no signal detected, and when you reach an area with coverage, it will send your stored message and retrieve your unreceived incoming messages. Now mind you, this was right in the middle of NYC,one of the most heavily covered areas in the US!
I believe most people purchase this pager for convenience, but how convenient is it if you can not return a page or reply with a message? For many professional people on the go, responding to a message immediately is of the utmost importance! If you have to wait 30-45 minutes to get to a transmitting site, what good is it? You might as well use your cell phone or find a computer and send e mail!
The various service providers have many plans to choose from. Some offer unlimited messages for a fixed fee, while other plans call for a certain number of messages with a surcharge for anything over that number! That can get very expensive, so check with the service provider very carefully prior to signing any contract.
MAKE SURE you ask the company you are purchasing the pager from to let you try out the pager for a couple of days. They may want a deposit or even charge a fee for its usage, but do it! You may pay a little now for the test, but you will pay dearly later on if you find you don't have service where you really need it. You can also purchase the pager with an understanding that you will try it and if within a certain period of time you can return the unit for a refund if you are unhappy with the pager or the service!
I agree with Motorola targeting teens for this type of pager. It is right for them. If you are a professional on the go and sending and receiving messages is important to you, look into something like the Motorola Timeport or the Blackberry. One reason is that these units are more rugged, and more importantly, they have 2 internal antennas built in, whereas the T900 has only one. This may make all the difference in a fringe area of getting out or not!
Again, examine the pager first, see if the size and feel of it is right for you, make sure you can work the buttons easily, and most important, that you have service coverage where you will need it! If you don't have the coverage, the pager is about as useful as an anchor in the middle of a desert!
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 129
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Epinions.com ID:
DennisM
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Dennis Meyers
Location: Wayne, NJ
Reviews written: 91
Trusted by: 14 members
About Me:
Began my career in broadcasting, retired from that after 38 years!
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