Low cost: Mailing, trading, banking, surfing with Motorola Timeport around the world
Written: Nov 17 '01 (Updated Dec 24 '01)
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Pros: Tri-band + GPRS + FastInfraRed = ideal phone for businesspeople and travelers
Cons: To get use with the menu sometimes seems a little bit strange
The Bottom Line: Motorola Timeport 280 is the excellent evolution of the Timeport 260 for ambitious businesspeople and travelers with its multi-functional properties GPRS, FastInfraRed and Tri-band.
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| harmonia's Full Review: Motorola Timeport 280 |
First: I have a Motorola Timeport 260 Handy, which is the mainly identical european model of the Timeport 280 Handy and which functions because of its triband technology in Europe as well in US and many other countries (survey available on your GPRS-Providers' website).
Last but not least: I got my Timeport 260 from my German provider Viag Interkom for free combined with a two-years contract as it is use in Germany.
What is the special advantage of the Timeport 260 respective the 280?
Before we compare them to the other Motorola Handys or handys from other manufacturers we claim modern features for modern people who are highly aware of the need for multifunctional properties, which determine the three essential properties:
Number one: FastInfraRed
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This Win98 included standard is the actually available most comfortable way to establish easy communication between your handy and your MiniNotebook respective between your MiniNotebook and your GPRS-Internet-Provider.
Note: GPRS is the actual way of wireless internet-access and it already works fantastic, that means fast and cheap (In Europe with the provider Viag Interkom: no monthly basic fees; 5 Eurocent per 10 Kilobyte download, 20 Eurocent per day when GPRS was in use; Velocity of data transfer: 32 Kilobit per second, as the newest testing-result from a well known periodical: www.connect.de ).
Motorola Handys
V66: failure;
Talkabout193, Timeport 260 and 280 all have the FastInfraRed feature.
Number two: GPRS
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A must for modern businesspeople and travellors. As in the statements above already mentioned GPRS actually is the cheapest and fastest way before the UMTS-ERA has begun... The very difference to that era is that GPRS (Global Packet Radio Service) is not fictionally but very alive available at low cost all over the world. The first GPRS-Handy available in Germany was the Motorola Timeport 260.
GPRS allows for multi-tasking between voice calls and data calls. That means you can receive a phone call while surfing online - you don't have to get offline!
Motorola Handys
V66, Talkabout193, Timeport 260 and 280 all have the GPRS feature.
Number three: Tri-band
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To use your mobile phone as well in US and in most European countries you need a so called tri-band technology handy with the frequencies 900/1800/1900 MHz for GSM networks.
Motorola Handys
Talkabout193: failure;
V66, Timeport 260 and 280 all have the tri-band feature.
Result:
The mobile phones Timeport 260 and 280 have all three properties which make them the ideal choice for businesspeople and travellors around the world:
Tri-band + GPRS + FastInfraRed.
With my Timeport 260 (and so does the 280) I feel free on traveling to do banking, brokerage, mailing, messaging without nameworth restrictions. However be careful: to do surfing in the internet via GPRS with an other than a only-text-based-browser may be very expensive because of the volume-based pricing while to be online without transfering data doesn’t cost anything (for example: watching your mail, charts, texts which are already downloaded). At least you better put off picture- and grafics-loading to reduce your surfing-costs.
Many of the new features which presents the new Timeport 280 you can easily install yourself on your MiniNotebook, such as microbrowser, phone book, calendar entries, voice recorder.
I have an IPC low cost-MiniNote PD 1000 (the same you could get from Palmax) which is in use over 5 years now without any problems.
I suggest therefore trying to get an used T 260 instead a new 280 except you get it for free from your GSM-network provider (which is also your GPRS-provider at the same time).
Talk time and standby time of that phone is sufficient. The menu of the Timeport 260 is not as comfortable as in nokia phones a fact often mentioned in German boards but I find that difference not so important because it is more a matter of habit and to get used. For details of the menu of the Timeport 280 which seems to be better please look at the very good reviews from rzajac11 and karentonyjake, who have been posted just a few days before.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1 + contract
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Epinions.com ID:
harmonia
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Location: Gladbeck, North-Rhein-Westfalia, Germany
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
German Teacher. Long experience of testing and sharing results. I'm interesting on home exchange.
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