At Least It's Not a Nokia
Written: Nov 13 '02
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Pros: Better looking than a Nokia
Cons: Doesn't always get great reception
The Bottom Line: Reliable & cheap, user friendly; good phone with enough functions, without a lot of frills.
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| BeastieGirl's Full Review: Motorola V120c |
I have been a long time fan of Motorola, having one of those big Godzilla flip phones in the mid-90's and finally upgrading to a (now somewhat outdated) StarTac. When I had to buy a new phone for work, I went with the V120c, an apparently cheaper model than other phones my carrier had to offer, but with plenty of features that I needed.
This web-enabled tri-band phone has been by my side for the past 7 months and has yet to (totally) let me down. I use over 2000 minutes a month and so far, has really put up with a beating from my purse, pocket and car floor. It has been dropped on concrete several times, been in cold and hot weather and as far as functionality goes, I have had no problems with it. To date, I have used over 205 hours of talk time and the phone is never turned off (although sometimes I'd like it to be).
The Battery
As I just mentioned, my phone has rarely been turned off for over half a year. I find that most of the time I charge the battery in my car. The charger that I have does not fit very well into the cigarette lighter and is constantly coming out, but nonetheless, the battery still maintains it's original life-span. It is on rare occasions that I remember to charge my phone overnight and let it completely charge. However, I am still able to get at least 3 hours of talk time before the battery completely dies, although I usually charge it for less than an hour at a time and have only had the battery die on me once. The standby time is great, I could not charge this phone all week and it would still be good.
The only issue that I have with the charging/battery is when I plug the phone in, the battery icon goes down to one bar and when I unplug it, even if the phone was only charged for 15 minutes, the bars show completely charged. The battery meter is not totally reliable in this aspect, so be forewarned.
Features
Rings: Different rings can be set for different types of calls/messages:
Incoming Calls
Text Messages
Voicemail
Data Calls
Fax Calls
There are 25 different ring tones that can be chosen, including classic/regular rings as well as musical tunes. There are also different vibrate options- the length and frequency of vibrations. I am partial to the classic ring and thank my lucky stars that it does NOT have that irritating Nokia ring (which is the real reason that I can't stand Nokia phones, you know what I'm talking about)
There is also a voice notes option to record quick "note to self" memos, as well as a voice-dial option, which I find very handy, being out on the road all the time. It is also easy to program and easy to use.
There are no games on this phone, not that I would be able to figure out how to play them anyway, but I know that is a plus for some. Sorry.
There are two shortcut keys that can be changed to suit your needs. I like to have my phone book and message center options handy, as I don't really use any other features too often, except to put my phone on Vib. or silent mode if necessary.
The Cons
There are a couple things that I don't like about this phone. First, is the battery meter, as I mentioned above. Second, is the list of the last ten calls made. By hitting the send key, it will pull up the last ten calls that I made. Not the last ten numbers like my StarTac. This is a problem if I call my mother and redial 10 times, only her number shows up, instead of a list of recently dialed numbers, which would be much more useful to me than to know how many times I called my mom. And thirdly, the reception. I had heard that there were issues sometimes with reception and instead of listening as I should have, I regretfully ignored all suggestions given to me to get a different phone (well kind of, I mean, I don't regret getting this phone, just at times of bad reception...) I live in the suburbs of a major metropolitan area and sometimes have trouble to get calls to go through when I am sitting at home. I can understand being out in the middle of nowhere, but I should have no problems where I live. I know this because my neighbor has the same cell phone company and never has any reception issues. But, to give the V120c a little credit, I have been able to use it in some elevators, go figure.
Overall
This phone is a tough bugger and has lived up to my expectations. A cell phone is a cell phone, we can't expect them to work all the time, everywhere and anywhere. Although I prefer a flip phone myself, this girl does the job. Considering I didn't spend a fortune on it, I am very satisfied with what it does have to offer, and it's cuter than a Nokia.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 65
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