Maybe I've had a bad run, but...
Written: Oct 27 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice feel; Web browser built in
Cons: Poor reliability; Short life in analog mode
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| adjensen's Full Review: Motorola StarTAC ST7868W Cell Phone |
I got this phone through work in June. If I didn't need it for that, I would probably have pitched it a while ago.
First, the good: it's a small phone that is fairly comfortable to use. The controls are fairly easy to use, and since the phone automatically switches between digital and analog, I haven't yet found myself without service, whether in major cities or in rural stretches of western North Dakota.
The Internet browser is very handy and runs smoothly. It's nice to be able to connect up to Northwest Airlines' web site to check flight information from anywhere. You can only use the web when you have digital service (and where the web service is available).
Power consumption in digital mode is fairly stingy. Recharging the batteries does not take a long time, whether on an AC or DC connection.
Now for the bad: I have gone through three phones. The first just stopped working one day. Kaput-city. It couldn't connect to the cell, and repeatedly failed making calls. I talked to their customer service and later that day it mysteriously started working again. Three days later, same thing. I took the phone in and swapped it for another.
That one was fine for a couple of months. Then the sound stopped working. You would place or receive a call and, while the party on the other end could hear you, you couldn't hear a thing (resulting in calls that consisted of me saying "Can you please call me back at XXX-XXXX!") Repeatedly pressing the volume up and down buttons sometimes woke the speaker up, but eventually that stopped working as well.
So, now I'm on my third phone. I asked around the office, and we've gone through six or seven of these phones, with similar problems to those above. I've also gone through two earphone pieces -- the first one started generating static after a couple weeks of use.
In analog mode, this thing sucks power like nobodies business. I think I'm lucky if I can use it for more than six hours standby without plugging it in.
The signal strength is generally fairly strong, but if you are in a multi storied building or any building with lots of electronics (like an airport) strength drops rapidly.
In the aggregate, I would not recommend this phone, particularly if you have a choice (which I don't). The poor reliability that we've seen here probably isn't an isolated case, so buyer beware!
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
adjensen
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Member: a.d. jensen
Location: Grand Forks, ND USA
Reviews written: 143
Trusted by: 111 members
About Me:
Now blogging reviews at http://kandsmil.blogspot.com/
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