WARNING: Not for the casual cell user!
Written: Nov 24 '00 (Updated Nov 25 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Offers a lot of today's latest technology at the tips of your fingers.
Cons: Because it provides so much, it's not for the casual cell phone user.
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| groverchick's Full Review: i1000plus Cell Phone |
Recently I changed service providers to Nextel with the Motorola i1000 plus. I was very excited about this upgrade because I was upgrading from a very old model of the Motorola StarTAC which was not web ready. So far I have been enjoying my phone a lot and honestly, I can't stop playing around with the internet on my phone. My mom and dad who have the same phone as I do will tell you a completely different story. They find the phone very confusing and not as user friendly as the StarTAC. Basically this phone is not for everyone and now that I have one I completely understand why. Most of the horror stories about this phone come from people that don't really need all the features in this phone.
Choosing a cell phone is not an easy task anymore because of the wide variety of phones out there on the market. Below I will touch on the features this phone has to offer you and hopefully help you decide whether this phone might or might not be the one for you.
Price
The price for this phone listed from Nextel is $199.95, but right now they are having a buy one get one free promotion (I'm not sure when it ends), so I got this phone for $99.95 which isn't a bad price to pay for a phone that is capable of so much.
Size
Do not be deceived by the picture of the Motorola i1000 plus. This phone is not as small as it looks in the picture. The phone measures out to be 4.5"x2.2"x1.2". Basically if you have normal size hands the phone fills up your hand. The phone would be a really nice size if the battery didn't stick out like a sore thumb on the back of the phone (the part you don't see in the picture).
Weight
The phone weighs a total of 6 ounces. It's not the lightest of phones especially for someone who used to own a StarTAC. The battery is where all the weight is. The phone itself is not that heavy. You can purchase the slim battery through their accessory department which is supposed to be smaller, lighter and provides less talk time.
Battery Life
To make up for the battery being so heavy, it offers great standby and talk time. I like to keep my phone on 24/7 so a good battery is very important to me. This phone has not let me down so far. I charge it about once every other day. The battery provides you with 3 hours of talk time and 50 hours of standby. It takes 3 hours to charge your battery up fully. I use my phone to surf the web a lot, so my battery runs out faster than most people's would.
Radiation Level
For those of you who are concerned about the radiation level like I am, you won't have to worry too much about that with this phone. The Motorola StarTAC 7860 is rated the lowest radiation cell phone with a level of .24 which makes the phone very attractive. The Motorola i1000 plus is rated 7th on the list of the lowest radiation cell phones with a level of .43 which is not bad at all for a cell phone that is capable of doing so much. For comparison reasons, the Nokia 5160 has a radiation level of 1.45 almost four times greater than the Motorola i1000plus, so I hope that helps you out in deciding whether this phone is safer or not.
Durability
A big thing that I didn't like about this phone was that the flip looked so flimsy compared to the StarTAC that I thought I was going to break it right away. I have heard bad stories of people saying that the flip to this phone really sucks and can break easy, but my friend has had this phone for a little over a year and it's still going. So I think I'm going to trust my friend because the phone doesn't appear to be that flimsy at all. In fact since the phone feels heavy it gives it more of a solid feel. I would not recommend throwing the phone around and handling it roughly though. The flip could break if you drop the phone when the flip is open. As with any other phone, you have to take special care of it.
Features
There are tons of features to the phone so I'm not going to bore you and list the ones that most cell phones have already. To get a full list of features just go to Nextel.com.
Speakerphone: Talk on your phone without having to use the ear piece at all! Finally a hands free phone that works. Now you will never have to worry about getting a ticket while you are driving and talking on the cell phone. I love this feature and use it often and the amazing part is that it actually works better than the speaker phone on my cordless phone at home.
Multiple Languages: Want to learn a new language? Customize your phone to display menus in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Turbo Dialing: You can program up to 8 numbers in your phone for this feature which allows you to dial a number at the touch of one button. It's a step better than speed dial because you only have to hold down the number on your keypad.
Web Ready: Use your phone to surf the net. I currently have this service on my phone and it is wonderful. The web service from Nextel only allows you to surf the MSN network, but luckily it offers a wide variety of things for you to do such as checking your e-mail, shopping for the latest deals around your area, getting the latest news headlines, checking movie times at theaters, get directions to a location in case you get lost, and so on...
Alternate Line: This feature allows you to have two phone numbers for your phone. Great for the business user who wants to separate work and personal calls.
See-through Display: I love this feature because it allows me to use my phone without opening the flip at all. You can do almost everything on your phone without opening the flip including making calls.
Direct Connect: This is the "walkie talkie" feature of the phone. Since my mom and dad both got Nextel phones I have tried this feature out and it's awesome! You get a 5 digit ID number along with your phone number which allows you to connect to virtually any Nextel user. You can program these numbers into your phone so you don't have to memorize them and at the push of one button on the side of your phone, you will be connected to them automatically. The minutes you spend using Direct Connect are a lot cheaper than normal airtime minutes too.
Voicemail, E-mail, Text Messages: These features allow people to leave messages for you anytime and in a variety of ways. Text and e-mail messages can be sent to you through the computer and etc.
Date/Time: This is a fairly new feature on Nextel phones. Phones awhile back had the capability of showing the date and time, but for some reason Nextel did not have the time and date on their phones. Well, this problem is fixed now and there are now time and date displays on the phones. So if this was one of the cons on your list you can take it off.
And the list goes on and on.....
Ease of Use
This Motorola i1000plus appears not to be very user friendly at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's a breeze. There are a lot of things you can program into your phone through the programming menu. My mom and dad are finding a hard time learning how to use the phone since they are not very tech literate, but I am teaching them both how to use the phone and slowly they are getting the hang of it. The phone comes with a 15 minute video that shows you how to use your phone. This was a good introduction to the phone, but it doesn't touch on a lot of the other features that you have to learn yourself using your manual.
If you have an open mind that are willing to learn new things or catch on quickly to new things, this phone could be a perfect gadget. I got the hang of this phone in about two days from reading through the user manual and experimenting with the phone. The user manual will become your friend the first week you have the phone since the menus on the phone are not very user-friendly. Also, if you ever need help with your phone simply just call 1-800-NEXTEL9 and a customer care representative will help you out right away. I have had no problems so far with their customer service.
Who should get this phone?
I recommend this phone for Business users who are on the go constantly and for those workers that have to talk to their associates frequently. The features that the phone come with are very helpful on the job. It's even a better phone for you if you have co-workers that use Nextel too.
Check into this phone if you are a very techy person and like to have the latest technological advances. While this phone probably isn't the most advanced out there (I admit), I personally think that it's very high tech. If you don't feel comfortable using Palm Pilots and etc., this phone is not for you. The phone is basically a little mini computer with a phone if you get the plan with web service. You can send data to your phone and even use your phone as a modem.
I do not recommend this phone for people who just want a cell phone for personal reasons or emergency use either. If you just want a cell with a cheap plan, get the StarTAC or something that is easier to use and go with Sprint. You will find yourself wasting money on an i1000plus because it has so many features that a normal cell phone user would not even use making the phone very inefficient. I think this is why my mom and dad both do not like this phone.
Conclusion
Before you decide on a cell phone make sure that you do your research so that you will not get stuck with a phone that you will end up hating. Nextel's main target is the business users out there who need to be connected with their work at all times, but I think you will see them trying to target the more normal cell phone user soon.
I do not use my phone for business reasons, but I am more than satisfied with this phone because of all that I'm capable of doing from it. I really can't stop playing with the web service on it because it is unlimited. I think in about a month when I start really getting the hang of the phone it will be my favorite cell phone that I've ever owned.
I hope that I helped you in some way in deciding whether or not this phone is for you. If you need help about or have questions about Nextel please feel free to leave me a comment. I made sure I did my research before I bought this phone so I know quite a lot about this phone and about Nextel's service plans.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! It feels so good to find free time to write reviews again. =) I will be writing a review soon about the service plans and customer service at Nextel so be sure to look out for that review soon.
Recommended:
Yes
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groverchick
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Location: San Gabriel Valley, Southern California
Reviews written: 49
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Been really busy lately, will catch up soon!
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