Functional, easy-to-use...but won't last forever (update)
Written: Aug 04 '02
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Pros: Relatively inexpensive, good battery life, lightweight, looks good, has a radio.
Cons: No clock (what were they thinking?)
The Bottom Line: Good phone with useful extra options: text messaging, internet. And it looks cute.
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| piddy's Full Review: Motorola V2282 Cell Phone |
UPDATE, August 2002: After around two years this phone has slowly started to give out. The connection from the phome to the recharge is now so poor I need to jam the plugged in phone between several books to hold the charger in place and keep it active. Other functions are still good, although after about 18 months the rubber slipcovers, in new condition a great way to spot the plain, grey phone, became too loose to be of use--the phone + cover started catching on things all the time! So much for looking cute.
I bought this phone with a Pac Bell Wireless plan when it was new on the market. There may be other Motorola phones that are better now but this phone has been great--and easy--to use. Problems with the service provider are another matter; below I've commented on the functionality of the phone.
The phone is lightweight and comes with slipcovers that provide a good grip. They are available in at least five colors (blue, bright orange, lime green, yellow, and red. I've also seen pink covers on this phone overseas) and cost around $10 each; the phone comes with two covers. The covers help prevent the phone getting dirty though the buttons are nicely designed and the phone face stays clean and is easy to wipe down. The phone also comes with a belt clip and hands-free set. The hands-free set is only okay--unless the speaker is right at your mouth it's difficult for people you call to hear your voice clearly.
The display panel is easy to read and the backlight powerful--good enough to read on a dark street at night.
Volume control is good, although in crowds or louder places I'd be happy with a little more range. The ring tones are all variations of phone ring-tones from around the world. There aren't as many as with, e.g., Nokia phones. If you use the internet connection service it's possible you could download additional tones--but I don't subscribe so I cannot guarantee this.
The battery life is good if you are not using this phone for long periods. I use the phone between 5 and 25 minutes a day and find that recharging it every three days (even with the phone switched on overnight) is sufficient. Longer calls do eat up battery life a little more but the phone does seem to survive recharging only every second day with 1-2 hours of conversation each day.
The radio seemed like a gimmicky extra but it works and is great for jogging or travel, etc.
When I bought the phone I was told it was a "world-phone" and worked outside the U.S. However, this is not the case. The phone does have text messaging and internet access capability.
One disadvantage--though this may be a service provider problem--is the consistency of the voicemail. It sometimes takes over an hour before I receive a voicemail message alert. Another problem, also more likely to be with the service provider or at least not specific to this phone, is the inconsistent range in hilly parts of SF.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 70 w/ plan
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Epinions.com ID:
piddy
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Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 2 members
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