Review by Marcus Dion
OK. A brief background: I've used wireless from AT&T, Cingular, PacBell PCS (what Cingular used to be), Sprint PCS (ugh...), and Nextel. It's going without saying that SprintPCS still has the most kickin hardware, plans, and deposit max, but their customer service, as well as their "Microsoft"-ish attitude towards hardware (No SIM card, account is locked to the phone, they took away the online activation, etc) leaves a lot to be desired.
I first experienced AT&T wireless through their GoPhone service. I was extremely pleased with the flexibility of the service. It allowed me to have the same amount of minutes/night & weekend minutes/features and play a flat fee just like a monthly plan, but with no credit check, no deposit, no bill, no nightmare. If I went over, I just reloaded. Simple and easy. They give you a crappy phone, but eh...it came with an earbud.
I got tired of the Nokia (I hate Nokias anyway), so I went and got the NEC 515. I'm still in love with that phone, flaws and all. It was stolen :*( along with my SIM card, so I had to get another one.
Now, here I am with GoPhone again, and I decided to get this MPx-200 phone, snce it looked comparable (if not better than) the NEC. The price made me almost punch the sales guy. $400 for the hardware? What a racket. And on top of that, no rebate unless you go with a 2 year plan. Great.
So anyway, I got the phone. Cost me about $430 when all said and done. Here are my impressions so far.
PROS
- Very sleek design. Makes you feel like a high level executive. - Sound output is stellar. Everything is clear: calls and ringers alike. - Screen resolution isn't the absolute best (NEC's HDM phones are the best there), but they're pretty darn good. - Supports WMA and WAV files, even for ringers. It says MP3, but I tried uploading an MP3 and it didn't recognize it. - Synchronizing was easy. It came with the needed software -AND- a free copy of Outlook 2000 if you didn't have it, complete with license. - easy USB connectivity. One flaw of mMode is the charges. With the USB, you can upload your own stuff, free. - USB chargeable, means the sync'ng cradle can charge as well. Or you can use the cord. Save a power outlet. - Expandable with a SD card. Allows you to store even more. - Easy interface.
Uh oh...here we go.
CONS
- Book does not tell you how to Master reset. What if you wanted to sell the phone? You'd have to manually delete all your stuff. - No "Delete All" function for the Contacts, Emails, or anything else. If I have over 200 emails, I have to delete them one by one. Ugh. - OS sometimes "freezes" for a moment, processing or something. - No apparent speakerphone support (even though there is a profile that has it, and even though there is a speaker on the top of the phone!) - No external caller ID? - EXPENSIVE. - $400 and it comes with ONE default game? - No MMS - Certain mMode pages return errors
Motorola is releasing a better version of this, this month, yet they're still charging $400 for this.
Did I mention it was too expensive without a plan?
Anyway, that's my thoughts. Bottom line - if they offer the MPx-220 for about $249 WITHOUT A PLAN (they won't), then it's a great deal.
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