Cellphone Reviews Blog

Sony Ericsson W760a Phone Red ATandT

Packed with entertainment features and great innovations to take music and gaming interaction to the next level, the Sony Ericsson w760a for AT&T can quickly download video, music and more over AT&T’s lightning quick HSPDA 3G network. Additionally, this GPS-enabled phone can access the AT&T Navigator service for turn-by-turn directions as well as its Video Share serve, which enables you to send video of yourself to another compatible phone while making a voice call.

This Walkman phone includes the innovative “shake to shuffle” feature, which randomly chooses another song stored on your phone with just a flick of the wrist. This phone is also great for gaming, thanks to that built-in motion sensor that enables you to tilt the phone to control gameplay. Other features include a 3.2-megapixel camera/camcorder, Bluetooth 2.0 for handsfree devices and stereo music streaming, Memory Stick Micro (M2) expansion, access to personal email and instant messaging services, and up to 3.5 hours of talk time.

Take advantage of AT&T services including Mobile Music, Video Share, and AT&T Navigator turn-by-turn directions.

AT&T Service Options
This AT&T phone can handle high-speed data connectivity via AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband data network, which is available in most major metropolitan areas. The AT&T 3G network uses the dual-band UMTS 850/1900 MHz network, and this phone is also compatible with 2100 MHz 3G networks (found in international territories). The AT&T 3G network provides download speeds ranging from 700 Kbps to 1.7 Mbps, and upload speeds ranging from 500 Kbps to 1.2 Mbps. This makes it possible to enjoy a variety of feature-rich wireless multimedia services, and it gives you the advantage of offering simultaneous voice and data services. (For use outside the United States, an AT&T international data plan is recommended.)

In areas where the 3G network is not available, you’ll continue to receive service on the AT&T EDGE network, which offers availability in more than 13,000 US cities and along some 40,000 miles of major highways. Providing average data speeds between 75-135Kbps, it’s fast enough to support a wide range of advanced data services, including video and music clips, full picture and video messaging, high-speed color Internet access, and email on the go. You’ll also enjoy quad-band GSM connectivity, which allows you to make calls in more than 190 countries and access data applications in the more than 135 countries where AT&T offers international data roaming.

With 3G connectivity, you’ll be able to access AT&T’s Video Share service, which enables you to send a live, one-way video stream to another compatible phone during a standard voice call. The service also allows you to switch the direction of the video stream during the same phone call. (Customers must be in an area served by the company’s 3G network and have a Video Share-enabled phone.) A majority of users in the architecture, engineering and construction industries rated the ability to share live video through Video Share highly, according to research commissioned by AT&T. Video Share lets you see progress on a job site or review the day’s work without having to drive from an office or other site to do so.

You can take advantage of the AT&T Navigator GPS software and service, a full-featured premium navigation application that includes audible turn-by-turn directions, real-time traffic updates and re-routing options, and 3D moving maps (additional charges applicable). AT&T Navigator offers several other features to make your commute more enjoyable and reliable, including mobile access to Yellowpages.com. Additionally, AT&T Navigator is the only mobile phone-based GPS service that provides integrated speech recognition for address entry and points of interest search.

With 3G connectivity, you’ll be able to access AT&T’s Cellular Video (CV) service and the Internet while on the go. Cellular Video features content from CNN, The Weather Channel, iFilm, Comedy Central and exclusive premium content from HBO and much more. And you get access to AT&T Mobile Music, which enables you to buy tracks while on the, access the Napster and eMusic subscription music services, stream music video, discover what’s playing with Music ID song-recognition software, and find out what’s hot with The Buzz music news portal. (A MEdia Max subscription bundle is recommended for accessing AT&T’s Internet, video, and music services.)

The phone has a built-in web browser for MEdia Net downloads and mobile web browsing. AT&T’s MEdia Net service enables you to receive and send emails, read news headlines, get weather updates, download games and ringtones, and more.

The integrated accelerometer lets you shuffle music by shaking and play games by tilting the phone.

Phone Features
The slider-style w760a features a top face with a 2.2-inch, 262K-color LCD screen (240 x 320-pixel resolution), five-way navigator (with music play/pause button in the center) and standard send/end and soft navigation keys. The phone slides smoothly up to reveal the alpha-numeric keypad. The phone has a 32 MB internal memory, which can be expanded via optional Memory Stick Micro (M2) media (up to 4 GB in size). The internal phonebook can store up to 1000 contact entries with space for up to 7 numbers per entry and support for picture and ringer ID.

This Walkman phone offers a full-function digital audio player that’s compatible with MP3 and AAC files, and it includes Sony Ericsson’s innovative “shake to shuffle” feature. With Shake Control activated, just flick your wrist and a vibration lets you know that the track has been changed–a new song from your current playlist is randomly selected and automatically played. Playback settings also include an equalizer, playlists, stereo widening, and shuffle and loop modes. This Walkman phone features MegaBass enhancement for added depth of sound, a flight mode that lets you keep listening to tunes with the phone’s network connectivity turned off, and the PlayNow feature that enables you to download new music tones directly to the phone.

Sony Ericsson’s SensMe technology is used to incorporate mood analysis into the track details, which allows you to create playlists that suit your mood. Select SensMe in the downloadable Sony Ericsson Media Manager software, and it will mood-analyze all MP3 files on the computer. When you transfer music from a CD or a PC to your phone using Media Manager, the tracks will automatically be analysed. Instead of selecting tracks for your next playlist, just select your mood.

With the W760, gaming is more fun than ever. The integrated accelerometer allows you to shake or tilt the W760a to simulate motion while playing video games, and dedicated A and B gaming buttons also allow extra control and interactivity. The intuitive Media User Interface rotates depending on how you’re holding the phone, so you can see everything you need at a glance. Auto rotate works for photos, videos and games.

This phone provides Bluetooth version 2.0 wireless connectivity with EDR (enhanced data rate), and includes profiles for communication headset, handsfree car kits, and audio/video remote control. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones. You can connect your laptop (either via Bluetooth or wired USB) and enjoy dial-up networking–surf the Internet, send email, and access files from a server.

The built-in 3.2 megapixel camera captures stills and video–and playback of video or still pictures is only limited to the memory card size (or capped at 20 seconds for sending via MMS). You can choose from four resolution sizes and two quality settings for still photos, and it also features white balance and brightness adjustments, digital zoom (up to 3.2x), night mode, panorama, and multi-shot mode. It provides support for PictBridge technology so you can print your photos without the need of a PC (either using USB or Bluetooth). Video clips can be shot at up to QVGA resolution (320 x 240 pixels) at 30 frames per second (fps).

The phone also ships with a built-in email client with support for POP3 and IMAP4 protocols, while the included Access NetFront Web Browser allows you to surf full HTML web sites. It also supports RSS feeds, allowing you to use your phone to view up-to-the-minute news and other content from selected Web sites and blogs. Just subscribe to the feed and let it come to you. Support is built in for sending and receiving text, video, graphics and sound via messages. T9 text entry, a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit–a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.

Other features include:

• Flight mode allows you to safely use the non-wireless functions of this phone (such as music, games, or organizer functions) on an airplane during flight
• Instant messaging via AOL, Windows Live, Yahoo!
• Organizational tools: calendar, calculator, alarm clock, tasks, timer, notes, stopwatch
• USB mass storage capabilities
• Polyphonic and MP3 ringtones, vibrating alert
• Speakerphone
• Voice dialing and voice commands
• Built-in FM radio

Vital Statistics
The Sony Ericsson w760a weighs 3.6 ounces and measures 4.05 x 1.9 x 0.6 inches. Its 930 mAh lithium-polymer battery is rated at up to 3.5 hours of talk time, and up to 240 hours (10 days) of standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies as well as AT&T’s 850/1900 MHz 3G frequencies (UMTS/HSDPA).

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars Nice phone but definitely not great!
I recently upgraded from my old w810i to w760a. Found that the phone is pretty much same as w810 w/o any much upgrades…Definitely don’t use GPS coz don’t have data plan. So that upgrade doesn’t matter me.

Goods:

1. Camera is better as always was

2. 3G capability

3. Navigator…those who don’t have GPS but have data plan (i wouldn’t like to have data plan unless i have iPhone)

4. better resolution

Bads:

1. Network – I used to get full signal with my old w810 at my home. Now with new 760 i no longer get full network. Also i have observed overall network strength has decreased at number of places. At places, some 10$ cheap nokia phone gives full network whereas my w760a doesn’t…Haven’t seen any noticeable change in dropped call but donno whether people have noticed it while reaching me…

2. Battery life – Compared to 810 battery life is half…My 810 used to last for 3/4 days for sure w/o much talking…But with same amount of talking my 760 doesn’t even last 2 days…Also takes little longer to charge the full batter as compared to 810.

3. Memory card – I had sony’s proprietary pro duo 2g card for 810. now its useless since they have changed the card format…its awful and i hate it…

3 Stars Just don’t like Sliders
I’ve owned a Motorola Razr for years and like the large keypad for ease of dialing. The Voice dial is exceptional and the keys are responsive, which takes me to why I had to sell the Sony W760a. The voice dial set up is terrible. Took me a long time to activate 3 entries and it is entry specific. The Razr allows you to voice dial ANY entry on your Sim card after you activate the feature. Also, the Sony has an annnoying delay after entry of numbers and data. The slider feature is attractive but several times when I thought the keys were locked, I was actvating the browser! It showed on my bill. So, I’m back to my Razr and other flip phones.

1 Star One HUGE Negative!!
The only way you can plug in your ear buds is buy a bulky accessory that plugs into where you plug it in to charge it, then it won’t fit into any carrying case. So if you want to listen to the walkman on earbuds you have to carry the phone around in your hand every where you go. I always do my homework before I buy a product. This time I didn’t. Great reminder to me – ALWAYS DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU BUY. That word “Walkman” cast a magic spell over me that got me to ‘assume’ you could of course plug your ear buds into it. Fooled me Sony Ericsson. Thanks a lot. NOT.

1 Star w760a is J U N K
i am on my 2nd w760a now. my replacement phone has the same problems as the previous one. lockups, shutdowns, problems with bluetooth (on multiple bluetooth devices). i got this phone because i was tired of carrying around a bulky “smart” phone…but this is ridiculous. I had a motorola razr that lasted for about 5 years with never any single issue what so ever. additionally, all the extra accessories you have to buy on this thing are ridiculous. i can honestly say i will never again purchase another sony phone, or probably any other product. oh, and all these problems happen with the ATT software, or debranded. if you have this phone and don’t have any problems, at this point i would recommend you buy a lotto ticket.

3 Stars Not perfect, but a very good non-smart phone.
I bought this phone to replace a Moto Slver S7. The reception and voice quality on this phone is generally superior and the screen is very nice. The sliding parts feel sturdy and I doubt they will break any time soon. This phone is also surprisingly light weight given how sturdy it feels.

The phone does have two issues which are big negatives for me. The battery life is generally short. Perhaps I expect too much since the Slvr had such fantastic battery life, but charging my phone every 2-3 days or so is irritating. From what I gather this battery life is about as good as other phones that are available now, but it is still disappointing. The second issue is that the bluetooth is bothersome to turn off manually. I only use bluetooth when I’m in my car and this phone either leaves it on all the time or off all the time. In order to turn it on and off you must flip through 5 menus. (You can link a shortcut to the handsfree menu, but not to the bluetooth menu.)

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EDIT: The problem that I describe above does not actually exist. I decided to investigate this issue a few days after I wrote the review and it turns out that you can set a button to automatically turn the BT on and off. No menus or any of that mess. It’s actually very convenient! I would add a star to this review if it were allowed.

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Another odd thing is that they do not package an ear-bud or computer connection cable or memory card with the phone. I suppose that since I paid $.01 for the phone I cannot hold that against them.

Buy/More Info

Nokia 1680 Black Phone T Mobile

A great choice for those looking for a simplified cell phone for on-the-go communications, the Nokia 1680 classic offers essential mobile phone functionality with the added benefits of a basic digital camera. It offers a VGA camera with video recording capabilities, and it features one-touch access for photos and videos. It’s compatible with T-Mobile’s MyFaves service for unlimited nationwide calling to your five favorite people. Other features include access to personal email as well as text and multimedia messaging, speakerphone for handsfree communication, web browser, and up to 4 hours of talk time.

T-Mobile Service Options
The 1680 operates on GSM 850/1900 networks and can handle high-speed data connectivity via T-Mobile’s EDGE network (which stands for “Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution”). This high-speed, mobile data and Internet access technology is fast enough to support a wide range of advanced data services (with average data speeds between 75-135Kbps), including video and music clips, full picture and video messaging, high-speed color Internet access, and email on the go.

It’s compatible with T-Mobile’s myFaves service, which allows you to call up to five of your most common contacts–on any network, even landlines–without using any of your minutes. Learn more about myFaves from T-Mobile.

Download cool new games, HiFi Ringers (real songs by today’s hottest artists), MegaTones (instrumental versions of songs), and wallpapers quickly, as well as stay connected via the Web, instant messaging, and email.

Enjoy access to personal email and instant messaging via popular services as well as SMS/MMS messaging.

Phone Features
The candybar-style Nokia 1680 has a color LCD screen with a 128 x 160-pixel resolution and 65K color depth. It has a standard alpha-numeric keypad, five-way navigator, send/end keys, and two soft keys for navigating the interface. The phone has an internal 32 MB memory, which isn’t expandable. The internal phonebook can store up to 1000 contact entries, with multiple numbers per entry and support for caller groups and ringer/picture ID. Additionally, the phone displays the most recent 20 dialed/received/missed calls.

The 1680 offers a full range of email, text, and multimedia messaging options. It includes support for IMAP4, POP3, and SMTP email. In addition to SMS text and MMS multimedia messaging, this phone incorporates Nokia Xpress audio messaging, which allows you to personalize messages in a spontaneous and creative way. By using a specially designed menu, an audio message can be recorded and sent with only a few clicks of a button. Xpress audio messages can be sent to all MMS-enabled GSM handsets, and can also be shared with multiple recipients.

Other features include:

• Send and receive instant messages with Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, or ICQ.
• Organizer with local calendar, Expense Manager, advanced calculator, Converter II
• WAP 2.0 web browser (XHTML)
• VGA camera for still photos up to 640 x 480 pixels
• Capture and play back short video clips
• Integrated speakerphone
• 2.5mm headset jack
• Ringtones: Polyphonic (24 channels), MP3

Vital Statistics
The Nokia 1680 weighs 2.6 ounces and measures 4.26 x .59 x 1.81 inches. Its 700 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 4 hours of talk time, and up to 432 hours (18 days) of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies.

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars Ok phone to tide me over
Short: This phone works fine as a basic phone, if that is all you are looking for.

Long: My old phone’s LCD croaked on me, and I wanted to wait a bit before buying an HTC Dream, so I went with this cheap phone. Complaints: Menu/key response is sometimes slow. No way to get data to phone via USB cable, at least if you live in the US.

It seems like a USB cable exists (in Europe, Asia and Australia) but it costs about as much as the phone itself does after exchange rates. If you go to [...], they talk about cable CA-126, which works with the 1680. It has a regular usb connector on one end, and a Nokia microusb & 2.5mm charger plug on the other. The US Nokia manual says the Microusb port is for “authorized personal only”, which to my mind says that the carriers in the US wanted to force people into getting things onto the phone via some $$$-chargeable method.

In any event, I’ll be getting a new phone in a few months so I’ll live with this phone for now. But the limitations it has makes it so that it is only suitable for those who are not looking for anything other than making/receiving phone calls (like my parents).

4 Stars Good basic phone for the money
I needed a replacement phone, and did not want to sign up for a new contract, so I bought a Nokia 1680c at the full retail price. This phone is a good value. It rings loud & clear, and the speakerphone is easy to hear. People I’m calling say my voice is clear, though they can tell I’m on a cell phone. It has a lot of neat software features; for example, you can configure a shortcut action for the left and right softkeys, as well the Up-Down-Left-Right buttons. There is no dedicated rocker switch on the side for volume up & down; during a call, the volume is adjusted by the Left and Right buttons. The phone is constructed well, but feels too light. Battery life is very good. The screen is bright and clear. Navigating menus can be a little sluggish. The keypad is stiff, making text messaging a chore. No Bluetooth connectivity, so forget about using one of those fancy headsets. The box does include a wired earbud/microphone with integrated call answer/end button. Something that annoyed me was how it saved numbers to the address book from an incoming call; the Nokia software puts a “+” symbol in front of incoming call numbers. That gets saved to the address book — for example “+15551212121″ — a minor thing, and something probably more useful for European phone numbers, for example. Overall, I like this phone, and will probably keep it until I someday feel the need to get a smartphone-type slab of electronics.

Buy/More Info

Nokia 6205 Dark Knight Edition Phone Verizon Wireless

Built with premium materials and boasting an elegant design, this special version of the clamshell Nokia 6205 for Verizon celebrates one of The Dark Knight–the continuation of the Batman legend and one of the biggest movies in Hollywood history. Clad in a mysterious black color and embellished with a subtle The Dark Knight emblem, it comes pre-loaded with wallpapers, voice tones, animated screensavers inspired by the film, and a full movie trailer. You will also find a Joker playing card with a code and a link to a special Verizon web site where you can find out if you’ve won The Joker’s “bag of cash” containing $10,000, play games to win more The Dark Knight-themed prizes, and download exclusive The Dark Knight content from Verizon Wireless’ V CAST service.

Great Gotham Gadgetry! The Dark Knight Edition of the Nokia 6205 boasts a sleek black design and Dark Knight emblem on the back.

It’s compatible with the V Cast Music and V CAST Music with Rhapsody services, which enables you to purchase songs through your phone and download them via Verizon’s fast EV-DO data network. The phone also features Bluetooth connectivity for handsfree devices, MicroSD memory expansion, a 1.3-megapixel camera/camcorder, and up to 4.5 hours of talk time.

Verizon Service Options
With support for the EV-DO high-speed data standard, you’ll enjoy fast access to the Internet and Verizon’s multimedia services (additional charges applicable), with average download speeds ranging from 400 to 700 Kbps and peak rates up to 2 Mbps. (Learn more about where EV-DO coverage is offered.) The V Cast Music service enables you to download songs instantly to your phone, or purchase music through your PC and transfer the files to your phone. If purchased from your phone, you’ll receive two copies of the song: a Windows Media Audio Pro Plus format at 64Kbps stereo is sent to your phone, and a Windows Media Audio 9 format at 160Kbps stereo is sent to your account in the V CAST Music online store for downloading to your PC. V Cast Music offers nearly 2 million songs, with more being added all the time.

Enjoy crisp looking videos on the 262K color screen, and send messages and email using the clearly defined keypad.

In addition to the V Cast Music service, this phone is also compatible with Verizon’s V CAST Music with Rhapsody, which enables you to access this exclusive digital music service for RealNetworks and for MTV Networks. V CAST Music with Rhapsody delivers unlimited monthly access to music on up to three Rhapsody-compatible mobile phones and players and online on multiple PCs and Web browsers. In addition, customers who purchase music over-the-air are able to download the master copy of the songs or albums to their PCs free of digital rights management (DRM) software that restricts how and where music can be played.

The V Cast Video service enables you to stream or download video clips to your phone from a variety of news, entertainment, sports, and weather channels, including CNN, ABC News, E!, CBS Sports, The Weather Channel, and VH1.

Verizon’s Mobile eMail gives you access to your Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and AOL accounts so you can read, write, and reply. Access your address book, receive e-mail alerts and more, right on your Verizon Wireless phone. Getting on the Internet is easy using Verizon’s Mobile Web 2.0 package, which allows you to read and send e-mails, exchange instant messages and view your favorite web content on your phone. Verizon’s Get It Now wireless download service is also fully compatible with this phone. This pay-per-download service features application downloads, games and productivity tools. You can also personalize your handset with ringtone downloads using the Get It Now service.

With this GPS-enabled phone, you’ll be able to access Verizon’s VZ Navigator service (additional charges applicable) for voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, heads-up alerts, local search of nearly 14 million points of interest in the US (such as landmarks, restaurants and ATMs), and detailed color maps. And Verizon’s Chaperone service lets you easily locate your loved ones from your Verizon Wireless phone or PC in real time. After defining a zone, such as an area designating a school or summer camp, you’ll be sent an alert via text message when the Chaperone handset enters or leaves the zone.

Phone Features
The sleek Nokia 6205 features a 1.3-inch external LCD screen that provides touch-sensitive external music keys that make it simple to access your stored music library. And the internal 2-inch, 262K color internal LCD screen (with a 176 x 220-pixel resolution) makes watching news, sports and entertainment content from V CAST Video come alive. Under the clamshell, you’ll also find a standard alpha-numeric keypad, five-way navigation pad, and send/end and two soft keys. The phone has a 58 MB internal memory, which can be expanded via optional MicroSD memory cards (up to 4 GB in size). It can store up to 500 contact entries, and it features multiple phone number fields per entry as well as picture and ringer ID capabilities.

In addition to an integrated handsfree speakerphone, the 6205 provides Bluetooth connectivity for communication headsets and other handsfree devices. The embedded Bluetooth 2.0 also provides support for dial-up networking, transferring files, and sharing contacts and calendar updates with other Bluetooth-enabled phone users.

The 1.3-megapixel camera includes a flash and 4x digital zoom, and it can capture still images from 1280 x 960 pixels (suitable for printing) to 160 x 120 pixels (perfect for sending via email or MMS messaging). It also features a self-timer and landscape/portrait modes. You can also capture short video clips for saving or sending via messaging. The digital audio player supports MP3 and WMA files as well as unprotected AAC/AAC+ formats, and it also features the ability to create and manage playlists in the phone as well as sync music between the phone and your PC via USB.

In addition to voice communication, you can also quickly and easily sent SMS text messages as well as MMS picture messaging. T9 text entry, a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit–a plus for mobile text messaging users.

Other features include:

• Organizer tools: Notepad, Calculator, Alarm Clock, World Clock, Stopwatch
• Voice dialing and voice commands for touch-free phone operation
• Built-in speakerphone
• Polyphonic ringtones and real-music ringtones in multiple formats
• Openwave Web browser (WAP 2.0)
• 2.5mm headphone/headset jack
• TTY compatible
• Hearing Aid Compatibility = M4/T4
• Bluetooth version 2.0 with the following profiles: HFP (hands-free car kits), HSP (communication headsets), BPP (basic printing profile for text, email), DUN (dial-up networking), FTP (file transfer), OPP (object push for business cards, calendar items, and pictures), PBA (transfer contacts)

Vital Statistics
The Nokia 6205 weighs 3.62 ounces and measures 3.62 x 1.77 x 0.72 inches. Its 1020 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 4.5 hours (270 minutes) of talk time, and up to 264 hours (11 days) of standby time. It runs on the 800/1900 CDMA frequencies as well as the 1xEV-DO r0 data network.

Buy/More Info

BlackBerry Curve 8320 Phone Pale Gold T Mobile

Adding a fashionable touch to Research in Motion’s formidable arsenal of telephonic, PIM, and media tools, the BlackBerry 8320 Curve for T-Mobile is also the smallest, lightest BlackBerry phone that includes a full QWERTY keyboard. This amalgam of the svelte BlackBerry Pearl and the more business-oriented 8800 combines RIM’s long-valued corporate email and messaging platform with a host of advanced multimedia features, including a 2-megapixel camera and stereo Bluetooth (for listening to music via wireless headphones). In addition to its quad-band GSM and EDGE connectivity, it also offers Wi-Fi connectivity for access to the Internet and email as well as access to T-Mobile’s Hotspot @Home service. This version comes in pale gold, but it’s also available in titanium.

The Curve’s full QWERTY keyboard and the innovative trackball navigation system (placed above the keyboard) makes accessing your data and writing email a breeze..

The 2-megapixel camera makes it easy to capture pictures to send via email or upload to your online photo collection.

T-Mobile Service Options
With T-Mobile HotSpot @Home service, you’ll effortlessly transition between Wi-Fi calling and T-Mobile’s wireless network while you talk. You can get unlimited nationwide calls over Wi-Fi–at home via your wireless router or at any U.S. T-Mobile HotSpot. You can also use the HotSpot @Home service via most open, or unsecured, wireless routers, as well as any secured wireless router for which you have access to the password from the owner. This phone is compatible with the 802.11b/g Wi-Fi standard as well as the following wireless security protocols: WEP, WPA (TKIP), WPA2 (AES-CCMP), LEAP, PEAP, EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS, EAP-FAST, EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA. Whenever you’re not using a Wi-Fi network, the Curve works just like a regular mobile phone, using your Whenever Minutes under your T-Mobile voice plan.

This phone also includes compatibility with T-Mobile’s myFaves service, which allows you to call up to five of your most common contacts–on any network, even landlines–without using any of your minutes. Learn more about myFaves from T-Mobile.

Staying Connected
With BlackBerry’s push email technology, your email will find you without having to initiate a connection. BlackBerry devices are designed to remain on and continuously connected to the wireless network, notifying you as new email arrives. In addition to the text, you can also receive and view attachments in a wide range of popular file formats, including Microsoft Office, Corel WordPerfect, and Adobe PDF.

Browse the web with the integrated, full-featured browser, which quickly and efficiently displays HTML pages as well as enables you to set up RSS feeds to stay connected to up-to-the-minute news and blog posts. And keep up with your contacts using a variety of instant message (IM) networks, including the integrated Blackberry Messenger as well as downloadable clients for Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, and Lotus Sametime.

For corporate users, the Curve delivers all the enterprise email and messaging capabilities you’ve come to expect. It’s supported on BlackBerry Internet Service, giving you access to up to 10 work or personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts), as well as BlackBerry Enterprise Server, enabling advanced security and IT administration within IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise environments.

Phone Features

Click for larger view.

The Curve is fashioned in a liquid silver finish with chrome highlights and subtly curving corners. Measuring 4.2 x 2.4 inches, the Curve is just as slim as the Pearl (0.6 inches) and weighs in at 3.9 ounces–just 0.7 ounces heavier than its predecessor. It features a bright 2.5-inch color TFT screen that provides 65,000 colors and a 320 x 240-pixel resolution, and it includes a light-sensing feature that automatically adjusts backlighting for indoor, outdoor and dark environments. Like the BlackBerry 8800, the Curve includes a trackball navigation system located on the top of the QWERTY keypad, and it also features an integrated spell checker with a customizable dictionary to help maintain accuracy while on the go. It has 64 MB of internal ROM memory, and is expandable using MicroSD memory cards. The battery provides up to 4 hours (240 minutes) of talk time and up to 17 days (408 hours) of standby time.

You can snap vivid photos (though no video) using the 2-megapixel camera on the back of the Curve, which also features a 5x digital zoom, built-in flash, self-portrait mirror and full screen viewfinder. It can capture images in up to three picture quality and size resolutions that can be shared instantly by email, MMS or BlackBerry Messenger, or even uploaded to your Flickr account with the Yahoo! Go service. Photos can also be immediately set as a unique caller ID or Home Screen image. You can edit photos and create albums within the Curve using the PhotoSuite application. Pictures can be cropped, rotated and straightened, and flaws can be fixed by removing redeye or changing the brightness, contrast, and saturation levels.

Listen to your favorite music and watch downloaded videos using the included stereo headset, or use an optional wireless headphone thanks to the Curve’s support for the Bluetooth stereo audio profile (A2DP/AVRCP). The Curve is compatible with a wide variety of file formats, including MP3, WMA and AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ audio and WMV, MPEG4 and H.263 video. Dedicated volume controls are conveniently located on the side of the handset.

With the Voice-Activated Dialing (VAD) feature, you can initiate a call just by telling the Curve who to call from your contact list–either via the integrated speakerphone or using an optional Bluetooth wireless headset. Other advanced phone features include advanced sound technology that cancels out background noise and echo, dedicated volume and mute keys, and the ability to customize the Curve with polyphonic and MP3 ringtones.

Vital Statistics
The Blackberry Curve 8320 weighs 3.92 ounces and measures 4.2 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 4 hours of talk time, and up to 408 hours (17 days) of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Blackberry Curve 8320 T-Mobile – Loving it….. still!!!!!,
This is by far the coolest phone I’ve had! I love the ease of set up – I have yet to even glance at the manual. Before I knew it, I was surfing the internet and dowloading Google Maps (a must have for every blackberry user – the satellite views are amazing)! Camera is the best I’ve seen on any cellphone thus far. With a memory card you could load up to 2GB (unsure if a larger card will work) of music, ringtones, videos, and pictures. The screen is beautiful! Very impressive Blackberry.

The only negative aspect that I could find, was the fact that T-Mobile’s version does not have GPS (AT&T does). But this flaw can easily be overcome by buying an optional portable GPS receiver that costs anywhere from $45 – 100 bucks.

Overall – this is one awesome phone!

4 Stars Powerful,Great Quality/Design,not easy to configure
(Note: long review)

I was shopping for a phone (not a PDA) when I decided to buy the Blackberry Curve 8320. My top priorities were:

* to eliminate my need for an office landline by using an inexpensive cell phone plan and a phone with maximum coverage options

* great call quality

* ease of use and configuration

* good headset features that would allow me to easily talk while using my computer

Less important but desirable were:

* Bluetooth so I could occasionally use my Garmin Nuvi 660 for hands free phone use and POI dialing.

* a media player (but not if it got in the way of phone use)

The service provider was more important than the phone, and that led me to T-mobile, which offers good coverage in my area, the best prices, great service, and Hotspot@home which increases coverage to anywhere with open WiFi.

So my perspective is that of a solo consultant who chose a Blackberry Curve over other, less complex, T-mobile Hotspot@home compatible phones (the other choices were Nokia 6086, Samsung Katalyst, and Samsung t409).

Pros:

Call quality when using included headset (and T-mobile network) is the best I’ve ever experienced with any kind of phone, cell or otherwise.

3.5mm jack means many options for headsets of any type/quality/price.

Very stable: The PDA and media functions don’t crash the phone or get in the way of phone use. So this model works for those who want a phone first and foremost without any compromises (though there are a couple minor quirks mentioned below).

Having WiFi as an option is great, though I don’t need it at home or at my office thanks to good T-mobile reception. I want this option not in order access the web or to save money (1000 minutes per month is plenty for me), but rather to increase call quality in situations where the network signal is weak or not present.

Has many physical design features that are very well thought out: user assignable buttons, a surprisingly usable keyboard despite the tiny size, a standby mode button (prevents accidental key presses) – all in an attractive yet solid form factor – and there are many accessories available to augment use of the phone. The more I use it, the more impressed I am with the physical design.

Volume control is superb – can go up loud enough to be able to use in very noisy conditions – and if there is a risk of ear damage from excessive volume, a warning pops up.

Even if you never send emails from the phone, having a well designed keyboard makes for a better phone: It makes dialing contacts fast, means 26 speed dial keys (letters are easier to remember than numbers), and typing in a new contact is faster than with numeric keypad phones.

The address book is very nicely integrated with the phone in a way that makes it fast and easy to dial contacts even if they are not on speed dial – just dial the first couple letters of anyone’s first or last name and you’ll then be able to use track ball to pick out the contact. It was easy to install and use the software on my computer that enabled me to transfer my 150 contacts from MS Outlook.

The “Send Voice Note” feature lets me send myself (or anyone) a voice note, usually in less than 10 seconds. Never imagined wanting such a feature but now that I have it I love to use it to send myself reminders or cash expense notes for later entry into Quicken.

Battery life is good if used primarily as a phone.

In March, 2008, the phone cost only fifty (after rebate) when purchased with a 2 year contract commitment through Amazon. This was relevant as the other phone I considered was the Nokia 6086 – which would have been free through the same source. Purchased direct from T-mobile the 8320 costs two hundred additional which was a big enough difference that I didn’t even consider the 8320 at first. Even though I wasn’t shopping for a PDA, the modest extra cost was well worth it for a couple of nonPDA features – and I get to see for a modest cost if using as a PDA makes sense for me.

T-mobile’s pricing plans are the least expensive available for national service plans – the 39.99/month for 1000 anytime minutes and unlimited weekends/nights is just what I need. For another 9.99/month I got BB E-mail, as required by the Amazon offer. The additional cost of 15 cents per MMS message is fine if you send just a few MMS each month like me.

T-mobile’s customer service is the best I’ve ever experienced from a phone company.

Blackberries are popular so that means lots of options for support and Accessories, and integration with other systems. For example, users of Gmail and Google Apps will like that Google has already provided some integration tools and integration is likely to greatly improve by the end of the year.

Cons:

Complexity of interface and scattered options/help screens leads to many hours of figuring out how to configure the phone – or finding out something can’t be done. Discovering some of the answers required use of online forums or calls to T-mobile.

The default settings were a bit different from typical cell phone settings. It is time consuming and tedious to configure the 8320 to act like a normal cell phone (though you can do it in less than half an hour with a new phone once you finish learning where all the settings are). I wish I had discovered sooner that the majority of changes a basic user would want to make are buried in two applications if you study them carefully:

Profiles/Advanced/Normal/Phone and Options/Screen/Keyboard.

Some things that are standard on most phones cannot be done (or in some cases additional effort is required to download/install an application).

Examples of missing standard phone functions are:

1) cannot ring/vibrate simultaneously

2) no sustained flashing LED when there’s a voice mail (it does for a few minutes but then it stops – so if you happen to miss a call and not be near your phone for the next 15 minutes, you won’t know you got a call unless you look at the screen).

When not using the headset, your ear must be in the proper place for good quality. If your natural inclination is to place your ear close to the phone and just above it, you’ll hear a low level hiss from the speaker (true with both phone or media player use). This is minor if you learn to hold the phone differently and/or primarily use with headset.

A little uncomfortable to hold this wide phone for calls of more than a few Minutes. Avoid this phone if you have small hands and/or plan to spend many hours per week using as a phone without headset.

Too little memory (or is it bad memory management?). I am not (nor do I want to become) a power user but yet will need to do a battery pull every few weeks (Update: there is a way to do a soft reboot. Alt-Right Shift-Delete). It starts with around 21MB free but just checking out the various applications and settings and using the media player without even enabling email dropped it to 16MB. A battery pull bumped it back up to 21MB. With memory so cheap it seems bizarre that it comes with so little.

Having expandable SD memory is great but the Curve is very slow and sometimes awkward in how it accesses the SD memory. For example, for music albums with many short tracks, it can take over 30 seconds to open the album and begin to play music when loaded first time. It is also slow to display the names of albums from the SD card after each time the phone connects to a computer.

Having WiFi accessibility is great but in many cases requires changes to the router configuration. Would rather this worked with any open router without having to reconfigure – or if reconfiguration is required, then make it easy to do. On the bright side, T-mobile offers pre-configured routers for $50 for those who don’t want to go through the reconfiguration hassle. Would like it even better if they sold a portable gadget that simply took any open WiFi signal and converted it into a format that works fine with my phone.

Having Bluetooth compatibility with my Garmin 660 is nice but if not for a terrific post on the blackberryforums.com web site by ggraves, I’m not sure I ever would have been able to get it working properly. Garmin tech support did not know what needed to be done to get the 660 working with the Blackberry Curve. Connecting properly should not be so complicated or required making a change to the Garmin operating system.

It’s a finger controlled PDA. It is time consuming to figure out how to work all the functions of the device and this can be a distraction from getting work done. This has happened to me, as I am one of those people who gets sucked into checking out the capabilities of a new electronic gadget.

I owned one of the first Palm-based PDA cell phones and experienced the same thing – I wasted more time trying to figure things out then I saved by being able to browse or have my contacts on a phone instead of on a printout (and struggled to learn the custom alphabet). I turned away from PDA phones after that experience and figured I’d wait until intelligent voice interfaces were standard for these things but here I am wasting time again.

I’ll gladly ditch this phone the year an affordable, intelligent, voice controlled cell phone comes out.

The process for buying this phone through Amazon was unwieldy – was not able to get hotspot@home for Amazon and am not able to add it for 6 months without incurring a penalty (so says an Amazon rep – T-mobile reps say you can add hotspot@home without penalty but I don’t want it enough to risk a $250 penalty). When I checked the status of my phone order on Amazon, it wanted me to revise it but didn’t tell me how – so I called a phone rep to be told that I didn’t need to revise it. And I was supposed to get free 2-day shipping but got charged shipping because I bought a microSD card along with the order. Also unclear who to contact – Amazon or T-mobile – about certain issues – and one issue wasted a bit of my time because of that. If $200 doesn’t matter to you, I would recommend buying from T-mobile for $249 instead of $49 from Amazon to get the best possible customer service and the flexibility to change plans at will.

Summary:

In sum – once setup and customization is complete, it’s a very good phone, but learning how to set it up and use the rich feature set to best advantage takes too long, and managing memory is a nuisance. This has the feel of an “early adopter” type of devise that requires a certain level of dedication to harness all the power. This may be a non-issue if the IT department of your employer sets up the phone for you and helps get you started.

Buying it from Amazon turned out to be enough of a hassle that I question whether it was worth saving $200.

Now that I’ve bought the phone and spent the time learning how to best use it, I’ll stick with it. But it would have worked out much better for me if the defaults were very similar to a regular cell phone – or it had a way to easily make it like a regular cell phone (perhaps the setup up process could have offered three choices like – what kind of user will you be – simple phone user, moderate communicator, power user – and then it configures with default settings that make the most sense for that type of user).

It was tough to choose between the Blackberry Curve 8320 and the Nokia 6086, but the deciding factor turned out to be the 3.5mm jack (I didn’t like the two Samsung models because I find real keys easier to use than membrane keys).

The Nokia 6086 had equivalent call quality (with no hiss) in my 5 minute in-store test. If it had including a 3.5mm jack and identical bundled headset, then that probably would have been a better choice for me. But I am satisfied with the 8320 and will probably stick with it for years – and I am using functions (some useful, some fun) that are not available on the 6086. I just hope I have the discipline to use it as a phone, not a time draining toy.

5 Stars Real Estate Must Have!
This phone was the answer to almost all of my needs! Being in the Real Estate Industry, I rely on always being available…..and when I cannot be available I must still be in contact with the working world. This phone lets me keep up on employees and others I work with while I am out. Responding to clients needs is very simple and they appreciate me being able to get a hold of them and to respond to requests in minutes! Taking a few hours off to golf and not feeling guilty! I am literally still in the office with full access to all of my documents, contacts, tasks, calendars and more!

The camera on this is great. Not close to a Nikon and definitely would not use for property photos for advertising, but driving by a smoking deal and being able to send the mls info and some “decent” quality pictures to a client to get the “OK” is priceless.

For those whom have primarily EMAIL needs, do not even try others. Blackberry has nailed it as they always have. I have been through countless Blackjacks, Dash’s, Wizards, Pocket Pc’s, Treo’s and others and no one can compare to Blackberry’s instant email push. Don’t hesitate; the only decision is what blackberry you want.

3 Stars Blackberry vs. Treo
Pros of Blackberry: WiFi usage. My old phone (Treo 600 from Sprint) couldn’t pick up cell reception in my apartment. With Blackberry Curve 8820 I can talk all I want at home. (I’m using my WiFi connection but still get charged for cell minutes; you don’t need to buy the WiFi router, it’ll detect any WiFi in your neighborhood.)

Cons: I miss my Treo! The Treo seemed more user friendly. Some things I miss on my Treo: 1) instant ringer off with button on top of phone. With the Blackberry, you have to go in the interface and select ringer off. This can be a pain if you’re in the movie theater and at the last moment have to turn your ringer or phone off. 2) The Treo had a vibrate and ring option. With the BB, you can only choose vibrate or sound. There is no dual function. 3) Ring tones. Both phones come with ring tones but in the Treo, you could select it from the menu when you were in the phone book interface. With the BB, you can select volume only. The ring tones aren’t in the preferences either. Its hidden down deep in the menu after about 6 click strokes. 4) Treo has touchscreen interface, BB does not. The touchscreen is a real nice option when you’re fed up with the BB trackball. 5) The Treo comes with a nice user manual about 100 pages. The BB comes with a 1 page folding user guide. You have to go find the manual elsewhere (I use TMobile’s BB manual online ~ so that means I have to be connected to the internet to figure something out. 6) Synching. Treo has the nice Desktop software so if you have to make massive revisions or want to copy something from the internet straight to your Palm, you can do it via the Palm Desktop software. The BB software is just a synch manager. Its not a real desktop software. You HAVE to use a third party software such at Outlook (doesn’t work with Outlook express), Yahoo, Google, or other. Since I’m a student and don’t have access (nor money) to buy the Microsoft office suite, I’ve had a heck of a time synching my BB to Yahoo and its a pain to have to do everything in Yahoo (I miss the Palm Desktop software because it was like the Palm but on your desktop so the learning curve was low).

The BB is great for business professionals who have Outlook and BB has push technology so you can read up to 10 email accounts on your BB. This is a cool function (but quickly gets out of hand because now your interface has email, SMS, and in/outgoing call logs). You can set it show it only shows up one or the other but then you’ve just paid for push technology (about $30) and now aren’t using it.

Too bad Palm isn’t catching up as fast as BB because I think its more user friendly.

However, once you get use to digging in the menu options in the BB, its not too bad. PS – another note on the sparse user manual in the BB, you have to play around with the menu and you’ll find alot of undocumented shortcuts. I wish they would just document these up front!

2 Stars defective software
I bought the blackberry in December 2007. Within a month, there were problems with memory, recalling numbers, keypad etc.

In March, I spent much time with T-Mobile technical support to fix these issues. They suggested I needed a memory card even though I was emailing very little and was not downloading applications, data … I have been erasing all calls, texts etc every day since. The problems have continued.

It is now June 1, 2008, I am demanding that T-Mobile replace an obvious defective handset and I am being met with resistance. They want me to buy a memory card and I am refusing. ( Two other family members have this same Curve and use it to collect data much more than I do and have had not issues)

I would suggest to all buyuers to go with another carrier to avoid the problems I am having.

Buy/More Info

Motorola w755 Phone Purple Verizon Wireless

Svelte and stylish, the Motorola W755 clamshell phone for Verizon is compatible with the V Cast Music Service, which enables you to purchase songs through your phone and download them via Verizon’s fast EV-DO data network. Other Verizon service options include V Cast Video with clips from major networks and GPS turn-by-turn directions via VZ Navigator. The W755 is loaded with features, including Bluetooth stereo music streaming, a 1.3-megapixel camera with video capture, MicroSD memory expansion up to 4 GB, and up to 3.7 hours of talk time.

The stylish W755 has touch-sensitive controls for Bluetooth, vibrate/mute, and music playback on the front.

Verizon Service Options
With support for the EV-DO high-speed data standard, you’ll enjoy fast access to the Internet and Verizon’s multimedia services (additional charges applicable), with average download speeds ranging from 400 to 700 Kbps and peak rates up to 2 Mbps. (Learn more about where EV-DO coverage is offered.) The V Cast Music service enables you to download songs instantly to your phone, or purchase music through your PC and transfer the files to your phone. If purchased from your phone, you’ll receive two copies of the song: a Windows Media Audio Pro Plus format at 64Kbps stereo is sent to your phone, and a Windows Media Audio 9 format at 160Kbps stereo is sent to your account in the V CAST Music online store for downloading to your PC. V Cast Music offers nearly 2 million songs, with more being added all the time.

The V Cast Video service enables you to stream or download video clips to your phone from a variety of news, entertainment, sports, and weather channels, including CNN, ABC News, E!, CBS Sports, The Weather Channel, and VH1.

Getting on the Internet is easy using Verizon’s Mobile Web 2.0 package, which allows you to read and send e-mails, exchange instant messages and view your favorite web content on your phone. Verizon’s Get It Now wireless download service is also fully compatible with this phone. This pay-per-download service features application downloads, games and productivity tools. You can also personalize your handset with ringtone downloads using the Get It Now service.

With this GPS-enabled phone, you’ll be able to access Verizon’s VZ Navigator service (additional charges applicable) for voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, heads-up alerts, local search of nearly 14 million points of interest in the US (such as landmarks, restaurants and ATMs), and detailed color maps.

Perfectly pocketable, it weighs just 3.6 ounces.

Phone Features
The Moto W755 clamshell phone offers dual displays as well as dedicated music controls surrounding the external screen. It has a standard numeric keypad with send/end keys, 4-way navigation toggle, and soft keys. The internal LCD has a 176 x 220-pixel resolution, while the external display measures 96 x 80 pixels; both screens support up to 65K colors. The internal 21 MB memory can store up to 1000 contacts, with each entry able to store up to 5 numbers and a picture ID. You can expand the phone’s memory using optional MicroSD memory cards (up to 4 GB in size).

It’s embedded with Bluetooth version 1.2 technology and it has a unique external touch sensitive control for pairing the phone with devices. It includes profiles for communication handsets, dial-up networking, and sending contacts and calendar entries to other devices. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones.

The 1.3-megapixel camera can capture still images up to 1280 x 1040 pixels, perfect for printing snapshots. It also includes a 4x digital zoom and video capture/playback capabilities. The digital audio player is compatible with MP3, WMA, and unprotected AAC/AAC+ formats, and you can create and manage playlists right inside the phone.

Support is built in for sending and receiving pictures, text, graphics, sound and video via messages. When used in combination with the phone’s built-in still and video camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. And to make messaging even easier on the E590, the phone comes stock with built-in iTap text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets.

Other features include:

• Bluetooth version 1.2 with the following profiles: A2DP (stereo music streaming), AVRC (remote control), HFP (hands-free car kits), HSP (communication headsets), BIP (for sending images to another device), BPP (basic printing profile for text, email), DUN (dial-up networking), FTP (file transfer), OPP (object push for business cards, calendar items, and pictures)
• Voice activated dialing
• Bilingual interface: English and Spanish
• Speakerphone
• Mobile IM and chat
• Embedded ringtones (72-chord polyphonic), vibrating alerts, and silent mode
• Organizer tools: Calendar, alarm, calculator, to-do list
• 2.5mm headset adapter
• Mini-USB port
• Hearing aid compatibility: M4/T4

Vital Statistics
The Motorola W755 weighs 3.6 ounces and measures 4 x 1.7 x 0.7 inches. Its ___ mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 3.7 hours (220 minutes) of talk time, and up to 390 hours (16+ days) of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/1900 CDMA/EV-DO frequencies.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Sharp looking expandable options phone – works in dead zones!
I live in what Verizon calls a dead zone. If you do too, you need to be sure to get the phone with the best signal – a non-low-end Motorola or Nokia. This one works! It is sharp-looking in purple, but unlike the new “shine” phones, is not always covered in fingerprints. One tip – with this phone the speed dial numbers you just press and hold the number. Others I’ve had, you had to press the connect afterward, and it does not work that way on this phone.

Combined with Verizon plans, it can be as little or as much as you want. If you just want a basic phone it’s great, but if you need the extras like camera, Internet and text messaging you don’t have to get a plan including it. Instead it’s there already, and you can pay as you go only when you need text or Internet.

3 Stars Acceptable
I did a lot of research before I got this phone (directly from VWireless). I still don’t understand why the black W755 has much higher user ratings on Amazon, so I averaged them and decided it must be basically a 4-star phone. Wrong. I’ve had it for five months now and Verizon has replaced the battery once and the phone once and it still has terrible battery life.

I’m a light user and it’s almost all for regular phone use. I rarely text and never use the internet. I wanted good reception, good sound quality, reliability, Bluetooth, and buttons made for phone dialing — not texting. It’s hard to find phones that don’t have tiny little buttons these days. I basically got this one for free. I didn’t have much choice in my “price range” but you get what you pay for.

Pros:

- Good reception. I get a strong signal almost everywhere. Dead zones on my old phone are greatly reduced.

- Nice inside display for the price range but the outside one is pretty tiny. (Guess that’s a pro and a con.)

- It’s purple:)

Cons:

- Battery life is beyond terrible. Be prepared to purchase an extended-life battery. I have to charge it at least every 48 hours even if it doesn’t get used at all. I’ve had the battery go from just charged down to one bar with just a 45-minute voice, not speaker or Bluetooth, call. Forget about using the music player or you’ll drain it totally.

- Incoming voice quality is poor. So far nobody’s complained about how I sound but I’m not impressed with how calls sound on my end.

- Scratches easily.

- Even though the keys are big and well-lit, they’re flat and have no space in between keys which means you still have to look to dial.

The rest of the complaints I have are probably true of most phones in this price range (like the camera is pretty bad) or specific to Verizon’s intentionally messed-up software and sometimes abysmal customer service. The jury is still out on the phone reliability issue. It started garbling the sound on some calls and had to be replaced after four months. If it happens again I’ll demand a different model.

If Verizon didn’t have superior coverage I’d never stay with them. Next time I’ll pay more up front and go with a no-contract plan. Getting locked into this phone and an overpriced contract for two years was a disappointment.

3 Stars Why wouldn’t this thing have a flash for the camera?
I didn’t even think to look when comparing phones whether this one had a flash or not. I didn’t think in this day and age any camera phone would not have a flash. I made a stupid move when I re-upped my 2 year plan thinking I was getting a better phone than I already had. Otherwise the phone is just okay. Nothing special. I’m just stuck with it for another year and a half unless I fork out some real cash for a touch phone.

4 Stars Motorola Razr – The Next Generation
Though it’s called the W755, this phone could easily have been marketed as the next-gen Razr, for that’s basically what it is. This is a simple, cheap phone that gets the job done well, while looking pretty snazzy to boot.

Pros

- Cute aesthetics. With bright purple soft-paint and shiny silver accents, this phone is really quite pretty. It’s more substantial than the v3 line of Razrs, with a slightly heavier feel. The flip part of the clamshell phone is sturdier than the original Razrs and doesn’t feel as if it’ll snap apart on you.

– Call quality. Despite the negative reviews on this phone, I feel that the call quality is very good. There are some problems with the echo effect, but I find that happens when you speak louder than normal. The volume tends to be a little low on the scale, but I’m hard of hearing and so just turning the volume all the way up rectifies this problem for me. I have had no dropped calls so far, or trouble with calls going through.

– Interface/text messaging – Again, despite reviews saying there is a lag between pressing a menu button and having that item come up, I’ve not seen this problem with my phone. Text messaging goes smoothly and hasn’t frozen the phone once. The screen is large and clear, and there are a few display themes to choose from, which are nice.

– Music player. I don’t use the music player, but this is a nice addition. You have to get a smaller headset or headset adapter, as normal-sized headphones won’t work with this phone unless you have the adapter. Contrary to what people have said, you DO NOT have to buy songs from Verizon to use on this phone, or buy their high-priced music package. Buy a microSD card, and an SDcard reader (about 10 to 15 dollars), pop it into your Mac or PC, drag and drop your files, pop the card into your phone (inconveniently located behind the battery), and you’re good to go. There are also dedicated touch keys on the front of the phone for the music player; this gives it a nice “faux iPod” flair.

Cons

- Speakerphone. The speakerphone is not very good in this at all. The person to whom I was talking said there was quite a bit of echo and feedback on her end when she was talking to me. I don’t use speakerphone so this isn’t a problem, but it might for those who like to go handsfree in the car.

– Camera. The picture quality is horrible, but it can be made a little better by tweaking settings before you take a picture. Still, this is annoying for those of us who like to have our camera on hand for a quick snap here and there.

– Bluetooth. This is not the phone’s fault, this is Verizon’s. Verizon makes it so that you cannot share files via Bluetooth on your phone. So if you’re wanting a phone that lets you port pictures or sounds to your phone or from your phone… this one isn’t it.

All in all, this is a nice phone for folks who just want to talk and text, and who may like to listen to a little music every now and then without dragging out another mp3 player.

2 Stars It works.
OK, maybe I liked my Motorola KRZR a little too much. I really LOVED that phone. And then I lost it. Yep, could have killed myself. But, I had to get a new phone and I got this one.

The first thing it did was pinch me when I opened it. You have to be careful of that. The volume buttons on the side of the phone are in a bad place. I keep screwing up the volume when I talk. The same buttons adjust the ring volume, so I have set my phone to vibrate on more than one occasion, missing calls. The screen is also smaller, and I found the KRZR a little easier to navigate. I also liked the size of the KRZR. This phone seems clunky.

This phone does get the job done, but I expected more from it since it was made by Motorola. Somehow, it just feels cheap.

I am looking for another KRZR, but Verizon doesn’t seem to have those anymore.

Buy/More Info