my new phone...HOT!

Okay, my cell phone contract was about to expire so I decided to "upgrade" my phone. After much debate and research, I decided to get a Motorola SLVR. I confess I am thoroughly pleased with my choice. Before I went to the store I was kinda set on the Treo 650. All the features it has and its popularity among tech saavy people, I was leaning towards this, even it costs way more than what I think something that is primarily a cell phone should. With that said, I decided not to go all out on that phone because I have my laptop with me often enough, I decided the SLVR would suffice. Now let me tell you why. :-)

Before I start, I will say all my "review" is to the best of my knowledge. If I say the phone can't do something, it might...but I couldn't figure it out. We'll pretend I'm as smart as you or smarter. Alot of reviews I've read say things can't be done, and the truth is the reviewer just didn't know how to do it. Moving on...

This is one slick looking phone. It is minimalist design, with just enough sheen to look very expensive. The backlight on the numbers of the keys is a royal blue so it is bold and vibrant. As you can see this joint is sooper thin. That is both good and bad. Good because I hated wearing a brick/videotape on my hip back in the early 90's. On the flip side, this thing is so thin I can't always tell its on. Also, forget about holding it between your ear and your shoulder unless you plan on doing a 1950's Mummy impression. Unlike some of the reviews I read, the keypad is not absolutely flat. The numbers are raised (and lite up in the coolest way) so its not like you are unable to distinguish the buttons if you have big fingers. The display is nice and large with vibrant color. The phone also comes with iTunes. The few things I mention that I don't like obviously weren't things I felt were deal breakers, or after skimming that part of the manual I couldn't find a workaround.

Why this instead of the RAZR? USB and iTunes. Not really a fan of flip phones either. I've seen too many phones that have been dropped and the hinge broke. Pitiful site.

As a phone, it is quad-band, meaning you can use it all around the world. The reception is good, not the best or the worst. The sound is great. The speakerphone option is easily located so you can actually use it without missing the conversation in the switch. Not totally thrilled it only keeps 10 numbers in memory (dials, received and missed) but thats okay. The battery lasts forever. I want to leave the music on one day from a full charge just to see how long it will last. It comes with a power cord, USB cable and a set of earbuds/headphones for music and talking. It also comes with an adaptor that turns the USB port into a regular headphone jack. I've seen bluetooth headphones that should work with this phone, but since they are not made by motorola they won't confirm they will work.

Ports/Memory
This phone came with a 512MB transdata (microSD) card in it, for tranferring songs
One thing I thought was wierd is that even though it has a USB 2.0 port, but it only transmits data at USB 1.1 speed (around 8k/sec) which makes downloading music frustratingly long. It also has bluetooth. It's kinda wierd, I can only copy songs (and other data) via USB. So, yes this phone can also double as a flash drive. I have to add ringtones and sync my address book and calendar by connecting via bluetooth. Why they have set a limit of 100 songs regardless of whether there is more memory available is a mystery. Maybe it s copyright limitation thing. I don't like that it only has that one USB port, so thats where your charger OR your headset OR your USB cable goes in. At least the phone charges while you are connnected via USB (like an iPod)

Features
The interface is a little confusing, and I'm a technical guy so if you're a layman...keep your manual handy. Of course it has all the customizable figures in most phones, wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones, games, voice dialing. I really like that you can download your own ringtones (and avoid subscriber fees of $2.50+) It has Internet access and email-but i haven't figured how to setup email yet, so I long on and goto my ISPs site and log in that way.

This phone has a camera and can capture video (up to 30 sec.) with sound, and you can download footage to your Mac via USB. NICE. I hate phones with cameras taking photos that are stuck in the phone, not that a 640x480 res photo will make the cover of Vibe, but its nice to be able to download. Additional camera settings and effects, features include Effects (Color, Black and White, Antique, and Negative), Contrast Adjustments, and Self-Timer and it has a 4x zoom! Crooked cops look out.

The calendar is nice, it has an alarm function. My main use of this is for checking my schedule since I can sync it with my "main" calendar at home, and of course checking the day of the week for the months ahead when setting dates in meetings. I would hardly ever add dates in the calendar using the 3 letter key thing, even though its pretty intuitive in figuring out what i'm trying to say and has presets (meeting, birthday, party, etc.) This is how I get around having a treo 650. Haha

The address book lets you put people in catagories (family, work, etc.) and have as many numbers for a single person as you need. My previous phone had 1 home, 1 work, 1 other. You can even add pictures for different names.

You can customize your forwarding, and change the order of the icon menu, or make it a text menu. I really like being able to make my phone MY phone, even though there are some limits within the interface's design that you can't change-like the order of the menus themselves. For instance there is a submenu "MY STUFF" that has the camera , games and video options. It would be nice if I could move one of those to the main menu (and take IMs off) Who da heck would im on a phone without a QWERTY keyboard anyway? One thing about the address book I don't like is that it always displays whats on the phone AND whats on the sim card, so if you ever COPY TO SIM, all your entries will be displayed twice (being on the phone and on the SIM)

The iTunes is great, it can sync with your computer, you can tell it which playlist to download from. And this phone has an external speaker that is unusually loud with great range as well. So I can let it play on my desk while I'm working on a large graphic file, without taxing my computer's memory to listen to music as I work. And of course if the phone rings, the music stops automatically. What I found out after I started using it is that songs don't have to be of the highest quality and still sound good. The higher quality makes files larger.

So there you have it, the good, the bad, the confusing. Overall this phone is a great buy at $149 - the current cingular promotion. It has all the features I wanted, without a bunch of other features that are nice to have, but I probably wouldn't use on a phone anyway. But a treo 650 is a nice hip hugger. Rumor is that Apple is coming out with a phone later this year. I'll keep my eyes open.