Motorola V551 / V330 / V547 / V555 / V557
Average Ratings
V551: Great for video game junkies, but nobody else
I just picked up the V551 today, and, after spending a few hours with the manual, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Are these people kidding? I'm admittedly an oldfashioned guy, who adopts slowly to the latest gadgets. My reason for wanting to switch from Verizon's LG4600 (a very fine phone) was because of Cingular's overseas capability and the ability to rollover unused minutes. I don't care about games, cartoons, the latest video nonsense, blueteeth, purpleteeth and ad nauseum, and, If I want a camera, I'll buy a camera. What I do want is a GSM phone (with rollover minutes) that doesn't require a magnifying glass and pencil-thick fingers to operate. [...]
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Great Phone
Overall great phone for the price. Sadly, there are few options in the US and on Cingular for great phones at reasonable prices, however this one is as close as it gets.
PROs
Reception
Reliability
Bluetooth
EDGE
Cost
Easy to read
Fun and Easy to use Features
Voice Dialing
Nice exterior design.
Cons
Menu can be cumbersome to navigate sometimes
Menu keys a little small for big fingers and thumbs.
Little bulky and heavy
Not a flip.
Battery is weak
overall, I am very happy with the phone for the price, I was leaning towards the Razr and s710a, but dollar for dollar this is a better phone and I saved $350+.
Stay away from Motorolas
I switched from AT@T to Cingular, and I decided to get the Motorola V551. I had the V505 with AT@T and it was the best phone I ever had. I bought the V505 with great reluctance b/c I had a v600 before and it was really terrible. However it seemed with the V505 that Motorola had gotten its act together.
I was wrong.......I have had two Motorola V551 phones and both have had bad reception. All the other stuff works fine (bluetooth, calendar, etc...), but the reception is terrible. I constantly have dropped calls and the people I talk to have trouble hearing me.
I sent the V505 in to be unlocked, and I'm going to return the v551 and buy a Nokia 6230 instead. I did some research online and as it turns out Motorola's have very poor quality control. Some of them work great (i.e. my V505) while others are buggy. As it is, I've been through 5 Motorola's in a row and I've had ONE work correctly. This is ridiculous, and I'll never buy a Motorola again!
This phone blows
My employer provides our phones and pays for the service. We switched from Sprint PCS to Cingular about two weeks ago and this is one of the phones that Cingular provided. If you're into all the extra crap that they offer on this phone and not concerned about actually talking to anyone on it, I'd say that "This is the phone for you." Every time someone calls me and I answer the phone it disconnects the call immediately or it takes 10-15 seconds to get a connection stable enough to actually carry on a conversation. I traded my first one in for a new unit and the 2nd unit is just as bad as the first one was. This problem exists wherever I use it. Perhaps I should be pointing the finger at Cingular instead of Motorola, but 75% of my coworkers experience the same problem that I'm having. The other 25% of my coworkers received a different brand (not Motorola phones) and they haven't had any problems at all.
PROs -
*It has a camera. (Big deal - most phones have them these days.)
*Color display - This is the first phone that I've had that has a color display. It's real neat and all, but I'd rather have a phone that I could actually talk on rather than see pictures on. I own a digital camera for this reason. I don't have a cell phone built into my digital camera!
*Shell - The rubbery blue edges on this phone keep it from sliding off of slick or sloped surfaces.
*Billing - I don't pay for it, which is a darn good thing because I'd tell Cingular/Motorola where to stick this phone.
*Space - The fact that I don't have enough space to keep bitching and whining about how much this phone blows.
CONs -
*Manual - The manual that comes with this phone is a JOKE. It was real handy for starting our campfire last weekend, however.
*Connection - I normally get 3-4 bars on my connection meter and yet I continually have dropped calls and audio bleed. A real pain in the butt when on an important call!
*My employer provides it - no room for negotiation.
charging
when battery is dead and the phone is plugged into an outlet, it must charged for a while b4 you can turn it back on.
camera ok, needs a flash
not fond of motorola interface.
great phone
bought the phone outright. love the phone, when you first unpackage it it can be a little cumbersome to figure out all of the variety of features this fine piece of technology has to offer. but once you get the hang of it you will love it too.
V551
Pros: The phone looks and works great by itself.
Cons: The bluetooth connection has issues I have a Jabra 250 wireless headset and it drops the connection all of the time, even when the phone is attached to me. I purchased the 98655 Bluetooth Wireless Connectivity Kit with the latest 3.0 software available from Motorola and my computer still can't find it. In other words don't waist your money. The fact that it is a video phone is a joke. The quality is as terrible as the pictures it takes.
BETTER REPLACEMENT
I have to admit at first I wasn't really happy with picking up this phone. I purchased the v3 razor phone..and after a week of owning it I dropped and broke it. Well since there is no insurance on that phone, I had to end up gettin the v551. I was highly upset going from a Maybach to a BMW , but I am really happy with this phone. The phone is just a cheaper/ more sturdy version of the v3 razor phone...So to all those that are like me and just get a phone because its the newest thing out..think before you do on this one..get the V551 and save yourself some money...
Great phone
This was a replacement phone for my Samsung X426 which was an entry level model. Having to adjust to the menu differences; left vs right side swapped on the Motorola. Good connection although Ive never had any real connection challenges. Browser speed is much improved over the Samsung (newer technology) [...]
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