Motorola V540
Average Ratings
V540, perfect for business/govt.
I purchased this through Cingular Premier, Cingular service in the Washington, DC area. Essentially a V551 with no camera, the only other difference being that the runbberized coating on the sides is black, rather than blue. This phone was exactly what I needed, a phone with high spedd data, and more importantly to me, bluetooth, and no camera. I work at the DOJ and camera phones are verboten. I really wanted to be able to use a bluetooth headset in the car, etc., and before this phone my choices were a Nokia 9300, or a Blacberry phone. The Cingular Medianet packages are a good deal, SMS, MMS, internet access, etc. all bundled up. I've had no reception problems at all, I even get a good signal in my basement. I've paired the phone with my secure Ipaq 2750 for internet access, works flawlessly, as does the Plantronics Voyager 510 I use as a headset. I have no cons at all, fit and finish were fine, call quality, volume, battery life, etc. If you need a high end GSM phone (quad band at that), and can't have a camera due to work restrictions, this is a great choice.
Tough
This thing was indistructable. I tossed it walls and dropped it tons. It worked until the screen stopped working. The screen was black. IDK why. But anyway I liked it when I had it
MOTO did it again!!
Let me start off by saying i had this phone for about a year and a half!! It was a GREAT phone but after about a year the screen started to turn off by its self!! Eventually it got to where it wont turn on at all!!
Pros:
long battery life(even while playing games or bluetoothing)
good signal
bluetooth
camera/video
very durable
Cons:
screen turning off
charger not charging
Very nice phone!
I am also in a job where it is against the regulations for me to have a camera phone. Until this phone came along I was finding it very difficult to find reliable cell phones that did not include cameras. I have had this phone for close to a year now and travel extensively because of my job and I have to say that I am very pleased with the phone itself and call quality anywhere I attempt to use it.
I am mainly interested in the phone for the ability to make and receive calls plus the capability of the address book and alarm functions so my PROs and CONs list is not very long but here it is anyway. In fact, the only reason why I am not giving this phone a score of 5.0 is because unfortunately technology is beginning to outpace it. Hopefully when I need to replace this phone there will be a good phone without a camera.
PROs:
Signal reception in the USA and Europe
Clarity of phone calls
Very good and complete address book
Easy to navigate settings and intuitive menu
Good blue tooth tool - although a low phone battery will make this feature drop in an out
Long battery life
CONs:
No longer a world phone since the 3G system has been released
Voice Dial feature is cumbersome to use
My wife and daughter have the V551 models and and they say that the camera is good and the phone also has good games available and a strong text messaging feature.
Very disapointed
This is my first Motorola phone and also my first clamshell. I was concerned that I would like the clamshell form factor, but it turns out that I love it. I like some of the other features of the phone, like the bluetooth, but not the way that they are implemented. I find this phone very difficult to navigate and not at all intuitive. There is more than one button for a number of features, which I find to be a waste, as well as crowding the keypad. I find the reception and voice quality to be way below acceptable. If I speak with any volume, I can't be understood at all.
Consider this for students
I don't own this phone yet but I'm seriously considering it for my Middle School age son. I checked the public school board policy and it strictly prohibits camera & Internet access phones on school property! It's becoming difficult to find a decent phone that doesn't have a camera. It might be even more difficult to find a phone without wireless capability - I'm checking to see if having it disabled is acceptable. Just wanted to pass this on as I normally would not have considered it a problem. I am keeping the same review rating as the only other reviewer since I can't judge it. Hope this helps a potential purchaser to consider if looking for a phone for their school age children. I will provide follow up review if I do purchase.
