Motorola A1200 / MING
Average Ratings
Great phone, quirky PDA
Most of my friends have iPhones (iToys), and when they have no reception, I have 1 to 2 bars. I am sure Apple can do as well as Motorola, but for some reason (battery life?), they do not. It took me a while to get e-mail and Internet to work with AT&T, but with Motorola's help (real person, speaking English) it works great now. Good camera if you need one.
PDA functions and menu navigations are slow and confusing. Motorola mobile Phone Tools for synchronization with Outlook do not always work, and tend to load Outlook Calendar (on your computer) with many repeat entries, with no rhyme nor reason. If you have Outlook entries with alarm ON, the phone will sound an alarm even if it is OFF, so be aware of it when you set events. Contacts sync works fine.
Great phone in great form, quirky PDA, I am keeping it and waiting for MING II!
Daylight savings time does not work for J2ME application
A very nice phone and shares the same high level platform as the Motorola E6 but if you are in North America and change to daylight saving time, then the time from within J2ME application is 1 hour behind http://community.eqo.com/blog/colin/daylight_saving_time_on_motorola_linux_phones
Great looking phone but not a PDA
For someone that wants a great looking phone, this is definitely it. Looks and feels great, and really surpasses any other flip phone that's out there.
I would like to point out that I own for the last 3 years PDA phones and I am used to them, so I purchased this to try it out to see if it would do the job for me, but as a PDA it fails.
It is not only the fact that it has it's own OS (lINUX) which I knew, but Motorola phone tools will not even synchronize Memos, which is my second most used feature of my PDA phones.
So if you were wondering about the PDA functions I would have to say that if you are a mid to strong user, forget about this phone. If you really want a nice phone with some extra features to fool around with, then go for it.
One thing to mention that is really annoying, is that besides the fact that the phone responds slowly sometimes, is that in order to get back to the main screen you have to close every application that you previously opened before. There is no button to close everything and get back. Once you switch applications, the previous does not close unless you close it yourself.
To respond also to the previous comment, the phone DOES notify you of missing calls, it's just that the default sound is a very low bip.It is fine by me since I hate that annoying bip that Motorola phones make on missed calls and there is no way to shut it off unless you hack into them.
I purchased this phone thinking I would be able to use the phone as a nice pda companion but that was not the case. The screen is small, entering text with the fingers is hard and the QWERTY keyboard on the screen in too small even for the stylus.
You have to understand that I gave the phone a 4 rating because people should see this phone as a phone first. Not a PDA.It has nice features and being a Motorola is a plus by itself.
I felt I had to write this review to distinguish the phone from the PDA features as It was important for me and I had no reference.
Someone could use this info.
Motorola A1200
I've had the phone for about a week now and I've got to say it's one of the best phones I've used. For the price, it darn well better be!
Pros: Killer styling
I'll save space and include everything PRO previously mentioned in the other reviews and add something no one mentioned thus far - the business card scanner!
Cons: 4 things:
It's an import phone. Moto has not brought it to the US. Hence, if you need warranty service, you must ship the phone somewhere they're covered - Hong Kong or Europe.
The USB port is a bit finicky when it comes to charging. Went through three USB car chargers before finding one that works.
The PDA functions could be better. Better still the Bluetooth could support the HID (Human Interface Device) profile - making it compatible with Bluetooth keyboards already on the market for other PDAs.
Memory. There could be more of it. 8 MB these days isn't enough even if it's running Linux. If it were me, I would have installed at least 64 MB - not counting the TFlash chip.
----
The 2 PX camera in the unit doubles as a scanner for business cards. It takes a picture of the card, scans the contact info and imports it into your phonebook. The caveat is you need a well lit space to do it in. The camera, btw, takes GREAT pics.
The radio in the phone is more powerful than in previous phones - able to get a signal where others failed. Got T-Mobile service in L.A. and there seem to be fewer drop zones.
All in all, it's a great phone and a conversation piece.
The A1200 is Tight!
This is the tightest & coolest looking phone I've ever had. I hate having the same phone as everybody else & you never have that problem w/ the A1200.
Cons:
* No Internet or email, even w/ the software update T-Mobile sends as a txt to your phone. ( I live in LA)
* Every time you call your voice mail, u get a new message alert like you received a new message - little annoying
* Your custom ringtone will sometimes reset to the default ones - just change it back & its fine
Pros:
* The size, style, color (red) is so much better then online. Its perfect.
* Touch screen is so accurate - stylus pen lets you write on the screen for notes or txt message & translates to font.
* Menu, apps, address book - everything is so easy to use
* Software for phone/pc is incredible. You can crop any part of any song you want for ringtone, edit address book (saves so much time) & type it on the pc keyboard, sync up your calendar
* Voice command is 95% accurate - using bluetooth really gets the most from this phone (I have Motorola H700 - sometimes phone will connect & disconnect from the bluetooth automatically, like 4 times at once - kinda sucks.
i could go on, but just get it, you'll love it (except if you want a PDA or any internet access)
best phone I've had so far
I got this phone last week and it definitely tops all the phones that my friends and family have. My phone was imported from China and I got it for $542 shipped off of ebay. Pricey, but I actually think it's worth it.
Pros
-clear plastic flip so it's like a huge "external" display
-fm radio
-real player
-photo editor
-2 mega pixel camera but only the Asian version, 1.3 for U.S version
-Fast bluetooth connection
-cool touch screen and the touch pen is out of the way
-feels like a solid phone
-512mb transflash card; can support up to 1gb
-number pad is well spaced so you donât accidentally press the wrong number with your finger
-can use almost all the functions on the phone while on the line with someone
Cons
-flip is not easy to open with one hand
-can only set 2 alarms and the music used for alarm is set in ringer profile only.
-not a whole lot of ring-tones, wallpapers, or color schemes
-if using speaker-phone, flip must stay open; if closed it ends call
-voice commands donât work very well
-I donât know if itâs just me or the phone, but I have trouble charging it sometimes.
A lot of the peeves I have with this phone is not specifically because of the model but just the new specifications that Motorola is putting into all their new phones.
Overall, this phone is pretty cool.
A1200, Not Bad at All
PROS: I have to say that i am not a big fan of Motorola Phones, But the A1200 looks to be a good phone. I like the overall size and the calm shell clear covering make this phone very attractive. The touch Screen is above average and the processing speed is decent. I not a fan of camera phones but the 2.0 mega-pixel is great. This is a collectors piece for my collection.
CONS: The Touch Screen could respond much faster,
Great phone
i would have to say this is a great phone i work for Cingular and we do not offer support for the phone yet but i hope we do soon one little tip if you call motorola if you having trouble setting up MMS and SMS as well as internet you can quite easily get them to direct you to the settings mainly you need your providers wap settings
Best Phone ever
This phone is perfect. It has the looks and the functions of an excellent phone. Most reviews i have seen that are bad is from users not knowing how to use the phone correctly. Internet, email, voice reconition and text reconition works flawlessly. If you get a motorola ht820 head set, you will have total control over realplayer and phone. Do a little searching on different news groups and you will have all settings for internet and email from different providers.
Cool phone.... A few flaws
I bought this phone about 5 months ago. I love it, it's the best phone i've had. But there are a few things it's lacking.
first, is no reminders. If your phone rings, and you miss the call there is no beep or sound to let you know you missed it. Same with the alarm. I don't look at my phone every 10 minutes, so alot of times it will be hours before I call someone back.
Second, texting is almost impossible without the stylus (even with my small fingers and long fingernails) the buttons are so tiny, you can't really text with one hand.
and lastly, there is no outer keyboard (to make calls or text) there is only the buttons on the touch screen. The number buttons (to dial) are large. The letter pad (to text) is very small. I'm not sure why it is made that way, it doesn't make much sense.
Other than those minor things the phone is perfect.
