Motorola Q Options

[Hartmann]

Well, I caved and decided to go with the Motorola Q and not a Palm Treo p.

Any suggestions for software I should get? I have Sprint service. I am going to be syncing to my Mac more than likely...

Also, in one of my e-mail accounts it has a floater "Draft" message but there is no message actually in the folder. Any ideas on that?

[Aaron]

Well, I caved and decided to go with the Motorola Q and not a Palm Treo p.

Any suggestions for software I should get? I have Sprint service. I am going to be syncing to my Mac more than likely...

Also, in one of my e-mail accounts it has a floater "Draft" message but there is no message actually in the folder. Any ideas on that?

Did you try a soft reset for the floater draft message? I have had a similar problem with a text message always been displayed as unread, despite me reading it multiple times.

You should definitely get MS Voice Command... as a matter of fact, shoot me an e-mail and I should be able to get you a copy.

[theIncredibleEdi...]

I had wanted the Q before Motorola announced which carrier they would be going with. I went with the Samsung Blackjack, and I compared it with my friend's Q, and I kinda prefer my BJ. :-)

For software you can get ideas at www.handango.com Then I guess get illegal copies on torrents and stuff.

[griseyeux]

I kinda prefer my BJ. :-)

I'll bet you do.

[zetec]

but....but... it's just a smartphone, not a pocketpc! no touchscreen! icky!

[Hartmann]

but....but... it's just a smartphone, not a pocketpc! no touchscreen! icky!

I didn't want a PocketPC. The main thing I needed it for was calendar and e-mail...

[Rocky]

I'm starting to get interested in smart phones, and the Q looked sexy to me. I haven't been able to actually play with one though, just hold a shitty demo version at Frys bleh.

[Hartmann]

I'm starting to get interested in smart phones, and the Q looked sexy to me. I haven't been able to actually play with one though, just hold a shitty demo version at Frys bleh.

My first impressions have been good so far, however the battery life seems to suck. Yesterday after decent e-mail and phone use I had to charge it after I got off work.

The interface is pretty cool, though I think the "call" button and "hangup" button are too close to the rest of the keypad. I've found myself hitting the letters instead of hanging up or calling.

At times the reaction of the OS to input seems a little slow and I can't figure out if this is because I am trying to do too much too quickly or what.

I have the phone on trial for 30 days and if it comes down to it I'll just take it in and get the Treo 700p.

[Hartmann]

Also, I've read some good things about the PPC-6700 (I think impala mentioned he had this one) so I may check that out.

[Rocky]

I saw a guy at Radioshack with one of those 6700s. Those things look bad fuckin ass. I asked him what he thought about it and he said that as a portable pc of sorts, it is fanfuckingtastic. He said its the greatest ever for his email etc and all that stuff -

but he said as a phone it fuckin sucks. Mentioned that the touch screen is a pain in the ass to use to just make a call. He also mentioned that the LCD screen is complete ass in the sun. so thats why he had a normal cell phone also - for actual calls, but loved the 6700 for its purposes.

[Hartmann]

I saw a guy at Radioshack with one of those 6700s. Those things look bad fuckin ass. I asked him what he thought about it and he said that as a portable pc of sorts, it is fanfuckingtastic. He said its the greatest ever for his email etc and all that stuff -

but he said as a phone it fuckin sucks. Mentioned that the touch screen is a pain in the ass to use to just make a call. He also mentioned that the LCD screen is complete ass in the sun. so thats why he had a normal cell phone also - for actual calls, but loved the 6700 for its purposes.

Well I guess that's an upside to the Q then... As a phone, it rocks. I can hear everyone clearly and they can hear me even when I'm whispering.

[Aaron]

I have a 6700 and, aside from a few quirks that I could probably fix if I took the time to research them, I absolutely love it.

The touchscreen IS a pain in the ass if you're using it for dialing, but I don't. I picked up Microsoft Voice Command software which basically means that I don't ever have to dial using the touchscreen ever again.

I simply press a button on the side of the phone (which I mapped), wait for the chirp, and say "Dial, 806-555-5555" or "Call Dean Williams." Other commands you can use:
- Redial (self-explanatory)
- Callback (calls last person that called you)
- Lookup Soandso (brings up their contact information, useful if sending a text message)
- Flight mode (turns off phone part of device)
- Time (self explanatory)
- Probably a ton more, I just don't know them all

The best part is that Voice Command doesn't require that you "train" the phone to your voice. You just add contacts to your phone through Outlook or whatever, and you're good to go.

The screen does look pretty much exactly like ass in the daylight, but there's nothing that can really be done about that.

It is kind of a brick, and isn't something you're going to want to carry around in your pockets, but it comes with a carrying case with a belt clip.

The keyboard is great.

[Aaron]

Oh, one of the quirks:

- Most of the time, when I say "Call Dean Williams" (or whoever), the phone will dial, connect for millisecond or so, and then end the call. I will have to then press the "Talk" button to redial. My father has this phone, and Voice Command, but does not have this problem.

[Rocky]

How is the battery life ?

Quality of internet browser ?

[Aaron]

How is the battery life ?

Quality of internet browser ?

Battery life is adequate. Most of the time, I go through my whole "day" (i.e. my slate of classes) without it dropping past 50%... it just depends on how much browsing you do and whether or not you have the built-in Bluetooth or WiFi turned on.

Oh, did I forget to mention that it has integrated Bluetooth and WiFi?

The battery never gives me problems when I'm driving from Houston to Lubbock (or vice versa), but obviously I'm not surfing a whole lot while I'm on the road.

The cool thing is that it comes with two chargers: a traditional AC adapter and a USB-docking station. So I pretty much have it on the dock when I'm at home, during the day, and use the adapter in my bedroom at night.

The web browser is pretty good, but I still mainly surf mobile-only sites (wireless.rivals.com, mobileapp.espn.go.com, mobile.washingtonpost.com) just because they load a lot quicker and are pretty straight-forward. I mean, the browser will pretty much show you everything on a "traditional" webpage (no Flash or other embedded plug-ins) but everything will be off, misplaced, etc.

Also, the phone supports EV-DO, but it isn't available in Lubbock yet.

[Hartmann]

Sounds like the browser is similar to the Q. This has built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, I actually did some heavy browsing last night and it was pretty nice. I'm with Aaron though, it's much easier to just look at mobile sites.

I have EV-DO and I am going to try and test that out this evening before I hop on a flight.

The Bluetooth is pretty nice as I can take a picture and Bluetooth it straight to my Mac and have it go to a folder and upload to Flickr. Or, just e-mail it to my Flickr address and have it online in a few seconds.

[Aaron]

The built-in browsers are pretty much the same on any Windows Mobile device... there are other, third-party browsers, but I don't do enough "heavy" browsing to really care about what they offer.

Mobile IE also allows you to connect to Outlook Web Access, so I can check my work e-mail on the road. (I have my 6700 sync directly with my Tech e-mail.)

[Hartmann]

The built-in browsers are pretty much the same on any Windows Mobile device... there are other, third-party browsers, but I don't do enough "heavy" browsing to really care about what they offer.

Mobile IE also allows you to connect to Outlook Web Access, so I can check my work e-mail on the road. (I have my 6700 sync directly with my Tech e-mail.)

Yeah, the Q has this... We use Exchange at work so I haven't tried it but the direct e-mail access to IMAP and POP have worked well with my other e-mail accounts.

[zetec]

the one thing i dislike most about the Q is that it's a motorola -- They just have a habit of making shitty phones. That and their little "flat" buttons or whatever not only feel cheap and nasty, but have a habit of falling off. My girlfriend and her sister have gone through 4 RAZRs/SLVRs between them, and thats including using a case after the first ones.

[griseyeux]

the one thing i dislike most about the Q is that it's a motorola -- They just have a habit of making shitty phones. That and their little "flat" buttons or whatever not only feel cheap and nasty, but have a habit of falling off. My girlfriend and her sister have gone through 4 RAZRs/SLVRs between them, and thats including using a case after the first ones.

yeah the razrs are pretty shitty. alot of people tell me that samsung is a bad brand but my first phone lasted 2.5 years without any sort of case and my current phone has already survived a couple of drops and I've had it since september.

[zetec]

yeah i've never had any problems with a samsung, but moto's current kick of "shitty but slim" pisses me off. they used to know what they were doing, but now they're just pimping razrs and razrripoffs.

i've never met a person with a razr who actually enjoyed using it.

[GOB]

the razr is the best phone i've ever had.

[zetec]

you, sir, are full of LIES

[griseyeux]

the razr is the best phone i've ever had.

is the razr the only phone you've ever had?

[GOB]

is the razr the only phone you've ever had?

no.

people who have had problems with most electronics are morons.

the thinness of the phone makes up for anything that's wrong with it. the only things that suck are the fact that it gets a lot of dust in the screen, and holding it is kinda weird (if you're talking for like 3 hours).

the only way i could foresee someone ever having any problems with any of the buttons is if they didn't have fingers or if they had parkinson's. whoever those girls are that have gone through 4 razrs are probably a combination of the two, plus some slight retardation.


i was joking in my earlier comment, but i've never had any problems with it.

[zetec]

in particular, everybody i know that's had a moto phone has had the little circle button fall off -- just randomly. and trust me, i called them electronics retards myself, until it happened the third time -- then i figured it must be the phones. couple that with moto's retarded ass choice of symbian for a phone OS and there ya go.

[theIncredibleEdi...]

I was looking around at Smartphone.net and found this little application....

Smartphone Vista interface

It works on my Blackjack, but I had to find some cab file that would unlock it, because Cingular chose to lock the Blackjack to applications that aren't certified. But it's kinda neat, although you have to continually bring it back up when someone calls you and what-not.

EDIT: I've had a 1st release Black RAZR since it came out (making it almost 2 years old), and it still works and nothing has fallen off. I think some people just abuse their phones and blame it on the manufacturer. Although, I will admit that Motorola has stumbled greatly since the release of the RAZR and put too many of their eggs into one basket. They need to stop riding the coat tails of the RAZR's popularity and make something more innovative.

[Mommy]

The thing with the RAZR is people either have nonstop trouble even if they treat their phone like a baby or they no problems at all even if they treat their phone like shit. .... kinda like the iPod except not as bad

*paging Zetec to erase this post*

[theIncredibleEdi...]

The thing with the RAZR is people either have nonstop trouble even if they treat their phone like a baby or they no problems at all even if they treat their phone like shit. .... kinda like the iPod except not as bad

*paging Zetec to erase this post*

The funny thing is that both of the RAZRs that I had I paid 200-350 for and had no problems. All of my friends who got the free ones had tons of problems.

[cmac]

i've had my blackberry pearl for about 3 weeks now and i've never been happier.
part of it is leaving sprint for cingular though. sprint sucks.

[theIncredibleEdi...]

I agree with ya there...Sprint is pretty shitty.

[Hartmann]

One thing I have noticed that I do not like is the fact that numbers that use letters (ex. 1800-CALLNOW or something like it) do not match up with the phone's letters/numbers. So that means unless the number has the full digit version, I have to hunt down what those letters are.

[theIncredibleEdi...]

One thing I have noticed that I do not like is the fact that numbers that use letters (ex. 1800-CALLNOW or something like it) do not match up with the phone's letters/numbers. So that means unless the number has the full digit version, I have to hunt down what those letters are.

The Blackjack is setup exactly the same, and it drives me nuts....I have to visualize a regular phone in order to dial numbers that are like 1-800-VOTE-NOW

[zetec]

windows mobile has a "dial pad" function for numbers like that, dunno bout the blackberry.

and yeah, the reason razrs are so cheap now is they standardized the parts and started sourcing cheaper, shittier components. thus the breakage.

[impala454]

I second pretty much all of Aaron's posts on the 6700, yeah dialing on the go sucks w/the touch screen, but I just use voice command.

the only thing I'd disagree with is the size. IMHO it's honestly not that huge like people think. If you really stick it up next to other phones, it's not all that much difference. it's just as wide as most of the razrs, and just as long and/or thick as most of the other smartphones, except with a huge ass screen. I keep mine in my pocket and no problem. I have a little cubby next to the radio in my truck and stick it in there and wear a bluetooth headset when I drive. works like a champ.

also love bein able to add/edit contacts w/outlook. makes it nice especially when you add pics to people. you can just edit the pics on the PC then put them on the contact in outlook.

[Hartmann]

I've been using MissingSync to sync with my Mac and it's pretty slick. I have a good number of contacts and I like that I can do what you can with Outlook (for the most part).

I am still thinking of getting the 700p though... The OS seems to lag a little on the Q and as I said before, the battery life isn't the greatest.

Also, the already available layouts kind of stink and the ringers aren't much better. I like a standard ringer and I like to be able to choose the exact colors of things, maybe I just need to download some ringers and write some XML (looks like that's how it does the layout).

[zetec]

all WM5 smartphones/pocketpc phones seem to have really shitty battery life for the first week, then stellar after the battery gets conditioned. I leave the brightness only about halfway, and bluetooth off when i don't need it. My charges usually last 3-4 days.

[Seeker]

i'm in the market for a smartphone also (contract with cingular finally ran out)

I'm thinking about getting amp'd mobile and a motorla q.

[zetec]

ampd mobile?

seriously?

[Seeker]

ampd mobile offers unlimited text messages and that's what i want

something wrong with ampd mobile?

[zetec]

that's like buying dr. thunder.

[Seeker]

but you get free text messages

[zetec]

go have fun with your store-brand service.

pick up some Big K Cola while you're at it.

[Hartmann]

The speed of the OS is really starting to bug me... I think I may head over to the Sprint store today and get the Treo 700p. It's OS at least responds to key presses.

[zetec]

try overclocking your phone first.

[theIncredibleEdi...]

ampd mobile offers unlimited text messages and that's what i want

something wrong with ampd mobile?

I dont mean to go all Don Imus, but I've only ever seen black people with Ampd Mobile.

[psidancer]

I dont mean to go all Don Imus, but I've only ever seen black people with Ampd Mobile.

Dawg, where you at?

[theIncredibleEdi...]

Dawg, where you at?

I am in Houston

[psidancer]

no, no.. i was... nevermind

[FORSAKENR320]

HA

[Seeker]

you didn't know my name was lance "overlord" jackson?

[zetec]

he's dating propeica-shanequwa-sharome-johnson blackson jackson

[Mommy]

he's dating propeica-shanequwa-sharome-johnson blackson jackson

Bunquesha Noxema Brown Jackson III

[zetec]

i still like the blackson-jackson line better.

It reminds me of action jackson, but with more soul.

[Mommy]

but...NOXEMA IS A FACE CREAM!

[zetec]

and propecia is a male pattern baldness pill.