INFO: Some advice on buying a Motorola A1200

[msandiej]

Hi nouveau...

One of the biggest complaints about the Ming is battery life. Here is why it is an issue...

Motorola wanted to make this PDA/Smartphone thingy LOOK like a regular cell phone...To make it look that way, they basically HAD to use this tiny regular cell phone battery...cause thats all that would fit in there. Crazy Moto Kids.

Well, obviously, its an issue. There is a lot of drain on that battery from all the fancy things the Ming is doing...

I wouldnt say that youre over-reacting. It is annoying. But, there is a possibility that this will improve. There are certain FW's that help the battery life...

And as much as we all complain about the US release of our precious Ming...ATT WILL NOT accept that battery life...which means something is being done to fix it now.

[nouveau_moto]

msandiej,

Thanks for the quick response! Should I be bothered about the 2 months manufacturer's warranty deal or not since I am going to be tweaking, ahem, modding and all? But the fact that the warranty is almost run out on something I just got bothers me.
I was drawn to the phone because of the freedom granted the owner to customize to her/his heart's satisfaction.

My phone is an A1200 with fw of 46p. Is 46p generic or is this a sign that the seller/someone else modified the phone after it left the manufacturer?

In the meantime, I have chosen to charge it throughout today and see if that makes any difference. I will call the seller up for input on the warranty thingy.

Thanks.

P.S
Is it normal/the standard thing to not get the car charger?

[msandiej]

Well, the manufacturer warranty thing is not unusual. I assume you are in the USA? See, retailers bought these phones...which enacted all the warranties on them, since they are not offered through carriers here in these United States...Some of them have been sitting on shelves for some time.

Even if the warranty were good for some time, it wouldnt do ya any good, as Motorola US doesnt service the phone. They need to go back to Hong Kong for service...Really, all the warranty info is telling you is that it is a LEGITIMATE A1200...as opposed to some knock off.

46P is a standard FW. This was a release on the generic A1200's. It likely has never been modded. There are FW's with better batt life, though.

Also, getting a car charger would be a treat! Most do not come with them.

Hope that helps!

[nouveau_moto]

Time to start the modding. B

My phone doesn't seem to be plagued with the voice quality bug for an A1200 46p fw. The volume is pretty decent with or w/o speaker phone on.

[msandiej]

Thats good, cause that issue is a PAIN in the arse. I have it on my A1200 (not my A1200R). And I even moved the A1200 to the C2 track...still was an issue. Ive applied volume fixes and its fine now...but oh man...how annoying.

[ohillny]

I would like to ask maybe you or (someone out there.) What carriers can this phone be used with. I am a verizon customer and would like to own this phone, but i do know that it is GSM system type phone...

[msandiej]

Naw...wont work on VZ. Gotta be a GSM carrier like ATT or T-Mobile.

[ohillny]

oh yeah and just to make sure I make things clear I am talking about the A1200 ming

[msandiej]

Yeah, youre in the Ming forum...its all good babe. All of these Mings currently require a SIM card...hence the GSM technology.

GSM phones are generally more modifiable. If you cant put in a sim, then the phone is carrier-locked...They block all kinds of nifty things that can be done to mod phones. People "unlock" their phones all the time, though.

[ohillny]

So to bad for me darn it I would love to be the first in this area with that phone. I don't want to switch carriers although I am out of contract and have the freedom to do so, but all my peeps are N and that saves a tons of money!!! boo whooo so I have to settle for a Q, or Treo pda phones I want the MING!!!!!!!!