Features:
- Compact, light, sleek design
- Solid construction, intuitive keypad and controls
- Vibrating call alert
- Supports SMS messaging
- Up to 130 minutes digital talk time and 170 hours digital standby time; includes Lithium-ion battery, charger, two battery covers (grey and blue), and belt clip
Description:
Simply pick up the Motorola Talkabout T8097 phone, and you'll sense its quality. Use it, and you'll find a host of everyday features and conveniences, including Tri-band TDMA support, smart-button navigation, short message capabilities, and solid battery performance. While it lacks enviable features such as voice-activated dialing and Internet access, if you are looking for a dependable, competent flip phone, you've hit pay dirt. At 3.75 by 2.1 by 0.8 inches and weighing a mere 3.8 ounces with battery, the Talkabout's ultracompact case is chic, solidly constructed, and ready for travel. The smart button and directional buttons on the left-hand side provide quick phone book access and volume adjustment, and numeric keys also let you instantly access the menu, check battery life, mute a call, set the phone to vibrate, or lock the phone. The Talkabout's controls are intuitive enough to operate many features without cracking the manual, not something that was true with many older Motorola phones. Although Motorola flip-phones always feel a bit top-heavy, the T8097's keypad isn't as cramped as other Motorola models, and the raised, rubberized keys and controls are a definite improvement over models where the keys are almost flush with the keypad. Although the screen itself is relatively small, the clear, backlit LCD display provides easy legibility and gives you a full range of phone and network status indicators. The T8097 offers a decent selection of call management features, including one-touch dialing, call meters, scratchpad memory, and a flexible, 99-name phone book. You can choose from nine different ringers and assign them to any number, so you'll instantly know who's calling. Pager mode provides discreet notification of messages, and you have one-touch access to numbers imbedded in pages or text messages. The Talkabout also supports call forwarding, call waiting, voice mail, and up to 15 text messages, although availability of these features depends on your service plan. All business users will appreciate the full range of security features, including PIN locking, caller ID, phone book protection, and menu access security. Battery performance in our test phone was respectable. We achieved nearly seven days of standby time and 110 minutes of digital talk time (testing on a TDMA network with an AT&T account). The optional high-capacity battery (not tested) is rated for up to 240 hours of standby and 330 minutes of talk time. If you're looking for functionality, portability, and security, with the flexibility of tri-band support, the Talkabout is an excellent choice. Although some mobile professionals may want to check out a higher-end model with voice-activated commands and Internet access, the Talkabout is designed to handle most business and personal needs in style. --Thom Arno, edited by Tom Mace Pros: - Tri-band TDMA support
- Impressive standby time
Cons: - Not Web enabled
- No voice-activated features
How We Tested Battery Talk/Standby Time When reading our reviews, you should view the test results of mobile-phone battery talk time and standby time as relative information only. Many variables, including carrier signal strength at your location, signal consistency (including incoming and outgoing calls), display and ringer settings, and battery charging methods and history, will affect performance. When handset manufacturers and mobile phone carriers list talk-time and standby-time ratings, they usually include disclaimers about variable performance and often refer to the times they publish as maximum times. Some quote expected battery life ranges, and in this case you're probably safe to assume you'll experience at least the minimum rated range. Note that manufacturers of dual-mode digital and analog handsets publish battery-life rates for both digital and analog modes, as analog mode consumes much more power than digital mode. Our Tests: We tested digital-mode talk and standby times with each phone. Prior to each test, we fully charged the phone's battery according to the manufacturer's directions. To test digital-phone talk time, we turned the phone on, established a digital carrier signal, dialed a number in our test lab, and, when the call rang through, took the receiving phone's handset off the hook. When all went well, we didn't do anything else except record the time when the phone died. In a couple of cases, the phones lost the signal and dropped the calls. If we were right there and could redial, we did so immediately and continued running the test. Otherwise, we halted the test, recharged the battery, and started the test over. Assuming consistent carrier-signal strength, this test should represent best-case talk time. And it's worth noting that several phones' talk-time performance significantly exceeded the manufacturers' ratings. To test digital-phone standby time, we turned the phone on, established a carrier signal, and left the phone in standby mode. We checked the phone every few hours (for what was often days on end) until the phone finally cut out. Since no outgoing or incoming calls occurred during testing and because the phone was not moved, this method should represent best-case standby time, again assuming consistent carrier signal strength.
|
