Motorola V180 Phone (Cingular)

Rating:
Summary: The V180 is a winner !
Review: Competing with Samsung's successful E105 GSM phone, here comes the Motorola V180. It's a quad-band GSM world phone that should be a nice upgrade for anyone who is still using a V60 series phone. It is also a refreshing step-down from the battery-guzzling smart phones out there. I had a Blackberry 6850, and despite the rich features, it didn't have what I wanted most - a loud ring. When Motorola rolled-out this basic flip phone, I immediately went for it, and I like it!

Battery life is impressive, with a standby time of over 4 days. The ringer is loud, and includes the "continental" ring heard on Motorola candybar and iden (Nextel) phones of the late 1990's. I found that refreshing...a ring that sounds like a classic corporate ring. The buttons are not as cheesy as many of the reviewers have said. I would say the buttons are the same quality in the V400 series. There is no camera, but that's a plus in my opinion. And you can still get your weather and sports scores thanks to Cingular's MEdia service. It also has USB connectivity, so you can manage the address book and calendar using your PC. The screen is tiny by today's standards, at 180x180 pixels, but the layout is bright and clean. My advice - if you need a ultralight flip phone with long battery life, downloadable extras, and a solid design that would go with your suit, take a good look at the Motorola V180 and the Samsung E105. You don't need bells and whistles. You just need a very good phone. This is it.


Rating:
Summary: GREAT PHONE
Review: I absolutely love this phone! GREAT reception, GREAT color, real songs for ringtones, the black with blue light up buttons, size, so many features........... PERFECT!
If all you want is a GREAT phone without a camera....THIS IS IT go for it. You won't be sorry

Rating:
Summary: GREAT Cheap Phone
Review: I have had this phone for about a month. I did a lot of research before I decided on this one, and I am happy that this is the one I chose.

First off...EVERY SINGLE PHONE you see will have great reviews and bad ones. I was looking for the "perfect phone" with all positives, and that phone simply does not exist. So I set my sites a little bit lower and tried to find the most reliable phone possible for the least amount of money.

From what I have seen, LG's look like garbage. I was very close to getting a free LG, but after studying reviews, I wanted to stick to a more well-known name, like Nokia or Motorola. I have had Nokia's for a while, and have been impressed by their durability. But I wanted a smaller flip-phone, so I decided to get a Motorola. The best reviewed Motorolas are the V180, and the V551. I didn't really care if I had a camera phone or not...ALL I WANTED WAS A GOOD, RELIABLE FLIP-PHONE.

My plan was to try the cheap V180, and if I didn't like it, to upgrade to the V551. Well, I don't need to upgrade. Here's what I particularly like about the V180:

1. Reception: Absolutely no problems (Orlando, FL). I've been all over the city, and it has NEVER failed me. Bravo Cingular/ATT!

2. Ring Tones: This phone has many True Tone as well as Polyphonic rings to choose from.

3. Reliablility: REMEMBER, NO PHONE IS PERFECT! Usually it is quite reliable, but sometimes calls over 20 minutes get cut off, and I have to call back. This happens to about 30 percent of my longer calls. For 2-5 minute calls, it is just perfect.

4. Battery Life: Crazy-long battery life.

5. Buttons: Not tiny, but well-spaced buttons

Of couse, since no phone is perfect, here is the downside:

1. Very few games to choose from: I don't understand why some pretty basic games are not available on this phone. If games are important to you, STAY AWAY from this phone.

2. Small screen: doesn't bother me, but don't expect to "wow" anyone with this display.

If you want a good, reliable, cheap phone, you can't go wrong here. If you want a phone with a lot of features, you will need to look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Solid basic phone
Review: I have had this phone for about two weeks now and I am very happy with it, with one small exception. The reception has been very clear, the sound is great, and battery life has been very good. These are the only things I care about with cell phones--I don't care about color screens, games, Internet access, text messaging, AIM messaging, pictures, video, yadda yadda yadda. I just want something that sends and receives phone calls reliably and clearly, and has a long-lasting battery.

The one small exception is that I had downloaded a few MP3 ringtones because they sounded less obnoxious than the included set of techno/hiphop dance tunes. Well, unfortunately the MP3 ringtones won't play because apparently there's a little problem in the way the phone recognizes the ringtone's 'filename'--every time I set a person's ring ID to one of the MP3 ringtones, it looks like it was set OK, but when I come back to the info screen for the phonebook entry, the ring ID has changed to whatever the ID used to be, plus '.mp3' tacked on the end, and now the phone apparently can't find it and plays the default 'ding' ringtone for that entry.

I should add that this seems to be specific to the downloaded MP3 ringtones, because the polyphonic ringtone I got to put on my wife's entry (the Pink Panther theme) :-) works fine.

All in all, a very nice phone and I have no regrets about upgrading from my Nokia 3590. Now if I could only get a glow-in-the-dark cover for it, I'd be set for life. :-)

Rating:
Summary: A Great Phone
Review: I was looking for my first cell phone, and I wanted something that wasn't too expensive, but worked. The Motorola V180 is great. However, if you are looking for the latest and best features, DO NOT buy this phone.
Pros:
-large address book
-GREAT RECEPTION
-vibrate feature
-external caller id
-easy to navigate menu
-many ringtones

Cons:
-no camera
-speakerphone is not the greatest, but works
-NO GAMES
-few wallpapers
-feels kinda like plastic

Overall this is a great phone that is definetly worth the money. The only thing that really upset me was that there was no games.


Rating:
Summary: Great Phone!
Review: Like a previous reviewer, although I didn't purchase the phone through Amazon, I still wanted to write a review in the hopes that I can help someone choose a new phone.

With my T-Mobile contract coming up for renewal and my desire to replace my Samsung X-105, I headed to my local T-Mobile store. I already knew that I wasn't particularly looking for a camera phone or anything extravagant. I just wanted a solid phone that worked. Initially, I'd intended on getting a Samsung E-105, which was identical to my current phone, aside from being a flip. I discovered that none of the T-Mobile stores in my area had one in stock, and that it was on the verge of being replaced by a newer model. Not wanting to spend the extra money on the E-315 (nice, but I don't want to pay for a camera I don't need), I took a look at some of their other flip phones, and settled on the Motorola V180 (for $49 as a service renewal discount.)

So far, I'm very happy with the phone. The reception is actually better (and clearer) than my beloved X-105. I was afraid that I'd have to learn a whole different button layout, but it's surprisingly very similar to the Samsung and it took me only a few minutes to figure everything out. Contrary to many of the reviews that I've read, the plastic does not feel cheap or "plasticky" (I think this has to do with the fact that the plastic on the inside is a matte finish, whereas the outside is fairly glossy. Some people may mistake that for being "cheaper.") The phone feels just as sturdy and solid as most any other flip phone that I've looked at (aside from a few phones that are obviously geared towards heavy "construction contractor" use.) It's not as heavy as my X-105, yet has much better battery life, and I have no problems navigating the keys.

I've only found very minor complaints with the phone. Mainly, the screen isn't quite as nice as the Samsung's, with small details being slighly less well-defined and the overall size being a bit smaller. Considering the amount of real estate on the earpiece, Moto probably could've fit a slightly larger screen in. However, overall the screen is still nice and bright and a side-by-side comparison with my old Samsung doesn't leave me feeling disappointed. Also, even though the V180 only has a Contrast control, I've found the range of brightness very acceptable and comparable to the X/E-105 phones' Brightness controls.

The only other minor niggle I have is that the phone didn't come with a case or holster. Most other flips that I've looked at came with at least a holster. However, this is one of those instances where it "would've been nice, but it's really not that big of a deal." Plastic holsters are only a couple dollars and cases aren't that much more. I did like the fact that it came with an earbud, although I've yet to test that (or the speakerphone function) out.

Overall, I've found this to be a great phone and I'm thus far very happy with my purchase. As a side-note, T-Mobile has been very good to me and I've always gotten great customer service from them. Maybe I'm just lucky in that sense, but they've always worked with me when I had a question or had to extend a payment.

So unless you're looking for a camera phone or something with a high "everything" factor (ie, the Sidekick), this is a great, solid phone with just the right amount of bells and whistles for normal, everyday users.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't be more pleased...
Review: My wife and I each bought one of these phones with our new Cingular contract. Though we did not buy through Amazon, I thought a review of the phone would be useful to everyone!

First of all, these phones are very well designed for the user. Because it is a flip phone, it is very compact when "closed" yet when it is "open" it feels more like a real phone than most other cell phones do. The hinge is in no way flimsy and seems like it will hold up well. We love the color screen and various audio/picture options that this phone offers. We were both able to learn how to navigate the phone's menu system with ease.

I am also very pleased with both reception and the battery charge-life. I charge my phone 1-2 times per week and have not had any problems with "low battery" messages during a call. My last phone (a Kyocera) was terrible about losing charge very quickly during calls.

Basically, this phone performs as well as the advertisements say it does, and for a lot less than the high-end phones. We could not be happier with this purchase!

Rating:
Summary: Skip this one
Review: My wife and I purchased a pair of these phones about 3 months ago. At first we thought they were great, then calls started dropping left and right. We had switched from TDMA to GSM, and I figured it might be caused from a bad signal in our area...then I noticed that as soon as the calls dropped, the signal went to full. I called AT&T to report the problem, they told me that they were aware of a software problem that would drop calls when the phone switched towers. Their resolution...reboot my phone before you place a call...I tried to humor them for awhile since they claimed the problem was being worked on. 1 month later I still have the problem. I call up to AT&T "customer service" and was told that there was a known issue with the software in the phone and that they would replace the phone for $15 each. Not willing to pay $30 to have our phones replaced I requested a service credit to cover the $30 expense (since the problem was their's, not mine) They refused, telling me "There was no physical way they could bill back the $30, becuase it was a manufacturer fee" I would ditch their service, except that I just re-upped for 2 years when I purchased this phone, and would have to pay $175 per line for early termination, and since I got a rebate from the retailer, I would also face a $150 per line fee if I cancelled the service within 180 days. What a joke!

My overall suggestion: skip this phone and don't sign a 2 year contract...even if you get a free phone.

Rating:
Summary: Watch Out - Misrepresentation
Review: One of the reason's I purchased the v180 phone was the product description under vital statistics claims this phone is a quad band phone, 850/900/1800/1900, but IT IS NOT. When receiving the phone, the v180 box and cingular's customer service both said this is a tri-band phone, 800/950/1900. Now, I have a phone I didn't want.

Next, while my phone was being shipped the phone was activated. For 8 days while UPS delivered the product, I was paying for service I had no idea I was paying for. When calling cingular's customer service, they stated I had to call amazon to resovle this problem. They went on to say with most resellers they reserve the phone number until the customer decides to activate the phone by calling customer service and is given a choice to test the phone by calling customer service to see if reception works, which give the customer a choice. As of today, if I return the phone I'm out $36 for the activation fee, shipping costs, and the time it's taking me to sort out this mess.

I also sent a e-mail to amazon's customer service, which said I would have to contact cingular to take care of these issues. WHAT? Amazon is trying to pass the blame and not take responsibilites for their actions. They disregarded my issues with the incorrect product description completely and wouldn't address any other issues.

Rating:
Summary: Great Phone....Horrible Reception
Review: So here's my story... I previously owned an LG AT&T Wireless phone that received what I would grade B reception. It worked out doors, at work, and most importantly in my condo. The only problem I had was that there were certain areas in Chicago that when I passed through would drop calls. This phenomenom also occured in my condo from time to time. Annoying but tolerable. I discovered that these dropped calls would occur when my phone was switching from AT&T's network to Cingular's network (a result of the new merger). I figured that I could alleviate this problem by switching to Cingular and buying a Cingular compatible phone. Unfortunately my new purchase, the Motorola V180, gets worse reception than my old AT&T phone. As of this writing I have had my phone for 3 days and I have been unable to use it in any building in the Wrigleyville area. I am not sure if this is a Cingular issue or a phone issue but considering my old phone could get reception in these areas and this phone is using the same network, I am very unhappy with my purchase.

Reception put aside (because Yeah, no one needs to be able to actually talk on their phone!) this phone is great in terms of all of the features it offers. Text, ringtones, etc. are very easy to use. Battery life seems great. Basically an A+ phone for the price (Free with 2yr contract) with D- reception.

I am going to return this phone (30 day trial period w/Cingular) and hopefully get one that works. I plan on changing my review if I discover that this is in fact a Cingular issue and not a Motorola V180 issue.