The Motorola V360 is my third Motorola phone. The first one,
V300 was replaced by
T-Mobile due to so many problems I had using the phone as a modem. They replaced that one with the
V600. I was happy with the V600 but it passed on. My husband and I got a great deal by extending our contract, We got two V360 cell phones for at lot less than the retail price of $375.00.
We first bought the V600 because it doubles as a modem. Although customer service at T-Mobile told me all the phones were modems now, when we actually went to a store we were told differently. Having a modem phone is a must.
Features of my Motorola V360:
The software and cables that enable the modem capability have to be bought separately. This is called a
Data Connectivity Kit. In addition there is an extra charge for this service. What we do is activate the service through T-Mobile whenever we want and then cancel it when we no longer need the
modem capability. This has been invaluable since we travel quite a bit. Although more and more campgrounds, hotels and restaurants have wi-fi until they all do we will use a modem phone. I can use my computer in the car just by plugging a cable from my phone into my computer and activating the modem capability.
It has
Bluetooth wireless technology. Although I haven’t used this yet I have seen what it can do. For about $50 I can buy a gadget that fits around my ear. With the Bluetooth technology I can use my phone in about a 30-foot range without having the phone in my hands.
It has a built in music player that supports MP3 and AAC file formats.
It is a
camera. I am used to this feature by now but still have fun with it. Although certainly I prefer to use my
Fuji FinePix digital camera there are times that I don’t have it with me and I really want a picture. I find the clarity on the screen really decent. In addition the V360 has a feature that my other phones didn’t have. It has the
ability to take video pictures. On the main menu you want to go to Fun & Apps (applications) and from there you can click on camera, video camera, sounds, pictures and videos. Just select videos like you would select camera and point. It will tell you how long you are recording for and can stop it at any time. It will record for about 30 seconds. Again this isn’t digital camera quality but it is fun. When I walk Hanna, my Pomeranian, I don’t take my camera. I often walk her on the beach without a leash and have gotten some great video clips of her running.
Like any camera phone pictures can be stored, discarded or e-mailed.
There are 8 icons (which can be made into text rather than looking at pictures) - phonebook, recent calls, messages, settings, voice notes, get more, IM and fun and applications. I have them in text finding it much easier to use. If you get this phone make sure you figure out this option and in my opinion use the text rather than the icons. It will make your use of the phone a lot easier if you don’t have to use the arrows to move from side to side or up and down to find the feature you want. You can order these in anyway you want. For example if you want to see your phonebook first you can do that. If you want games first you can do that.
Each feature has operations within them. For example you can voice record the name you want to call. Note: the name has to be saved to the phone. When you go to "store" the number and name it will automatically save it to the SIMS card. For those of you who have not owned a phone before the SIMS card is a tiny chip that is found under the battery. If the name is saved on the SIMS card you have to change it so that it is saved to the phone. You’ll scroll to edit and then see “store to” and you’ll select that and check phone. That is the only way you can record a voice.
Voice Record is a new feature to me. What happens is that I can record a message just like I would write a text message but the voice message can then be sent to someone.
Any feature you want to use says select, exit, edit, change or back. You will use keys on the phone to move from screen to screen.
Messages allows you to create messages (text, picture, or send to an album) and access my voicemail (and change greetings) to name a couple of message options. I am given the ability to use numbers and two ways to text messages. One allows me to type and the phone anticipates the word I am trying to spell. This is called
ITAP. It is a really neat feature. Or I can choose another option that will allow me to type one letter at a time.
I can access recent calls made and received. The V360 allows me to assign a ring to people. You will see a Get More icon which has a T. These are the
t-zones and not accessible unless you pay extra. You will have to talk with your provider about the charge. T-zones allow me to do many things. Most importantly to me if I am not bringing my computer somewhere is accessing the Web and my e-mail. You can play games and download others.
The settings function is a very important feature. This is where I found my tools which has for example the alarm clock, calculator and date book; ring styles and allowed me to change my screen and put a greeting in text on my phone that I would see every day. I have personalized my phone with a greeting, a color style, and wallpaper I took a picture of Hanna with the phone and she is now my wallpaper. It didn’t cost me anything to do this but it will cost you money to send pictures depending on your provider.
I can choose if I want my phone to ring, vibrate or do both and if I want it loud or soft. You have your call forward and caller id information here. We often use the call forwarding option. A lot of people don’t know that you can have your home phone forwarded to your cell phone. This does not cost anything and is a great feature.
My V600 as a modem was slow. The cable we have with the V360 is new and upgraded. The speed is the same as if I were home which is amazing to me.
It is a small phone – not the tiniest on the market but one I can put in my pocket easily. It weighs 4.4 ounces and is 3.5 x 1.87 x .83 inches which are the same numbers of the V600.
My experiences:
This is a flip phone with a silver and dark blue finish. Although I like the way it looks it certainly isn’t as “cool” as others on the market. The keys inside light up in different colors which I like. The numbers are in purple for example. There is no external antenna on the V360 which is great. The antenna was one of my dislikes on the V600.
I really like the camera ability. As I said it can’t compete with my Fuji FinePix but it is a lot of fun to always have a camera on me. The zoom and brightness features make it a really decent way to capture a picture on the run- literally.
I like the ability to use the e-mail function, AIM services and other additional "cost" features. I like the fact I can record myself. I can record, for example, a note to myself to pick up milk at the grocery store if I am somewhere without a pen or paper. In general I like the features of the phone. I like the speaker phone capability although I don’t use it often. If I am in the car with my husband and one of the kids calls I will ask her or him if I can put it on speaker phone and my husband can listen as well.
It has a 128 x 128 pixel internal display - up to 65,000 Vivid Colors (CSTN). The screen is really clear and sharp. The screen is a good size measuring 1 1/2” in length and a little less than 1 1/4” in width.
In order to voice call a number in my phone book that I have recorded I have to push down the activation button on the right side of the phone in order to make the call by voice. Sometimes it says that I have to say the name faster, slower, louder or softer so that’s a pain. Also I am right handed and hold the phone with my left hand. It is awkward to have to push this button with my left hand and awkward as well with my right hand. Probably a picky point but it’s my picky point.
The phone has 5 MB internal storage memory. That is more than enough to store backgrounds, ring tones, games, emails, and text messages.
The V360 gives me up to 135 - 240 hours of standby time using standard battery. I get up to 210 - 450 minutes of talk time when used with standard battery. The battery is 700 mAh Li-Ion battery.
I can store up to 1000 entries in my phone book plus up to 250 on the SIM card. I can put up to 1000 entries in the picture phone book.
Jo’s Final Thoughts:
I like my phone a lot. It is very similar to my V600 so I found it easy to figure out but in general I find it user friendly and not difficult to figure out. The modem capability, camera and video, recording messages and doing a good job in clarity of sound makes it a recommend. My husband is in heaven. He could barely hear out of his old Nokia. Being used to the Motorola V600 I find the clarity about the same which is a positive point.
If I were to pick out one think I don’t like other than where the voice call button is it is the flip phone type of phone. Given the same features I would not pick a flip phone. There are times I go to open it and my finger slips and I lose the call.
I hope this has helped. Please feel free to leave me a question or comment. I will try to answer you or find the answer. Thanks for reading. jo
Specifications taken from www.motorola.com
• GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz
• GPRS (2u/4d) AMR
• Alerts - 21 Embedded MIDI Ring tones
• 4 MP3 Ring Tones
• 22 Khz Polyphonic Speaker with 22 Level Support
• Embedded and Downloadable (01) J2ME Games - Stuntman, Bejeweled
• User-customizable - Softkey functions, Main Menu and shortcuts
• SMS - Chat one-to-one
• Nokia Smart Message Receive
• Instant Message Support - Wireless Village 1.1, Embedded Client
• Email Support - STMP, POP3, IMAP4
• Reads 7 lines of text, 1 line of icons
• Blue backlight on external display
• WAP Browser version 2.0 (01)
• CE Bus (USB/Serial)
• J2ME Programmability (01)
• Synchronization with PC (Software and accessories sold separately)
