Motorola MPx200
Review
Phone
rating: 
Motorola
have opted for Windows Mobile™ software
to power their MPx200 smartphone instead of the Symbian operating
system used by Nokia and Sony Ericsson. The interface style of Windows
Mobile™ is very much like Windows on a PC, so will be familiar
to users. It is a graphically-based interface designed to be both
user-friendly and to enable a range of powerful software to be used.
The
Motorola MPx200 packs in many features, including MP3 player, video
playback, a large clear display (essential for running a Windows-based
system), not to mention the pre-installed Windows software. This
comprises Pocket Outlook® for accessing
e-mail, Windows Media® Player for multimedia playback, Pocket
Internet Explorer® for browsing the web and Activesync® for
synchronising data with a PC. Anyone familiar with Windows on a
PC will instantly feel at home with these applications. On the other
hand, Apple users might best be advised to steer clear, if they
want to synchronise their phone with their Mac!
However,
there are a number of features missing from the MPx200 that are
present in most other smartphones, most notably a camera and Bluetooth™.
Integrated cameras are present now even in entry-level phones, so
it's quite a surprise to see it missing from the MPx200. Similarly,
a phone that has so obviously been designed to synchronise with
a PC is just asking for a Bluetooth™ wireless connection. Still,
the phone does have a USB connection in addition to infrared.
The
internal memory of 10 Mbytes is reasonably generous, and can be
expanded with memory cards.
Overall
it could have been a good phone, but we have deducted marks for
the lack of Bluetooth, terrible battery life, software bugs, poor
reception and various reliability issues (see user comments below
for a flavour of these). The Motorola
MPx220 goes some way to fixing these problems.
Features
of the Motorola MPx200 include:
- Powered by Windows Mobile™ software
- Installed software: Pocket Outlook®, Windows
Media® Player, Pocket Internet Explorer®, Activesync®,
MSN Messenger®
- Internal display: TFT colour, 176 x 200 pixels
- External display: 2 lines
- Video clip playback with sound
- Integrated handsfree speakerphone
- MP3 player
- Polyphonic ringtones
- Downloadable Themes: images, ringtones and sounds
- Downloadable games (Solitaire embedded)
- MMS (Picture / photo + text + sound)
- Group SMS, Instant Messaging
- Predictive text (T9)
- E-mail
- User-customisable main menu and shortcuts
- Voice activated dialling
- Phonebook
- Connectivity: Mini USB / IRDA
- Internal memory: Up to 10Mbytes
- SD / MMC card slot
- WAP 1.2.1
- Vibration alert
- Triband
- Size: 89 x 48 x 27 mm
- Weight: 118g
- Talktime: up to 5 hours
- Battery standby: 4 days
Motorola MPx200
Consumer Reviews
Love
your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review
this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a
forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear
words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!
Average
rating from 100 reviews: 
Reviewed by Kev from Wales Enland on
16th May 2006
I have had my MPX200 for three years. Amazing bit of kit. I got
originally cos it was one phone without a camera. I have droped
it in a river and went dead for sixe weeks. Left it in the holster
whilst connected to my PC and one day it came bak to life. I dropped
it endless times driven over it twice. My children have throw it
and yet is still works and no bits missing. I ahve a 1 Gig memory
card I use for calls, texts, emailing, playing music, surfing and
games. The Reminder, calender, address book al syn ok with PC and
vice versa. OK so it slows down a bit when battery gets low but
all in all a dam good phone. I got a peeble lately and that is not
as good despite its functions such as camera video and bluetooth.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Jo from Belgium on
14th May 2006
This is a good mobile considering it's probably the cheapest smartphone
around. You can also extend the storage capacity by using SD-cards,
which is a big plus! Just two big concerns my phone has (problems
with this cellphone vary greatly, everyone seems to have different
sort of problems with it): 1. Characters skip when you're entering
a text message. For example, if you wanted to write 'hello' (i don't
use T9) you would get something like 'ïellmm'. I could type blind
on my old nokia and finish a text within 30 seconds, here i have
to keep my eye on it constantly because you're never sure what the
phone will do, and it takes me up to 4 minutes to write a standard
text. 2. The battery life with normal usage (say 10 texts and a
5 minute phonecall a day) is 16 to 20 hours. That's ridiculous!
i have to recharge every night, so if i go away for the weekend
and i forget my charger, i won't be able to use my phone for 2 days.
Other than these problems, this phone has everything i need and
does its job well. but if i can find another cell with extendable
memory & realtones for under 200$, i will make the switch.
Rating: 
Reviewed by BenN from UK on 17th
Feb 2006
No bluetooth on a phone which is made to sync with a PC is unforgivable,
and now-a-days it's hard to find a phone without a camera, so that's
2 features missing. As for Windows Mobile for Spartphones, it's
got too many features for a phone and not enough for a PDA. It's
stuck in the middle. Perhaps you could use it as a nice calendar
though? Just don't bother. Find a newer version.
Rating:
Reviewed by Marius from Romania on
12th Dec 2005
Absolutely terrible because of the battery. But it is not the only
thing poor at this phone : also it crashes and it is reseting and
a lot of other thig. One adive : DON'T BUY IT. I will not buy another
motoroles in my all life, i swear.
Rating:
Reviewed by MirzaNadeemBAig from Pakistan
on 12th Dec 2005
I've bought this phone 2 months ago and it is excellent, no problems
found for the moment, like this phone people are talking bad about
it that it doesn’t have a camera or blue tooth but what they
forget is that it was made in 2002 and they really didn’t
cameras on their phones and blue tooth its relatively new so don’t
be hating on this phone This is an excellent phone and has everything,
, mp3 player, it's triband and it is packed full of features, only
con is battery life
Rating:
Reviewed by Paul from Australia on
7th Dec 2005
Well, that just confirms it. After a couple more weeks of use (read
previous review below) the speaker has given in. I can no longer
recieve phone calls. I haven't ever dropped the phone nor have I
put it in water. There's hardly a scratch on it. I guess it's time
to switch brands. Well, atleast it made it through it's warranty
period by 2 months. Where'd I put my old v3688?
Rating:
Reviewed by lou from UK on 19th
Nov 2005
This is an old phone so I doubt anyone is going to read this. I
had it about 2 years ago and it seemed really good when I got it
cos you could play music watch videos and the windows smartphone
thing seemed cool. The first problem i noticed wast the constant
crashing and having to restart the phone by removing the battery.
Secondly everytime I removed the battery all my text messages were
deleted from all the folders. the crashing got worse and worse until
it got to the point were the phone would no longer switch on and
I haven used it since. This was after 3 months into my contract.
Before it stopped working I was sent a replacement battery by orange
to try and solve the battery life issue but that didn't work. Then
when it stopped working they wouldn't replace it and said I had
to take it up with motorola. Which is odd considering it was orange
that sold me it but they refused to have anything to do with it!!
Judging by the mixed reviews on this site I think some of these
problems may be due to the software install by network operators.
I had to us a 3yr old nokia for the rest of the year.....worked
perfectly........did I mention that 2 of my friends got the same
phone at the same time and had the same problems.
Rating:
Reviewed by Paul from Australia on
17th Nov 2005
I've had Motorola phones for the past 10 years, and every time I
I've got one I swear I'll never buy another one. But then the marketing
gets me. At first impressions the MPX200 is an awesome phone, minus
bluetooth/camera. However it quickly disappoints as a mobile accessory.
Battery life is aweful, have to charge it every second day which
is really bad for travelling. Applications crash - have to try and
turn it off, when it doesn't you need to remove the battery. Changing
the timeline when travelling locks it up - remove battery, restart,
date is reset to 1.1.2003 which is a joke. And now my screen light
is playing up, have to squeeze the screen to get it to illuminate.
It does have it's good features though, syncing is great with outlook,
the usb cable recharges (Take note engineers!!), clear audio / talk,
and the screen is good. Things I can live with are it being a little
slow. Having been a long time supporter of MOTOROLA, I don't think
that I will purchase another phone from you guys. And you were meant
to be the industry leaders? Paul
Rating:
Reviewed by sergio from mexico on
16th Nov 2005
I've bougth this phone 3 months ago and it is excelent, no problems
found for the moment.
Rating:
Reviewed by esox from serbia on
13th Oct 2005
why dont u all buy battery of 1000 have done it and now the battery
is lasting for 3 days had 1 day max before.with 5-10min calls per
day for me the phone works good sometimes i have some bugz and need
to restar but even nokia phones like 6600 have more bugz.it is normal
for new phones.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Joop van boxel from The
netherlands on 24th Sep 2005
Hey i have this phone for only one or two weeks and it already gots
it problems... the first 2 days everything goes good. but after
that i couldnt play MP3's on the background anymore... i tried lots
of things but didnt work. so i did a master refresh (i dont recommend
to do) so i did that and it only took 5 minutes or so. i typed my
pin-code and i was logged in. i clicked on programs and i didnt
saw ''file manneger'' anymore !!! file manneger is the hard disc
! where u can browse your images, video's, MP3's and more stuff.
the base of this phone ! and it wasent there so as 4 or 5 other
options... and now im writting this review. some off the features
are good like: Very big screen! MP3 MP4 Internet and msn 10 MB standard
storage Expandeable SD cards so if anybody wants to help me with
my little problem !!! PLZ ADD THIS MSN OR EMAIL IT: rocksinner_joop@hotmail.com
Rating:
Reviewed by raja from India on
23rd Sep 2005
hai ppls . this phone is not as wt u think , its Gr8 Phne wid Lot
of feauters , am using 1gb MMC , i Loaded lot of movie clips, MP3
. also i loded sme Office application and it perform Beautiful For
me Camera is unwanted , coz in INDIA cam ph is not allowed in college
, more over the display is Gr8 . Bt only thing is the Battery life
and Blue tooth The vid and mp3 are very much gr8 in Medioa player
and It plays w/ot stuking , Only thing is tat , its sme wt slow
when compared to other smart Phones ( Apart frm NOKIA) * the cost
is Less - i got a new custom piece for 280$( around 10k RS) tat
included Datacable , 3 Cd's frm motorola, PC suite needs , Sterophonic
HEadset, i added 3d application to MEdia player and am getting 3d
affect ( its Just OK , when compared to Motorola E390) any way i
have to give 5*****
Rating:
Reviewed by Davo from UK on 21st
Sep 2005
Has anyone else managed to get this thing to play MP3's in Stereo?
Motorola said it's designed to be only in one ear!?!?
Rating:
Reviewed by Edwin from Croatia on
21st Aug 2005
Install a W2003 on MPx200,make Hard Reset and You will see diferences!!
I think that is The great Smartphone in any functions!!
Rating:
Reviewed by Mark from USA on
26th Jul 2005
I like this phone people are talking bad about it that it doesnt
have a camera or blue tooth but what they forget is that it was
made in 2002 and they really didnt cameras on their phones and blue
tooth its relitivly new so dont be hating on this phone
Rating:
Reviewed by Nick from UK on 20th
Jul 2005
Owned this phone for over 18 months now. Despite being a 'smart
phone' it works very well as normal phone. Text messaging system
is the best I've ever used. A lot better than Nokia,Sony,Samsung
etc... The construction is solid, after 18 months the body work
has held up well. Speaker phone is great, ability to playback wave
files as a ring tone is also an added bonus. Having a full internet
browser (not wap) is great, it makes you wonder why they bothered
inventing wap in the first place. I thought nothing was going to
beat the old Nokia 7110, but this phone has.
Rating:
Reviewed by ZSX from UK on 23rd
Jun 2005
If you don't know what a smartphone is, or are looking for a camera
and bluetooth, then the MPx200 is not for you. Otherwise, I think
this phone rates very well for a device which is now coming on three
years old and costs around £50 on eBay. Good stuff: 1) Windows 2002
smartphone OS - easy to use, stable and expandable. 2003 upgrade
available but in my view has few advantages unless you are desperate
to use a progam which is 2002 incompatible. The increase in battery
life was not experienced by me. Loads of software like games, media
applications and document viewers available. 2) Hot swappable, upgradeable
memory - I use a 1GB card on which I store videos, music and loads
of work documents, with room to spare! 3) Looks great - still one
of the smallest smartphones available and the black finish is beautiful.
The internal screen is pretty standard nowadays but the colours
are bright and clear. 4) Seamless sync with Outlook - now I can
see all the fields in my address book. 5) Local sync is supported
- I email a lot with the phone and really hate the way most phones
force you to use over the air syncrhonisation to force you to use
the operators expensive data plans. With this phone the emails get
stored on the phone until connected to a computer with an internet
connection. 6) Personalization - almost everything can be personalised
from wallpapers to ring tones to font colours. Bad stuff 1) Battery
life - lasts about 2 days with 15 minutes of talk, 10 texts and
2 hours of video/ music. Reasonable for a PDA, but you need to be
near a power supply by the end of the second day. Buy a spare battery.
2) No camera or blutooth - which I can live without anyway. 3) OS
can be rather laggy - but only when dealing with large files in
an even larger card. More annoying than intolerable. 4) The only
document editor which exists is for Excel files - there are doument
viewers for Word, Powerpoint and PDFs, but no editors. 5) Ther 2002
version of Windows Media Player is rubbish - install another player.
In summary, a smartphone as affordable as this is hard to find!
Definitely recommended.
Rating:
Reviewed by Andrew from Australia on
19th Jun 2005
you can install lots of apps on it, just google and you'll find
em, so its a very versatile phone. battery life isnt great, mine
tops at 3 days, and also pushing it too much may lead to a hard
crash (though thats when i put 2003 OS to it... i reflashed it to
2002 and no probs). no camera, but lets face it how often do most
people use their cameras for anything good? a great little phone,
can easily play videos and mp3s with a decent SD card (not with
the crappy 16meg one motorola gives) so im happy! but dont pay too
much for it though - its outdated now. dont even consider it for
over $600 AUD (around $350 US)
Rating:
Reviewed by Alex from UK on 13th
Jun 2005
DO NOT GET THIS MODEL!!!! Ease of use and some good features (some
of which I've only just found after 11 months - should have read
the 3 inch thik manual I suppose)means this should be a great phone.
BUT - I can only say that there's not much point if it has no power.
Have had the phone replaced once already and following a (thankfully
minor)car accident last Friday I am at the end of my tether - how
am I supposed to call for help with only 5 minutes talk time before
the phone is dead; and that was after only 24 hours standby. A mobile
phone is not mobile if you have to have it plugged in all the time
- come to think of it I couldn't find a car charger either. Service
provider was not much use either (despite snazzy new ads where the
wise man advises looking after your existing customers), they will
only replace my phone with an identical model. Why would I want
to do that!? A learning experience and not one that I want to repeat.
Rating:
Reviewed by Richard Avallon from Brasil
on 6th Jun 2005
The phone is excelente, really a 4 stars. I've being a palm user
for long time, and found that I really never used it to write on,
just to consult info, and for that, the Mpx200 is just perfect,
you can get all the info you want without the need of another gadged
to carry with you. Most of people complain about problems that only
appears when you push the limits of the phone, as, it will crash
if you instaled a bad software, but thats your problem, not the
phone. It really works nice, if you are a windows user, you will
find that the MPx200 will be very confortable to use, also, you
will find that in less than 5minutes of using it, looks like you
know it all. Why not a 5 starts? Well, the battery is an issue,
3 days tops, also, no wireless nor camera, not that I use any of
that, but I understand that many people will miss it.
Rating:
Reviewed by K J Dinesh from India on
5th Jun 2005
I dont find MPX200 bad in anyway.Yup i too had the phone hanging
up at times.. but i think its the user who handles..the phone more
than phone.If u r litle patient u get good features. Pocket IE is
really good for browsing.And signal reception is much better than
my Nokia6220
Rating:
Reviewed by Victoria Leigh from UK on
26th May 2005
The only erason I changed this phone was because I wanted a diiferent
one! I found it REALLY easy to use - the windows style system is
great! I've just read about the upgrade that would have made the
battery last longer, but it wasn't a problem for me! Everyone admired
it! It doesn't have a camera, but hey, I don't want evidence of
my nights out!! My mum has it now, she loves it too!!
Rating:
Reviewed by cate b from england on
1st May 2005
i know the people who reviewed this phone before must have had problems
but i got mine about 1 1/2-2 years ago, so it uses the 2002 version
and it has not broken down once it has been round the world lots
of times, has my collection of 50 albums on it and is still perfect,
i am buying a phone now because someone wants to buy mine of me
because she thought it looked good and found it really easy to use.the
only reason it doesnt get 5 stars is because it has no camera, but
at the time i bought it most other phones didnt have cameras either.
Rating:
Reviewed by aaaaaaaaaaaaaaal from uk
on 25th Apr 2005
no good its all about trust and this phone dont have it
Rating:
Reviewed by Jon from England on
24th Apr 2005
if you have a brain you will read the other reviews and STAY WELL
AWAY from this phone. I think that the other reviews highlight the
key areas which make it rubbish. So think very very hard before
buying this phone as in a month or so you will be banging your head
on the wall saying "why, why, why!!!" !!!!STAY AWAY!!!!
Rating:
Reviewed by Graeme from UK on
23rd Apr 2005
A great little phone. Very stylish in the gloss black finish clear
display. Shame there is no built in camera. Since upgrading to Windows
2003 (£1.50 on ebay for upgrade) the battery now lasts around
4 days and the reception is better. The phone hasn't crashed at
all since the upgrade apart from on the odd occasion it indicates
invalid SIM which is only resolved by switching the phone off and
on again. The phone is easy to use and navigate. If you are planning
to buy one just bear in mind that the design is a couple of years
old and it won't match the latest phones in performance or features,
but its still up there with somne of the best of them. You won't
be dissapointed.
Rating:
Reviewed by Mr. J. Peace from UNITED
KINGDOM on 17th Apr 2005
Am happy to say that I disagree with many reviews previously posted
here. I purchased the mobile telephone on EBay and it is amazing.
Unfortunately, the fool of a previous owner upgraded to Windows
Mobile 2003, which is my opinion is undesirable, as it disbands
the MMS software. I have now returned it to its native operating
system, Windows Mobile 2002, and it works perfectly. I have already
initiated GPRS and MMS (picture messaging) services, and can browse
almost any website (though websites may be subject to undesirable
display due to the size of the mobile's screen). The texting software
is very good - insert symbols by holding down HASH key for three
seconds, switch cases by holding down * key, T9 text prediction
is available if you find it easier, and the keys are nice and 'clicky'
and so it is easy to enter text. I was delighted on hearing that
the mobile has installed on it Windows Media Player, using which
I can play audio and small video clips - this works prefectly and
I think its amazing! The MSN Messenger facility is also great -
amazing to be able to chat live with friends whilst on the train,
and it works great with the high-speed GPRS connection. All the
PDA Personal Information Management are good too - and synchronise
with Microsoft Outlook. Mac Users can also synchronise information
- using an addon for iSync (generic Mac sync software that comes
with OSX). The addon is available commercially (around £16
GBP) at http://www.pocketmac.net. You can get also get last of freeware
software for the MPx200, which installs quickly and easily - just
search in google for 'Windows Mobile Freeware'. The mobile comes
with four great games: Solitare, Slurp, Lemonade, and Tennis Addict.
I love the FILE MANAGER - you can browse this mobile just as if
it were a desktop PC - and it gives you more of a sense of control
of your mobile, rather than just seeing a 'front' - all those simple
menus on Nokias give me the creeps. The exterior of the mobile is
also good - sleek slim black design, a clamshell structure, with
an exterior screen for caller ID - at times when there is no info
to display, this displays the date and time, as standard. The HOME
key ensures you can always find your way back within one click -
this is great! On these horrible Nokia models, you get lost in long
trails of menus. The BACK key just take syou one step back - also
a good addition. A jog dial against the side of the phone makes
it easy to alter volume controls, and when the flap is closed, and
a call is received: press it twice to reject - great feature as
most clamshells don't let you reject calls without opening the phone
- and if you set it to ANSWER ON OPEN which is extremely useful,
then this would be useful - so that's another good feature. I did
once experience a problem previously described - phone freezes on
boot-up at "Hello Moto" screen. However this was easily solved -
hard reset (by holding down BLUE button and on button at the same
time when the phone is off) and then put my stuff back on with the
Sync! And you can extend the memory up to 1GB with SD or MMC cards!
Mine came with a 16MB card - which I can store music, pictures on!
It also came with handsfree, USB cable, mains charger, leather case,
and a CD with backups of the software and a free copy of Microsoft
Outlook! You can even get a camera to plug into it, and take photos
direct onto the phone - these are about £10-20 on EBay! A
great model - I recommend it to anyone interested in a PDA that
isn't massive - something compact but useful! Jo Peace jo.peace@wtsonline.co.uk
Rating:
Reviewed by G Man from leeds on
17th Apr 2005
initial reaction was yeah good phone, but the more i use it the
more the more i hate it, whats more a phone with windows built into
it you would have thought they would a put a camera on it.
Rating:
Reviewed by JohanB from South Africa
on 15th Apr 2005
Until you start using the phone it looks OK. The flaws soon appear.
It crashes often and you have to go as far as removing the battery
to restart it. Battery life is pathetic. This phone is the reason
why I will NEVER buy another Motorola product again. I'm counting
the days to me next upgrade.
Rating:
Reviewed by Chris from Blackpool UK
on 14th Apr 2005
This phone looks good on first impressions - sturdy, good screen
etc, but there are so many usability issues with it that I will
be glad when I can upgrade again (I've had this for 11 months).
Battery life: fine on standby, but one ten minute conversation and
it needs charging. Keypad: often inserts extra characters when texting.
Speed: Very slow to start up, further delay when selecting an application
such as SMS. Like other Windows platforms, tends to pause for breath
randomly. Reliability: I haven't had to have the phone swapped,
but it does freeze occasionally. Bugs: made the mistake of setting
the alarm, then noticing that the time wasn't quite right, so adjusted
the clock. Alarm then went off at the same time every day until
I found a workround on the internet. On the whole it's been an acceptable
phone, but the PDA facilities are a useless gimmick and it suffers
all the usual Windows glitches. I gave my old Nokia 5210 to my wife,
and still regret it.
Rating:
Reviewed by Dom from South Africa on
2nd Apr 2005
My dad got an MPx200 on his contract as an upgrade handset about
10 months ago. Because it didn't fit the carkit that came integrated
with his car (carkit only fits oldish Nokia's), he offered me the
phone. Well, at first it seemed quite decent, what with the pretty
useful features it includes. After using it for a while, I quickly
became aware of how buggy Windows SmartPhone 2002 is! The phone
would need to be restarted every once in a while, until that is
it just refused to start up the one day (the infamous hanging on
the 'Hello Moto' screen). It has to date been for repair twice (Motorola
currently have my handset). I don't know if the MPx220 or the MPx300
are any better, but I'm getting a Nokia or Samsung when my contract
is due for an upgrade... STAY AWAY FROM THIS PHONE!
Rating:
Reviewed by Rostron from UK on
1st Apr 2005
This mobile is utter toilet. Slow, constantly freezing, takes ages
to switch off and back on again, short battery life, can't seem
to get a signal when all around me people are chatting merrily away
on their phones. The keypad's ropey - every other word gets misspelt
when texting because it occasionally inserts two characters when
I've only pushed the key once. I had to put up with the alarm going
off at 8am every day for nearly a fortnight - I'd set it once when
staying at a friend's house. Every time I tried to switch the alarm
back off, the phone would freeze. Even WAP is laughable - I bought
it to help me commute using the train info page - by the time it
connects (1-2 minutes) and you've navigated to the page, and it's
lost the connection and you've had to wait for it to reconnect again,
the train's already arrived at the platform. Can't believe how stupid
I was buying a Windows operated phone - never again. Just hope Apple
get into the mobile phone market sometime soon. The iPhone - that
would be something =0)
Rating:
Reviewed by Tiger from USA on
31st Mar 2005
This phone is great. I couldn't ask for more. It has animated wallpapers/themes,
great 3D games, many type of applications, mp3 player, watch videos
and steaming videos off the web, speakerphone, etc. It doesn't have
a camera, but I can live without that. The only thing that I dislike
about this phone is that, it doesn't support Cingular(850mhz). but
it works great on ATT Wireless.
Rating:
Reviewed by mffinn from Netherlands
on 31st Mar 2005
For 99 euro you get a very nice looking and solid feeling phone.
The screen is good and syncing with Outlook works very well (as
long as you only do it with one computer). What it does it does
well, considering the price. Upgrading to Windows Mobile 2003 also
improves the display quality and some of the software. For me being
able to get all my Outlook contacts painlessly into a phone is a
big benefit over slowly scrolling thru the SIM card's contents.
I know this is the least one can expect from a smartphone but I'm
comparing this to similarly-priced not-so-smart phones. The downsides
are the lack of sync. with Outlook notes, the battery life of 4
days (at most) and the lack of bluetooth. Buy Smartphonenotes, carry
a mini-USB cable and use infra-red to get around these problems
somewhat.
Rating:
Reviewed by Fazzazzy from Italy on
29th Mar 2005
Outstanding phone at it's 129 euro price tag. Extra big display,
ultra nice design, it's so shiny and sleek. A bit slow when browsing
menus, but for what it gives I don't care. You can add whatever
you want, games, mp3 players, flash players, divx players, word
excel compatibility (with proper software), programs with maps of
your country when you are traveling. Absolutely outstanding, and
far cheaper than an mpx220. Battery lasts for 2-3 days with low
to normal use, switching off at night. 1 day if used often. I can
live with that. Enjoy.
Rating:
Reviewed by kate from uk on 6th
Mar 2005
Absolute RUBBISH. I had this phone 2 weeks when it resorted to the
old hello-moto-frozen-screen trick. After reading this site i tried
the master reset option and reached 'airplane mode' and a request
to insert my sim (which was already in there)...In short-dont bother-too
hi-tech for its own good. Stick with Nokia...
Rating:
Reviewed by Mark Edwardson from UK on
23rd Feb 2005
Second and last update from me and my MPx200. As promised contact
renewal arrived and I tossed the Motorola in the canal. Now blissfully
happy with a Nokia 6230 - no Windows nonsense, a proper MP3 player,
Bluetooth, camera, excellent reception, sound ergonomics. I won't
make the Motorola mistake again.
Rating:
Reviewed by Chad from USA on
22nd Feb 2005
Bad reception, locks up like a computer once or twice a day and
every so often decides it cannot read sim card. I know everyone
wants to believe that this is a solution to have both a PDA and
a cell phone, but it does neither job very well at all.
Rating:
Reviewed by raja from india on
19th Feb 2005
this is the best phone i ever brought for such cheap rate , it has
all features everything , superb biiggggg display . crystal clear
. THE REASON FOR ITS FAILURE is it supports only FXGXX some like
type SIM card , orange providers support 64K sim with slow signal
S/r , but Motorola MPx200 it needs more k more fast i mean the baud
rate.
Rating:
Reviewed by Rupesh from UK on
4th Feb 2005
I don't know if i'm qualified to review this phone but here it goes.
i had a 10 minute play with this phone in the shop and was very
tempted by the £70 price tag. the first 9 minutes were spent
waiting for the thing to boot! however the overall look and feel
of the phone is of quality. the screen is big, bright and clear.
i was put off because a) the astounding amount of bad reviews on
most sites. b) the fact that i coudnt return it for a refund. (in
case it was pants) the two stars are therefore becasue i didnt buy
it. # the lack of camera, # lack of bluetooth (perhaps - wasnt a
deal breaker), # lack of headset/headphones in the box (for mp3
player) # and no faith in motorola (past experience) were all contributing
factors.
Rating:
Reviewed by jammy from uk on
25th Jan 2005
This is a great little phone if you are loking for something with
pda capabilities and phone function, i've had this phone for a month
now and no problem so far, so i have none of the problems listed
here. And if you really want to show off you can get a great little
software that allows you to watch full lenth dvd on your moble.
i love being able to sync with outlook and all my contacts and tasks
updated. i bought as pay as you go and inserted my work sim,I paid
£69.00 for the phone at one uk's leading mobile retailers.
Great phone can wait till MPX 220 is available
Rating:
Reviewed by Jerry Fleming from Germany
on 23rd Jan 2005
Hello, I got the mpx200 for approx $100 on eBay germany although
so many people rated it bad. I had the chance to play around with
the mpx200 of an business partner and want to give it a chance.
First of all - they are two versions in the western world. The US
version from AT&T and other are not equal to the european (in this
case the german version). As I encounter it many times with audio
& video hardware - the products for the german market are better
in build quality because the germans are quite demanding in quality.
So, my mpx200 came a few days ago and my colleague also bought one
in the USA during a businesstrip - so I was able to compare. The
german mpx200 came with the latest ROM fixes from motorola and so
I didn't encounter almost 95% of the problems. It's an great phone
with many features but maybe not usuable for mobile newbie because
you have to deal with all of the functions. I watch videos, listen
mp3s, use the calendar, syncronize with my pc and make calls - all
without problems. Great!!! But they are some weak points with the
phone: 1. short standby times. The battery holds only 2 days. 2.
No Camera (it's only a minor problem for me) 3. No upgrades to windows
mobile 2003 4. some minor bugs in functions & options. It's great
but not perfect. At the moment the new MPx220 encounters the german
market and maybe I will buy it in 6 months because at the moment
the price of $400 is too high for me. But the MPx200 will make it
for me until I will try the new model with camera, windows mobile
2003...........and unfortunately miniSD Port :-((( My Rating: 4
of 5 - a good phone, not perfect but with many options. The european
version seems to be "better" in terms of Bugs, flaws, ROM updates
and build quality.
Rating:
Reviewed by Rob from UK on 23rd
Jan 2005
Had this phone over 6 months, its been absolutely flawless. It hasn't
crashed (surprisingly). It syncs fine with outlook and basically
does all I need it to. Also charging from USB is handy. Battery
life isn't spectacular but I can usually get 2-3 days before recharge
which I don't consider to be a burden. I'm on orange and the reception
around where I live has been fine.
Rating:
Reviewed by Steve from Scotland on
23rd Jan 2005
This handset is the pits! If you've read the other reviews before
this you will have guessed that already. My handset was contracted
to Orange and the first handset failed after just 3 days. A replacement
failed after 4 weeks and then I had to suffer being sent faulty
recon units for the remainder of my contract. All in all I had the
pleasure of 9 different MPX200 handsets in a year and not one of
them worked properly. If with orange and you take out Orange "Care"
insurance check out the small print too. If you send the phone back
and have it replaced you are sent a reconditioned unit - this eliminates
your rights to demand a different make of handset. I've now changed
back to using a Nokia and changed my service provider!!! In summary..."The
Motorola MPX200...makes an expensive paperweight" "Orange...The
futures not so bright if you continue to treat your customers badly...with
the world's biggest business debt you should be bending over backwards"
Rating:
Reviewed by grunger from england on
22nd Jan 2005
good value 4 money but where's the camera
Rating:
Reviewed by Andrew from USA on
17th Jan 2005
First off I want to say DO NOT GET THIS PHONE. I have gone through
3 warrenty replacemants of this phone and still continue to have
the same problems. Between the horrible reception, the phone having
a mind of its own and shutting off by its self, the phone freezing
and the screen going AWOL. Overall, the experiance with this phione
for the last 11 monthes has been HORRIBLE.
Rating:
Reviewed by Cleb from Czech republic
on 10th Jan 2005
MPX200 is a GREAT phone, it runs a lot of cool apps and games, since
it has windoze. Who cares about it has to be rebooted every day.
I haven't had any problems with signal, don't know what all these
people ar complaining about.
Rating:
Reviewed by Jim from UK on 6th
Jan 2005
This is the worst phone in the universe. No, scrub that, this is
the single most irritating, useless, spangly piece of poo which
I've ever had the misfortune to own. If it was a person I'd kill
it. It's slow, it crashes, the software didn't work properly, I
couldn't get mp3's to play/transfer, the battery life's rubbish,
it takes an age to boot etc. etc. etc. I bought this phone because
it has Windows on it, so I suppose that I only have myself to blame.
Q: Why should a phone need Windows? Haven't we all learned that
Windows is rubbish? And it crashes? Would Windows on a phone not
overcomplicate things? A: It doesn't. Yes. Yes. And Yes Windows
has brought to my mobile the infamous 'blue screen of death', an
inability to boot, the loss of 200 phone numbers, and more than
a few corresponding friends. Yeah I should have backed it up, but
I couldn't get it to work. And my replacement has just died within
48 hours. I hate this phone. I hate myself. I wish I was dead.
Rating:
Reviewed by Josh Judge from USA on
16th Dec 2004
First of all this phone has not only upset me with its service,
but more importantly my friends and family are sick and tired of
the run around they get everytime they need to get in touch with
me. I live in New York and you would think that there has to be
a good signal on Long Island being that I am 20 minutes away from
one of the largest cities in the entire world. Nope the phone never
has a signal and I repeatedly have to walk outside of my house in
the freezing cold nowadays to get at least 2 bars of service. The
MP3 features stink and so do all of the other features that got
me to buy the phone. Cant ever send messages because I have no service
and have found myself ready to throw the phone in the garbage after
I waste tons of time trying to write out psuedo long text message
to my girl (who has been in Australia) only to have my phone say
the message never went through because i lost service! I can not
deal with this phone much longer my contract is up in 2 months I
would have gave the phone ZERO stars if that was an option. I advise
strongly that you avoid buying this phone although it is a hot phone
and looks great and has great features non of them work and when
they do it is only a matter of time before your screen freezes.
My battery surprisingly has never given me a problem either which
is the main gripe by most of the reviews I have just read. Everything
else about the phone has given me huge problems maybe the reason
my battery is never a problem is because I never have service long
enough to use my phone for more than 2 minutes.
Rating:
Reviewed by julie from scotland on
8th Dec 2004
This is the worst phone I have ever used. The only reason I have
given it one star is that your mobile phone bills will be very low
with this phone as you rarely get a signal ( even in city centres)
and the battery only allows you to make a couple of calls between
charges. I am delighted to have come to the end of my twelve months
with this phone. I have had to replace it twice as the screen froze
and the alarm used to drone in a low drilling tone every morning
and could only be turned off by removing the battery- not the best
way to start off the day. Texting is difficult and takes ages because
the screen blanks out. I dont get any signal in the office, although
everyone else does. Orange say this is because of the transmitter???
Do Motorolla's have their own transmittors. I dont get any reception
in the flat either so this cuts down in my overall use. I have had
more rollover minutes in the last year than I can use. Would definately
not get a Motorolla again and am going fo r the Sony Ericsson P910i.
Fingers crossed this will be better.
Rating:
Reviewed by Mark Edwardson from United
Kingdom on 7th Dec 2004
Update to previous message. As winter is starting to bite and my
bones are feeling the cold I've decided to take action. I can't
upgrade the MPx 200 until February so I've purchased a new PAYG
Sagem MyX2 for £30 and inserted my contract card. Guess what?
I can now make calls from the comfort of my arm chair in front of
my living flame Baxi. And there's a bonus - there's no silly Windows
system so there's no freezing on the phone no matter how chilly
it gets outside. Hurrah!
Rating:
Reviewed by Nigel P from UK on
2nd Dec 2004
I like the features on the phone. However It has been sent back
to Motorola twice (once for 9 weeks) with battery problems (not
lasting more than 1 day), & freezing screen twice. Orange's customer
care has been very poor. Asking for more money to replace the phone.
All I want is a phone that works
Rating:
Reviewed by Jonathan from UK on
1st Dec 2004
I was immediately disappointed by the signal reception. However,
my phone crashed (software in think) in August and it was sent to
Motorola for repairs. From what I was told by Orange shop Motorola
are still waiting on a part. Really? Currently I have a courtesy
phone from Orange, a 'old' Nokia 8210a which has better signal reception.
I wish I had never ugraded my phone with the MPx200. I can't wait
till February when I can upgrade again.
Rating:
Reviewed by Coop from UK on 27th
Nov 2004
Just an footnote to my earlier review; couldn't live with the battery
running out after 8 (yes 8!!!) hours of everyday use - so I bought
a brand new shiny battery from Motorola. Charged up the new battery,
and have been using it for 3 weeks now. The battery lasts for a
MAXIMUM of 12 hours! Why bother building a phone with all these
functions and features if the batteries can't handle it??? I am
ditching this heap of junk, and going to buy a Nokia - at least
their batteries last for a day! This is a seriously, SERIOUSLY flawed
phone, people. Avoid like the plague.
Rating:
Reviewed by Mark Edwardson from United
Kingdom on 26th Nov 2004
Giving this 'phone one star is exaggerating its abilities. It may
have MP3 capability, dowloadable everything and a nice big colour
screen but there are three BIG problems with mine. Firstly, like
other contributors here I am forced to stand outside the house to
use it. This is in stark contrast to my wife's brick (Sony j5) which
she can use anywhere she likes. Puzzling this as we are both using
the Orange network. Secondly, the build quality's awful and Orange
have refused to do anything about it. Thirdly, it is slow and ergonomically
poor - try texting and you'll know what I mean. The MPx 200 is so
bad that I wish I'd never given up my Sharp GX1! Roll on contract
renewal and it'll be the bin for the Motorola and Orange.
Rating:
Reviewed by Jimbo from UK on
24th Nov 2004
At the time, I was looking for a phone that could; -manage my nutty
schedule -play MP3's -some games -manage calls easily -workable
interface -speaker phone -reasonable battery life/talk time/stand-by
-Flip feature would be a bonus -Doesn't look like a brick or a hair-doo
from the 80's. (not necessarily in this order) Currently, after
using it for one full year. I have to say that this phone was a
total disappointment. With a capital 'T'. Before I rant on about
this phone further, allow me to explain to you all that I've bought
this phone and signed a contract from Orange (UK service provider)
because I thought this phone was the "One". Here are the reasons
for my 1-Star/Poor rating. The mp3 feature is badly designed and
you would eventually need to fork out more £££
($$$-for US neighbors) to make due. That is of course if you have
a soft spot for music. If not, you should. Open your mind fellas/gals!
No self respecting human being would be caught listening to ABBA!
The Microsoft software that comes built-in is at best at a 'Beta'
stage. The software needs more operating power and battery but the
phone doesn't have it. Ergo, you need more juice which equals battery
life dropping faster than you can say 'I'm dialing customer service
num....(phone dies).' The software that manages (or rather confuses)
your already busy life (surfers skip to next paragraph), is like...no,
one word discribes it best. "Blonde" The little supposed 'user friendly'
icons are actually more confusing and disrupting to the naked eye,
and god forbid if you have an over lapping schedule. Another thing,
I have 'beef' with the phone designers/engineers is this. Why in
the world did you guys/gals (I'm trying to be 'P.C' here) design
something that is meant to be used once! Allow me to explain. When
I left the store after filling the darn contract form. Opened to
box like a kid opening the x-mas boxes I managed to plug in the
charger, open the back cover, slide in the SIM card and placed the
battery. Charged for the duration it suggested from the manual,
then played the waiting game. Imagine my excitement when I pushed
the power button and it didn't detect the SIM card. I thought, okay
take a breather and check the connection. Which I did, but I realized
that the SIM holder (the piece that actually holds the SIM into
place, not the sliding mechanism that locks it in) was gone! What
had happened was that that little piece was snapped off when I placed
the battery in to charge it. I called the Orange care (the providers
insurance) and explained that they said that since it is user related
they will not cover it. Damn smurfs! Anyway, coming back to the
point. It is just a damn poor design! Where did they get their degrees?
On the net!?! Another, fault is the actual mic. That receives/records
your voice let alone your bad breath and transmits it to the unsuspecting
victim of your ever colorful banter. I recently found this 'bug'
but rest assured a firm but light (oxy moron?) tap to it fixes it.
In saying so the positives are simple. Aesthetically its pleasing
to the eye, it is a flip phone, and it has a workable interface/software.
As for battery life read above. In conclusion, I am lucky to have
had this phone for a year without anymore problems. I made sure
it stayed that way. Some people commented on the looks of the phone
like I have found some elixir of life. I thought they were just
judging the book by its cover. Hope this long winded review helped.
Good luck in searching for the "soul mate."! Jimbo
Rating:
Reviewed by Mark from USA on
22nd Nov 2004
This phone eats batteries. Not only does it have a short battery
life but I am on my 3rd battery in 4 months. First died in 3 weeks
after purchase, if only I had been more concerned and exchanged
it then within the 30 day ex period. Second Battery gave up the
ghost and have ordered warranty replacement from ATT but they claim
they have none and Moto isn't filling thier order! Ordered direct
from Motorola. Incredibly long waits for IE access and not very
capable. Only positive is the outlook sync but would have stayed
with 3 devices, good phone, good PDA, good MP3 if I knew I would
be without a phone for a couple weeks every time I have to hunt
done the increasingly hard to find inadequate battery.
Rating:
Reviewed by Coop from UK on 11th
Nov 2004
Basically a good idea, badly executed. Pros: good looks, neat, nice
layout. Good colour screen. USB connectivity. Interface with Outlook
Express to handle appointments is excellent; it also provides a
great backup for all your contacts. Sound quality is good. Cons:
Battery - rubbish! 12 hours maximum, after a full charge - sometimes
it ges after 8 hours, and I am not a heavy user of the phone or
its functions! Media player - rubbish! I bought this because it
was an MP3 player, but it is half baked software - no pause button!
No playlist function! No ability to sort tracks in play order! GPRS/WAP
- rubbish! This is one of the most complicated, difficult and annoying
setups I have EVER gone through, and I'm (fairly) computer literate.
Technical support from my network (02) and Motorola was non-existant.
When I did get WAP fired up, response time was hideous, hardly worthwhile;
additionally, the software cannot handle many websites! Menus :
badly laid out, badly thought out, no obvious clues to where key
functions might be hidden - awful! Now we know what happened to
the developers of Windows 95 - they designed the software for this!
If you want this purely as a phone to talk and send text, then it
does it very well - but its HIDEOUSLY expensive just for that. If
you want it as a PDA, it have a lovely interface to Outlook - but
thats about it. You;d e better off buying a Palm. If you want it
as a media player - forget it. It will drive you crazy! This could
have been SUCH a good idea - but instead, its a crock. Avoid.
Rating:
Reviewed by Nick from UK on 10th
Nov 2004
I feel sorry for anyone that has just bought this phone. I have
had three replacements - all previous phones locked on the Hello
Moto screen. Reaction to input was abysmal - if you receive a message
whilst the phone is closed it can take up to a minute to get to
it after opening the phone, which feels like a year when you're
sat next to someone you're trying to offload this dog onto... Can
it be that Microsoft released SmartPhone before it was ready? Surely
not... SIM card now in my trusty Nokia 6310i and a Sony Ericsson
910i has been purchased on a new contract and ... it just works!
Rating:
Reviewed by stu clarke from uk on
1st Oct 2004
jeez! couldn't help but add a comment on the mpx200 after reading
the reviews....got mine 3 months ago; it locked-up on the moto screen
to;sent it back to motorola and it got fixed and back within a week
- been ok since (touch wood..) bought mine as a sim free - don't
know if this makes a difference as i use a orange payg card and
a t-mobile on in it. agree, battery life is s***e - try gettin an
emergency aa battery charger - impossible in uk - boxwave.com in
us does one - got to ship it over though. its a great bit of technology
though - but i think it was rush released - still love showing off
to me mates with it though....pocket tv application from handango
u.k. particularly good though
Rating:
Reviewed by Terri Neilsen from USA on
24th Sep 2004
My company bought me this phone for the PDA functions (i need to
have access to Outlook). The phone initially was great - although
battery life and signal is awful (I could not get reception in my
own home and had to call from outside). I then began to receive
"Sim Card Failure" messages. I would take out the sim card and battery
and then turn the phone back on. I began to get this message a great
deal of the time and had to keep removing and resetting the sim
card. Eventually thought it was linked to the phone overheating.
I then got the message all the time and had the phone replaced through
my insurance (one time only because they wrote the insurance in
error). I did not go through warranty because I noticed the Sim
holder prongs had broken. I got a new phone and less than one month
later got the same "Sim Card Failure" message. I looked but the
holder was intact. I called Motorola. They acknowledged the sim
holder defect, but not the "sim card failure" defect. Has anyone
else had the same problem? Will be getting phone number 3- am really
sick of not having my phone when I need it!
Rating:
Reviewed by Red from UK on 23rd
Aug 2004
I got this phone 6-8 weeks ago as a (free)long overdue Orange upgrade
to my Ericsson R230s. Initially very impressed with the software,
internet access, media player (but needed to get a 128 MB card to
store a significant number of mp3's or WAV's). Photo/video function
was interesting. Texting /emails a bit of a pain and the battery
seemed to die early though. Due to the finish of the phone I decided
to get a leather protective case for it to protect it from scratches
(now the plastic screen cover has ripped, oh well). Last week we
went on holiday to Burham on Sea near Western Super Mare (non-UK
folk look it up, very interesting, nice place). I soon noticed a
"No Service" message. Ok, this happens I thought, probably due to
a radio blackspot. However after noticing other(Orange)users having
no problems with their phones, which seemed to be Nokia's, I decided
to phone Orange to check the situation. Problem was nearest public
phones were out of order (that bit's important...) . I eventually
managed to find a distant phone box and called "O". No, "no problem"
they said probably just the particular model I had. No my Ericsson
would not have performed any better despite having an external ariel
after all it was encased in plastic - same as an internal ariel.(!!)
Oh really??. At 2.30 a.m one morning we needed to call the emergency
services due to a member of the holiday party having heart problems.
(Remember the bit above about the out of order phone boxes? Only
one other phone available a Samsung A300 with external ariel which
just managed to hold a signal long enough to get through.... Moral
of this story? The MPX200 is indeed a Smart phone, it's impressive....as
a media player, internet surfer and phone in a major city.... NOT
as a phone in any area where there isn't maximum signal reception
from the nearest cellular transmitter. I have no doubt my Ericsson
R230s would have worked far better. Getting confirmation of that
from most dealers is impossible as they are all geared to selling
phones and their tech departments are manned by 18-22 year olds
who don't remember the Ericsson..... In fact as far as the UK is
concerned I believe that if you have an older phone it probably
has more TX power than the latest generation due to the fact that
as there were less cell transmitters around the phones had further
to reach. The newer models probably have weaker outputs due to the
relatively smaller present day cell sites. All well and good unless
you're on holiday in Burnham on Sea....
Rating:
Reviewed by Lex Hallston from london,
united kingdon on 22nd Aug 2004
i brought this phone on orange about 2 monthsa go and i cant say
that it has been the ebst phone i have ever owned. (much better
than the nokia i had before). on the downsides the phone has crashed
a couple time when i was setting the time and date, and texting
can be a bit difficult at times, however, the other features such
as outlook express and instant messenger outweigh the cons of this
phone. the only other bad thing is that THIS PHONE ATTRACTS FINGER
PRINTS LIKE A MAGNET and it requires constant cleaning, apart from
that this phone is a worth while investment.
Rating:
Reviewed by Anne Petersen from USA on
14th Aug 2004
I love this phone/pocketPC for several reasons, but I also would
not recommend it for most people. Although the power to sync your
cell with Outlook is awesome, the graphics are great and keeps my
life organized with the calendar, it tends to crash often and have
a severe lack of memory. I have had my phone for 6 months now, and
it has crashed twice now, however I was able to retrive my info
via active sync. Currently my phone is on the cradle charging because
it decided to quit working today without notice. I never notified
me of the battery being low and it charged all last night. The battery
sucks, but not usually THIS bad. The phone was completely un-responsive
all day today whenever I plugged it in to charge. Now I have it
charging but it still will not boot (wont go past mmode screen).
Who knows if this damn this will be working by this time tomorrow
or not. Currently I have put my SIM card back in my trusty nokia
3590 which I have abused and used hard and stil l works. Although
I'm probably going to buy another smartphone after this one - I
would definately NOT suggest this phone for most people. If you
have any suggestions on what to do with this thing that wont boot
please email me at bc219@bc219.com thanks!
Rating:
Reviewed by Pete from UK on 10th
Aug 2004
Love the phone, had no problems with battery life, although I do
leave it charging in a craddle at work all day. Problem is with
ORANGE, I have just crashed my second phone and have to pay again
for a replacement even though I have ORANGE insurance, will definitely
NOT go with these thieving unhelpful muthas again.
Rating:
Reviewed by Ravi Nuguru from USA on
8th Aug 2004
This is a phone from hell. I fell for it looking at all the PDA
features it comes with. Apart from battery life (which i can live
with), the most frustrating part is the signal reception. I used
the same (AT&T wireless) SIM card with my old phone sony-ericsson
t68i and Nokia 3200, there is no problem with signal reception.
But with this dud, it has a peculiar way of cutting you off 80%
of the time. Sometimes the person at other end of conversation can
hear you shouting Hello but i cannot hear them. Some times its vice
versa. It's shame on the part of Motorola and service providers
to dump such a underpeforming phone on the subscribers. I had a
similar experince with another motorola phone prior. I vow never
again to buy any motorola, ever again. I missed my 30 day return
date, so will have to live with this piece of trash, if I do not
dump it in the trash one of these days.
Rating:
Reviewed by Davywavy from on
29th Jul 2004
Don't bother. it looks pretty. You can talk to peopl ein outerspace,
check your email and do all kinds of other funky things with it.
When it works. if you're lucky, this has a 24 hour battery life,
meaning you can't take it on holiday without the charger and an
adapter, windows for telephones crashes and freezes at least once
every two days, it devours text mesages and tells you they were
sent, the keyboard is temperameental to say the least (try writing
a text without having to go back and edit it at least once), it
sometimes drops off the network for no apparent reasona dn won't
go back on unless you take the back off, re-insert the SIM and then
turn it back on... I could go on. I often do.
Rating:
Reviewed by WELLS JULIEN from LONDON
UK on 7th Jul 2004
BATTERY LIFE TERRIBLE - DONT THINK OF BUYING ONE - ORANGE VERY UNHELPFUL
- LOOKS NICE BUT A DUD PHONE
Rating:
Reviewed by James S from UK on
3rd Jul 2004
This is not a phone! It is a pocket computer with a communications
ability. Users need to be computer literate and used to Windows
little foibles. You must re boot it at least once a week like all
windows o/s. It would be daft to run it without a backup to a pc.
Mine currently backs up 330+ contacts to Outlook with full details
and caller ID functioning. The calendar section likewise. Having
this amount of information to hand at all times is extremely useful.
Remember to set up security as your whole life is on there! The
reception is not quite as good as a dedicated phone but I have managed
to get GPRS Internet on a train. It has served me very well for
6 months now but only buy it for grown up use not as the latest
gadget.
Rating:
Reviewed by tony from uk on 30th
Jun 2004
Avoid at all costs. I got one through Orange (after much diffculty)
- 3 broken phones later and still no joy. Orange are completely
useless and just send out returned models (with the faults still
there). It's basically a new type of phone with many bugs that haven't
been sorted but has been sold regardless. Orange repair centres
are not trained to handle it either.
Rating:
Reviewed by tgyygt from gfbgfb on
28th Jun 2004
beautiful beautiful
Rating:
Reviewed by Fuster from UK (London)
on 1st Jun 2004
Had the phone just under a month and have already had three major
problems with it: 1. Battery life is rubbish Applications do not
close unless you go to the task manager to kill them (Lemonade Tycoon
seems to be a particular juice gobbler). Seems to have improved
a little (charge once a day rather than twice) but not much. MORAL:
Don't even think of leaving the house without your charger, kill
pointless applications often. 2. Strange text message behaviour
resulting in crash Haven't really got to the bottom of this one.
Received a constant stream of blank texts which crashed the phone.
When restarted the phone appeared to make a call to one person from
my contacts without being told to and the network (Orange) would
not allow calls to another number (my girlfriend's!). Seemed to
shake itself out after a few hours. MORAL: Don't expect to be able
to use the phone reliably as a phone - it will crash on you. 3.
Corrupt data -> dead phone Over the weekend something happened which
means the phone now shows an error message when turned on and won't
load Contacts or Calendar. None of this data was backed up (no home
PC) and now seems to be lost. Additionally I can't even type numbers
into the phone to call out (as this automatically makes the phone
check contacts). Looks like a hard reset will be needed. MORAL:
Back up your data somewhere, somehow and regularly - it will keep
crashing on you. I spent over an hour on the phone to Orange, getting
progressive more annoyed. Bottom line is that the MPX200 is *horribly*
buggy and no-one wants to be left holding the baby. Orange are out
of stock for a replacement which is just as well really because
I want out. This is a shiny plastic brick of a phone that will cause
you constant hassle each time it screws up. If there were a zero
star option in the ratings system, I'd have used it. AVOID LIKE
THE PLAGUE!
Rating:
Reviewed by Massimo from Italy/Romania
on 31st May 2004
One crush while accidentaly uninstalling File Manager by Motorola,
I had to perform a Master Reset which take away all my phone numbers
and contacts because I didn't find the way to backup all my data
which is also difficult. You have to learn the operative system
very well if you ant to perform well. Handsfree and Voice call functions
are very difficult to use and I think are not performing well. Battery
life is quite short, it is better to always close all application
when you leave the telephone in standby. Better to install a Task
Manager for Smarthphone to have an eye on all the running programs
(including system programs). This telephone offer huge capabilities
of performing program, application, customizing and data Storage.
You can find many utilities and interesting program on the internet.
The interface with the PC by USB cable is outstanding for its capability
to add and remove programs. If you see in task manager that too
many applications are running, I suggest to switch off/on your phone
in order that they will quit and when your phone is on again, will
not consume too much battery.
Rating:
Reviewed by Ric from UK on 29th
Apr 2004
If this phone was a horse you would shoot it..........
Rating:
Reviewed by Pat Gregory from England
on 29th Apr 2004
I was sold this phone on the promise that it would be ideal for
my requirements, as i was just starting a small business. I was
also told that a full car hands-free kit was available almost immediately.
The staff at The Link did a vey good sales job, however my last
comment to them 'does it make phone calls' seemed like a joke at
the time. I have exclusively used Nokia phones for the past 10 years
and had absolutely no problems aside from some niggling problems
trying to sync phone books with PCs via infrared. The Motorola started
well, and the facility to upload from outlook seamlessly was very
useful. I then started to notice niggling problems: the handsfree
kit thing wouldn't make or receive calls via the small button thing.
The standby time is about 24 hours (this is with a conditioned battery).
The talk time is around 2-3 hours. The reception is dreadful, nothing
like the service I'm used to. The phone has now taken to switching
itself off for no reason, this is worrying as I'm starting a contract
which requires 24hr standby. There is also a problem with call waiting,
or possibly receiving calls with the phone open. If you press the
accept button then the phone just freezes. I'm not sure if it's
a problem with Motorola or Windows or both, but this phone's performance
is completely unacceptable. I'm off to the Link now to argue about
a replacement Nokia for it!!
Rating:
Reviewed by David from UK on
29th Apr 2004
Like the rest of the reviewers here I am going through Hello Moto
hell! I am onto my third handset (which has just crashed). What
a great phone, when it works! I has everything, except the ability
to work for more than a month. DO NOT GET THIS PHONE.
Rating:
Reviewed by Steve from England on
28th Mar 2004
After a few weeks use, battery life quickly deteriorated so that
it wouldn't last the day ! I rang Orange, who said it was a faulty
battery, but there were none in stock so what other phone did I
want. After seeing the Samsung 700, rang back but was told they
would send a new battery!? In the meantime (after reading this site)
did a "Master Reset", and all is well - except have to reload everything!
- and I now have a spare battery. Hoping for the best, but will
check out the comment on CallerID.
Rating:
Reviewed by Noose from UK on
21st Mar 2004
The phone was very, very good until it went to Hellomoto Hell. The
voice dial is useless, which is a pity; there's an annoying squeal
on the other end when you go off-hook by clicking it shut; and the
reception is MUCH worse than I on my old v66 (which is what I'm
using since the Lovely Flower replaced mobile telephony on this
unit. I'm glad I read this site, 'cause the hard reboot worked (which
Orange didn't tell me). Now I can use my pricey little phone to
look at the Orange sunrise/sunset graphic too ... and a message
telling me that I'm stuck in Airplane mode. (It always called it
Aeroplane mode before). (It's a cool feature, Aeroplane Mode.) What
Orange DID tell me was that they're out of stock of MPx200s, and
would I take a Nokia 6600 BlobPhone instead ... no, the local Orange
shop could only give me an MPx200 off the shelf if the manager himself
was there, and he's on holiday ... and ... WHO sells a mobile with
no car kit?
Rating:
Reviewed by MJ from on 11th Mar
2004
The usual locking on the Hello Moto Screen, poor signal, poor GPRS
connection, Cant view web pages due to the GPRS. Don't buy one there
C***
Rating:
Reviewed by Bruce from England on
2nd Mar 2004
Second phone and only three days after being fixed it has crashed
again and won't work. The features are fantastic when it works but
that seems to be only when you are not using it. Orange fail to
meet the sale of goods act 1979 (ammened) and will use a loophole
in it to insist on sending the phone back to the manufacture. Was
told that if my phone went wrong for the same fault twice I could
change modle. Will have to see what they say tomorrow when it goes
back. Curently using my Nokia 5.1 (c1995) which has never gone wrong!!
Rating:
Reviewed by anthony from uk on
23rd Feb 2004
ive just brought this phone and i think it is great,if you love
the internet you'll love this phone.
Rating:
Reviewed by Matt Gratton from UK on
21st Feb 2004
I got this phone on a free upgrade on vodafone last week, and so
far I've had no problems at all. The windows software and expandable
SD memory (up to 1GB at the moment) means I can play videos and
mp3s, as well as check my pop3 email and synchronise outlook contacts.
Also, photos of the phone just don't do it justice. This phone looks
superb, with its quality glossy black finish, complemented by a
gun metal finish around the screen and keys, it oozes quality. Basically
this phone is a cut down PDA. If you can get it for free then it
is a ridiculously good deal. The only drawbacks are its very short
battery life - i find this needs recharging every day (although
it can charge off your pc through the USB cable) and its lack of
a camera or bluetooth.
Rating:
Reviewed by Jon Mayes from UK on
19th Feb 2004
Love this phone, but shame that it keeps crashing :( have gone through
two in 3 weeks and think i will switch to something else for my
next handset. a real shame because has great features and customizability.
to those of you reporting problems with battery life, remove the
CallerID app and the battery performance will increase greatly!
Rating:
Reviewed by Guy from UK on 16th
Feb 2004
Got the phone 3 months ago and I am still waiting for a new one
from Orange. I have had a few problems with the phone from day 1
- 1. Dead Pixel - Not too much of a problem really. 2. Hangs on
HelloMoto Startup Screen every time you power up ( seems everyone
gets this) - only fix was to do a hard reset - so you lose all your
installed software and contacts - Great Fun. 3. Battery Life no
more than 18 hours before the phone switches off and that is with
no use - On Standby constantly. 4. Really poor signal strength (1
bar) when a Nokia 3510i get full strength using the same SIM ??
Orange sent the phone back to Motorola (Orange do not give replacements
- Apparently..useless you buy Orange Care) The phone came back with
exactly the same problems...over 4 weeks later. I would honestly
say avoid getting this phone wait for the Non "Beta" version that
is due out in April - That has Smaprtphone 2003..but then you might
well get a new set of problems. Oh and Caller ID does not work if
you have a large contacts list.
Rating:
Reviewed by carl from uk on 1st
Feb 2004
so far so good had the phone on an orange upgrade for nothing just
before xmas. iv`e had no crashing, no freezing,or any other problems
until yesterday(31-01-2004). i put my phone into the charging cradle
and had the message back - insert sim card-. i thought this was
no big problem so i checked it to find that the two tiny plastic
tags which hold the sim card in had broken causing the sim to pop
out of the phone. orange have never heard of this ever happening
and will be getting back to me. my brother has the same phone and
he has had the same problem today.he is holding his sim card in
with bluetac. not sure if i want a replacement after reading the
reviews. iv`e been offered a p900 in replacement
Rating:
Reviewed by Jeff from UK on 30th
Jan 2004
Owned this phone for about a month and can honestly say I've had
very few problems. Battery life isn't superb with around 3 days
standby, I average around 2 days between charges. I'd say that the
phone is definately aimed at IT users - If you're looking for a
N-gauge alternative, don't even look here. If you want bluetooth
or a camera, then move along. (although there is an optional camera
accessory) So what do i think the plus points of the phone are?
*charges by USB - that means if you're near a PC you've a charging
point (and if you work in IT like me, thats a Huge benefit). * Perfect
syncronisation with outlook. No mapping fields, No fiddling around
and can sync directly with exchange server. * Good GPRS services
- proper net access and even MSN Messenger. * Hugely customisable.
Think of the GUI as web page and you're getting there. I've seen
some of the criticism's leveled at the phone and can say I've suffered
none. If you get yourself one of these phones, there's plenty of
good forums to help you get the most from it.
Rating:
Reviewed by chris from uk on
29th Jan 2004
4 times i've had the phone stick on the hellomoto screen of death
in under a month.
Rating:
Reviewed by Chris from UK on
27th Jan 2004
I have generally been quite pleased with my MPx200, and find the
ability to synchronise contacts with Outlook and read emails from
a POP3 account very handy. I was however quite upset when it got
stuck on the 'Hellomoto' screen on starting up. But I have discovered
that you can reset the phone (losing any data that isn't stored
on the SIM) by pressing the big blue button and the on/off button
simultaneously. It is a bit drastic, but has saved me a trip to
the mobile shop. And if you have saved all your contacts onto your
PC you can sync them back again. Then again if you haven't...
Rating:
Reviewed by Jez from UK on 23rd
Jan 2004
Nice paperweight! If it worked it this phone would be fantastic.
Four handsets in a month (faulty keypad, alarm clock, and the usual
death by MOTO boot up screen experienced by other users). Last time
my phone crashed it dialed 999 and I had to yank out the battery.
One star for the Slurp game which is great fun and has only crashed
my latest handset once. Paper cups and string would be more suitable
for business use.
Rating:
Reviewed by chris kirby from England
on 22nd Jan 2004
What an absolute pile of *! I'm on my third one in 2 months...a
mirror image of some of the other reviews! I feel like claiming
a wage from motorola for product testing one of their experiments
before public release....the phone clearly should have been tested
before sale!!! Don't buy and even more importantly - don't buy from
one.stop.phone shop or co.....cause you'll be left with it and almost
no come back!
Rating:
Reviewed by Gaz from UK on 21st
Jan 2004
The functionality of this phone is amazing in all ways, except when
you actually want to make a phone call. The performance of the phone
when it comes to keeping hold of a weak signal is apalling, and
it's worrying that orange could release a phone with such poor reception.
I've swapped back to my old nokia 8310, which has full signal where
the mpx200 was struggling to find 2 bars. I would recommend that
you wait for a firmware (or hardware) upgrade to the phone so the
reception meets an accepatble standard. Come on Orange. Great PDA,
shame about the phone.
Rating:
Reviewed by Tom from Northern Ireland
on 19th Jan 2004
Seemed great initially but not that I have it six weeks its a disaster
! I upgraded from a motorola timeport as the battery was starting
to run down after three years of use . Well after six weeks of use
I'm lucky to get 24 hours standby. The reception is dreadful although
as I'm not contactable on it for most of the day it saves on battery.
I've just been stung with a huge bill from orange for internet useage
which should have been included in my everyday 50 pak=ckage but
the phone wonnt seem to let me access wap. Don't let me even get
started about the software just a nightmare to navigate . Please
give me back my old timeport
Rating:
Reviewed by Lee from UK on 16th
Jan 2004
Got one from Orange, it kept on crashing, the manual was crap and
voice activation switch did not work, Orange sent me another the
next day (no complaints there). The new phone lasted only another
day, the battery life was so poor it made the phone useless, sent
it back. Its not a phone its an average PDA that eats batteries!
Rating:
Reviewed by Mark Thompson from England
on 13th Jan 2004
I thought that I was the only one???!!! This phone might say that
it go do a lot on paper, but when it comes to actually working...........it
doesn't. I am also on my third phone and fourth battery. I upgraded
(???) only 2 weeks ago. Orange seem more than happy to keep replacing
this handset, but wont let me change to another model. They keep
on piping up about the Sale Of Goods Act. Luckily as someone that
studied law for three years, the SOGA illustrates that a product
has "TO BE FIT FOR THE PURPOSE IT WAS SOLD FOR" - Obviously a mobile
phone that you can neither text, phone or access the web, is not
doing that. Save your money and get a Nokia 3310 - It may be old
and obselete, but it worked. The MPx200 is awful.
Rating:
Reviewed by Andy from UK on 18th
Dec 2003
To carry on from my previous post (below) DO NOT GET THIS PHONE!!!
I had my original faulty handset replaced after a 2 week wait, only
to find that the replacement had a fault too. Within an hour of
having the new handset I couldn't access the clock functions, so
couldn't use the alarm or adjust the clock setting, which had mysteriously
started running 10 minutes slow even though I'd set the time right
before the fault started. To add to that, the battery life lasted
less than a day, even though I hadn't even been using any of the
advanced functions or ringing/texting anyone heavily!!! Luckily
I managed to persuade my service provider (Orange) to let me change
to a different phone, a Samsung E700, which is a SUPERB phone! It
may not have all of the fancy Windows interfaces as the Motorola's
got, but the Samsung is a hundred times easier to navigate through
the menu system, has a decent battery life, great reception (compared
to the frankly crap reception and speaker volume on the Motorola),
is lighter and smaller and has a very decent camera to boot! To
sum up, I will never get another Motorola again yet have a feeling
that I may stay with Samsung's for quite a while, as they're a bit
different from the norm of Nokia's and Sony Ericcson's that 90%
of the population seem to own these days!
Rating:
Reviewed by Dan from England on
15th Dec 2003
I was initially very impressed with this phone, however I seem to
have had the same problem as Adam below - The phone has crashed
and wont go further than the HelloMoto screen before powering off.
I will return it and will request another as the phone is ace, just
wanted to say maybe this problem is not as rare as it appears to
be...
Rating:
Reviewed by Malcolm Gilks from England
on 15th Dec 2003
Nice phone when it works - unfortunately I am on my third in 3 weeks.
Both my previous phones locked up and would'nt get passed the 'Hellomoto'
boot up screen. The fisrt phone locked up the day after I received
it from Orange. I was just trying the PC synchronisation system
when it just crashed out. The second time it locked up was during
a power-up. On both occasions Orange were excellent and I received
a replacement the next day - it is just a shame that the phone doesn't
perform as well. My previous phone was a Motorola V66 which worked
perfectly - so I'm not sure whether the problem lies with Motorola
or the Microsoft software. Let's hope it's 3rd time lucky!
Rating:
Reviewed by Lucas from England. UK on
6th Dec 2003
I was impressed whe | 