Motorola V710
Average Ratings
Major disappointment
If you discount its size, the V-710 is a great basic phone. Speaker-phone is good, and voice dialing is OK. I bought it for its bluetooth capabilities. Sadly the bluetooth is severely crippled, and will only work with a headset, not the car or the computer. The camera is a joke, ie: useless! If you don't mind paying big bucks for a basic phone, then this is the phone for you.
Not bad at all
Just switched over to the Motorola from my old LG 6000, and I'm pretty impressed. While not quite as bulletproof software-wise as the old LG, it's definitely a step up from the incessantly buggy 720/730 models it replaces. I've gotten the Bluetooth up and running no problem at all with a two headsets, desktop speakerphone/charger unit, and my new car kit. I haven't had any problems at all as far as the Bluetooth goes, and personally I'll happily be using my BT gear with it, albeit a little restricted, while the rest of the BT phones out there get BlueSnarfed to kingdom come. Ok, that makes me smile I admit it.
Pros:
Huge screens, both internal and external
Great sounding ringer tone
Ability to add memory via slot in top
Plays MP3s as ringers
Speakerphone
Finally a VZW camera over 1.2 megapixel!
(Woot!)
Ability to capture movies, with audio
Cons:
When memory is nearly full, phone can get a little slow going through menus.
The flash is only really effective at less than a meter or so, so you're going to have to get up close and personal with it. Then again, you are in the dark already. Hrm, maybe that's not a con after all...
Phone has a bit of an odd time turning on while charging, but not too much.
All in all, it rocks. Good times to Motorola for finally pulling out of their buggy software woes! Mostly.
Debating over returning it
It may go back...
I agree with most but one think I am tired of reading is that its a phone first NOT a camara.
Is it too much for a consumer to ask that both features work professionally?
I bought it for a phone and a camara and yes the quality of this pics suck.
Pros'
Bluetooth works well
Voice Commands work well
Cons'
I thought it was me but again stick with your instincts, i have read many complaints that volume is to low...yes it is...how can such a huge mistake in manufucturing occur? Why can't Motorola figure this out when I noticed it within the first few calls...I kept trying to increase the volume yet it wouldnt go up.
So, volume too low
Camara quality sucks
No real flash, just a light, and its manual at that
Video quality sucks, especially indoors
overall would have been an awesome phone, seems like they were in just too much of a hurry to get it done, its really to bad cause they screwed up on some very important features.
Bam! Homerun for Motorola
I have worked in Wireless for 6 years. I've owned the StarTac, Timeport, V60c, V60g, V60i. I got the V600 and the V710 on the same day. Both awesome phones. I'm disappointed at the negative commments here. Name one other phone Verizon holds that does what the 710 does. Motorola doesn't make toys. Motorola makes professional grade phones. The V710 is a professional grade phone. If you wanted a toy... Why did you buy it. Nokia, LG, and Samsung are your go-to phones.
The BlueTooth is outstanding. Speakerphone. Camera. Keypad. Style. RECEPTION! Menus. Battery. Web Browser. Large, clear, bright screen. All are awesome.
FEATURES that are POOP include...
Earpiece is to quiet. Indoor pics are doo. The clip needs to swivel. THE SPEAKERPHONE NEEDS TO WORK WHEN FLIP IS CLOSED!!!
Overall... The phone is TIZZLE. Well worth the funds. If you want a toy. Buy a toy. If you want a great high-end phone buy the V710.
P.S. The V600 is most excellent too.
Not Worth It
Don't spend the money on this phone. A big disappointment.
CONS: The keypad is cheesy and doesn't have a good feel.
The camera is a joke. Spend the money on a good digital camera if you want good pictures. And don't tell me you're not buying a camera, you're buying a phone ...because, what's the point then. Part of the reason for the high cost is because of the camera.
The antennae seems likely to break. I like the stubby antennas that LG uses.
The menu is way oversimplified, not enough options.
The external display is very unattractive and you're very limited on how to change it.
The phone is heavy and bulky.
Battery life not very good.
PROS: Nice speakerphone, but not as good as the LG VX4500.
Nice internal display.
The Bluetooth is nice, but I couldn't quite get it to properly communicate with my laptop to download pictures. I got my laptop and the phone to recognize each other, but I still couldn't download the pictures. Probably didn't matter anyway. Based on how the pictures looked on the phone (even taken at high res), I don't think I would have been happy with them if I could have downloaded them.
Nice try Motorola. You get a B for effort, but a D- for final results. I ended up returning the phone for a basic one, the LG VX3200 which I'm very happy with. It's tri-mode, which I wanted, has great reception (no dropped calls), a decent speakerphone, stubby antenna, battery life is OK, and it's lightweight and not bulky. The only thing missing for me is the external display.
Jury still out?
I was using a Motorola i90c with Nextel. I switched to Verizon for reception reasons here in rural Albany, NY.
Verizon told me about this site. Back then the reviews praised this phone. I think the avg. rating was 4.5? I was impressed with this site and vowed to return. Hi.
I ordered the V710 the 1st day it was available from Verizon's 1-800 #.
I have had the phone about 3 weeks now, I also bought the transflash mem card and the HS820 headset.
The 1st week I would have given this phone a "5" rating. I was shocked at the features. I even read the manual. (and refer to it often)
I have taken indoor/outdoor photos and they were all better than expected. I took a video of my daughter in a restaurant, then e-mailed it to myself. After downloading a program (link was in the e-mail) it looked good to me. Can you take videos longer than 10 secs.? I changed "video length" in the menu and it didn't change anything. Can't get the light to come on during video taking. However, I still show off to others that the phone HAS a light. Cool but useless.
I don't know what "Get It Now" is but I have tried it. I wish they would explain how much the games and services will cost. I downloaded a bowling game for $2.99. I tried playing it a week later and it said the game expired? More $ than real bowling!
The Verizon Super Pages "On The Go" are awesome. The driving directions are better than MapQuest. However, when I answer a call I loose my directions!
There is a Verizon phonebook/yellow pages. in my phone!
I mainly choose this phone because of what I heard about reception,I wanted a flip phone,large screen,bluetooth sounded cool. My HS820 headset works great except that no one can hear me.Same with the speakerphone. I am constantly cleaning the screen, am I greasy? I often hit the wrong button for #'s and text. Also the circle "OK" button is too small for me. I wish phones would return to the side push-wheel.
Maybe I need to read the manual more, learn about other phones, etc.
pretty good phone
well i got this phone online a couple days ago, and i love it, im gonna go way over my minutes this month because the reception is so clear, i dont even have any dropped calls yet! im in the seattle area with verizon as my carrier, and i get clear reception in work offices and even movie theater bathrooms, which is good.
the size is a little big, but it still fits comfortably in my side pant pocket and in my purses. most of the time i dont need to pull up the antenna, the sigal is still fine. one thing i dont like is that the external and internal screens get greased up easily, im constantly cleaning the screens, but maybe because im only paranoid- but thats ok....
i dont use the bluetooth connection or the mobile web (too expensive), so i dont know much about those features.
now for the camera, which i primarily bought the phone for because i hate lugging around a digital camera. one word for you guys- light. you need lots of light to use this baby for taking pics, lots of it. it doesnt work so well inside, only if there is a lot of light, lots of it. ive found that low sun is the best for pics. the "flash" doesnt do much, its just a random light on the external covering that doesnt make a difference, so dont bother with it! it does work good if u need to find something in the dark though. the different image styles are kind weird, but fun to play around with- there is color, black and white, antique, and negative. antique is like a brown/honey tinted color if your wondering. in sunlight, the screens are a little difficult to read because of the glare.
another thing that is weird is that you have to press a lot of buttons to get anywhere you want, but its not that bad once you get used to it. if you dont use a memory card then the camera doesnt store many pictures.
overall i like this phone, it looks cool, the price was high, but with a rebate its not that bad. so good luck guys!
Technological Marvel, But Can't Do Basics Well
I've had the phone now for about a week. I'm both impressed with the technology packed into the phone and equally as disappointed at the design and execution of the most basic functions.
Let me begin by saying that my needs for a cell phone are not too demanding. The non-standard features I consider must-haves: tri-mode, speakerphone, external display, calendar, ability to sync PIM with Outlook. I do, however, expect the basic functions to work really well. Ringer and earpiece should be loud/clear, vibrate should be noticeable, RF performance should be solid, and the build quality should be good and able to withstand abuse.
I didn't get the phone for Bluetooth or the camera/video functions. Those are nice, but I have no use for them.
What I like about the 710:
1) Strong RF performance - probably the best of any phone I've had.
2) Loud ringer. Speakerphone is also loud -- not quite "office quality," but still better than any phone I've heard.
3) Design is good looking.
4) Screen is large and clear.
5) The toys, while really not useful to me, are pretty cool and work well for what they are: features of a cell phone.
What I don't like:
1) Earpiece volume is the lowest of any phone I've used. Unacceptable, and the reason the phone will be returned.
2) External display does not passively let user know if a call has been missed or a message is waiting. This is because the external display shuts totally off after a few seconds. I don't mind the lack of display if in standard standby mode, but I don't know if I've missed something unless I actively check it. Sort of makes the external display pointless in my opinion.
3) Phone's build tolerances and/or design are not great... clamshell hinge does not lock open well, feel of the buttons is poor with little response, finish scratches easily, backlight is uneven.
It's going back next week. Unfortunate, but it all comes down to fundementals.
Great phone, hope we get more bluetooth features
My first impression is that this phone is good, but not great. I don't think there are any phones on the market that are great.
PROS:
Strong signal reception
Clear Audio
Bluetooth for Dialup networking and Headset (the headset is just a plus for me, I wanted the data call ability)
Camera takes good pictures with enough light
CONS:
No email. This is definitely Verizon trying to get more $.
No OBEX support in bluetooth. Using transflash is a pain
Camera has lots of noise in low light. I didn't buy this phone as a camera though, I have a $700 digital camera for that.
If the bluetooth support is upgraded this phone will be perfect. If it isn't, I am still satisfied with it.
