Motorola MPx Available at MobileCityOnline for $599.99... or not!

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.mobilecityonline.com/wireless/store/mcphonedetail.asp?phoneid=432' target='_blank'>http://www.mobilecityonline.com/wir...asp?phoneid=432</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/motorola_mpxb.jpg" /> <br /><br />I don't know if there's another device that has generated as much forum discussion on our boards over the past several months as the Motorola MPx. Well, for those of you still unswayed by its many criticisms, I was going to let you all know that the MPx is reportedly available at MobileCityOnline for $599.99. That's a nice price compared with what we had seen in prior weeks elsewhere, and this device is GSM unlocked (900/1800/1900) as well. Even one of our own PPCT contributing editors had placed an order over the weekend and was looking forward to posting his impressions sometime early next week. Boy, how quickly things can change in one night! As of this morning, the status has changed from <i>In Stock</i> to <i>Coming Soon</i> and an email was reportedly sent out to all who placed orders warning that the price is subject to change.<br /><br />So, if you think you'd be interested in this device and uhhh..., are willing to wait, and uhhh... are willing to pay what *might* be $599.99... :roll: Hmmm, needless to say, that PPCT editor mentioned above changed his mind and cancelled his order.

[jeasher]

Mobilecityonline has spent too much time talking to Expansys about sales and marketing. :roll:

[powder2000]

I can see it now, low starting price, many orders placed, priced gets raised because of demand (or perception of), after seeing final price many people p#$%ed off and cancel order due to unrealistic price tag.

[encece]

Cant buy it without 850 band! I WANT A TINY PPCPE! :(

[jeasher]

Cant buy it without 850 band! I WANT A TINY PPCPE! :(Do you have Cingular? Can Cingular work without 850?

[Janak Parekh]

Do you have Cingular? Can Cingular work without 850?
Depends on where you are. If you're in an area where Cingular has 850, you'd lose substantial coverage there.

--janak

[encece]

Not where I live in Southern NJ it can't

[stephman]

Cant buy it without 850 band! I WANT A TINY PPCPE! :(Do you have Cingular? Can Cingular work without 850?
Depends on where you live.
I don't have Cingular, but I believe(don't quote me) that Cing is 850 here in Connecticut.

[gorkon280]

I wanted a MPx, but noone wants to let me buy it here in the US.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Do you have Cingular? Can Cingular work without 850?
Depends on where you are. If you're in an area where Cingular has 850, you'd lose substantial coverage there.
Aren't there number of areas where the two bands (850/1900) overlap? Or did Cingular phase out their 1900 support in areas with 850?

[DaleReeck]

Believe me when I say this because I had one - and sold it. That 32MB of memory just doesn't work, whether you are a "power" user or a newbie off the street. And mind you, its not 32MB. Its actually about 12MB left over before you've installed a thing. There's 8MB of shadow RAM lost, followed by 10-12MB of memory that the PPC Phone OS takes up.

After you've synced calendar, tasks, notes and contacts, most people will be left with about 10mb of main memory. And despite how large your SD card is, you still use main memory to run the apps, store some core dll's and use cache. Combined with Windows Mobile's massive memory leaks (come on Microsoft, do something about that already!), you can'ty browse more than ten pages in PIE without being forced to soft reset. And again, that's without a single third party app installed yet.

Otherwise, it was really a nice little device. The phone worked well and the voice recognition is built in and works over bluetooth (though admittedly, its that crappy Microsoft BT stack, not a good one like the Broadcom/Widcomm stack). But if it had 64MB of memory, I would still have it. But the 10MB of usable memory is a joke. Even if you didn't install a single third party app, you would still struggle. I really don't get what Motorola was thinking here.

[ignar]

hmm.. reminds me of Treo 650 pricing "typo" at PalmOne. If MPx was out last year with even $999 price tag, I think it was selling. But, now with many other solutions coming up, this one doesn't look as attractive as before. In addition, no 850 support is a deal break for me. Using GSM with only 1900 is painful in NYC. Just ask T-Mobile users.

[Ed Hansberry]

Mobilecityonline has spent too much time talking to Expansys about sales and marketing. :roll:
ROTFL!!!! :rotfl:

[Janak Parekh]

Aren't there number of areas where the two bands (850/1900) overlap? Or did Cingular phase out their 1900 support in areas with 850?
Even if they do overlap, having both bands ensures the best coverage. 850, in particular, penetrates buildings better. Besides, there are lots of areas where they don't.

--janak

[Jonathon Watkins]

Mobilecityonline has spent too much time talking to Expansys about sales and marketing. :roll:
ROTFL!!!! :rotfl:

Harsh, but Fair! :lol:

[jeasher]

Mobilecityonline has spent too much time talking to Expansys about sales and marketing. :roll:
ROTFL!!!! :rotfl:

Harsh, but Fair! :lol:No doubt. I have an "order" in with them but haven't heard anything since they took it down from their site. I even stopped by the office when I was in Bloomington on business and I still haven't heard anything, like they promised I would. Oh well. Maybe I'll buy a Handspring Visor. That has a phone module, right? :D

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Aren't there number of areas where the two bands (850/1900) overlap? Or did Cingular phase out their 1900 support in areas with 850?
Even if they do overlap, having both bands ensures the best coverage. 850, in particular, penetrates buildings better. Besides, there are lots of areas where they don't.
I just reread your original quote and realized I missed the part about losing "substantial coverage"... I had originally thought you were implying that Cingular customers couldn't get 1900 coverage in areas where 850 is supported.

It's really too bad Motorola didn't opt for quad-band on this device as they do for many of their other phone releases. I'm sure if the MPx sells, they'll have to consider an 850/1800/1900 variant.