One Smartphone, One Carrier, One Store And An Unsolved Mystery

[Kris Kumar]

The Smartphone in question is none other than the Motorola MPx220. Which was quietly launched by Cingular. Nothing unusual till now. Now let's bring Best Buy and its exclusive one month deal into the picture. The Cingular stores have no idea of the phone's existence. And <i>amg212</i> on <a href="http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?s=&amp;threadid=483870">HowardForums</a> [site at times is extremely slow] has reported after speaking to someone high up in the Cingular customer relations department food-chain, that apparently <i>MPx220 is a test phone; it is not a Cingular phone.</i> 8O <br /><br /> <img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/MPx220InABoxWithVersion.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />I have the phone in question. It came in a Cingular box and has a Cingular logo below the keypad. The power up logo has the Cingular <i>Splat-person.</i> And check <a href="http://commerce.motorola.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=262357&amp;prmenbr=126&amp;phone_cgrfnbr=1&amp;zipcode=">this page</a> on the Motorola site. The title says <i>"Motorola MPx220 phone for Cingular Wireless, Available at select Best Buy locations".</i> The thing that surprises me is that I got to this page from a link on the <a href="http://www.motorola.com/mdirect/hellomoto/experience/mpx220/flash/default.shtml">HelloMoto product page</a> for MPx220. I was looking for accessories and stumbled on to the link that said <i>"Buy MPx220"</i> in the right corner, that now says <i>"find out when its available".</i> In case you didn't notice, the screen shot inserted in the above picture shows the firmware versions, all the Motorola related ones begin with a '0'. As a Software Engineer I know that released products are supposed to have version 1.0 or above. Any value less than 1.0 is <i>usually</i> used for the development/test version. :? <br /><br />What is happening? How come we haven't heard an official press release? How come the product is not on the Best Buy site? Why did Motorola remove the link from the product page? What is the deal with the version numbering? How come Cingular is keeping quiet? And the fact the phone has minor problems isn't helping either. What do you think is the answer?

[refnulf]

I think that the people that bought the early MPx220s' have been screwed.

[Kris Kumar]

I think that the people that bought the early MPx220s' have been screwed.

That's not a comforting thing to say. :lol: I am one of them. :(

[maximus]

I think that the people that bought the early MPx220s' have been screwed.

That's not a comforting thing to say. :lol: I am one of them. :(

But it sure does looks very cool on you, right ?
Especially when it is flipped open, positioned near your ear ?

:)

Thanks for the info though. This weekend, when playing with the mpx220, I will make sure to check the ROM version before buying it :)

[PPCMD]

It makes sense to me. Moto and Cingular have read all the bad press and comments on the sites, realize they have a major issue even while they say its fine. So pull back all acknowledgement of it being launched say Best Buy is selling them outside of normal channel and (re)launch the phone in a month when they fix the firmware. Somehow this smells really bad to me. Glad I sent mine back. Oddly enough I got my Welcom to Cingular pack the other day and it says MPX220, insurance etc, etc. So how can it not exist.

When I talked to a Cingular phone sales rep they tried claiming that the phone is not out, that BB is getting them from somewhere and that its not official. Smells even worse.

Glad I am waiting, and we will see. Moto cannot afford another V600 problem.

[Beowulf]

As a Cingular customer I hope they get their act together.

It almost seems as if the Cingular executives might be using the public denial of the phone as possible leverage against Moto for possibly fixing the known problems, or maybe getting a better price. IE fix the problems or else. With this completed Merger they have a exclusive on the two best smartphones in the US market. People can go to the Audiovox which now is no less money in their pocket...

Or worse they could be retaliating for a deal gone bad between Best Buy, Moto, and Cingular. Perhaps even trying to pull the contract entirely.

At the end of the day I still like this phone as it is more than any other phone Cingular has. I got my 30 day warranty until nov 14th and that 2 year extended warranty. If they fix the phone with Cingular I will simply have it exchanged.

[jason3fc]

One thing I have learned about cingular is that their sales reps and customer service people are mushrooms. They have no idea about whats really going on and are getting fed bull from the top. I recently bought a Blackberry 7290(I know, I know). And back at the beginning of Oct, Cingular posted it on their site and said it would ship the 5th. So I ordered it. Then about 3 days later it was removed from the site altogether. I tried calling cingular and talked to three different groups about 5 times, and no one knew anything at all about the phone, or even that it existed. Someone even told me that they pulled it from the market and wouldnt sell it. All of this while Blackberry was advertising it was available exclusively from Cingular! Well, I finally got the phone. Apparently there were some technical issues they needed to resolve before they were shipped. After this, and the mpx220 ordeal, I can clearly see that the left hand never knows what the right hand is doing at Cingular. And now that the premliminary alliance has been forged btwn them and ATTWS, expect this to get worse before it gets better.

[mar2k]

How do they expect to explain this page on their OWN WEBSITE:

http://cingular.startwindowsmobile.com/default.aspx

8O

[cortez]

hummmm...??? national ads, national press releases and Cingular denying the phone's existence... i'm not buying it! i mean theses guys have a configurator on their website... i'm not a cingular customer and i was able to use the configurator (with wifey's blackberry) to add favorites and download a couple of free games...

now the software versioning, that is interesting... if they loaded these phones with the wrong version - man, that's bad! :-)

[Beowulf]

How do they expect to explain this page on their OWN WEBSITE:

http://cingular.startwindowsmobile.com/default.aspx

8O

Ha ha, I would like to send this page to some Cingular reps, it would throw them in a loop... :)

Anyway the site is actuallly hosted by Microsoft with a Cinulgar template. They also host ATTW's site. http://aws.startwindowsmobile.com

[mar2k]

Anyway the site is actuallly hosted by Microsoft with a Cinulgar template. They also host ATTW's site. http://aws.startwindowsmobile.com

You may be right about that as its URL is a subdomain of the startwindowsmobile site, not Cingular. But yeah, print that out or bring that up in a store on screen for Cingular reps and that would certainly knock the wind from their sails when they are telling you it doesn't exist.

[Jason Lee]

I think they are just tryting to hide from another v600 incident. "It wasn't me, Moto did it!" :arrow: :twisted:

By the way, I love my v600 and so do my 6 friends who also got it. No problems here..

[Mike Temporale]

We all know that Motorola was showing off a working demo of this phone last March at Microsoft's PDC. The MPx220 was the flagship phone for Windows Mobile 2003 SE. At that point in time it was expected that the phone would ship in the middle to late summer. Not early fall. So something went wrong.

So here's what I think happened. Motorola was all set to release the phone. At the last minute they discovered a couple issues with the phone; Low volume on select handsets, Bluetooth interference with the camera, poor picture quality, and maybe even the wrong ROM version was loaded.

What to do? They now have a warehouse full of MPx220's that may or may not have problems. It would be extremely costly to scrap all those devices, and even more costly to open them all up, and repair/flash them with an update.

Along comes Best Buy. "We'll take those off your hands at a discounted rate. We'll cover any issues with our warranty. As long as we have a 30 day head start selling the phones, we know we can move 90-95% of the handsets."

Best Buy gets an exclusive offer, and Motorola gets to move the handsets. Win-Win

Now, I can't prove anything. However I think it's pretty accurate. If I go missing, then you know that it was too close to the truth! :wink: :wink:

[JoeCoolGT]

I returned mine to BB last night after having it 8 days. I can confirm the "0" ROM version and the problems. The phone definetly had the quirks of a test model. One nagging problem that I have not yet heard reported elsewhere is that my phone would not switch between calls. When on one call and another came in the phone would beep, the screen would show the picture caller id and the top two soft keys were supposed to be accept and decline. Neither worked. It was like the programming had just fallen one step short of completed. There were also numerous problems with the volume, both speakerphone and earpiece, and the mic was weak as well. Thankfully I got out before my 15 days were up so I got a full refund and out of my contract. I would advise returning this phone.

[Beowulf]

The problem with that plan is that it doesn't include Cingular. Which could be why they have given a cold sholder to moto and best buy.

[jkovacs]

So here's what I think happened. Motorola was all set to release the phone. At the last minute they discovered a couple issues with the phone; Low volume on select handsets, Bluetooth interference with the camera, poor picture quality, and maybe even the wrong ROM version was loaded.
I think you're onto something there. This could also explain how so many people were getting their hands on them in late summer.
Best Buy gets an exclusive offer, and Motorola gets to move the handsets. Win-Win
This also makes some twisted sense, but why would Cingular go along with the deal when they're in line to take most of the heat from customers. Its almost like AWS was brokering the deal. This is more their style of doing business. But I think you're right. As we've heard the physical units don't even have the Cingular logo on them.

...Joe K.

[JoeCoolGT]

The physical units only Cingular branding was below the keys where there was a Cingular sticker piece. If you look at Bengelboys review on HOFO you will notice that his unit had MPX-220 on this same sticker piece. All other matierial was Cingular branded (box, manual had Cingular insert, Cingular quick start guide)

[Jerry Raia]

One nagging problem that I have not yet heard reported elsewhere is that my phone would not switch between calls. When on one call and another came in the phone would beep, the screen would show the picture caller id and the top two soft keys were supposed to be accept and decline. Neither worked.

Just to keep perspective here, this function worked fine for me. I could switch back and forth and join them for a conference call. This phone while it has problems has made a fool out of me twice with items that I thought didn't work and then found out later it was operator error.

I've learned to be patient :oops:

Another thing, anyone who works for a huge company like I do knows that 99% of the time there are no conspiracies, just incompetance. now we have 3 big companies. Not only does the left hand not know what the right hand is doing, the left hand doesnt even know there IS a right hand.

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it :P

[seaflipper]

Welcome to the world of Beta Testing, Cingular style.

Being the first Smartphone on their network, they wanted to test this phone out before selling it through their stores, so what better way than getting all of the early adopters to snap these babies and test it for them. With the generous return policy at Best Buy, nobody really get's whacked too bad and Cingular finds out very quickly what they need to fix before the holiday season.....

[Kris Kumar]

Another thing, anyone who works for a huge company like I do knows that 99% of the time there are no conspiracies, just incompetance. now we have 3 big companies. Not only does the left hand not know what the right hand is doing, the left hand doesnt even know there IS a right hand.

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it :P

:rotfl:

[Kris Kumar]

Best Buy gets an exclusive offer, and Motorola gets to move the handsets. Win-Win
This also makes some twisted sense, but why would Cingular go along with the deal when they're in line to take most of the heat from customers. Its almost like AWS was brokering the deal. This is more their style of doing business. But I think you're right. As we've heard the physical units don't even have the Cingular logo on them.

...Joe K.

Doesn't that come under scam. False advertising or something. Won't it lead to lawsuit?

I am sure these companies will not try to do these things intentionally. I like Lasher's explanation better. :-)

[lungbutter]

conspiracy theories, i tell ya!! ... and i agree with them. 8O

well, i'm happy to have the phone beta test or not. but that doesn't scare me, after all, i use windows, the largest beta test ever, right? :D

still no major issues with my mpx220 beyond the battery cover being pretty lose. seems like very thin and cheap plastic.

[Kris Kumar]

still no major issues with my mpx220 beyond the battery cover being pretty lose. seems like very thin and cheap plastic.

Tell me about it, I broke 2 of the 6 small stubs (under the battery cover) while putting the battery cover on for the first time. Infact 2 of the stubs on the cover came bent because it was not packaged well. I thought my cover was a little lose because of those broken/missing pieces. That probably is the only thing that has annoyed me. All the other problem I believe can be fixed in the software.

[Kris Kumar]

well, i'm happy to have the phone beta test or not. but that doesn't scare me, after all, i use windows, the largest beta test ever, right? :D

I do not mind beta testing. And I do beta test a lot. But when I am beta testing Windows, I know that MS will not leave me stranded with a beta software. They provide the final release version or means to uninstall it, and go back to a stable version. Not only that MS warns me adequately about the product being beta. In this case if this 0.x based firmware turns out to be beta ROM, then I definitely am not going to be happy with Moto. How come they are selling beta version in the store without stating it. This has to be a first.

Also we don't know if Moto will release the fixed ROM or we will end up being just early adopters.

[Danborg]

The Smartphone in question is none other than the Motorola MPx220. Which was quietly launched by Cingular. Nothing unusual till now. Now let's bring Best Buy and its exclusive one month deal into the picture. The Cingular stores have no idea of the phone's existence. And amg212 on HowardForums (http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=483870) [site at times is extremely slow] has reported after speaking to someone high up in the Cingular customer relations department food-chain, that apparently MPx220 is a test phone; it is not a Cingular phone. 8O


Extra glad now I decided to buy the Audiovox SMT5600!
:D

[apeguero]

We all know that Motorola was showing off a working demo of this phone last March at Microsoft's PDC. The MPx220 was the flagship phone for Windows Mobile 2003 SE. At that point in time it was expected that the phone would ship in the middle to late summer. Not early fall. So something went wrong.

So here's what I think happened. Motorola was all set to release the phone. At the last minute they discovered a couple issues with the phone; Low volume on select handsets, Bluetooth interference with the camera, poor picture quality, and maybe even the wrong ROM version was loaded.

What to do? They now have a warehouse full of MPx220's that may or may not have problems. It would be extremely costly to scrap all those devices, and even more costly to open them all up, and repair/flash them with an update.

Along comes Best Buy. "We'll take those off your hands at a discounted rate. We'll cover any issues with our warranty. As long as we have a 30 day head start selling the phones, we know we can move 90-95% of the handsets."

Best Buy gets an exclusive offer, and Motorola gets to move the handsets. Win-Win

Now, I can't prove anything. However I think it's pretty accurate. If I go missing, then you know that it was too close to the truth! :wink: :wink:

I smelled skunk during the first three days of this "exclusive" release after seeing all of the problems being reported. I agree with something sneaky taking place here. One question I'll ask, how many of you got your free Blue Tooth headset from Moto for being one of the first 1000 new MPX220 owners?

I think that has a lot to do with Danborg's post. In order for Moto to get rid of it's first batch of bad phones, make it exclusive, make it limited quantities, plus give an extra incentive by offering a really nice Blue Tooth headset worth about $100.00 for free to the first "lucky few" that buy this phone.

I didn't get anything extra when I've bought my new release cell phones in the past. I didn't get anything extra with my Audiovox SMT 5600. I didn't need anything extra. The price was good and so far the product is near perfect...

Thanks to this site and it's many brave users that reported their problems I was able to avoid the headaches of buying a buggy phone with a new carrier. I was able to instead buy a better phone, the SMT 5600.

[lungbutter]

But when I am beta testing Windows, I know that MS will not leave me stranded with a beta software. They provide the final release version or means to uninstall it, and go back to a stable version. Not only that MS warns me adequately about the product being beta. In this case if this 0.x based firmware turns out to be beta ROM, then I definitely am not going to be happy with Moto. How come they are selling beta version in the store without stating it. This has to be a first.

Also we don't know if Moto will release the fixed ROM or we will end up being just early adopters.

kris,

you're right on. at least i know that using a beta 3 version of office, etc. may trash large deliverable documents, etc. before i willingly load it and use it in production and that eventually a gold version will be available.

i guess it will remain to be seen if bb/moto/cingular will allow me to swap this phone in for another if/when a new rom becomes available.

shame there isn't a site like xda-developers.com that cooks roms for the mpx200/220, etc. yet.

[cortez]

can someone with an Audiovox SMT5600 post the Operator, Microsoft, Manufacturer, Language and File System ROM versions? I'm curious to know the differences... a picture would be nice if possible...

thanks.

[JoeCoolGT]

The offer from Moto for the free HS-810 bluetooth headset was only for those first 1000 phones registered that were purchased from AT&T wireless. So while I do believe that there is something going on with this whole exclusive issue, I don't think the headset offer has anything to do with it.

[Kris Kumar]

The offer from Moto for the free HS-810 bluetooth headset was only for those first 1000 phones registered that were purchased from AT&T wireless. So while I do believe that there is something going on with this whole exclusive issue, I don't think the headset offer has anything to do with it.

I agree. Infact if you go to the website. You can register for news on when the phone is going to be available. But it does not let you register your phone for the free headset. I tried. ;-)

[aristoBrat]

can someone with an Audiovox SMT5600 post the Operator, Microsoft, Manufacturer, Language and File System ROM versions? I'm curious to know the differences... a picture would be nice if possible...

thanks.
Not quite what you asked for, but here are the settings for a SMT 5600 running w/ an iMATE ROM:

Operator: 1.2.33.11
Manufacturer: 1.1.24.38
Microsoft: 4.21.14132.0
Language: 1.1.24.38
File System: 4.21.14132.0

[aristoBrat]

And FWIW, I got this in a Windows Mobile News email last night. LOL

New from Windows Mobile

Motorola MPx220 Makes its US Debut at Best Buy Stores
The Motorola MPx220 with Windows Mobile software delivers the perfect balance of business functionality and personal flair.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devices/devicedisplay.aspx?module=deviceDisplay;Smartphone;americas;134

[seaflipper]

can someone with an Audiovox SMT5600 post the Operator, Microsoft, Manufacturer, Language and File System ROM versions? I'm curious to know the differences... a picture would be nice if possible...

thanks.
Not quite what you asked for, but here are the settings for a SMT 5600 running w/ an iMATE ROM:

Operator: 1.2.33.11
Manufacturer: 1.1.24.38
Microsoft: 4.21.14132.0
Language: 1.1.24.38
File System: 4.21.14132.0

a) how did you get that iMate ROM on your SMT5600 and b) is it better than the AT&T ROM? What are the differences that you have noticed? TIA

[aristoBrat]

The imate ROM is older than AT&T -- no WMP 10. It also flashes the radio firmware to 900 instead of 850 (not a deal for us T-Mobile folk ;)). Other than that, I didn't notice anything majorly different, other than the lack of AT&T branding on some screens. Same wonky issues are there, like not being able to type a contacts name when sending a MMS, etc.

Florin (www.c500-unlock.com) was nice enough to sell me an unlock code, along w/ the warning that it'd corrupt the AT&T ROM, which it did. I have a friend with a SP3 who knew how to copy the ROM to the miniSD and flash it onto mine using some terminal program.

[cortez]

can someone with an Audiovox SMT5600 post the Operator, Microsoft, Manufacturer, Language and File System ROM versions? I'm curious to know the differences... a picture would be nice if possible...

thanks.
Not quite what you asked for, but here are the settings for a SMT 5600 running w/ an iMATE ROM:

Operator: 1.2.33.11
Manufacturer: 1.1.24.38
Microsoft: 4.21.14132.0
Language: 1.1.24.38
File System: 4.21.14132.0

thanks... it is interesting to note that the Operator, Manufacturer and Language versions (of the iMATE ROM) start with "1" vs. "0".

[Jerry Raia]

you guys are making yourselves crazy with this stuff. just enjoy it or return it. :roll:

[aristoBrat]

you guys are making yourselves crazy with this stuff. just enjoy it return it. :roll:
LASHER! Where is the fun in that?! :D heh heh

[Jerry Raia]

:rotfl:

Good point! After all I have been reading all of this with a kind of addiction :lol:

[refnulf]

Sorry kris, what I meant was. You were cheated by them, no one deserves to pay so much for a sub standard smartphone.

I'm just hoping the MPx220 comes out in a few weeks without the major bugs because I really like that phone, atm. I'm torn between the xphoneII and the mpx220. No idea what to get, the xphoneII will be out very very soon (two weeks at most) and it looks a beauty (and since it's almost the same phone as the c500, you know it's quality)

But mpx220 just has that sophisticated look, and it makes it all the more sweeter...

[Kris Kumar]

you guys are making yourselves crazy with this stuff. just enjoy it return it. :roll:

Hey! We are just getting warmed up over here. :lol:

And I have a new angle: what if Motorola wants to tarnish Microsoft Smartphone's reputation in the market. Promote its own proprietary OS.

:rotfl:

[Kris Kumar]

Not quite what you asked for, but here are the settings for a SMT 5600 running w/ an iMATE ROM:

Operator: 1.2.33.11
Manufacturer: 1.1.24.38
Microsoft: 4.21.14132.0
Language: 1.1.24.38
File System: 4.21.14132.0

From the version numbers it seems like the MPx220 has newer version of the core WM2003SE OS. Which is a plus. :)

(Off-topic: Planning to buy SP3i when it launches. I hope it has the newer WM2003SE ROM version than the SP3.)

[Kris Kumar]

Sorry kris, what I meant was. You were cheated by them, no one deserves to pay so much for a sub standard smartphone.

I am totally cool. I was kidding in my earlier reply. :-)

I like the MPx220 styling. Even though it is bigger than the MPx200, it feels sleeker and more comfortable.

Plus I feel MPx220 has all the hardware bells and whistles. It has the platform to be a great Smartphone, but Motorola didn't put their heart into releasing a polished device. I mean its software needs some more refinement.

[aristoBrat]

Moto has its own OS? ;)

[Kris Kumar]

Doesn't MotoPro division (or some Moto division) have a linux based smartphone OS.

Edit: And I believe Moto pulled out of Symbian because it wanted to work on its own Linux variants. Anyway..I guess I am sending this thread off-topic. Oh! Wait..we are already off-topic. :lol: :wink:

[cortez]

you guys are making yourselves crazy with this stuff. just enjoy it return it. :roll:

Hey! We are just getting warmed up over here. :lol:

And I have a new angle: what if Motorola wants to tarnish Microsoft Smartphone's reputation in the market. Promote its own proprietary OS.

:rotfl:

Kris - that is one scary-azz thought! (i-Mate SP3i, here I come!) :-)

[Jerry Raia]

ONE PHONE TO RULE THEM ALL! THE MPx 220!



:splat:

[PPCMD]

I will be there to get the MPX220 once Cingular launches it. The volume is my only issue and I could care less about the camera. So fix the volume and I will be happy. I really need my smartphone.

[refnulf]

Xphone II = I-Mate SP3i

But if they're trying to tarnish the smartphone OS, why is the c500 such a dang good phone? And I'm sure the SDA, the SP3i are gonna be just as great...

doesn't make sense.

Anyway, I just think they're bleedin defects... Motorola better release decent units in Malaysia. I don't take too well with expensive pieces of crap I can't use properly. Xphone II going to be released in SE Asia soon, can't wait. Maybe get that first, looks nice.

[Kris Kumar]

But if they're trying to tarnish the smartphone OS, why is the c500 such a dang good phone? And I'm sure the SDA, the SP3i are gonna be just as great...

I don't think Moto is trying to ruin Smartphone's image. I hope not.


Before things get wild on this thread. I must mention that the only proven facts are:
- Low Volume (by a couple of notch, it's definitely low compared MPx200)
- Poor Mic (some users have it some don't. I have it)
- Version number (here also we can't tell for sure that it is a beta ROM, but choosing 0 based number for a released product is not a common practice)
- Crappy camera (cannot expect much from a camera in a phone, so this is disqualified)

The following things about the phone are good or okay:
- Clam shell hinge
- Build Quality
- Battery Life (underpowered but works well, much better than MPx200)

Did I miss anything? There may be some hardware/software issues that are specific to a user.

Rest of the stuff (including Moto trying to ruin Smartphone OS); are speculations, opinions of the readers, thoughts which may or may not have been influenced by a couple of beers. :-)


As for why C500 is dang good phone?
Launching a Smartphone is not easy. Microsoft only provides the Core OS. They have done a fabulous job. The trick is to balance the fine Smartphone OS on a matching hardware. Something that HTC has managed to achieve with the C500. They chose a decent VGA camera, didn't raise user expectations by including a 1.23 Megapixel camera. HTC instead chose to include a battery with a higher mAH rating for longer life. Moto made a mistake here. Things like color external screen that need extra battery power. And where did they make the trade off, by lowering the volume probably to increase talk time by a notch.

And we must not forget that C500 had the Gaming API issue at launch and a joypad that makes gaming tough. So nothing is perfect. There are tradeoffs. What we hate is unadvertised/unacknowledged tradeoffs. HTC/Orange had acknowledged the bugs/issues.

MPx220 is a good phone. As Lasher said every new device has some bugs and these issues that we have seen are just teething troubles.

I guess when you wait for a phone that you know is supposed to have everything you wanted, the wait kinda raises your expectations. And when the phone comes out and it is not launched/supported properly, especially when it has some known issues. Things can get ugly. And that's when people turn to sites like SmartphoneThoughts.com for some comfort. ;-)

[kyndacrazy]

I tried to find out this info when I was purchasing the phone, but the BB reps at my location are useless. I did not purchase the extended warranty, but am told I can do so. Cingular will have this phone available in retail locations 11/15 (verified), so if these conspiracy theories are correct and there is a new software version available, what will BB do to replace the phone if I have the extended warranty? Is it justifiable for me to get a knew phone for the few *minor* issues that I am having? Or will they send it off for two days to have someone look at it? Also, what is the use of BB's extended warranty VS. Cingular's XBM warranty?

[refnulf]

Well at the moment, I am torn between the two. Wonder which to get? I'm not the type that changes phones every 2 weeks. So which one would be the best to get? Wait for Moto to resolve the current issues? Or go with a SP3i? The Mpx220 really looks great, very professional, but so does the SP3i.

Tsk tsk, decisions decisions.

[Mike Temporale]

Well at the moment, I am torn between the two. Wonder which to get? I'm not the type that changes phones every 2 weeks. So which one would be the best to get? Wait for Moto to resolve the current issues? Or go with a SP3i? The Mpx220 really looks great, very professional, but so does the SP3i.

Tsk tsk, decisions decisions.

Well, the SP3i hasn't been released yet... So hold off on making your choice. Then once the SP3i is available, you can look at the MPx220 and see if any of these problems have been resolved.

[stumpy]

Well Audiovox SMT 5600 available at ATT/Cingular website for 199 so there are choices. :P

[mcdonp]

I've had my MPx220 for about two weeks. I think the phone is getting a bad rap, prematurely. I can definitively agree that there are "issues" with the phone:
1) the earpiece volume is too low, as well as the ringtones
2) the speaker phone is unusable
3) the camera is marginal, at best

However, the phone is still worth keeping:
1) I absolutley love the form factor; well-built and small
2) Receiving my corporate e-mail and personal e-mails is working great and will be even better when my company upgrades to Exchange 2003
3) Calendaring and Contact push works great as well
4) The phone is fast thanks to the dual processor
5) The screen is brillant
6) Battery life is acceptable (have gone 4 days with not much use, and two days with heavy use)

I spoke with a Motorola teach and they have acknowledged there are some "glitches" that need to be worked out. They are looking into a firmware upgrade to correct problems and said to call back in a week or so, as more information will be availalbe.

For those of you who have bought the phone, hang tight. And for thise who haven't, hopefully all the talk of problems with the phone will dissapte over the next few weeks.

nuff said. cheers!
8)

[Kris Kumar]

I was checking out the last two reviews of this phone, one by BengalBoy and the other by Howard Chui. Both had complained about the Mic (other side not being able to hear at times) and also earpiece volume lower than usual. These issues were assumed to be because of the prototype nature of the phone. Too bad that Moto didn't fix them before launch.

The only consolation: the firmware on our MPx220 is greater than the one on the phone reviewed by BengalBoy. :-)

[cortez]

this post by mr moto (http://www.pdaphonehome.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=262421)(pdaphonehome.com) suggests that there is hope regarding the volume issue... time will tell...

[refnulf]

Uh oh, I just heard that they're discontinuing the MPx220. It's never going to reach Asia Pacific, I hope they're wrong.

[Jerry Raia]

Where did you hear that??? :ninja:

[refnulf]

Well, I don't want to say reliable source because most are not. But that's what it was, I hope he's wrong.

[Jerry Raia]

Well at some point I'm sure it will be discontinued. Hopefully just not so soon!
:fadein:

[refnulf]

Yes, let's hope it's after the mpx220's lifecycle, bout 2 years from now...

[sperry]

But if they're trying to tarnish the smartphone OS, why is the c500 such a dang good phone? And I'm sure the SDA, the SP3i are gonna be just as great...

I don't think Moto is trying to ruin Smartphone's image. I hope not.


Before things get wild on this thread. I must mention that the only proven facts are:
- Low Volume (by a couple of notch, it's definitely low compared MPx200)
- Poor Mic (some users have it some don't. I have it)
- Version number (here also we can't tell for sure that it is a beta ROM, but choosing 0 based number for a released product is not a common practice)
- Crappy camera (cannot expect much from a camera in a phone, so this is disqualified)

....

I have also found the following additional problems with my Mpx220:
- It locks up (Rare)
- GPRS stops functioning. From the same location it will work one minute the stop the next. Have to either shut the phone off and back on or shut it off, remove and re-insert SIM and turn it back on.
- Doesn't find a network. Sometimes I have to shut the phone on and off 2 or 3 times before it will find a network. And this is in a good area.
- Phone won't accept or make calls. On more than one occasion someone has tried reaching me and the phone will not ring, with a 4 bar signal strength. When this occurs it will not dial out either. I have to power the phone on and off, sometime upto three times, for it to work again.

On the plus side, I have not experienced the volume or Mic problem. I do agree, the camera stinks. My son has a V400 and the pictures it takes are MUCH better than the Mpx220. I find it almost useless. Although I rarely use the camera, I expect it to work since I did pay for it.

Anyone else experience the problems I have described above?

-Steven Perry

[Myke]

If its really a rom issue like they say it is, why doesnt someone load on another smartphone ROM and see if it fixes the volume issues?

[aristoBrat]

ROMs are specific to the devices. You can't put a 5600 ROM on a MPx220. You couldn't even put a MPx200 ROM on a MPx220...

[Jerry Raia]

How do they expect to explain this page on their OWN WEBSITE:

http://cingular.startwindowsmobile.com/default.aspx

8O

Ha ha, I would like to send this page to some Cingular reps, it would throw them in a loop... :)

Anyway the site is actuallly hosted by Microsoft with a Cinulgar template. They also host ATTW's site. http://aws.startwindowsmobile.com

Just a little update on this. The Cingular URL seems to be gone and the AWS URL is working but as reported else where on this board, it functions sporadically. I have yet to get the sms message from the site.

[james840a]

Welcome to the world of Beta Testing, Cingular style.

Being the first Smartphone on their network, they wanted to test this phone out before selling it through their stores, so what better way than getting all of the early adopters to snap these babies and test it for them. With the generous return policy at Best Buy, nobody really get's whacked too bad and Cingular finds out very quickly what they need to fix before the holiday season.....

Best buy does NOT have a generous return policy. I am writing a letter to BB, Moto, Cing. And if i dont get a responce back in a timely manner it will be forwarded to BBB, FCC, Consumer affairs, regarding the issue of this phone and the way they are handling the recall, that is there and there denial of a recall.

[Jerry Raia]

Well Cingular sent me my replacement and it has the same ROM #! (325).
I think it's pretty clear here none of the 3 suspects (Cingular, MOT, BB) have a clue what they are doing here.

[aristoBrat]

Best buy does NOT have a generous return policy.
FWIW, Best Buy gives you 30 days to return phones and doesn't charge a restock fee, which can be considered generous when compared to other retailers who only give you 14 days to return and charge a 15% restock.

[james840a]

aristobrat
true, but i called BB 1-888 number and was given a case number and was TOLD there was not a proplem with it being exchanged after the 30day since is was a recalled Item, and then be refuased at the store. That is an out right slap to a customers face. And Best buy Lied to me big time,, So there Corp. head is going to get my letter regarding this issue. And if they dont want to deal with it then it goes to BBB, and those guys.