The Case of the Missing MPx220!

[Jerry Raia]

http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/mpxinhand.JPG

Where is it??? There have been some MPx220 sightings in various places. The last one was in Chicago where an MPx220 was caught boarding the Blue Line towards the airport. "I just caught it out of the corner of my eye and called out, 'MPx220!!!', but I don't think it could hear me" the witness said. In all seriousness though the phone seems to have vanished from the Cingular web site though I have only confirmed that in my own area of Los Angeles. The only pages on the Motorola web site that I could find are for accessories and the software update but that page has no link to any kind of upgrade. It appears Amazon still has it and a few other sites as well. The phone has disappeared before but this seems to be the longest it has gone missing. There have been rumors of ROM updates coming for it as well as that it is being quietly buried. What do you think?

[Bacco]

I waited forever for the MPX 220. Finally when I saw the SMT 5600, I said WOW!!! Even though I'm partial to flip phones, I bought the SMT 5600. I just couldn't wait any longer.

With all trouble you guys with the MPX 220 had, I'm glad I bought the SMT 5600.

That's all I have to say I guess 8)

Was that too pushy??? :oops:

[killah21]

Just a tad bit too pushy :lol: I heard motorola pulled off the update tool, because they are coming out with a new ROM lets hope this is true!!!!!

[Kris Kumar]

It's not on the Cingular and Moto website. 8O I think I should make use of this oppurtunity and sell my MPx220. I will get a good price now that it is in short supply. :lol:

[xultar]

I hate to say it but I don't like the MPX 220. I saw it in person as a display item @ a previously Blue store in Buford Ga. It felt to Plastic and the shiny part was too 'hot' for my tastes.
Moto ruined me with the v600. I'll never purchase another Moto again.

I'm partial to flips. But when I saw the SMT5600, I had to have it! Ahhhh it is soooo beautiful!

[bleeman]

Mine recently locked up. Stuck at the Motorola logo and wouldn't budge. Went to my local Cingular store and had a few surprises. First, they no longer do warranty phone swaps in the store, you have to call Customer Service and after they walk you through the usual "script" (i.e. is it plugged in, are you sure it's not working..." then they'll authorize a return. They then said it's 3 to 5 business days unless I want to pay an additional $7.50 for overnight delivery. They followed that with "Oops, looks like it's on backorder and we don't have an estimate as to when we expect it." They then gave me the 800 number for Motorola so I could see if they had one available. Sure didn't sound like Cingular was expecting any in anytime soon.

Fortunately, I had made the call from the local store where they knew me as I'd been dealing with them for the last 7+ years. They had one in the back that came back during the "You have 30 days to return it" period so they gave me that one. It's been working fine so not a big deal. Right after that I went online to see how the stock there was and it's no longer listed as available in the Dallas/Fort Worth area either.

Not really encouraging considering I bought mine new just this past December and purchased a second one for my wife 3 weeks later. I also find it ironic that they finally upgraded their Media Net site so that it supports the MPx220 and then the phone disappears as a purchase option.

Oh well, guess I'll keep my fingers crossed nothing happens with this phone. I was also hoping we'd see WM2005 since some of the pre-release pictures I've seen showed it on the MPx220. I guess I'll just have to sit back and hope for the best. In the meantime no regrets on getting the phone. I've been very pleased with it and it's been working very well (at least until it locked up solid :-D)

[sojourner753]

Moto ruined me with the v600. I'll never purchase another Moto again.

I'm partial to flips. But when I saw the SMT5600, I had to have it! Ahhhh it is soooo beautiful!

My previoius phone was also a v600 and I hated it. I'm also partial to flips but I decided to go with the SMT5600 because of how small it was yet having such a large screen.

I'm not saying I'll never buy a motorola (though they're not at the top of my list), I do no that it was the last OS wannabe that I'll buy. My next one may have WindowsMobile, Symbian, Linux, or even Palm 8O but no more home grown stuff from hardware vendors.

[Jerry Raia]

It's not on the Cingular and Moto website. 8O I think I should make use of this oppurtunity and sell my MPx220. I will get a good price now that it is in short supply. :lol:

I'll give you $5 for it. :lol:

This is another Moto classic, just make it vanish and hope everyone who already spent $$$$$ on it will forget how badly they botched this up next time around. Don't worry Moto. I'll be here to remind them all!

[xultar]

I do no that it was the last OS wannabe that I'll buy. My next one may have WindowsMobile, Symbian, Linux, or even Palm 8O but no more home grown stuff from hardware vendors.

I know. What is up with that UI? You'd think they hadn't learned a thing. My phone after the v600 disaster was a Nokia 6620, a Symbian Serise 60. I really like that OS as well.

[expediter]

I bought one of these from Cingular, returned it in a week. Basically it had poor audio volume and quality. Now have an Audiovox SMT5600 and couldn't be happier. Good riddance I say!

[Mike Temporale]

I don't know... I don't think there is much trickery going on here. The MPx220 has just turned out to be more popular than Moto expected. Check out this story (http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7931) from last week, where the MPx220 is a top five selling phone. We reported a while back that Moto had cancelled their manufacturing deal with Chei Mei (? - I could be wrong with the companies name). So it could just be a matter of not having enough supply built up. And now they have to really step up the manufacturing.

[L.Rentz]

I have had the mpx220 for two weeks. I have definately had my share of problems. Since I am still within my 30 days to return the phone, I am getting a little nervious that it has disappeared off the radar. I like the phone except for a few issues, bluetooth headset dialing, phone has to be open while in speaker phone mode, ear peace has to be just right on my ear to hear well.

If cingular offered the Audiovox 5600 I would probably go that route. Do you think they will offer that phone like, real soon, like within 2 weeks? I know I could buy one elsewhere and have it unlocked. I would just prefer to get it from Cingular.

Lee

[roma]

Hi all,

I don't know why it's missing, Mike Temporale's story makes sense though. Here in Holland quite a few of these phones are sold.

I also must say I haven't had one issue with it since the day I bought it a couple of months ago. Just my ears aren't big enough for the headset, I wonder if anybody's ears are big enough...

[HalM]

To add a little balance here, I have had all 3 bios levels on 3 phones but never a problem. I will be deeply disappointed if the model is dropped. If you ever get the chance to use it with Exchange based Active Sych, you will see what a killer product it really is.

Kris, if you are serious about selling your phone, PM me. :D

[Spatulator]

Mine recently locked up. Stuck at the Motorola logo and wouldn't budge. Went to my local Cingular store and had a few surprises. First, they no longer do warranty phone swaps in the store, you have to call Customer Service and after they walk you through the usual "script" (i.e. is it plugged in, are you sure it's not working..." then they'll authorize a return. They then said it's 3 to 5 business days unless I want to pay an additional $7.50 for overnight delivery. They followed that with "Oops, looks like it's on backorder and we don't have an estimate as to when we expect it." They then gave me the 800 number for Motorola so I could see if they had one available. Sure didn't sound like Cingular was expecting any in anytime soon.

Fortunately, I had made the call from the local store where they knew me as I'd been dealing with them for the last 7+ years. They had one in the back that came back during the "You have 30 days to return it" period so they gave me that one. It's been working fine so not a big deal. Right after that I went online to see how the stock there was and it's no longer listed as available in the Dallas/Fort Worth area either.

Not really encouraging considering I bought mine new just this past December and purchased a second one for my wife 3 weeks later. I also find it ironic that they finally upgraded their Media Net site so that it supports the MPx220 and then the phone disappears as a purchase option.

Oh well, guess I'll keep my fingers crossed nothing happens with this phone. I was also hoping we'd see WM2005 since some of the pre-release pictures I've seen showed it on the MPx220. I guess I'll just have to sit back and hope for the best. In the meantime no regrets on getting the phone. I've been very pleased with it and it's been working very well (at least until it locked up solid :-D)

I think you'll find that all Windows Smartphone OS phones will lock up from time to time. Usually it happens when it runs out of memory, or if you run a program it is not happy with. I have had to pull the battery to reset the phone twice. I don't know if you tried this when yours locked up but I figured I'd mention it.

[jnajera]

Just because it is off the site does not mean it is discontinued, the siemens sx66 was off the web site for a good month and came back, they are probably just out of stock.

[Jerry Raia]

I don't know... I don't think there is much trickery going on here. The MPx220 has just turned out to be more popular than Moto expected.

Perhaps not trickery, but heaps and heaps of incompetence and sloppiness. :lol:

[bleeman]

I think you'll find that all Windows Smartphone OS phones will lock up from time to time. Usually it happens when it runs out of memory, or if you run a program it is not happy with. I have had to pull the battery to reset the phone twice. I don't know if you tried this when yours locked up but I figured I'd mention it.

Thanks for the tip Spatulator, but I had tried that. This was a "Hard" lock. The phone had locked up in the sense that I couldn't get it to Sync with my Exchange server (This occasionally happens as you mentioned) and I did my usual power down/power up to reset it. Unfortunately, it never came back. Upon power up it would go through the "Hello Moto" screen and then "stick" on the Motorola "M Screen" and never make it to the Cingular "Hello Screen". I then powered down and popped the battery. Tried again, no luck. At this point, I decided to do the "Hard Reset" (Hold Blue button in while powering up) as I knew I could download everything again from my server in a few minutes. The Reset screen came up as expected and I said Yes. It powered down like usual and I powered it back up again. Same results, never went beyond the M. Neither the guys in the store or the Customer Service group had ever encountered this before so I gave them something new to ponder :D

Like someone above mentioned, I still like the phone and I'm very happy with it overall. My biggest disappointment was with the discovery that Cingular no longer does immediate swaps in store and that they had no provisions in place to support my lack of a phone. I believe if I hadn't been a regular at that store, I'd be still waiting for a replacement.

I also discovered that they don't insure any of the high end phones, PDA's, RAZR etc. When we moved from our old CDMA phones that were insurable they moved our insurance add-on over, fortunately, once again the guys I knew at the local store caught this and credited me for the time since the switch. I mention it here in case someone else is in the same boat. My phone is still under the 1yr warranty, so I was okay and glad I found out I wasn't really insured before I needed it. I went to my State Farm agent and it turns out it's a much better deal. Pretty much same coverage that Cingular had offered on our old phones for $15/yr instead of Cingular's $3.99/mth.

[Andrew]

I must be the only one, but I bought the SMT5600 since it was getting such great reviews and later bought the MPx220. I only use the MPx220 and like it a lot better. Flip phones are the only way to go.

[Jerry Raia]

No one loves the MPx220 more than I do. :mrgreen:

[Bacco]

Ok, ok...I'll try one. Anyone have an extra one they care to share, I mean sell? :wink:

[Ned]

While it's not on the Cingular web site, the MPX220 is still being sold if you call in to Cingular sales, at least as of Friday. They did say it's backordered however.

I really like the phone a lot even though it has some problems. Frankly, I haven't met a cell phone yet that's completely without problems or shortcomings. To me one of the big sales points on the phone (I prefer flip phones but have had others) is that it's quad frequency for my traveling. I can't believe the number of phones at Cingular that are tri frequency. It makes no sense to me because a tri frequency just won't work in a lot of places outside the US. If you're not going quad you might as well just go dual frequency which is all you need in the US.

I've talked with other Windows Smartphone owners and they agree that WIN does lock up all the Smartphones periodically. Sometimes you just have to pull the battery and restart. I keep my phone backed up to the to the MiniSD card with Ordina's backup program. I did that because one time I had to do a hard reset and lost everything except the phonebook which I regularly sync with Outlook.

Someone mentioned that Motorola has pulled its main MPX220 page. It's not true. I was on it a few minutes ago at:
http://www.motorola.com/mdirect/hellomoto/experience/mpx220/flash/homepage.shtml?

I was told at one point by Cingular that Moto told them to pull the phone because it was being recalled. Now Cingular has backed off that and is giving no explanation for why it's missing except that they currently have none in stock. Moto told me they absolutely have not recalled the phone but there should be an update for it in the near future. They said the supply of the phone has been somewhat interupted due to a manufacturing change which we have all read about.

Ned

[Jerry Raia]

This is all very nice but the fact is, none of this is mentioned on Moto's web site. The way they are handling this is pathetic. Then again that's Motorola at its best.

[Ned]

I certainly agree Jerry. Getting a straight answer from Moto or Cingular or for that matter any answer at all, and especially getting either to put it in writing either in a press release or on their respective sites is harder than getting the Chinese and Taiwanese to agree about anything including the weather.

[BR]

I bought one of these from Cingular, returned it in a week. Basically it had poor audio volume and quality. Now have an Audiovox SMT5600 and couldn't be happier. Good riddance I say!

expenditer, just wondering if you had the older software version in your mpx220? the most updated software verison should have fixed your audio problem unless you left the mutiple stickers on your phone . . . just curious

[skibee]

Roma - i would recommend getting a bluetooth if you're finding that to be an issue.