What Makes the RAZR so Hot?

[Mike Temporale]

http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Temporale-20051208-Razr.gif

Undoubtedly, the RAZR is one of the biggest phones of the year. It's sexy and extremely popular with consumers. Everyone that has one is always holding it and showing it off. Those of us without one, are usually glamoring to get a good look at this slim wonder. What I'm wondering, is what makes this device so hot? Obviously slim is in - no question. But what makes so many people want one, and want to hold it, flip it, and show it so much? Why aren't we doing that with our Smartphones? What do we need to see in a Smartphone to invoke the same desires in people? Anyone have some thoughts?

[Jerry Raia]

Like most of what Motorola does, it's form over function. Once you get past the looks of the RAZR you realize it doesn't do anymore than the ancient StarTac. I've said it over and over, they just put it in a new suit. They could have had a winner with the MPx220. I got a lot of compliments on that phone. Too bad Moto neglected to make it work right.

[Sven Johannsen]

What I'm wondering, is what makes this device so hot?

Beats me. My wife has one, loves it. She uses it as a phone though. Interestingly it is the large size of the keys that is part of what she likes. She has an X50 for the other stuff. She keeps wanting me to let her try the K-Jam for a while to see how that works. I'm afraid she'll like it.

I'm not attracted to the Razr style at all. Probably wouldn't consider it if it had WM in it. Not real a flip person I guess, though the MPX220 feels good. Good weight, balance. Love the directional pad on it.

I think a slightly slimmer MPX220, maybe with WM5 and definately MP10, that didn't have issues, would do well.

[chandler]

Like most of what Motorola does, it's form over function. Once you get past the looks of the RAZR you realize it doesn't do anymore than the ancient StarTac.

Um, right. So the ancient startac had a camera, did voice dialing, XHTML mobile browsing, J2ME, bluetooth, IM, and SyncML? Put Opera Mini (http://www.opera.com/download/operamini/?partner=my) on the RAZR and you can even surf with it. Obviously the RAZR is not running a smartphone OS. But that doesn't mean it doesn't do anything. Sheesh. I don't even think the Startac ever had a speakerphone built in to it.

And that's just the basic RAZR. The V3c does EV-DO, including streaming video. The V3i does MP3s or iTunes (depending on your carrier). The V3x does UMTS video calling.

I love what I can do on my MPx220, and I also love my RAZR, for fairly different reasons. Don't misunderestimate how much progress has been made on "normal" phone software since 1996.

[Stinger]

It's all about the looks here in the UK.

Feature-wise, the phone is very basic - low res camera, no memory card slot, relatively poor screen, poor battery life, no 3G and obviously it's not a smartphone. In addition to this, a lot of people moan about the poor UI, the terrible address book and how the keypad makes texting hard. I hear that the RF is great on the RAZR, but that's not an issue for most people in the UK. A lot of users are willing to put up with the RAZR's flaws simply because it looks so good.

Actually, there is another thing going for it these days and that's price. You can pick one up on pay as you go for £130 (~$220 US) and that puts it into the reach of a lot of teenagers. For a metal-encased phone, it seems like a very good deal.

There's now a 3G version in Europe, but it's a lot thicker. I've yet to see anyone carrying one out in the wild.

[revolution.cx]

My first reaction on seeing a RAZR in person was: "wow, this thing is huge".

I think that's part of its appeal. It's wide enough to be comfortable to use but thin enough to keep the overall volume down.

What does the Smartphone need to achieve desirability? Hmmm...HOW ABOUT SOME FREAKING MARKETING FROM MICROSOFT!!!!!! It's truly a joke how awfully Microsoft has handled the marketing of the Smartphone.

Nokia advertises their handsets and so does Motorola. Extensively.

[Rocco Augusto]

i sell RAZRs all day long and the top answer i get for the reason people buy it is this:

the screen is huge

a lot of customers are not thrilled about phones being incredibly small, especially if you are a man with large hands. it makes it really hard to dial. with the RAZR you have the large screen which makes reading easier to do, especially for older individuals.

another feature of the RAZR that customers love is the speakerphone. i can honestly say it has one of the loudest speakerphones on any phone i have heard in a REALLY long time. its also really clear suprisingly.

[Jerry Raia]

So the ancient startac had a camera, did voice dialing, XHTML mobile browsing, J2ME, bluetooth, IM, and SyncML? Put Opera Mini (http://www.opera.com/download/operamini/?partner=my) on the RAZR and you can even surf with it. Obviously the RAZR is not running a smartphone OS. But that doesn't mean it doesn't do anything. Sheesh. I don't even think the Startac ever had a speakerphone built in to it.

Please, phones they give away now can do that stuff. I'm not impressed.

[Sven Johannsen]

What does the Smartphone need to achieve desirability? Hmmm...HOW ABOUT SOME FREAKING MARKETING FROM MICROSOFT!!!!!! It's truly a joke how awfully Microsoft has handled the marketing of the Smartphone..

Correct me if I'm wrong, but MS doesn't sell Smartphones (or PPCs, or PPCPEs for that matter) They sell an OS that powers those devices, and they sell it to OEMs. When was the last time you saw a Symbian ad? I agree that MS could do more to promote the brand, but it is ultimately up to the OEMs to produce a desireable package and promote that package. Even then they initially have to promote them to carriers, not consumers. MS can promote WM OS to consumers till they are blue in the face, but it's useless if the consumer can't get one...with reasonable ease, at a reasonable price.

I'm actually starting to see the wisdom of 'Windows Mobile'. If you walk into a carrier store today and ask for a smartphone, there are a heck of a lot of items that qualify. About anything that does more than just make phone calls and take pictures has been called that. If you can get people to understand, want and ask for a Windows Mobile phone, the sales droid will trot out the one of those they carry. If more people ask, maybe they'll carry more than one.

[Niall]

I switched to a RAZR about a month ago from a MPX-200. Both were used on T-Mobile's network, mostly around the Boston, MA area.

The MPX-200 blew a fuse and would no longer charge, so I purchased a battery charger. That blew up on my last trip to Ireland. New phone time.

I'm a flip person. The thought of my screen rubbing against things and getting scratched scares me, so candybars are right out. All the WM phones I would have considered were candybars, so I started examining what I was using the MPX-200 for.

Turns out it was only:

* Browsing the web
* Listening to music

So I bought a RAZR. Overall, I'm very happy.

What I like:

Opera mini - There is no comparison, far better than Pocket IE in almost all areas.

Battery life - I can actually go several days without charging.

The screen - It's big, and it's gorgeous. Of course, I'm mostly using it indoors (or on a train). It's not the easiest thing to use in direct sunlight.

Reception/coverage - The MPX-200 was dual-band, and only one of the bands was usable with T-Mobile (it was an AT&T phone), and again only one band usable in Ireland (I'm there at least once a year). The RAZR's reception and coverage is far superior and I'm looking forward to using it anywhere in Ireland on my next trip.

Bluetooth - I know, I know, nothing special about the RAZR here. For those of you who don't know, the MPX-200 did not have bluetooth. I'm loving it.With the unlimited internet/VPN plan and my iPaq 4350 or notebook I'm never disconnected.

Speakerphone - One word: Daaaamn. It's great, better than my office phone.

What I miss:

ActiveSync - Yup. I miss it. I used to work on synchronization software about 3 years back. It's disappointing to discover it's just as bad today as it was then. For all it's warts, ActiveSync just plain rocks. I've hosed my contacts at least twice now using Mobile PhoneTools, and I've decided it's just not worth it to sync anymore.

Music - There's no headphone jack on the RAZR, and even if there were there's no space for music. I'm using the iPaq now instead, which is a little cumbersome.

Phone book - It's harder to quickly just to a contact. Press "6" twice to get to N, then you're scrolling a few pages to get to "Niall". On my Smartphone it was "6-4-2" and I'm done.

Storage - No storage card. Low memory. Ugh.

What's wierd:

Only one user-installed java application can be open at any time.

Close the phone, application suspends. I did some research on Motocoder and you *can* write an application that runs in the background, but it's not clear to me if it's RAZR specific, Motorola specific, or in a JSR document somewhere. In any case, nothing I use will run in the background. This is especially annoying when downloading email, as you have to keep the phone open the entire time.

The earpiece has a definite "sweet spot", and if you hit it the quality is excellent. Move it slightly and you won't be able to hear your call if there's any background noise. Since the phone is wider than most you'll take a few days to figure out how to hold it, but once it becomes second nature it's very comfortable.

There's only one font, so you better like it. A lot of applications have their own fonts (presumably bitmap fonts, since applications rarely offer a choice as to what size you want). It's nice and big, very easy to read. I like a big font for menus, but for web browsers and ssh clients I'd much rather something smaller. Fortunately Opera Mini has a very readable small font, as does MidpSsh.

Conclusion

All things considered, I'm very happy with the RAZR. Since I carry an iPaq, I'm not really losing any functionality.

I'm also enjoying learning about J2ME, which I haven't looked at in some time. MIDP 2.0 addressed a lot of the things I didn't like about MIDP 1.0 (like networking and graphics).

Besides, it's so thin. And silver. And the keypad looks like something out of TRON. I'm so easy to please.

[Ben]

The appeal of the RAZR has little to nothing to do with its features: people who see it want to see it closer but have no idea what the features are at first. It is purely great design, slim but well-built and wide enough to feel substantial, and it is a beautiful clamshell that seems to not get much thicker even when closed because of the way it fits together when closing. Clam shells in my opinion will ALWAYS be the better phone because they (1) conform to your face and (2) have a "built-in" screen protector so they can be tossed in a bag or a pocket.

In my opinion, ANY clamshell phone with WM2005 and WiFi would be absolutely beautiful, but does such a phone even exist in the US?

[Rebecca]

Here are the reasons IMHO:

1. It looks great, not geeky.

2. It provides great reception without any ugly Quasimodo HUMPs.

3. Availability of JAVA Games (does anyone recognizes that HTC phones have Java?).


The Cingular 2125 will not be a success regardless of OS. Motorola can make a phone with a crappy OS and it sells because people buy based on first impression and the first impression is looks.

When people go to see the Cingular 2125 their first impression will be caused by the ugly hump, they won't care if it has better reception than the 5600 they will just see it has an ugly hump. Most buyers go to the store and they don't have idea what OS the phone runs or its reception. they simply buy the best looking phone. And by the way Cingular does not promotes the Smartphones as having games or MP3 capability.

I wish Motorola made a RAZR with WM but meanwhile I will have to get the RAZR with the crappy OS and enjoy the Java games like Prince of Persia, Sims and Age of Empires. And browse the web with Opera Mini wich works better than Pocket IE.

Also for ebooks there is Tequilacat ebook reader for Java.

And by the way not only uninformed buyers get the Razr, there are many geeks and a huge hacking comunity: www.motomodders.net

Until HTC/Cingular learns that phone sell for beuty they wont increase sales. (The Quasimodo sales won't equal the SMT 5600 beacuse of the hump)

[Rebecca]

Sorry double posting :oops:

By the way, the only feature I don't like about the RAZR is the lack of storage.

I also don't like the lack of video recording, but that can be solved by reflashing it with a monster pack and editing some Seems. By the way someone posted about increasing RAM to 10 megs after reflashing with a modified OS.

[chandler]

Please, phones they give away now can do that stuff. I'm not impressed.

Neither are you consistent. You said that the RAZR does nothing more than the original StarTac. That is not true. Now you switch to an argument about "phones they give away now". There are plenty of places which are giving away the RAZR (like Amazon). Now, you won't get that rebate at every Cingular dealer, but it's still not exactly an expensive phone right now. It was when it came out; chalk that up to design novelty, but now that economies of scale are kicking in it's come down a lot.

So, what's the next non-sequiter?

[Jerry Raia]

No I am making both arguments. Thank you for bringing up the other useless things included in the RAZR. If you come up with anymore RAZR "features" I'll be happy to include them too. :D

[subzerohf]

.... Why aren't we doing that with our Smartphones? What do we need to see in a Smartphone to invoke the same desires in people? Anyone have some thoughts?

Nokia is obviously selling tons of Symbian phones. And Smartphones are way behind in terms of sales volume. So, if you take a look at how Nokia did it, you will find the answer. I think a lot of it has to do with marketing. In a previous thread, someone mentioned that a lot of Nokia users did not even know they got a "smart" phone. Perhaps the secret is not to mention the word "Smartphone" :D

[robertotores]

Rebecca is right on target.


If Cingular or T-mo had choosent the SP5 instead of their "Humpphones" the smartphones on the US could stand a good chance against the Razr. (And no I am not talking about SP5's wi-fi, average people don't even know what that is).

People will continue to buy phones for their looks does not matter what they have inside, and that will dictate the market.

I consider that the SP5 is as beautiful as the Razr and could be a great contender on looks alone but why Cingular and T-Mo choosed the ugliest Smartphones available is beyond me.

I will definitely be getting a Razar, first for looks. I don't want a "HumpPhone", second the Java Games I am a hardcore gamer and definitely Java is the way to go for me.

I love the looks of the SP5 and I consider it is on par with the Razr but unfortunately an unlocked phones is cost prohibitive for me so I have to buy what Cingular carries and it will be between the cool looking Razor or the HumpPhone.

[sopure]

I also agree with Rebecca.

I just received my new Razr V3c !!!

I've owned a few phones in the past. Too many to name, but the thing about the Razr is the form factor. I also have the "Black Eurpoean" RAZR, but the surfing and the email didn't cut the mustard, due to GPRS.

Now with EV-DO, you have the cool form factor and the fast internet access!

I still have my Mpx 220, but hardly use it. Smartphones will get a boost soon.
From which company remains to be seen. My Samsung i730 is great, but a little bulky.

The Razr with EV-DO is a good combination 8)

[Janak Parekh]

In my opinion, ANY clamshell phone with WM2005 and WiFi would be absolutely beautiful, but does such a phone even exist in the US?
Nope - and no clamshell WM phones are in the pipeline, except for the Samsung i640, which was rejected by Verizon. :?

Clamshell is important for me. It's by far the most intuitive way to answer and hang up on calls. For someone who uses the device as a talking solution first, this makes a big difference. Additionally, there's no freaking keylock. I hate keylock with a passion.

As it stands, my i600 is getting a little long in the tooth, so I might *gasp* get a RAZR v3c. 8O It'd complement my Pocket PC perfectly. Show me a flip Smartphone with EVDO and maybe I'll bite on that instead. Jerry, you keep saying you're not impressed with the RAZR's features, but it has ergonomic and data features no Smartphone on the market can match.

--janak

[Mike Temporale]

Nope - and no clamshell WM phones are in the pipeline, except for the Samsung i640, which was rejected by Verizon. :?

That's not true. If you listen to the rumors, anyway. There's that HTC flip phone code named Star Trek. Mind you, we don't know ANYTHING about it. :(

[Rocco Augusto]

Rebecca is right on target.


If Cingular or T-mo had choosent the SP5 instead of their "Humpphones" the smartphones on the US could stand a good chance against the Razr....

if cingular or tmobile choose the SP5 instead of the SP5m and the C600 then the SP5 would have been a hump phone as well ;)

also don't forget, just because you might not like design of the phone doesn't mean the phone will be a failure. their our tons of individuals out there that im sure think differently than you do or have different tastes. to those individuals this phone might me a great looking phone. heck, even i think its a sleek looking phone. pictures of the device don't give it justice. actually seeing and holding the device in person is a totally different experience.

just like the 2125 though i know a LOT of customers that wouldnt touch the RAZR with a 10 foot pole because of the way it looks. what some of us here would consider sleek and sexy others would consider big, fragile looking and flimsy.

now to say the 2125 wont do good in the market because its not sleek like the RAZR just because you dont like the way it looks is a little harsh isnt it? i mean i already have 4 different businesses lined up to get a total of 32 cingular 2125s when they're released. i have never had an order of anything more than 5 RAZRs. does this mean that the 2125 will be better than the RAZR as far as sales go? prolly not, i just said it to remind everyone that not all cell phone customers are standard consumers. there are tons of different users out there and not all of them care about looks over function.

also the 2125 isnt competing at all against the RAZR. if anything the the 2125 would be competing with other smartphones that cingular has in their phone portfolio, which really isnt that many. i honestly think the 2125 is going to have a great and eventful shelf life. sure its not the RAZR but to have it compete with the RAZR is like eating pancakes and getting upset because it wasn't beef jerky. just because theyre phones (or food) doesn't mean theyre anywhere near the same weight class :)

[Rebecca]

Rebecca is right on target.


If Cingular or T-mo had choosent the SP5 instead of their "Humpphones" the smartphones on the US could stand a good chance against the Razr....

also don't forget, just because you might not like design of the phone doesn't mean the phone will be a failure. their our tons of individuals out there that im sure think differently than you do or have different tastes.


The mayority of individuals think the Razr is good looking that's why it is selling much better than the SMT 5600. By the way almost everyone on the forums dislikes the Hump.

[Rocco Augusto]

Rebecca is right on target.


If Cingular or T-mo had choosent the SP5 instead of their "Humpphones" the smartphones on the US could stand a good chance against the Razr....

also don't forget, just because you might not like design of the phone doesn't mean the phone will be a failure. their our tons of individuals out there that im sure think differently than you do or have different tastes.


The mayority of individuals think the Razr is good looking that's why it is selling much better than the SMT 5600. By the way almost everyone on the forums dislikes the Hump.

just because a few people dislike the looks still does not mean the device will fail. the reason why the RAZR sells more devices than the 5600 is because most stores dont actually keep 5600s in stock. its to expensive to keep a phone in the stores that retails for close to 400 dollars. also its a very complicated device to use, more device than most customers could ever need. lets not mention that most sales rep don't even know how to begin selling smart phone type devices and last but not least when was the last time that you saw a commercial showing off how the 5600 was the worlds smallest smartphone? you cant go a day without seeing a RAZR commercial. more customers know about the RAZR then they will ever know about WM devices, that is why the RAZR sells more. hell that is why the Nokia 6010 bar phone sells more.

here youre trying to compare apples to oranges. the RAZR wasn't built to be a smartphone so its really hard to compare it sales wise to a WM device. i think the RAZR is a beautiful phone, its shiney and i love shiney things (im easy to please). i was just stating that there are customers that dont like the phone and trying to point out that everyone has different tastes. if that offended you im sorry, that wasn't my intentions. i was just stating that you shouldnt judge a book by its cover ;)

[Rebecca]

Rebecca is right on target.


If Cingular or T-mo had choosent the SP5 instead of their "Humpphones" the smartphones on the US could stand a good chance against the Razr....

also don't forget, just because you might not like design of the phone doesn't mean the phone will be a failure. their our tons of individuals out there that im sure think differently than you do or have different tastes.


The mayority of individuals think the Razr is good looking that's why it is selling much better than the SMT 5600. By the way almost everyone on the forums dislikes the Hump.

just because a few people dislike the looks still does not mean the device will fail. the reason why the RAZR sells more devices than the 5600 is because most stores dont actually keep 5600s in stock. its to expensive to keep a phone in the stores that retails for close to 400 dollars. also its a very complicated device to use, more device than most customers could ever need. lets not mention that most sales rep don't even know how to begin selling smart phone type devices and last but not least when was the last time that you saw a commercial showing off how the 5600 was the worlds smallest smartphone? you cant go a day without seeing a RAZR commercial. more customers know about the RAZR then they will ever know about WM devices, that is why the RAZR sells more. hell that is why the Nokia 6010 bar phone sells more.

here youre trying to compare apples to oranges. the RAZR wasn't built to be a smartphone so its really hard to compare it sales wise to a WM device. i think the RAZR is a beautiful phone, its shiney and i love shiney things (im easy to please). i was just stating that there are customers that dont like the phone and trying to point out that everyone has different tastes. if that offended you im sorry, that wasn't my intentions. i was just stating that you shouldnt judge a book by its cover ;)

No offense taken, Forums are for having fun :P

[Rocco Augusto]

Rebecca is right on target.


If Cingular or T-mo had choosent the SP5 instead of their "Humpphones" the smartphones on the US could stand a good chance against the Razr....

also don't forget, just because you might not like design of the phone doesn't mean the phone will be a failure. their our tons of individuals out there that im sure think differently than you do or have different tastes.


The mayority of individuals think the Razr is good looking that's why it is selling much better than the SMT 5600. By the way almost everyone on the forums dislikes the Hump.

just because a few people dislike the looks still does not mean the device will fail. the reason why the RAZR sells more devices than the 5600 is because most stores dont actually keep 5600s in stock. its to expensive to keep a phone in the stores that retails for close to 400 dollars. also its a very complicated device to use, more device than most customers could ever need. lets not mention that most sales rep don't even know how to begin selling smart phone type devices and last but not least when was the last time that you saw a commercial showing off how the 5600 was the worlds smallest smartphone? you cant go a day without seeing a RAZR commercial. more customers know about the RAZR then they will ever know about WM devices, that is why the RAZR sells more. hell that is why the Nokia 6010 bar phone sells more.

here youre trying to compare apples to oranges. the RAZR wasn't built to be a smartphone so its really hard to compare it sales wise to a WM device. i think the RAZR is a beautiful phone, its shiney and i love shiney things (im easy to please). i was just stating that there are customers that dont like the phone and trying to point out that everyone has different tastes. if that offended you im sorry, that wasn't my intentions. i was just stating that you shouldnt judge a book by its cover ;)

No offense taken, Forums are for having fun :P

and making REALLY long quotes ;)

[Kris Kumar]

you cant go a day without seeing a RAZR commercial. more customers know about the RAZR then they will ever know about WM devices, that is why the RAZR sells more. hell that is why the Nokia 6010 bar phone sells more.

A very good point. 8) The TV/Print/Radio advertising and in store promotions go a long way.

Added to that, RAZR's sleek and stylish looks are easy to sell.

Compare that to Windows Mobile phones. What will be the selling point - you can access Outlook information on your phone. Or check emails on your phone and oh by the way you need to add a data plan. Customers would run away because they see a device with few buttons and many options. The same reason why my parents don't like modern VCRs/DVD players. Gone are the days when you could only play, stop, pause and turn off. Now you have menus, menus inside menus.

I would like T-Mobile or Cingular to put out the Smartphones with dedicated music player buttons. And advertise the Smartphones as Music Phones.

Or Moto Q which will get picked up more for its looks than substance. And hopefully if Motorola doesn't goof up the firmware. Then we won't see those things being returned. And it will hopefully build up the WM reputation.

Right now words "Windows Mobile" doesn't have the right ring to it or the right tone to create huge sales. In fact it will only put off people. And maybe that is why Microsoft is not advertising it much. ;-) Microsoft knows that Smartphones are supposed to be main-stream devices. And it is not yet a proven or easy-to-use device. They don't want too much publicity and end up ruining the future of the product platform. You never know what is going on inside the heads of the corporate big-wigs.

[Janak Parekh]

That's not true. If you listen to the rumors, anyway. There's that HTC flip phone code named Star Trek. Mind you, we don't know ANYTHING about it. :(
Ah, I stand corrected. Still, no EVDO or HSDPA. The RAZR v3c still has better data support. :?

just because a few people dislike the looks still does not mean the device will fail.
I don't think anyone perceives the SMT5600 as a failure, actually. Still, it isn't the runaway success that a RAZR is, and I think that will remain the case for quite some time to come. I think a some of us believe that most phones should ultimately be a Smartphone, so while they're pigeonholed now it would be nice to see a few "mainstream"-styled Smartphones to start pushing broader consumer awareness. Microsoft could help in marketing this, as well.

--janak

[Kris Kumar]

Oh another point.

Windows Mobile phones they don't have one single strong point. There is no USP (Unique Selling Proposition).

Usually for marketing, it is important to have a USP. RAZR has looks and slimness. That no one else has.

BlackBerry has push E-Mail. That works out of the box. (Windows Mobile has it but it requires Exchange and the missing MSFP..blah..blah..you get the picture).

If Apple were to come out with iPhone, it will be a good music player (and of course the usual Apple styling helps too).

But with Windows Mobile. We have a lot of good things. It can do a lot. But it can't do one thing really well. Not easy to convey in a 30 second advertisement.

That is why I think Moto Q might be the turning point. It will have the looks and also the push E-Mail (if MSFP is available, a big if). Something that should be easy to advertise. ;-)

[Rocco Augusto]

Compare that to Windows Mobile phones. What will be the selling point - you can access Outlook information on your phone....

Oh another point.

Windows Mobile phones they don't have one single strong point. There is no USP (Unique Selling Proposition).

i know exactly what you mean. i sell a fair amount of smartphones, more than most stores in my market. the reason i am able to sell them is because i picked one of my phones favorite features and use it as the USP and that feature is i can watch family guy all day on it.

usually when a customer walks in and they see my phone (5600, i leave it on my desk) they'll ask me which phone that is and why i like it and ill tell them the usually stuff "runs a mobile version of windows, i can browse the web, manage all my contacts and calendar appointments and most of all... i can watch tv shows i record at home on my phone."

i then pull out the phone, open up TCPMP and load the first family guy episode i find (theres a lot of FG on here) and let them watch a couple minutes of it. once i take it away and theyre all amazed by it i log on to pIE and go to orb.com and load up some more family guy for them that i stream from my home pc.

thats usually all it takes and i make the sale. after that i sit there and show them how to use everything like WM10, pIE, outlook, etc.

i think the main problem with selling WM smartphone type devices is that a large majority of the sales staff have no idea what they are doing. all they care about is getting as many phones out as possible so they have big comission checks. they dont take the time to actually sit there and learn about the technology that they are selling. the other day i got into a heated debate with a coworker from another store because he didnt know that his razr could be used to check his email and refused to believe that i would know more about his phone even though i dont own one.

a few catchy commercials, a nice educated sales staff and i wouldnt be suprised if you saw WM smartphones flying off the shelf... i mean why not? its not like they only have a 100 song carrying capacity or anything that cripples them like that ;)

[orion2087]

I recently (two days ago) switched over from a 5600 to a razr. And I don't regret it! I like saving the pocket space, and opera mini makes internet on the go work decently.

..anything more heavy duty, I carry my axim x50v around and teather via bluetooth. The only thing I wish it had was EDGE.

[Mike Temporale]

I recently (two days ago) switched over from a 5600 to a razr. And I don't regret it! I like saving the pocket space, and opera mini makes internet on the go work decently.

Has everyone forgotten that Opera is available for the Smartphone? I keep hearing this as a selling point for other devices. We've got Opera too!

[Kris Kumar]

I recently (two days ago) switched over from a 5600 to a razr. And I don't regret it! I like saving the pocket space, and opera mini makes internet on the go work decently.

Has everyone forgotten that Opera is available for the Smartphone? I keep hearing this as a selling point for other devices. We've got Opera too!

But other phones come with Opera out of the box. And with Smartphone people have to explore and discover and install Opera.

Usually the first impression is the last impression. Case in point. I bought MPx220. Bad firmware. Then buried it for almost a year.

[Mike Temporale]

But other phones come with Opera out of the box. And with Smartphone people have to explore and discover and install Opera.

Minor details. ;)

[Rocco Augusto]

But other phones come with Opera out of the box. And with Smartphone people have to explore and discover and install Opera.

Minor details. ;)

in my opinion, the new pocketIE is better than opera mobile. when i used opera it was slow and drained battery quicker than a cheetah trying to run to a bathroom after eating a bowl of 5 alarm chilli. it was like WHOOSH!

pocketIE's improvment were little if that but they worked.

[Mike Temporale]

in my opinion, the new pocketIE is better than opera mobile. when i used opera it was slow and drained battery quicker than a cheetah trying to run to a bathroom after eating a bowl of 5 alarm chilli. it was like WHOOSH!

pocketIE's improvment were little if that but they worked.

I HATE scrolling in IE Mobile. It stops at every little link. ARGH. It's so painful to scroll through text. :evil:

[Rocco Augusto]

in my opinion, the new pocketIE is better than opera mobile. when i used opera it was slow and drained battery quicker than a cheetah trying to run to a bathroom after eating a bowl of 5 alarm chilli. it was like WHOOSH!

pocketIE's improvment were little if that but they worked.

I HATE scrolling in IE Mobile. It stops at every little link. ARGH. It's so painful to scroll through text. :evil:

what microsoft needs to do is turn the * and # buttons into page up and page down buttons. of course thats what i would do because i rock

[Rebecca]

I recently (two days ago) switched over from a 5600 to a razr. And I don't regret it! I like saving the pocket space, and opera mini makes internet on the go work decently.

Has everyone forgotten that Opera is available for the Smartphone? I keep hearing this as a selling point for other devices. We've got Opera too!

It is not the same:

1. Opera Mini for Java phones (including RAZR) is free, opera for WM Smartphone costs 30.

2. Opera Mini uses a proxy wich reduces page size as much as 90% saving time and money. For symbian the proxy use costs an anual fee and for WM there is no proxy server in opera.

Based on these differences the Opera experience is much faster and economical in a RAZR than in a WM device.