Motorola V2288

Motorola really know how to make a good phone. It is incredibly feature-packed for a £40 (with a free Orange Out-Here pack) phone. This phone is on Orange and so will have slightly different features to the standard Motorola V.2288. I will list and comment on all the features of the phone.

WAP Internet Access-

The WAP part of the phone is great. It is simple to use and easy to configure. You can set one neat feature allowing the phone to auto-disconnect after so many seconds of inactivity (saving your phone bill!). I recommend getting a BT Talk 21 E-mail account if you have this phone because you can easily access your e-mail while on the move. This is great for me. With Orange the WAP calls are 10p per minute which isn't great. But at the weekend the WAP calls are totally free (at least until 31st May 2001) making it more worthwhile. If you want a phone with decent games it doesn't have to be a Nokia. There are a handful of brilliant games accessible from the Orange main page on WAP. The single downside to this is that about half an hour on WAP will drain most of your battery.

Phone Book-

From the Phone Book you can check your last ten calls made and received easily, and if you are forgetful check what your number is. Also if you have two numbers it will display both. In the Phone Book you can also setup fixed dialling and one-touch dialling. The main feature of the Phone Book is called Personal Numbers. From here you can add names and numbers very easily and view them. To find numbers you can search for the first three letters of their name or enter the location in the SIM cards memory. There are 90 spaces for names so unless you have 91 contacts you should be fine. It is easy to check how many spaces are left and you can also prevent access to your Phone Book. Overall the Phone Book is well implemented and easy to use.

Call Related Features-

From here you can easily view how much charge is left in your battery, restrict your phone number and setup call barring. Thats it. Not much fun there, is there?

Messages-

On the Answerphone side of things, from here you can call Voicemail (10p per minute) and change your message settings. Then for SMS messaging you can check your received messages (this costs nothing) or check and send your outgoing messages (you can save messages to outgoing from message editor if you don't want to send them yet). When you receive an SMS your phone beeps for a couple of seconds (unless you turned sound off). The final feature is the message editor. From here you can key in your message and then either save it or send it. It links to the Phone Book so you can message a contact without having to remember their number. When I bought this phone it came with a free Orange Out Here pack. This lets me send 5 free text messages a day and comes with a £5 top up voucher. Not bad!

Call Meters-

From here you can set call timers and view your lifetime timer. How exciting!

Network Selection-

Search for other available networks for your phone (not that there actually is any).

Phone Setup-

Set volume, phone lock, contrast, PIN codes, language, extended menus, keypad tones, security codes and which ringtone you want. The ringtones are an appalling selection and if you want to customise your phone look elsewhere. Some ringtone websites claim they can send ringtones to Motorola V.2288s. This is false. Don't bother as I have tried and it is a con.

Phoning-

The main purpose of a mobile phone is to phone people and the V.2288 excels at this. It is easy to use and has excellent reception.

Radio-

The V.2288 has a gimmick which no other phone has. It is a decent radio built into the phone. By pressing a button on the side you can listen to any radio stations on the move. The phone comes with an earpiece.

Fascias-

The standard phone is a creamy white colour. There are hard snap on covers available and rubber wraps. The phone comes with two rubber wraps (blue and pink). The phone slips into them and they protect the phone as well as allowing to change the colour quickly. Unfortunately it is hard to find shops selling either covers or rubber wraps for the V.2288.

Design-

It is a well built and sturdy phone but it is too big. Its not very nice to have in your pocket unless your pocket is massive. It doesn't have a retractable aerial but it is neatly shaped.

Well I think I've covered everything about the Motorola V.2288e. I hope you've enjoyed reading this opinion and I hope it influences your decision on whether to buy it or not. Thankyou.