Hi-Mobile.net was very kind to send us over a Symbian/UIQ 3G smartphone for the purposes of this article, the Motorola M1000 (currently $290). This specific model originally was only sold in Japan as a "world phone" since last July, meaning that it can work both in Japan and in the rest of the GSM world. We tested the operating system, its usability and the phone itself with the Cingular network in the Bay Area. Many screenshots and pictures included.
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Member since:
2005-10-11
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Great phone at a resonable price indeed.
About the cons, well who needs MMS support anyway.
One thing makes me not buy this phone, it's the GUI.
It looks like some very old Linux WM like fvwm.
Of course it doesn't matter for the functionality but still, it doens't look userfriendly and it's not a phone to show off with, which is very important these days.
But hey, for that price you can't complain about anything. A phone with Wifi support for $290, that's about nothing so it's a good thing they compensated the cons with the price.
My next phone will be a Motorola, but one with Linux and not Symbian.
Member since:2005-06-28
Fans: 15
>It looks like some very old Linux WM like fvwm.
I must say, that the GUI has the "feel" of Zaurus in it. Some might like it, some might not...
>well who needs MMS support anyway.
I don't usually send MMS, but because this phone also has a front camera, you can easily record videos with it and send personal messages to your friends. Right now, the front camera is pretty under-utilized because video calls are not supported in my area and MMS is not there. The presence of MMS could have given new life to the usefulness of the front camera.
Member since:2005-07-14
Fans: 1
About the look - the fonts are rather bad, but in general, I like it. I prefer this clear - one color designs - to the ones with lots of gradients, shades, etc.
Gradients and shades might look good on a regular PC, but on PDA and phone displays, there's not enough screen estate for them. Choosing between PalmOS looks (on a 320x320 screen) and Windows Mobile looks, I prefer PalmOS. All widgets have clear borders. Windows looks like a hyper-intelligne shade of blue 
. Black on white is easier to see (especially in bad light conditions) than black on a changing shade of blue.
When I got my Nokia 6021 (Series 40, I guess), the first thing I did was to turn off all the wallpapers. I still got one in the main menu and don't know how to get rid of it, but at least the main screen is clean.
[/rant]
Member since:
2005-06-29
Fans: 4
Member since:2005-06-28
Fans: 15
You must remember that smartphones run very complex operating systems and extra software. They are not as simple as the filesystem-less and operatingSystem-less phones found on the non-smartphones of LG, Samsung or Motorola.
What this means is that complex OSes produce more bugs. It is inevitable. In my time I have run Windows Mobile, Symbian, PalmOS and Linux smartphones. They ALL have bugs. However, I have never found bugs on normal phones like the consumer-grade SonyEricssons or Samsungs for example. This is why when we talk about smartphones, it IS a VALID argument to comment on their stability as we would on a review of a desktop operating system.
Member since:2006-01-12
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Well just because you haven't found them doesn't mean they aren't there. Most of the 'non-smartphones' can usually reboot themselves in a few milliseconds which is to fast for a normal person to detect. Usually the modem is living outside of the OS this is a safe practice. But I assure you 'non-smartphones' are just as buggy as the more expensive ones.
Member since:2005-10-11
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Not amazing at all, My Windows Mobile 2003 crashes more often than not.
If it's running for a week it gets slow and eventually it freezes and I need to remove the battery and reboot it to get it up and running again.
Also the booting up takes about 1 minute.
Stabilty is a very important issue for me, also with SP's so I bought my lost phone with Windows Mobile.
Didn't like the OS anyway even if it was stable.
Member since:
2006-05-09
Fans: 0
Could you comment some more on battery life, especially when using the phone as MP3 player (I assume OggPlay can play music from the card, right?)?
Also I wonder about the battery life with WLAN. Is that constantly using it or just having it active? As I'm rather interested using it as SIP phone over WLAN at home but a 4h WLAN standby time would be totally out of question for that...
Member since:2005-06-28
Fans: 15
>Could you comment some more on battery life, especially >when using the phone as MP3 player
I didn't test it as an mp3 player for the very clear reason I mentioned in my article: I can't find any headphones for it here in USA. I have to find someone in Japan to send me DoCoMo headphones before I can do that.
> Is that constantly using it or just having it active?
A mix of both.
> but a 4h WLAN standby time would be totally out of question for that...
It would probably be a few more hours in pure standby. No device can go very long with WiFi ON. WiFi --by nature-- requires lots of power.
Member since:
2005-07-06
Fans: 0
I remember drooling over this phone.
I did say that I was tempted to buy it, when I read your first paragraph, but the lack of GSM 850 is a deal breaker. If I were with T-mobile, it would be a different story, but with Cingular you innevitably need 850 - which is probably why your voicemail indicator did not work.
The proprietary audio jack,the lack of MMS, and the localization are also problematic (given that 55% of my contacts are all in greek).
I have noticed that since last year UIQ has been treated as the black sheep of the Symbian family. Motorola has not produced much, SonyEricsson JUST released the W950i (still no GSM 850!!! WTF?!) and the P990i will be out-dated by the time it hits the market. - meanwhile nokia et al. are just ramping up production of S60 devices.
Member since:2005-06-28
Fans: 15
> but with Cingular you innevitably need 850 - which is >probably why your voicemail indicator did not work.
No, I don't need 850Mhz in my area. Other triband phones work fine here with Cingular and their voicemail works fine too.
>(given that 55% of my contacts are all in greek).
There is unicode support. Greek names are supported and you can even write in greek if you want by choosing a special input panel.
Member since:2005-07-06
Fans: 0
Depends on Where you are on with the 850 coverage ;-)
Here in MA, 850 is a necessity if you want coverage in buildings. 1900 (formet AT&T) is OK - but not perfect.
As for Greek - yes you can read and write :-) but in the addressbook there is Katakana and an English A - there is no indication that those aplha-tabs can change to accomodate greek letters :-)
Member since:2005-06-28
Fans: 15