How would you change the Motorola RAZR?
By Barb Dybwad 
posted June 17th 2005 8:55PM
posted June 17th 2005 8:55PM
Okay, imagineers and active consumers, gather 'round and let's dissect this week's "How would you change…" victim, the Motorola RAZR. We'll seed the pot with a few wishlist items:
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A#1: More memory!
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Better camera
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T9 support
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Better address book
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Give it a smartphone OS
Now we pass the talking stick to you all. Have at it!
the v1150 is pretty close, too bad they didn't keep the quadband gsm, and it looks like it only has GPRS...
How about a seperate port for headset this way, you can talk and charge your phone at the same time. Right now you are SOL when your phone battery is almost dead and you need to use your head set.
Get rid of the BIG banner when the phone is connected, I sometime want to know what time it is while I am on the phone. This HUGE banner blocks the time display.
How about a simple very inexpensive high quality razr cell phone with no camera that can list for $99 or less? perhaps offered in different anodized colors?
I made some wallpapers for my V3 Black...
you can get them here: http://caught-dead.de/?p=96
I love my V3 Black!
sound quality even at setting 7 is too low and especially for those whose hearing is a bit impaired...this should be corrected
I regard the razr primarily as a mobile phone - ie: I dont expect it to provide smartphone functionality - it just isnt designed for that.
So what is essential in a phone:
- sound / call quality
- easy to use / good ui
- decent support for synchronization (minimum requirement is to be able to back up the phone book) for users running windows, linux and macosx.
So - what about the Razr ?
- I like it except for 2 MAJOR drawbacks:
it appears to me that the synchronization is un-usable.
People who are running windows are complaining about it not working while linux/macosx users are left without this functionality being available to them at all. In some markets this is a huge problem. I currently have no access at all to windows since the companies I work for all run linux and/or macosx (and these are not small businesses - read > 30000 employees). The same goes for our accountants and business partners.
I just cant take any manufacturer seriously when they dont support SyncML.
- The address book "scales poorly" making it more and more cumbersome to use when the number of contacts increase. This is basically a poor UI design decision.
I have to add my call for a better address book. Anyone here that makes claims like "sort by name" or RTFM,. obviously have no clue what we're talking about here. Go use a Sony-Ericson phone and take a look at how an address book should be done. Of course it too has issues with not storing physical addresses but it's FAR FAR FAR better than this thing! Looks as if Motorola needs a team in software design as good as hardware design to me.
I had this phone for about 2 weeks before it drove me crazy with its slow/clumsy menus and counter-intuitive address book. The camera is more of an abstract picture generator than anything. The bezels around the screens are pointless. I have now moved onto a real phone K750i and handed this down to my 15 yr old son who seems to love it. "It's balling" apparently.
Conclusion:
If you're 15 yrs old and care more about how you look than anything else this is the device for you. That aside this thing is useless. It's even to thin to be a good doortop.
BK
Add the cingular's EDGE network on. More memory or memory slots. Ability to change all logos including external screen.
I've had my RAZR for one day (T-Mobile).
Re: #155. I'm running OS X 10.4.2 (Tiger). I used to use a Palm OS phone (Kyocera, now there was a piece of garbage) and had Palm Desktop synced to my address book via iSync. All I did for the RAZR was to find a cable/adapter (the hard part), plug it in, iSync|Add Device. It showed up. Twiddle an option or two, sync'ed and all my contacts and calendar entries are now very happily residing on the Mac and RAZR.
The address book does suck. Set Primary and using the keypad to get close to the name help. Why isn't there a faster scrolling/paging method?!?
Haven't seen it mentioned, but for my frequent contacts, I made a Voice Name so I can just speak the name of who I want to call. That works nice.
Otherwise, a huge improvement over the Kyocera. I like it.
give it EDGE or UTMS compatibilities..it should have had at least one already.
- T9
- Save pictures faster: why must I press so many keys to save a picture?
- A better camera, definitely. It's not a megapixel problem, it's an imaging software problem;
- Bigger front LCD. That black empty frame makes the phone uglier;
Other than that, I like it a lot. It's a nice, good-looking phone that fits very well in even small purses.
Maybe someone can help me, as I have not noticed ANYONE griping about this...When I have a missed call, the external display only shows "1 missed call" for about 1 or 2 minutes, and then the external display is cleared- to just show the clock again. This was a gripe of mine- that the external display does not show if you have any missed calls or not, but nobody else mentioned this. What am I doing wrong? How can I change this? CAN I change this?
I have a problem with syncronizing tiger adress book with V3 ; I can't find how to switch the sorting by first name/last name. Someone could help me ? thanks
For all who didn;t know, you can add video recording and multiple letter phonebook search
Needs more memory though...... and to be able to be always discoverable on bluetooth
Cheers,
Fil
Also, sid007, you can change the logo on the external screen.....
Go to motomodders.net, there is all the info you need to make your V3 the phone it should have been.
FiL
WM5 please. So... you know... us few windows users can sync outlook contacts properly. It is a phone after all and there are one or two windows + outlook users out there.
Don't advertise it as a fashion accessory (not going to happen I know). It's a flip that isn't and inch thick when closed. That's enough for me.
MiniSD slot would be nice.
Any kind of memory card slot.
Better camera.
A *real* Web browser (Firefox-embedded would be cool).
Proper MP3 playback up to 320kbps (and OGG, AAC etc).
Support for H264 Video.
More PDA-like functionality - e.g. a Notepad app.
Better Bluetooth stack with more profiles.
Support for the ThinkOutside Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard.
PS:
It *will* do video recording and the Phonebook *can* be improved (See www.motox.us for firmware).
The UI is OK, once you get used to it.
ok first...make it half the size, but with a 20gig ipod in it, with a scroll wheel, a qwerty keyboard, have a 4 mp camera, be smart enough to not even ring when idiots that i dont want to talk to call me, radio, tv, dvd player, coffee maker, an extra 20gigs of memory for video, be able to tell my body temperature, order a pizza for me when it thinks i need pizza, when i turn it on i want a sexy australian woman's voice saying "hello jay is there anything i can do for you today," do my taxes for me whenever i needa start doin that, oh yeah a regular headphone jack, not those damn gay ones like on my nokia 3300 music phone which is a piece of junk and coulda been a million times better. and with all this, they have to make sure its half the size of the RAZR right now...cuz then i wouldnt want it lol...Do all this Motorola and u might make some money...haha
1) Responsiveness. It's not just slow, it is matterially wrong. It'll beep even though it doesn't register the key press. (It'll beep and drop the fact that you hit the button) The phone should only beep if the event is being handled.
2) The phonebook is totall ass. SIM entries are duplicated if there are phone entries. You can't have multiple numbers per person. My lame nokia had a better phonebook where I could use the name with a primary phone number or go to details to select an alternate.
3) Capture video on the camera.
4) Open the design up for us tinkerers. Let us make our own themes and such. And effortlessly upload them.
1st of all i would change the color of lumi light to different colors like red, purple, green , second i chaged the width of the front screen.second i would allow to have some screensavers.
Give it Symbian OS
@#36: Open your mind and learn that Windows isn't the only decent OS. You're obviously uneducated on anything but Windows, if that. Linux is extremely flexible. Moreso than Windows for the most part.
Remove the stupid camera, every phone on this planet doesn't need a camera. Remove that, and the price will drop drastically.
Is ANYONE else having a problem with the "missed calls" screen going away from the external screen after about a minute? I have this problem and it bugs the heck out of me.
ANYONE??? (This is a re-post of post 163..)
Thanks for input from anyone...
Regarding posts 163 and 175....Thanks to nobody here, I figured it out, and I will share in case anyone is having the same problem...
Settings > Inital Setup, change Display Timeout to "off"...Mine was set at 1 minute, which was causing the missed calls notification to clear out after 1 minute. Hope this helps anybody else that this was bugging...
Motorola should:
1. Add a key board to the Razr
2. Change that horrible phone book - why can't they let you put home, cell, work & fax numbers under one name.
3. Get a windows or smart phone OS
4. Improve the camera - Oh its so horrible
5. Improve the display on the alpha keys for better tex messaging.
6. Cut the price by 50%. Its only a phone its not a pda.
More memory
Larger 16.7 million color internal screen
Larger 16.7 million color external screen
Screen 3
5 megapixel camera
Glowing blue Motorola symbols
Memory card slot
Better phone book
Butter menu's/UI
add a wi-fi technology
make a mp3 player
more internal memory
NOTICE TO PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE PHONEBOOK not being able to group different numbers with the same person: you can.
While on the phonebook, click that middle button, scroll down to Setup, and select View: Primary Contacts. It'll group them together and then you can select which one to be the primary one. Clicking the right or left button will select the different phone numbers stored.
Get this insted!
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1271355&CatId=0
Get OS X Running on it. Or linux.
it has t9 they just call it smart text or something. just change it to your primay or secondary entry mode. its better than t9. its so fun having one of these phones. everybody wants to see and and you see it on mtv like on music videos and ex secretary of state colin powell. did i mention the oscars or something everyone got a free black one b4 they were available to the public. motorola has done an awesome job with the razr, it deserved the price tag with the image that comes with it. its like owning a beemer. i didnt like the the width or keypad at first. but like after a day i love it. HELLO MOTO! lol. does anyone think its good enough? i dont need a time machine for my pocket. actually some leds for missed calls and ring tones. and less fingerprints!
The RAZR address book DOES let you add different numbers (e.g., work...home, etc) and email address in one single entry. read the manual. my brother works for cingular and he did it for me. i will figure out how to do it and post it later.
p.s. the RAZR is definately nothing but an overhyped waif.
look at comment "181. Posted Aug 16, 2005, 4:22 PM ET by Miguel".
it explains how to group diffrent phone numbers into one single entery.
p.s. if i had insurance on my RAZR i would run over it twice.
How quickly can I find a number in the phone book and ring someone?
I actually really LIKE my RAZR. I have t-Mobile as my carrier, and I'm pleased with my reception, battery life and call performance.
I got the phone for free after a special promotion, so that probably helps my outlook some.
The only thing I'd change, really, is the Bluetooth implementation. a) it sucks batteries big time when BT is on, and b) there's no convenient way to switch to handsfree/bluetooth-on profile without going through six different menus (3 with shortcuts) and then power BT off when you're through (see "sucks batteries" above).
Other than that, I don't really use the camera so it doesn't disappoint me. Voice dial is a whole lot better than my past phones ever were.
I DEFINITELY would NOT have it made by Nokia. Every single Nokia I've ever had has literally fallen apart.
Does anyones RAZR V3 ever freeze up? How do you "unfreeze" it?
Linux OS, video enabled by default, remove the option to lock the phone or have the OS/hardware ignore any lock. Better camera - more memory. World class bluetooth hands-free included, leather pouch w/metal clip included. More alarms.
I think overall it's a good phone, however more than 5 meg of memory would be better and if its too small for a better camera take it off alltogether. I bet the next razr will be awsome.
It's way too wide - I just bought one (as soon as Verizon offered it), and after waiting this long I'm going to take it back. The width just makes it completely unwieldy, particularly as I have small hands - it should be slightly wider than the Nano, but not much more. It seems to be made for guys, and I guess us girls will just have to wait until they come up with something more usable.
I just made a depressing discovery: When the phone is off, you receive messages, but they aren't tallied in the Voicemail entry in the Message Center and the phone doesn't signal you with sound or icon when you turn it back on, as my old Motorola did. I'm missing messages right and left because of this. Does anyone have a solution?