Motorola A1200 (ming) review

I bought this set about two months ago, and I am very happy with this phone. However, there are certain issues that I want to clear. This may be of great help for those who plan to buy it or planning to buy a good handset.

First of all, this is not a PDA as marketed, it has certain functions of a PDA but its not a PDA, instead we can call it a smartphone whose functionality can directly comparable to Nokia n-series. Those looking for a REAL PDA should look somewhere else (P990, communicator or O2 etc).
Now let me describe its features now:-

• First, It has Linux OS, and this is a very positive point in itself. I’d copied a file system virus which, once infected, copies three files (a temp file, winzip.XXX file, and a log file) to every folder of the system. The virus did nothing to my mobile phone, however all three files were visible (in folder where I copied those files) in the phone’s “file manager”. The phone was unable to delete the files by delete command and I’d to connect it to the computer to delete them. But once deleted, the Linux OS was working as efficiently as ever. There were no signs of any infections. Thanks to the Linux OS, your phone will remain immune to most of Symbian and windows viruses. Now I use Bluetooth with less fear.

• Second, the 2.4 inches touch screen is really huge and clear. It is bigger than the screens of Sony Ericsson’s Walkman series or K series and even bigger than N-series sets of this range. I even did not like Motorola V3X’s screen or Sony’s K790 screen in comparison to Motorola Ming. All above phones have 2.62 K color screens but Moto Ming’s screen was biggest and pictures were more livelier and well readable in sunlight.

• Third, It has Business Card Reader feature which is a unique feature not commonly found in other mobile devices. It can read information (like name, phone, mobile no, address, email etc) from your business cards/visiting cards and store the information. I tried this feature successfully, it takes about 2-3 seconds to process and its not 100% accurate but its amazing to see how it reads information. Just read the instructions when you click the BCR application.

• Fourth, another good feature is its voice command recognition; it didn’t had any problem recognizing my voice commands. There is no need to train the phone (voice training is not provided), just have a look at the command list (its given in the menu) and speak them clearly after pressing the voice command button at the right side of the phone. The phone can reads out message text for you but for that, you have to turn on the talking phone feature.

• Music, quality of the music through the headsets is easily comparable to Nokia N-series but slightly inferior to Sony Ericsson’s Walkman series (keep in mind they are dedicated walkman devices). Music comes crystal clear and with no noise. Sound volume of the headphones is more than required. The bass of the headsets is more than that of Walkman series even with their MegaBass™ on. I think the walkman series has the advantage of the supplied in-ear headphones. Other wise, sound quality has no big difference.

• MP3 sound through the phone’s inbuilt speaker is not upto the mark and has very low volume. However, it is capable of playing music much more loudly as in the case of its FM radio whose volume is comparable to the loudest fm phone in the market. However, Fm/MP3 sound through phone’s speaker is not stereo because it has only one speaker. At the same time, Fm stereo sound through headphones is very good and reception is stronger/similar than Nokia 2300/6030/6610.

• It supports all common music file formats (same as Walkman Series) and most video formats (even those, not supported by walkman series) except .avi format. You can always convert .avi files to .3gp or .mp4 (you should always prefer mp4 over 3gp). But if you don’t have a file conversion software than you can convert it online: www.media-convert.com for files upto 50 MB size and www.zamzar.com for files upto 100 MB (but if your file size is upto 50MB, prefer media-convert.com) and did I mentioned, its all free and legal. Besides this, the phone can also open .pdf, .doc, .xls, .ppt, .txt files. Mail me if you find more file formats supported.

• The transparent flap is active. i.e. it is not just a showpiece, it has a embedded earphone and if there is an incoming call, then you can attend it by just opening the flap, just like any other flap phone. Closing the flap will disconnect the call (except if the headphones are plugged in). The phone camera works even if the flap is closed and the screen (which also works as a viewfinder) will still be viewable through the transparent flap. We can also read messages with flap closed. Font will be automatically adjusted to be viewable from outside the flap. Nice feature. We can also change/play MP3 songs even if the flap is closed.

• Connectivity with computer was also very easy. Just change your phone’s mode from modem mode to mass-storage mode and then plug in the handset to the computer through the cable provided. It was readily detected by the computer (windows XP and Windows 2000 both) and you need no additional software for copying files to and from the phone. You need software provided in the included CD, if you want to access additional features such as phonebook, messages etc. You can store files of any format or extension (whether phone supports it or not) upto the maximum capacity of 512 MB (capacity of Transflash card provided in the package). Phone has internal memory of 8MB (no issue! We have a total of 520 MB). The phone supports a maximum memory upgrade of 1GB.

• The phone supports Bluetooth 1.2 (and not 2.0) but still I am sure it can connect to multiple devices at a time. It supports audio streaming to Bluetooth headsets but I am afraid it can stream stereo sound because of the bandwidth problem with Bluetooth v1.2. I do not blame the manufacturers to implement an older version of Bluetooth because this phone was released somewhere in the fourth quarter in 2005 and at that time Bluetooth 2.0 was not available.

The phone certainly has some downsides too.

• First, Camera- The pictures taken by the 2-mega pixel camera gets blurred even with the slightest of the movement (of either the object or you). Although, once properly taken, the picture quality is good but my cheap 640 x 480 resolution (.3 mega pixel) digital camera takes much better pictures than this (even better than sony’s k750 for your kind information . The video taken by the phone also suffers this image stabilization problem and the video looks blurry. I have compared it to Sony K750 pics and video, they were far better than this phone (yeah, I know that’s a K series and has auto focus but both have 2 MP camera but at least Ming should be gracefully defeated). I am sure this is just a software problem, and forthcoming software updates will solve out this problem (lets hope so…at least). Then it will (and it is) become the best Mobile phone available in the market for this price bracket

• MP3 volume (through handset) is a little bit low, but as I’ve already mention earlier that the speaker is capable of producing more louder sound, this could also be resolved by software update. (Anyone listening in Motorola?...)

• The phone is too delicate. Although this statement have different meaning for different people, what I meant by this is that the phone is not meant for rough use, it should be handled as an expensive device. And you should not use your finger to navigate through the menus, use the provided stylus instead (its more appealing). Use your fingertips only in exceptional conditions, as it could make your screen less responsive to touch during course of time. My suggestion is that you should cold laminate your entire handset (including its screen), although its a comparatively expensive process and is not widely available in India but its worth its price.

• No cut, copy, paste- This phone does not have this feature like my ancient Panasonic GD68 mobile phone in which you can cut/copy text from text messages and paste it to a new or saved message. This is a simple and useful feature, which would be provided in this phone.

• Flap is difficult to open. This is not a big issue unless you have big fingers with no nails. Also the joystick is not pleasant to use, however till now I hardly used it. Also menu navigation through joystick is only possible in right or left direction not in up and down motion. I am sure this is a bug and Motorola should fix this in their next version update.

• Battery backup: Here comes a downside associated with a big screen. Its screen eats up battery power very frequently. The manufacturers have provided only a 850 mAh battery. At least a 1000mAh battery would be incorporated. In my starting days of buying this phone, I even manage to discharge it in a single day (with over 11 hours of FM playing, with 3 hours on speakerphone, 2 hrs of phone surfing and 1 hr of talk). One thing you should take care of is to charge the phone completely before first use and then discharge it completely. Repeat this process, four or five times or as often as possible. I noticed that during its first few days of use, I discharged it completely before recharging and I got some more battery power each time. At present its battery works for about three days and not more than this.

• I am not sure if there is a way to transfer sim card data (numbers and messages) to this phone. This is really important especially in today’s scenario when very high capacity sim cards began to float in the market.

Overall i recommend this phone to everyone, it has great style, good sound, plenty of features and touchscreen. At present, you can not find a better phone within this price range. So, get it now!

Any comments and suggestions are welcome

 

Of course, you can increase your ming's volume.
please visit this thread
http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=6217
here you can find a whole lot of goodies for your ming

 

i m sure the site is down for some reasons, please be patient, i'll again check in a day or two and let you know about it.

 

Now this link is working
"http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=6217"

 

no, the files are freely available without having to download any program. you just need to register on the forum. and plz read the thread carefully.
if you still have any problem, let me know, i'll assist u

 

ok, i've attached some files with this post. download them all on your PC
yan0.zip-
-unzip it on your PC using winzip or winrar.
-it contains four files. one of the file should be MPKG_A1200.rar, unzip it too. it contains a hidden .system folder (make sure u've enabled "view all hidden files" option on your PC).
-Now connect your Phone to your PC, this will be visible as a new drive on your PC (assume it is F: drive but it may be different on your PC).
-The root drive of your phone (in this case F: drive) also contains a hidden .system folder. copy this folder to a safe location on your PC (for backup).
-now replace the old .system folder with new .system folder which you extracted from MPKG_A1200.rar to this location.
-Disconnect your phone from ur PC
-restart your phone
-an MPKG icon should be visible on your phone's menu

Please let me know whether it works or not. And keep other files that i uploaded here, as may be needed later.

 

hi debadboyrs! there are two types of BT60 batteries (1000mah) available in the market. some of them fits without any modding (without trimming) and some needs some modding. I can not say which one is original and which one is fake but u should always buy from genuine motorola centers. the guys at ebay are not genuine and i hear several complaints in their products, may be u should try at your local electronics market. and one more thing, with this new bt60 u should expect about 3/4 or 1 day increased battery life. expect nothing more than this.
but in my opinion, u should try flashing to another firmware may be .08p or if u dare .30p, these firmware have comparatively better battery life. m on 08p and it goes for about 2 days. i think its big screen and GPRS consumes lot of power, what u think?

 

as far original battery is concerned please check official motorola website to locate authorized motorola dealers within ur locality and check whether the new BT60 fits in ur ming.
and yeah if low volume is ur only concern then u just install volumeup available on motorolafans.com. i m very happy with my phone's volume after installing it.

 

welcome to the board debadboyrs, i am always here to help u.
to install volume up u need 2 have mpkg installed on ur phone. i already mentioned steps to install mpkg (see above in this thread) . if u already have it, plz let me know...

 

congrats man, now u have MPKG installed on your phone. you dont have to click MPKG icon ever, its not a executable file. Now you need to install linloader. its loader.pkg file in the yano.rar.
-just copy it to the root folder of your transflash
-tap this pkg file and hold ur stylus for 2 seconds and a pop up menu will appear
-select "open with", then select mpkg from the next window
-click open. wait for about 20 seconds, you will hear a beep sound. this confirms that installation is successful.


for volume up:-
-now extract the mpkg.lin file from the rar file i've attached
-copy it to the root folder of your transflash card
-tap and hold stylus for 2 seconds, a pop up menu will appear
-select "open with" option and select "loader" from the list
-click open. this will install neccessary settings for volume up
-now extract volumeup_v1.01.pkg from the zip file i provided
-tap and hold stylus for 2 seconds, a pop up menu will appear
-select "open with", then select mpkg from the next window
-click open. wait for some time, you will hear a beep. this means your installation is complete
-now you should be able to see a volume up folder in the root of the transflash and in the main menu of the phone. if it doesn't, try restart ur phone.

you need to remember one thing: you need to click the volume up icon in the menu list everytime you restart your phone. it will not automatically start.

try these steps, and let me know whether you are successful or not.

 

let me see if i have the config file for volumeup....

 

here is the .cgf file, you need to copy this file at two locations:
1 - in the volumeup folder in your transflash card (this should be in the root)
2 - open .system folder (make sure you enabled "Show hidden files" options in windows)
-Under QTdownload folder, u will find another .cfg file. Also replace it with this new file.

now you are done, restart ur phone and click volume-up icon in the phone menu.
let me know if it works... best of luck

 

for testing:
-restart your phone and listen to your favorite ringtone
-now, run volumeup application from the phone's menu
-listen to the same ringtone

in my phone the volume is noticeable higher and i dont have to listen to it carefully to realize that and you will also notice a slight increase in the earpiece volume during a call.
Remember, that you have to manually run the volumeup application after each restart.
the procedure you are trying is correct but if it still does not work, then try to replace the file without renaming (at both locations).
plz let me know if it works...

 

yeah, once you tap on it, it will make a sound after 2-3 sec. this is the confirmation that the application is now running.