Hello everyone, I just got my V551 exchanged through the warranty exchange program. I've had my first release V551 for almost a year, and I wanted to hold out to get the latest firmware upgrade when I traded it in. I will try and keep everyone posted as to whether or not the first release problems have really been solved with the new firmware as I have been told. Specific issuses I have have w/ the first release model: 1. BLUETOOTH MODULE NOT ATTACHED ERROR 2. UNABLE TO CHARGE ERROR 3. Bluetooth headset disconnecting from phone 4. Email issues I have noticed some improvements. 1. The Edge icon replaced the GPRS icon 2. Service Tone option has been added I will post more upgrades / improvements as I notice them. I was disapointed that the replacement phone did not have a battery installed. I was hoping to transfer my pics and ringtones via bluetooth. I ordered a data cable on Ebay to finish the transfers before I turn the old one back in. Later all, Jay
all in all; would you really recommend a Motorola, given all the glitches, in this and other releases? Recall the 720 especially for CDMA.
Despite the glitches I absolutely love the V551, It has the best signal strength and call clarity of any cell phone i've ever used. I've only had the replacement 2 days now but I've hod no problems with it so far. I just wish Motorola would field test their equipment a little more before going public w/ a new model. I guess in such a technology driven market there is a huge rush to have the newest equipment out there.
I have to say, I am very happy with my V551 as well, I haven't had any problems with it and my Rf is fairly close to my old Nokia's in most locations, in a couple the Nokia's will hold a signal a little better, but for the most part it's up to par with my Nokia's and the sound quality is a little better.
I have not been happy with the 551. :lmao: I had to go to this phone from the 710 when my company went to cingular. :lmao: Maybe the 551 is a good phone but it is a drop off from the 710 plus Cingular where I live sucks big ones. I prefer verizon and the verizon phones IE LG 8100, Moto 815, 710 etc. (I try to end on a happy note)
In this area Cingular's GSM coverage is bigger than Verizon's CDMA. My Dad's company had given him a new phone with Verizon service and he complained that it didn't work anywhere near his house, and it didn't work in the areas he frequented. He knew that my V551 worked where he needed coverage so he forced the issue with the president of the company. He just got his Treo 650? (not quite sure on the model #) with Cingular service the other day and he says it works great. It has so many buttons that he doesn't know how to use though, and he feels like he's launching nuclear missiles with it. It really does look like a James Bond phone. Later, Jay
I'd agree the 551 isn't as good as the 710 as well. I was disappointed the I have to train the voice recognition on the 551. I'd be a little happier if I could figure out how to change the main screen right soft key from VideoCam to something I actually use.
You have to do some seem editing to change that. I have mine set up to go to the settings menu right now, and I got rid of "Media Mall". There's a nice flex available for download on www.Motomodders.net that does a lot of that stuff for you, and removes all the Cingular branding too.
The flex does a lot of the stuff I seem edited to change. It defaults the right soft key to the settings menu. It also removes cingular branding, and enables all hidden menus. I've been playing with the engineering menu all day. Its fun. I don't know why I didn't get a data cable and do this sooner.
hey, what are these hidden menus?? what are those fatcats at cingular hidding from us? by the way, in order to do seem editing and etc, what do you need? will the USB cable do? also, what programs do you recomend? actually, what do you use? im intereste in de-branding my phone, just like you did. i have no use for media mall and etc.
Here is the step by step guide I used to flex & flash my V551. It is written for the V600, but everything is the same except the files you actually upload to the phone. http://www.mob453.com/phones/motorola_v600/ I'll have to check when I get home and see the site I got the flex files from. I don't remember right now. Anyway, the flex I used boosted the gain table so you can adjust all sounds louder, enabled the engineering menu, enabled more detailed network menu, added the vibe & ring option (this is cool, your phone vibrates as it rings, unlike vibe then ring which is stock.) All cingular startup & shutdown animations are gone, and so are the preloaded pics & screensavers. Media Mall gone! When the flip is open it shows the motorola logo on the external LCD, not Cingular. The battery save option was added to the setup menu, and the phone will actually display all networks in a given area, no matter if Cingular owns them or not. (I actually forced my phone to roam on T-Mobile for a bit today) Once you experiment with the engineering menu you won't go back though. There is so much cool stuff there I can't even begin to describe it. I also did some seem editing and enabled the emergency call feature. What this does is if you are in a no service area for your carrier and there is another network available, but it is a "Not ok to roam" network your phone will display emergency only. You will be allowed on the other network to dial 911 only. I feel this is a very important feature, but the cell phone companies don't want people knowing other carriers have service where they don't, so they disable this. I'll supply a link to all the info later when I get home.
I found the page with the flex file I used on it. I used the following flex: MMV551ZP074_U_SW8.17.0FR here is a link to the page with all the custom flexes on Motomodders http://www.motomodders.net/Default.aspx?tabid=70
wooooooow, that sounds really nice!!! i want to do that too... know what? i was actually looking for a way to put my own startup logo on m phone, and you just said it can be done!! all i have to do is get me a data cable. thanks so much for the links, im gonna check them out right now!!!
Does this include the earpiece volume? A friend of mine has a V551 and that is his biggest complaint, it's just to quiet. I read through the step by step of doing the flash/flex and I was wondering, will the PST 7.1.1 and P2K files that I have for doing seem edits on my E815 work for the V551? I assume the PST should, just being a newer version, but maybe the P2K is different.
As far as I know the software is the same, just the files uploaded to the phone are different. It wouldn't hurt to just download the newer versions of the software though. The ringer, earpiece, speakerphone and system sounds can be set much higher now. The Siren ringtone was loud before, now the siren tone scares the hell out of me. There is absolutely no way you can sleep through it ringing now. One of my employees text messaged me at 2am the other night and not only did it wake me up, but I was too tired to realize that it wasn't ringing, and wondered why the call wasn't showing up on recent calls. In the morning I saw the text that came in the night before. The only real seem edit I made over the flex has been the addition of the "Emergency Call" feature. If you are in an area w/ no native service and there is a GSM network available that is not "ok to roam" then your phone will display "Emergency Call Only" and only allow you on the network to dial 911.
I thought the software apgrade opened up the system select menu so you could get on any system anyway?
Yes you can see all networks, but your SIM card can block you from logging on to them if your carrier doesn't have a roaming agreement with them in that area. What that seem edit does is overrides the SIM card, but only for 911 calls.
Really? I thought that just changed the banner from blank to "Emergency Only" when there was no roaming agreement between your carrier and the carrier where you are. And that the FCC made it so that any GSM phone (sold in the US) could make a emergency call even if there was no sim card in it.
Well that's my understanding of how that works, I may be able to ask some of my friends who specialize in emergency communications and see if they know.
You are correct that if there is no Roaming agreement that you can still make 9-1-1 calls from the phone & that is why it say's Emergency Only on it. As for no SIM card, I don't think you can do that because the Networks need the SIM to communicate with them, but they may have a safety feature to allow the calls to go thru, just like old phones that have been shut off on CDMA or TDMA networks. I would try it But because of the implications & possibly causing a real emergency to get tied up I won't. I will also try to find out though.
K. Thanks Fire. My only guess about not having a sim in and being able to call is when you start typing in numbers it will pop up "emergency call only", that's on the Moto phones I have.
If you have no SIM card and even if it displays "Insert SIM" you can still make a 9-1-1 call with the phone, it's a safety feature they have setup with the phones. Which is good for people that can't afford a phone & Plan but need 1 for emergencies only, like the battered women programs or to give your child to carry around with them etc...
not only can you make a 911 call, but you can make a 113 as well, in case you're in france or something!! ou la la! :browani:
