Motorola Razr
Posted by: russmeister
Motorola Razr - 03/03/2006 11:13
So I want to buy a new phone and I've wanted the Razr for a while now. I finally decided to take a closer look at it but there's one thing about the phone that really bothers me.
I'm use to my phone's software, a sony-ericsson T637, that takes an address book and can group phone numbers with one name. In the Razr, I couldn't figure it out. Everytime you assign a new number to a name that name now shows up 2 times in the address book.
So my question is this: Can you group numbers together with one name and have a sub-menu to pick a number to call?
Any of you out there with a Razr that would like to help out please advise.
I haven't purchased the phone yet on this basis alone. Can the software even do this?
Posted by: Phoenix42
Re: Motorola Razr - 03/03/2006 11:46
I believe it can't, my brother in law has one and grips about this. I think this is the way Motorola does things as that is the same behavior on my V220.
Posted by: robricc
Re: Motorola Razr - 03/03/2006 11:49
Yes, it can do this. By default, the contacts are stored on the SIM which is what you don't want. You can change the settings so the contacts are stored on the phone. That will make it do what you want.
Posted by: russmeister
Re: Motorola Razr - 03/03/2006 12:34
That's perfect. When I looked at the phone I used my SIM card and this was the outcome. I didn't think about creating a new contact on the phone itself.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Motorola Razr - 03/03/2006 12:39
The Razr, like all of Motorola's recent phones, is all show and no go. Opposed to their phones of years past which were no show and no go. To find a worse interface on a phone you'd have to start using phones from the likes of Samsung or perhaps LG. I'd be willing to bet most of the J-phones fall shy of Nokia and Sony Ericsson.
The Razr has been over-hyped for the past 1.5 years due solely to its thin profile and reasonably Star Trek looks. Even if you like flippers (I don't), you should stop to try not only its GUI, but also tactile feedback. I was very unimpressed with the feel of the phone in general, not to mention its shiny key pad. It's just the opposite of what I look for in a product in so many ways.
I'd really recommend you look into the newer Nokia and Sony Ericsson offerings to find something with better ergonomics and the best interfaces in the business.
Bruno
Posted by: russmeister
Re: Motorola Razr - 03/03/2006 13:22
Quote:
You can change the settings so the contacts are stored on the phone. That will make it do what you want.
I did this on a co-workers phone and it seems that all you can do is assign an icon for different numbers, i.e. mobile, work, home, etc. After doing this, the name still shows multiple times in the phone book. Am I missing something?
Posted by: robricc
Re: Motorola Razr - 03/03/2006 13:31
If you have contacts stored both on the phone and the SIM, both will show at the same time in the phone book. I will have to wait till I see my mom to get more specific. I don't personally have a Razr.
Posted by: drakino
Re: Motorola Razr - 03/03/2006 15:33
Pull up the phonebook, press the center menu button on any contact, then pick setup (second from the bottom). Change view from "All Contacts" to "Primary Contact". This will then change the list to show each name only once. Use right or left to change the phone number of who it will call between home, cell, etc. If that option is missing, the phones firmware is really old and would need to be updated to add that feature.
Yes, the software isn't as good as the Sony Ericsson phones I have owned in the past, but I have gotten used to it. I much prefer to have the Razr with better reception over my old T610 that I had to wander to parts of my house to use clearly.
Posted by: andym
Re: Motorola Razr - 03/03/2006 16:33
Quote:
The Razr, like all of Motorola's recent phones, is all show and no go.
My Dad has got one of these, this display is all washed out, the camera is fuzzy and low res and the UI is horrific. My mums Samsung E530 flip phone on the other hand is great, not as fancy looking on the outside, but it's got a vibrant display and a megapixel camera. It also survived a trip into the toliet.... 
The UI is still crappy compared to a Nokia but if I had a choice between the two, the samsung would win hands down.
Posted by: matthew_k
Re: Motorola Razr - 03/03/2006 17:06
I'm fairly certain having multiple phones numbers per contact depends on which model of Razr you have. I don't remember where I read it though.
My sister has a Razr and I've got a samsung a900(CDMA/EVDO only). The a900 is a much better phone feature wise. It's not quite as pretty, and the battery life is a little worse. The EVDO is great, really makes mobile data worthwhile. I'd been holding out for a "razr with edge" until it came out that mororola was yanking edge data from all of their next generation of phones because they couldn't get it to work.
I'm convinced Sone Ericcson is the only company that knows how to do bluetooth. I've had a simmens and the current samsung, and the bluetooth has always been much worse than my SE t68i or T616. With the a900 they've worked most of the bugs out of the bluetooth through firmware updates, but it still doesn't always pair with my bluetooth car kit.
Matthew
Posted by: robricc
Re: Motorola Razr - 03/03/2006 17:11
Quote:
I'm fairly certain having multiple phones numbers per contact depends on which model of Razr you have. I don't remember where I read it though.
CDMA Razr phones bought through Verizon have their standardized UI loaded on them. I would bet that's the crap one.
Posted by: DWallach
Re: Motorola Razr - 04/03/2006 20:02
I've got the standard Cingular-branded GSM RAZR, purchased shortly after they came out. Yes, indeed, the UI is horrific, but it's generally usable. The Motorola sync software was originally a very bad joke. Now it's merely a joke. Still, despite that, I'm happy with my RAZR. Why?
It's got astounding battery life. Even though it's over a year old, it's barely scratched. Sound quality is the best of any cel phone I've ever owned. The Bluetooth stuff works great. I can charge it with the USB cable attached to my computer (a mini-USB cable that came with a digital camera). As a basic phone, Motorola's hardware people outdid themselves. It's Moto's software people who need to be shoved out an airlock in deep space.
If my RAZR were to die a miserable death today, I'd probably go out and get another one, despite all its flaws. Now, if Moto would shoehorn some third-party software in the phone (Microsoft, Palm, Fisher-Price, doesn't really matter), then I'd upgrade immediately.
Posted by: FireFox31
Re: Motorola Razr - 05/03/2006 22:39
Quote:
phones of years past which were no show and no go
Maybe you ment "some show and all go." I love my new Treo 650, but my recently-decomissioned StarTac had a "just a phone" interface to die for. Multiple numbers per name? It allowed up to four, no questions asked.
Posted by: Ezekiel
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 00:11
My Startac's still going strong. There's a few iffy lines on the display, but that's only becasue I dropped it on its head a few too many times. It recently survived being misplaced at a hockey game. Nobody'd steal it! I'll let it go when it gives up the ghost.
-Zeke
Posted by: gbeer
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 01:03
Quote:
My Startac's still going strong. There's a few iffy lines on the display, but that's only becasue I dropped it on its head a few too many times. It recently survived being misplaced at a hockey game. Nobody'd steal it! I'll let it go when it gives up the ghost.
-Zeke
My sentiments exactly. Give me a phone that's a great phone to start with. A lousy cake is just that no matter how much icing is smeared on it.
But what's this multiple numbers per name business? I didn't know it could do that.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 01:46
I didn't like the Startac interface from what I remember. I didn't like anything about it actually. It likely started my whole distaste for flipper phones. Wait, scratch that. That goes to the even older and much bulkier Motorola POS. Hey I was a huge Motorola fanboy. But I've always disliked their phones. Not as much as I've disliked Qualcomm's of course (uuuugh!)
Anyway, they're doing quite well now since revitalizing their industrial design and marketing. Time to take some of that cash and reinvest in some major UI overhaul. And more candybar phones - cuz flips are for dorks. And Asian girls in little outfits in LG and Samsung commercials and press shoots.
Bruno
Posted by: gbeer
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 02:19
Don't know what quirk it is of mine but I feel like a true doof trying to talk on one of those little bar phones that don't seem to reach anywhere near my mouth.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 03:52
Everyone uses bluetooth headsets now so the phon never comes out of the pocket anyway.
I just use the phone as is and don't have a poblem. I like not having moving parts like hinges on these types of devices. Of course by comparison to most I'm living in the dark ages, still using a T68i.
Bruno
Posted by: wfaulk
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 14:17
I don't like accidentally calling other people when the stuff in my pockets presses button for me. (And, yes, I know you can lock them, but my keys seem to know the combination.)
Posted by: Roger
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 14:34
Quote:
I don't like accidentally calling other people when the stuff in my pockets presses button for me.
I once accidentally called 999 (the emergency services) without taking my phone out of my pocket a few years ago. It turns out that the emergency services number isn't subject to a keypad lock...
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 14:35
Quote:
I don't like accidentally calling other people when the stuff in my pockets presses button for me. (And, yes, I know you can lock them, but my keys seem to know the combination.)
That's the only downside for me. I prefer the bar shaped phones as well. I feel like I have more to hold on to, and when I see an open flip phone it gives me the illusion that it's actually bigger than it is. I don't know why, but an open RAZR looks enormous to me. Besides, when you place a RAZR next to the SLVR, the RAZR looks pretty large. Actually, it's always looked pretty big to me, so I couldn't really see what the fuss was all about.
I'm still waiting for this one to make it over here or at least to show up somewhere online that I can buy it from. It's the same phone that I've posted earlier, just the CDMA version (I simply can't use GSM phones in my area). It's frustrating, though, because the VK2000 is available on ebay, but the VK-X100 is not available anywhere. Those darn Koreans get all the fun toys first.
Posted by: tman
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 14:40
Quote:
Quote:
I don't like accidentally calling other people when the stuff in my pockets presses button for me.
I once accidentally called 999 (the emergency services) without taking my phone out of my pocket a few years ago. It turns out that the emergency services number isn't subject to a keypad lock...
It isn't just 999. The other emergency numbers like 911, 112 and 08 can be dialed with the keylock on. It does on all the Sony Ericsson phones I've got at least.
Posted by: andy
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 15:22
Quote:
It does on all the Sony Ericsson phones I've got at least.
And every phone I have ever owned, I assumed it was a legal requirement.
Posted by: Roger
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 15:27
Quote:
It isn't just 999. The other emergency numbers like 911, 112 and 08...
08? Surely that's not a valid phone number, because it's the prefix to a lot of other numbers?
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 15:59
It looks like 911 is the only one that works like that in the US (at least on my SE phone). Interesting, I never noticed that before. It doesn't worry me too much though. The odds that it would happen are pretty slim.
Posted by: matthew_k
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 16:15
Quote:
The odds that it would happen are pretty slim.
But on the other hand, it's the one number I really don't want to call. It's always really bugged me that it's possible. The phone walks you through unlocking the keys, it's not like it's impossible to figure out.
Matthew
Posted by: tman
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 18:48
Quote:
Quote:
It isn't just 999. The other emergency numbers like 911, 112 and 08...
08? Surely that's not a valid phone number, because it's the prefix to a lot of other numbers?
No clue. My SE does let you dial it with the keylock on and it aborts if you dial any other number. I'm not going to call it to try anyway
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 18:52
It's not that you can't figure it out. It's because it'll take you an extra few seconds, and some dexterity to do, while someone's beating you senseless. But then again, it might also take a second or two to decide between 911 on the phone or using the taser...
Bruno
Posted by: tman
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 18:53
Quote:
Quote:
The odds that it would happen are pretty slim.
But on the other hand, it's the one number I really don't want to call. It's always really bugged me that it's possible. The phone walks you through unlocking the keys, it's not like it's impossible to figure out.
It lets you dial the emergency numbers because you might find it very difficult to unlock and then dial due to an injury/whatever. Similar thing to how you find a box of matches with a couple of them sticking out in mountain huts but thats more of a unwritten rule.
Posted by: petteri
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 19:18
I've had Nokia phones that accepted 112 or 911 as the emergency number. My Motorola A780 also dials both numbers, but its an import from Taiwan. I don't know what they use for an emergency number there.
Posted by: Phoenix42
Re: Motorola Razr - 07/03/2006 19:52
Quote:
...but its an import from Taiwan. I don't know what they use for an emergency number there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_telephone_number#Asia
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Taiwan Area - Fire: 119, Police: 110
It's a quiet day at work 