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You are here: Cell Phone Reviews > Reviews of Motorola Cell Phones > Motorola i850 Nextel Phone Review
Motorola i850 Nextel Phone Review
Motorola i850 Nextel Phone Review:
Sometimes it makes you wonder how good a phone can be in GSM networks when the single quality that it gets all the praise for is the push-to-talk walkie-talkie feature which is compatible to communicate with similar Nextel phones for a distance of about 6 miles. But there are the other good parts of this Motorola antenna phone which are the brilliant display screen of the phone, the VGA camera and of course, the loud and clear speakerphone feature.
The phone, though not recommended for light and SLIM phone lovers is quite compact with its clamshell design and has few features that you can complain about. What is compromised for sleekness in design is made up with the robust and sturdy nature of the phone. The VGA camera though good is still difficult to convince consumers who have moved on to 2.0 and 3.0 Megapixel phones but then if users will realize that it is not a feature-packed high end model. It still holds its own with its GPS features, ability to check emails, a web microbrowser, five resolution settings in the camera, a voice recorder and downloadable JAVA applications.
The battery life is quite ordinary and the handset guzzles even more while running some of the heavy Java applications. This coupled with the miniature external display screen makes this phone which has a list of cons as long as the list of pros.
How to use the GPS functions in a Motorola i850?
The Motorola i850 is enabled with GPS which uses data from the Global Positioning Satellites GPS orbits which are orbiting the Earth all the time, which lets the phone access information about the exact position of the handset anywhere on earth and is usually indicated in Longitudes and Latitudes. This information, though, is dependant on the accuracy and environment that the phone is currently present in. So it may not work in underground locations, inside covered moving vehicles, between tall building and trees, or near a TV or radio tower.
Also, if the i850 is connected to a laptop with a compatible map software helps you request the exact geographical location of your phone.
To view location, choose the GPS icon in the main menu and select POSITION. Now the display screen will give the following GPS information:
The date and time in GMT for which the location information was last calculated
The Latitude and Longitude of the location
The accuracy of the location information and
The number of satellites that were used to calculate the information. Generally, more the number of satellites, the more accurate the information is.
The REFRESH soft key can be selected at any time the location information needs to be calculated again. If a phone call comes in while the phone is calculating the location, the GPS position screen will disappear temporarily but the phone will continue with the searching and position will be displayed when the GPS screen will be viewed again. Sometimes, a message is received saying that your phone is unable to identify a location; it may be due to weak GPS signals or an environment not conducive for identification. Then it is advised to get under an open sky and extend your handsets antenna. Interestingly, while walking can reduce the GPS signal if the phone is near a window in a moving car the GPS system works quite well and this has helped in using the GPS technology to access direction information in urban cities.
An important tip to get updated GPS information on your phone is to update the Satellite Almanac data that the Government maintains on to your phone periodically. The handset usually prompts you to do the same and in case it doesnt it is advisable to call a customer care number.
How to install and use JAVA applications on a Motorola i850?
Java applications come pre-loaded in an i850. The JAVA applications install themselves for the first time you open them. Also a user can always download any number of Java applications and install in the handset. Please note that Java applications consume a lot of battery power and hence it might be advisable to limit the downloaded applications to a few.
To install applications, select the JAVA APPS options from the main menu, scroll down to the application that needs to be installed and press OK and once installed, press the DONE soft key.
To run Java applications, look for the shortcut of the application that would have installed itself in the main menu and choose that shortcut
To run applications that do not have a shortcut in the main menu, you would have to choose the application from the JAVA APPS menu.
To suspend any application, which would make it run in the background, you need to press the CANCEL key or close the flip of the handset. To view any of these suspended applications, you can view in the SUSPENDED APPS in the Java menu.
Similarly, to resume suspended applications, choose the applications in the SUSPENDED APPS menu.
To end applications, again enter the Java menu and press END against the application that needs to be ended. Also there is an option to end all the applications running in the handset END ALL option.
To delete one or more applications from the phone, you can choose the DEINSTALL option from the Java menu and press YES followed by DONE to reconfirm the deletion process.
To manage the memory space available for JAVA applications, you need to go into JAVA APPS and choose JAVA SYSTEM and press the NEXT soft key. This will give you information on the memory available. Please remember that the applications share the memory with all other files like voice records, music files, ring tones, etc and deleting any of these will free up space for Java applications.
How to customize your Motorola i850 handset as per your settings?
You can customize the settings in a Motorola i850 in several ways. Some of them are:
Setting the Volume lets you decide the volume levels that can be preset in the earpiece or speaker by choosing the option VOLUME in the SETTINGS menu. In the VOLUME menu, choose EARPIECE or SPEAKER to set the volume for either option.
Setting the Handset to vibrate lets you set the phone in vibrate mode and will not make any sound while you have incoming calls or messages. This is done by accessing the RING TONES menu, switching off the VIBEALL option and assign w/VIBE. When finished press DONE.
Themes This option lets you change the look of the display screen, the main menu and the color scheme of the display of the handset. The theme can be altered by choosing the THEME option from DISPLAY/INFO menu of the SETTINGS option.
Wallpaper This option lets you change the image that will display on the phones display screen when it is idle. The wallpaper menu can be accessed through the same DISPLAY/INFO menu and choosing WALLPAPER. There is also an option of AUTO CYCLE which lets you change your wallpaper frequently by timing the sequence. This will choose to choose to display any of the wallpapers available in the handset.
You can include all pictures from the media centre of the phone by choosing the option of SELECT PICTURES and selecting ALL. This would make the wallpapers in the phone change automatically with all pictures in the media centre.
To toggle the menu view between LIST VIEW and ICON VIEW, you can choose the required option from MENU VIEW sub-menu of DISPLAY/INFO option.
To set the backlight the light which lights up the keypad and the display screen to switch after a stipulated period of time is possible by choosing BACKLIGHT sub-menu of DISPLAY/INFO option in SETTINGS. The TIMER option will let you select the length of time (in seconds) the backlight should be on.
How to use the Wireless Web services in a Motorola i850?
The Wireless web service of the Motorola can be accessed by a micro browser in a Motorola i850. This will help any user access specifically designed web sites on the internet for various uses of information and entertainment. To access the micro browser, select the BROWSER option from the main menu.
While launching the microbrowser for the first time, the user might be asked to go through a security set-up process that will take around 2-3 minutes. This is a one time operation. Once set up, select BROWSER will take the user to home page of the last visited page on the phone.
While in the microbrowser, some of the keys in the handset have specially designed functions to aid navigation through the browser session.
o Home key lets you to come back to the default page / home page.
o Asterisk key lets you go back to the previously visited page back from the current page
o 0 / Next key lets you come back to the current page once you are in a previously visited page.
EXIT BROWSER lets you close the browser session and come back to the idle display screen
RELOAD lets you update and refresh any web page with the latest information being updated on the site.
MARK SITES lets you indicate sites that you might want to access quickly from the micro browser
ADVANCED OPTIONS gives you various options to troubleshoot in case you encounter any service issues.
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