DECVAX
Pros:
stability of Linux, excellent touch-screen, EDGE, big address book, good battery, macro mode
Cons:
moderate video quality, no 3G/HSDPA, restrictions to free install of new software, easily soiled surface
The Bottom Line:
MING is good choice for all who need small, quick, stable smartphone with big abilities for tuning :-)
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Motorola A1200e (MING) purchased after long thorough compares and search.
Black soft-touch plastic and metal design, ergonomic body, lightweight. 2.4" touch screen with QVGA resolution and vivid colors. MING has stylus, but screen optimized for finger touching (dialing).
OS Linux on 312 MHz XScale processor gives good speed for native and Java-applications , and excellent stability. I could not crash OS during intensive using.
A1200e has wide communication capabilities - 4 band GSM, EDGE (it could be blocked in some regional firmwares), miniUSB, Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2DP stereo profile), Opera WAP browser and mail-client. WiFi stills rare in small smartphones, so MING doesn't have this wireless module.
MING equipped with 8MB of internal memory only, so you need to use additional MicroSD (Transflash) memory cards for your photos, video and mp3-music. Good news - price of this memory dropped to 17USD/1GB. Not good news - MING doesn't support "hot replacement". Card will be visible through USB connection, but for real high speeds of reading/writing is better to use external card-reader.
Predicative input (iTAP or T9) and handwriting recognition (English only in my phone) work good. No problems with quick typing of sms or emails.
Address book is big and detailed, with groups support. But too small size photo of contact displayed on screen during calls.
Voice capabilities traditionally good for Motorola - voice dialing, voice commands, voice recorder.
Music options - realOne player for video and mp3 (and other media formats) and FM-tuner (it could be blocked in some regional firmwares). Quality of sound on standard stereo handsfree is good, but not HiFi level. For good music I recommend to use high-quality headphones (e.g. Koss or Sennheiser via 2.5/3.5mm jack adapter) and another software player.
Camera makes normal quality photos for its 2Mpx. Nothing outstanding, but macro-mode (manual focus) realy works. Quality of recorded video stills moderate or even bad (in low lighting). This is traditional problem of modern cameras in most models of phones.
MING use analog of "hibernate", so it starts and turns off very quickly. Power management in OS is very good, smartphone lives between 2 and 3 days with 850mAh battery.
BIG NOTE: this is NOT Motorola A1200 photo on the top of this page. Please, change it to real image from Motorola site.
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