Motorola v600 – cell phone heaven

Thanks to all who gave me input a couple weeks back on my cell phone purchase. In the end, I went with the Motorola V600, a truly beautiful phone. It’s now down to $99 at Amazon.com (after rebates), which is a great deal (it’s $200 more if you buy direct from AT&T).

What I love about the phone:

• battery life. Talk time is 6 hours or more, which is like an eternity after I got accustomed to the less-than-2-hour time on my old Treo.
• camera. Wasn’t my original goal going in, but the camera is kind of addictive. It’s VGA quality (.3 megapixels), so the photos aren’t anything you’ll put in a frame, but they’re surprisingly sharp and they produce nice snapshots.
• screen. The color screen is really bright, and displays well even in direct sunlight.
• bluetooth. I’ll be getting a Bluetooth PC card for my laptop (it’s built in to most ThinkPads, but sadly not mine) which will allow syncing of contacts and calendar info to the phone, as well as Internet access through the phone when I don’t have wifi.
• quad-band GSM. I’m not traveling all that much anymore, but a phone that will work pretty much anywhere in the world is nice; not only for compatibility but for resale later on.

• external display. It’s a flip-phone, but the exterior has a 2-line display that shows battery strength, time, caller ID, etc.

I’m doing a lot of experimenting, but if you’re in the market for a new cell phone, this is a great choice. Only downside: I need a better case. The leather case at BestBuy isn’t great, so I’m likely going to get something from MotoPhoneCases.