Motorola A1000 Review
Phone rating: 
Review: November 2004. Updated March 2009.
The Motorola A1000 is the long-awaited update of the Motorola
A925. Announced by Motorola in February 2004 and released in the
UK in October 2005, the A1000 is a 3G smartphone, designed for business
users needing to access email, websites, documents and contacts on the
move.
The first thing that you notice about the A1000 is how much smaller
it is than the A925. It's 25% shorter, 20% thinner, and slightly narrower.
Far more convenient for keeping in a suit pocket. The weight has also
been slashed dramatically - by over 50g! Apart from the size, there
are other cosmetic and minor changes to the external design of the phone.
The screen is the same spec as used on the A925. It's a TFT display
with 65k colours, and is large at 4cm x 6cm, with a high resolution
of 208 x 320 pixels - the same as the Sony
Ericsson P900. The A1000 has a touch screen and supports handwriting
recognition - a feature that it shares with the Sony Ericsson P900.
The screen is used for most data input, either by handwriting recognition
or using the "virtual keyboard" on screen with the help of
a stylus. This system works well, and makes text input and menu navigation
simple and quick.
With a Symbian 7 operating system, the range of software available
for the A1000 is extensive. The phone will sync with Outlook and Lotus
Notes, and can be connected to a PC wirelessly by Bluetooth™ or
using a USB cable. The A1000 comes with a pre-installed Microsoft document
viewer that supports Word, Excel and PowerPoint, as well as PDF documents.
As a 3G phone, the A1000 supports all of 3's video mobile services:
video calling, video messaging & downloading video clips. It supports
assisted GPS (Global Positioning Services) for enhanced location-based
services. It also benefits from high-speed data transfer whilst on the
3G network. The screen format supports widescreen video.
Instead of a single rotating VGA camera, the A1000 has two integrated
cameras. A VGA camera points inwards and is used for video calling.
An additional 1.2 megapixel camera points outwards, and can be used
for taking still shots. The external-facing camera has a 4x digital
zoom. This is an excellent camera, although it performs poorly in low
light.
Messaging is well-supported, as you would expect, with SMS, EMS, MMS
and e-mail fully supported, including support for VPN (Virtual Private
Network). The phonebook is large and can handle many different fields,
including email, fax, home, work and mobile numbers. You can assign
different ringtones to each contact if you like.
The phone supports multi-tasking, so you can make calls whilst using
other features of the phone.
Another new feature is the stereo speakers, making the A1000 a high
quality MP3 player in addition to all of its other capabilities.
The internal memory of the A1000 has been increased to 24 Mbytes, and
this can be expanded by a removable TransFlash™ card (up to 256
Mbytes). This amount of storage should be ample for all kinds of data
storage. Another big improvement compared with the A925 is the extended
battery life of the A1000. Whilst still poor compared with an average
mobile phone, the A1000 definitely has improved battery performance,
and may only need charging every 2 days!
One point to note however, is that the phone has a tendency to freeze
or even crash, especially when low on memory. We would strongly recommend
a memory upgrade if this starts to happen. The phone is also not one
of the most durable - the screen and joystick are the components most
likely to break, so treat your A1000 with care!
Features of the Motorola A1000 include:
- Operating System: Symbian 7.0
- Widescreen TFT display (208 x 320 pixels, 65k colours)
- Touch screen with stylus & handwriting recognition
- Integrated 1.2 megapixel digital camera with 4X digital zoom, plus
VGA camera (640 x 480 pixels) for video calling
- Video calling, video messaging & video player (MPEG4)
- Integrated MP3 player with dual speakers for superb sound quality
- Messaging: SMS, EMS 5.0, MMS, E-mail (IMAP4,
POP3)
- Picsel™ Document Viewer (supporting Microsoft Word®, Microsoft
Excel®, Microsoft PowerPoint®, Adobe® PDF, Unzip)
- Downloadable Java applications (J2ME™, MIDP 2.0 + APIs)
- Full HTML Opera Browser with Small Screen Rendering
- Ringtones: MP3 & MIDI polyphonic
- Voice Activated Dialling
- In-built Hands-free Speaker Phone
- PIM Application (Calendar, Contacts, Notes)
- Synchronization: SyncML (OTA), Desktop PC Sync
- Bluetooth™ wireless connectivity, USB cable connectivity
- Assisted GPS for accurate location based services
- WAP 2.0, GPRS class 10
- Memory: 24 Mbytes user memory plus removable TransFlash™ card
(up to 256 Mbytes)
- Triband plus 3G (WCDMA 2100, GSM 900/1800/1900)
- Size: 116 x 58 x 20mm
- Weight: 160g
- Talktime: up to 3.75 hours
- Video calling: 1 hour
- Battery standby: up to 8 days
Motorola A1000 User Reviews
Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this
phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so
please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive
language, and please, no advertising!
Average rating from 100 reviews: 
Reviewed by Ian from UK on 29th Oct 2005
This is the first PDA type phone that I have ever owned, and I have
to say that I do not think I will ever go back to the standard type..
The phone is comfortable to use, is a good weight, and size, easily
fitting into either a shirt pocket, or jeans pocket. The screen is clear
and the quality of the text to read is more than acceptable. The quality
of the sound is also very good,, and the applications that come with
the phone make managing your day to day life, much easier. In short,
I would strongly recommend this phone to anybody who finds the tools
on a standard phone, restrictive, and anybody who likes to have a bit
of fun playing with their phone.. LONG LIVE THE MOTOROLA A100…..
Rating: 
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Reviewed by Andrew Price from Wales on 29th Oct
2005
Over the years I have used alot of mobile phones. The A1000 is a great
phone and has helped me out alot, as I don't need to carry a pda with
when I'm away from home. The software available for it is vast, games,
books, video players and reminder programs. I have updated the transflash
card recently up to 512mb, and now I can and have got a feature film
on it. The reception is great as all my other phones have had to be
used near a window but this works fine no matter where I am in the house
and when I'm out. Clearly a well thought out upgrade to the A925,and
smaller is better in my view. Andrew Price.
Rating:
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Reviewed by J Spade from UK on 12th Oct 2005
I have had the A1000 for about a month and I am satisfied with it. Its
size and weight is just right and the introduction of the picsel viewer
is a great help, the dual speakers give clear sound when listening to
music and the three services aren't too bad, you can send e mail. However
the A1000 fails in its camera quality it is supposed to be 1.3 MP but
other phones with the same standard such as the Samsung D500 are twice
as better, the quality of the MP4 player it is said to have is terrible
and I we were led to belive that you could edit word docs but you can
only veiw them. Overall it is an excellent phone which sets the bar
with most of the top of the line PDAs on the market. I am interested
to see what the improvements are on the A1010.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Mr JY CHAN from ENGLAND on 11th Oct
2005
I have had this stunning phone for about half a year. The apps and the
features are great, I only give it 4* as it my handset froze up on me,(maybe
the handset or the symbian OS?) this has only happened twice and to
solve the problem was just to reboot it! Other than that this phone
is brilliantscreen.I would recomend it to anyone! Joe
Rating:
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Reviewed by lyndsey from uk on 9th Oct 2005
i think this phone is brilliant, mp3 is outstanding, the way you can
draw/write notes in different colours etc, add any music/picture/video/microsoft
word files from your pc using the software and the usb lead. With the
photos you can edit them by adding funny drawings and frames you then
can transfer the pics onto the memory card and get them developed. Games
are amazing aswell if you get the right ones the graphics are as good
as gba on some games (lock n load, rally). if on 3, mtv and comedy vids
are really good aswell. the only doubt of it is the size its bigger
then all new nokia and motorola models but its a phone for me so size
dont matter.i myself havent had any tech fault whatsoever,
Rating:
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Reviewed by Harry from England on 8th Oct 2005
Fantastic phone with everything you can ask for.
Rating:
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Reviewed by peter from england on 5th Oct 2005
its the best phone ive ever had
Rating:
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Reviewed by Paul from England on 22nd Sep 2005
A year ago i started a contract with 3 with a Motorola A925, this i
found to be an interesting phone capable of lots interesting features,
it also had a lot of quirks, the battery life was short, but i still
managed to keep it working for 12 months. Just recently i have upgraded
to the A1000, very pleased so far, it has only locked up once so far.
My other half also has an A1000, in the early days she had many problems
of loosing signal,dropping calls and locking up.This phone has since
been reflashed which has stopped the phone dropping calls, and she was
given an updated CD, we removed the old software installed the new.
Now all the problems have disapeared, appart from the odd lockup when
you ask the phone to do alot. My phone i noticed is the modified version
and software, so as yet i have had no problems. It really is a fantastic
piece of kit, "if you know how to use it" I would never swap back to
a button mobile again. Can't wait for Moto and 3 to get the A1010 on
the U K market.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Karl from UK on 20th Sep 2005
Had the phone for 3 months, had problems from day one, with the 3 network.
then the centre button snaped off. Which is not repairable. now the
phone no longer charges. Plus the software which was supplied with the
phone does not contect with the phone, And was told to download a patch
for 3. Still doesent work. I will never get a motarola again, Stay clear
anyone, get a phone and a PDA, not both in one!!!
Rating:  Reply
Reviewed by Jakob from Denmark on 19th Sep 2005
To actually enjoy all the features you might need to be a bit of a geek,
but if you are.. Damn, you're going to love this phone. Programs for
the phone are usually written in java, c++ or *cough* visual basic(if
u use AppForge). You can run scummvm on the phone(meaning u can play
monkey island 2, kings quest and etc...) And other emulators for c64,
gboy, MAME etc... With 128 mb or more of extra ram you can watch a full
lenght movie(using smartmovie). Pictures are good... If theres light
and if you remember to set the qual to the max! (Camera -> Camera settings
-> Picture size = Extra Large). Bat. life suck compared to my good old
nokia 3310, but what did you expect? And GPS works fine with nhgps.
Considering getting route 66, as some say it works for a1000. So...
playing Monkey Island 2 on the bus makes it all worth it.
Rating:
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Reviewed by G from Scotland on 18th Sep 2005
This is a cracking phone. I know there are some that think it's a rubbish
phone or had problems. I've not had any problems at all. I've had the
phone for 6 months now and i can't fault it. It's not just a phone,
it's a PDA and does e-mail you can get loads of software for it and
it's great as am MP3 player or for watching movies. Basically if you
want a phone get something else. If you like gagets, get the Motorola
A1000
Rating:
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Reviewed by Soondra from England on 17th Sep 2005
The Motorola A1000 phone is fantastic in so many ways. The camera is
pretty good (especially outside), the MP3 player is great, the PDA functions
are great, it looks good and it plays great games. BUT it is very unreliable.
In particular, the screen is very fragile and I've had one break within
weeks. In addition (and as I now realise from other reviews, is common)
the phone crashes when the internal memory is full (and you can't repair
it yourself). All of this is made worse by 3's abbysmal customer service.
Dreadful, unhelful, slow, call-centre from hell customer service. Don't
get an A1000 on 3 UK. In fact don't get any phone on 3 UK.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Dreni from Kosova on 15th Sep 2005
I see different reviews here... Some people totally satisfied, and some
totally dissapointed. I have the phone for about 3 weeks now. I haven't
unlocked it yet but I've been satisfied with the features. I guess the
phone is great for those who know and enjoy using it unless the problems
start appearing. I hope I will be making another nice review for this
phone after some time.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Andrew Rice from UK on 15th Sep 2005
Screen broke three times in first month, then they replaced the phone.
Screen broke again 7 months later and they say it is out of warranty.
Major design flaw as the phone is useless without the screen as it's
also the keyboard.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by peter from uk on 3rd Sep 2005
I have been using the phone since August 2005 and my first impressions
i thought its very nice, looks snazzy.I recently installed Route 66
to use it when im on the road, and bought an external BT GPS receiver.
After trial and error, finally managed to get it working .Only thing
is the GPS kept losing connectivity with phone and when you needed it
most ,it doesnt work that was madness. Anyway, i found it gave peculiar
sound as if the battery was frying, when i was talking to soemone and
it turned off. Will wait and see if the new A1010 is lot stylistic and
easier with a better joystick than A1000
Rating:
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Reviewed by Gordon from UK on 2nd Sep 2005
I bought this thinking it'd be like my old Sony-Ericsson P800. It's
not a patch on it. It's already broken and has never performed very
well as a phone. To be brutally honest, once the "oh, wow" factor has
worn off it's just an example of a badly made product further screwed
up by three mucking about with it's software. Three have further annoyed
me by taking 10 days to deliver it then refusing to replace it as I
have to report any problems within 7 days of ordering it. The Three
network is fine, I think. Their customer service stinks. Buy any phone
from a highstreet shop, at least then you can walk in a hand them the
phone for repair and get a loan phone.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Marcel Walles from UK on 29th Aug
2005
Hello, I got the A1000 now about 6 months. It was for free with 3 but
its not reliable, my call are not dropping may because Im in London,
but the software is sooooo slooowww. And now the phones is carshed because
I flled up the memory. The Joystick is useless , the camera at night
or poor light is absolutly useless the pics are very bad. The battery
is quickly down. If you want a PDA take not the A1000, if you want a
good phone take not the A1000.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Hywel from Wales on 25th Aug 2005
Superb phone, exellent features, e-mail set up and diary set up is easy.
BUT I wish i could change it to another network, "Three" are usless,
ESPECIALLY IN WALES! calls dropped, no signal, etc etc (PEOPLE IN WALES
- DONT BELEIVE THEIR WEB SITE!) Get another phone for emergencies!
Rating:
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Reviewed by andrew from Philippines on 22nd Aug
2005
this phone is outstanding.great phone ever.and it has large and touch
screen.buy this fone and u will enjoy the features. :)
Rating:
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Reviewed by Philip from Singapore on 16th Aug
2005
I've had this phone since Feb 05 and it was OK for the first couple
of months. Then the problems started. First the phone started switching
off by itself. I brought it back to Motorola and they updated the software.
Then the calls started to drop. I travel often is its really frustrating
when the calls drop in the middle of a conversation. It happen to me
in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.
Time, I guess, for another visit to Motorola.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Northerner from UK on 15th Aug 2005
If you want a phone don't buy it, if you want to impress your mates
with all it's features OK go ahead. Totally unreliable, drops calls
all the time, turns itself off and on at will. Battery life useless,
I get about 2 days on standby, camera worse than useless in low light.
Currently my phone is back for repair for the second time in a couple
of months.Restiction of the 3 network makes surfing pointless. Yes this
phone is packed with features but not one of them is any good except
maybe the MP3 player but, hey, with Ipods about who cares..
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Charlie Blam from Denmark on 13th
Aug 2005
Hi My Name is Charlie Blam and I Have Story for you recently I Bought
Motorola A1000 Cellular telephone In Denmark and when I was working
on installing it I Discover virus in the CD try to infect my computer
and my Cellular telephone thanks to my very well upgraded antivirus
I stop the prose’s .any way I vent to the store and told them
to contact Motorola and Tell them to send me a CD without the virus
After A week I got a voice mail message from A girl name JANET that
we have hade this problem before with another Product Please Call me
back or Email me (info.dk@ Motorola.com) any Way all this Bring up questions
(Motorola A1000 With the virus CD) 1-Why big company like Motorola wants
to put virus in your computer and your Cellular telephone I mean if
you don’t have (very well upgraded antivirus) You are target of
many hours off Misery infected computer and Cellular telephone with
virus. 2- What is they profit are they working with antivirus company
so after they going To try to sell you an antivirus Program 3- Are they
gating a kick out off infecting your computer and your Cellular telephone
and put you thru many hours off Misery then they most be bunch off Psycho
Running The company. 4-So Motorola Product = many hours off Misery =
computer Terrorist Psychos Regards Charlie Blam wan37093@hotmail.com
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Ewan from UK on 9th Aug 2005
Fantastic phone. After almost a year I still think that it is the best
phone that I have used. Sadly I am on the 3 network so alot of its features
are useless. If only we could get this one on another network...
Rating:
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Reviewed by Giles Cotterill from England on 6th
Aug 2005
I received this phone as an upgrade to my old A835. It was long awaited
and I loved the look of it on screen when browing for my new phone.
It was great when I picked it out of the boxed and found out it was
smaller that I had thought! My friends have big smart phones this was
half the size of theres oh and lighter. The Symbian system put me off
at first as I was expecting PocketPC but after remembering my old Psion
Series5mx I got use to it again, although it has changed just a little
since then. The phone is light slim and looks very good. The battery
life appears to be very good at the moment the camera is good with 1.2megapixels
but not great with low light (seems to be the same with all Motorolas).
Overall I'm really happy with the phone, it has bluetooth so I can connect
to my laptop or Desktop PC and usb connection if I want a faster transfer.
I've always had Motorola phone and they've always had problems after
about a year so lets hope this one works for longer, I love it!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Ibrahim from (Nigeria) now in UK on
23rd Jul 2005
Well this phone is really amazing...if you understand how it works.
As it combines alot of things, all in one, it is so sophisticated that
one needs to study it to go well with it. The best thing to do to avoid
sudden crash is to expand its memory with atleast 128mb memory card.
You can install as many softwares as you wish. For me I have dictionaries,
ebooks (about 80),and others that are not in eform. The picture quality
is some how average particulary in dark. It looks great, and works great
so far.
Rating:
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Reviewed by howard b from england on 7th Jul 2005
I have had this phone a week and I am delighted with it. Its true, it
is not just a simple phone - I don't think it ever tried to be. The
sound quality is way superior to the LG U8110 I had previously, the
battery life is excellent. I have sync'ed with Lotus Notes. The menus
are SO intuitive, you just play about with it and most of the time your
instinct is right - being an Engineer, that's what I often judge electronic
goods by. The screen is very clear, the sound is more realistic and
it is noticeably quicker (and more informative) when downloading 3 web
pages than the U8110. It doesnt 'cling on' to a 3G signal when it is
virtually unuseable like the 8110 did. The free Bluetooth headset is
still to arrive, so I cannot rate that, but overall its the best phone
/ PDA I have ever owned well done Moto!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Phill from Australia on 1st Jul 2005
Multimedia device with bright screen? Hello Moto Hello (that's the devices
way of saying yes) Fast processor and ability to run a wide range of
applications? Totally. Is it good for the internet? Pretty good. Is
it a phone? Sort of. In a "stand still and use my stylus" kind of way.
This phone is totally impossible to use on the road, if your walking
down the street or if your doing anything where you arn't sitting still.
And the messaging is horrible. You have to type on a tiny bitty qwerty
keyboard - I have no idea why they didn't add a keypad and predictive
text capability. I have already called multiple people by mistake, accidently
sent a personal message to 3 people instead of 1 - very easy to do considering
if you slip with your stylus it selects multiple people at once. Does
it have big, bold advertising screens linking you to sites where you
can download latest ringtones, games and the latest news? Sure does.
On it's home screen? You bet. Can you hit these accidently? All the
time. Can you turn these intrusive messages off? Not without running
a crack - and they are disabled at best. Unacceptable in my book. The
AGPS takes about 10 minutes to get a lock, the camera is hopeless indoors
(but great outside), the calender is nowhere near as good as my iPaq,
the audio quality shrill (via the headphones) and the phone drops out
all the time is multiple places. Looks like we still need two devices
afterall.... atleast on the 3 front.
Rating:
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Reviewed by tony from uk from UK on 29th Jun 2005
Actually- 0 STARS!!! hATE MOTO, HATE 3, HATE EVERYTHING NOW whats reminding
my phone. - 3 times been replaced cos they couldnt repair (strain on
dry memory) - this time it burned cos it was on a belt with my Radio!!!
im PC, I have to use Radio... never ever heard that this could happen
to a phone. - They had a good idea there, but... too quick, too cheap...
- Software for pc looks dull and doesnt work properly, they had better
one on the A835 about 2 Years ago! Gosh, im tired and sick of it , Gizmo
from Hell ----------------------------- if ur lucky one and having a
good one- well its better than most of new phones, better could be only
Imate on orange, i think.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Dino from ENGLAND on 22nd Jun 2005
Ok, this phone is very misunderstood, the instruction manual really
needs an update as many of its tricks have been left out. Yes it has
its drawbacks but has many positive things going for it. I've read all
the complaints of it falling apart, locking up, slow to respond, wiping
the memory etc.... well the bottom line is this. I repair/unlock phones
for a living, I've seen and worked on almost all modern phones right
back to the early motorola bricks....The A1000 is a great phone, the
three network does limit its 3G capability, so come on three open up
the walled garden to the www... The bluetooth on the A1000 is great
and works well with other phones and devices, the camera is average
and nowhere near the quality of the Nokia 6630 or the Sharp GX30. The
PDA is comparable to the Sony p900. Build quality is good, I suspect
a few users are a little heavy handed. The screen is identical to the
Sony P900. Locking up problems are due to memory overload, my advice
is to buy a 256 memory card and store all the music/vids/pics on that,
leaving the phone memory fairly clear, this will speed up the phone
and stop the crashes, two mp3's take up around 14mb... always back up
your contacts no matter what phone you use. All in all the A1000 is
a capable phone comparable to the Sony P900 and at a much better price,
very visual lighting adds to its appeal. Don't get many of these in
for repair but loads for unlocks. Other phones reviewed, Sony P900,
Nokia 6630, NEC 616V, LG U8120 U8138.
Rating:
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Reviewed by jeff Coleman from Australia on 22nd
Jun 2005
I worked for 3 for 2 years, and this is the best BUSINESS DPA phone
I've ever used. I'm now on Optus (2nd largest carrier here) with my
new company and the service on 3 in every way (apart from the helpdesk)
was better - calls, voicemail, directory enquiries etc - all better
on 3. I've been made to use a Windows Smart fone for the past 2 months
- what a dog by comparison. All these people here whinging about the
A1000 not being as good as their old handset need a check-up from the
neck-up - this is not the same as 'just a phone'. If all you want is
a phone to make calls and send SMSs, don't buy an A1000. However, if
you want to have your emails from your PC, your calendar from your PC
all sync'd up all day, PLUS your personal email account alongside them,
PLUS able to browse the internet and buy/sell on ebay and get google
all on your phone PLUS have maps and GPS working, then get a life -
get an A1000. The Bluetooth is superb, the voice activate dialling is
a license saver, the menus are SO intuitive and easy by comparison to
a Windows CE device. After 8 months of use, I've never had my A1000
lock-up, reset (unless I dropped it - twice) and I've never had it display
a message "SORRY - THE CALL COULDN'T BE ANSWERED, THERE WAS AN ERROR"
when I tried to get an incoming call - my windows fone did it all the
time - there really is no comparison. If you want email, web and applications,
get one of these. If you want to make calls and sms from a keypad -
don't. It's that simple, if you confuse your use, then it's YOUR FAULT
- not the phones. And my final point about such a great phone - if you
don't like your A1000, sell it to me! They're great and I'll have as
many as I can get! jeff_coleman@optusnet.com.au
Rating:
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Reviewed by Liam from Scotland on 21st Jun 2005
how can I explain this phone, looks good yes, feels good yes, multimedia
functions, hell yes, the thing is a multimedia dream, download movie
clips, streaming video if you want to pay the price, but why wouldn't
you - it's worth the watching, organisers and capabilities to make a
PC look shy!!!! YOU TRY MAKING A PHONE CALL OUT OF THE THING. Aren't
phones meant to be just that. Added extras are great but when you have
a so called phone that switches off at will and won't make phone calls
after that then what's the point I ask you?????
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Yasir Kirmani from Pakistan on 15th
Jun 2005
I bought this mobile just 2 weeks back and found it superb. Its a high
tech mobile and perfect for my use. Its look is also dashing. I will
recommend to those who are looking for 3G mobiles to explore Motorola
A1000 and you will love it.
Rating: 
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Reviewed by Kate Gallagher from England on 13th
Jun 2005
Good phone while it works Very easy to crash! Phone slows down when
integral memory is full to the point where the phone will not restart
The phone needs to be 'repaired' by 3 or motorola! This phone is not
user repairable, have been trying to fix for 12 hours or more with internet
suggestions - nothing works. WHATEVER you do, DO NOT over-fill your
memory! Or, you may have a phone that will never be the same again.
For 3 network, no access to general internet - only 3 network. Otherwise,
reception not bad where I am. The joystick button has broken and keeps
falling off - happened within first week of owning. Good luck with a
poor purchase if you had the misfortune to buy one.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by leanne from UK on 2nd Jun 2005
I've had the A1000 since December last year and used to think it was
wonderful. That is until it started crashing and loosing all of the
photo's etc I had stored on it. Normally when it crashed it would restart
and everything would still be there but twice it's lost everything.
Since then it's been back to 3 three times and I'm using a loan phone
just now until I get a brand new A1000 as the old one is totally goosed.
I had to angle the charger and the phone over a pen with weights on
each end to charge it and then it stopped taking a charge completely
(and that's been fixed twice) then the charger took out the bottom of
the phone with it when i removed it. Unfortunately my insurance means
I only get the same phone - lets hope the software's been updated and
this one works better!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Symon from UK on 1st Jun 2005
It's a good usable phone. The facing camera is better than the rear.
I recently flashed it to the Generic Firmware and unlocked it and on
O2 the whole internet is available :) unlike '3' which has no access
to the outside world. The only thing I hate about this phone is the
speed that it does things. I wish it had a faster processor but it's
got a 168MHz CPU which does well for standard stuff. The AGPS is very
poor compared to dedicated recievers. If I had a choice I'd still get
a XDA IIi anyday.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Dale Hilton from uk on 25th May 2005
Well you may read some of these other reviews and think its pants....but
this has to be the best phone I have ever had and I am in the industry!
I think Motorola have only failed on three issues putting it on the
three network, aiming it at the business market and a lack of a flash\light...I
would not use this phone for business but as a toy its fantastic earning
the nickname of super phone among my friends! The games are jaw dropping
(PS1 quality) the camera is great the screen is amazing and the ability
to manually edit photos is brilliant honestly if you want a phone with
a whole lot more to give then buy this one.
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Reviewed by Jez Kaysi from UK on 17th May 2005
Well i cant compare with previous phones ive had because they have never
been this advanced, but i got to say that i was a dissapointed. A bit
of advice for anyone who is going to buy these type of phones, check
everything before you buy. The dealer i bought it from ONESTOPPHONESHOP
who's name i do not want to mention offered me a special deal on the
three network. They will give me back moneY every three months to cover
the cost of the amount they showed as line rental, because threee would
charge me more, and there is so much paperwork involved they are proably
hoping that no-one will bother. They also gave me a free bluetooth headset
which i think was made from paper. I only bought the phone because of
how good it sounded but if you are buying a phone from the back of a
newspaper ad be careful. And on top of that the phone was dissapointin,
the button fall of twice in one week and i had to empty and search my
hoover to find it.The phone always crashes, and the camera quality is
no good and without a memory card not much photos can be stored. If
you can make full use of the fone its excellent, provided it works and
only if you realy need all those extras then its agood phone, only on
another network!!! And last of all i accidentally cracked the screen!so
if anyone wants to buy all the spares then contact me on jas_binda@hotmail.com
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Reviewed by warren from uk on 16th May 2005
i've changed my view of this phone , so much that i've sent it back
to the supplier . i wrote a review when i first got it (you may find
it down the page a bit) that said how pleased i was . well, i was pleased
to start with but digging deeper into the everyday use of this phone
shows up some real short commings. not sure if it was just my phone
but i never got alerts about voice mail . i missed several messages
and called voice mail and found loads of messages for me that i'd missed
but this rinky dink phone that can do everything it seems , neglects
to tell you that you have voice mail. i also found that the to-do list
reminder alert was so low in volume and couldn't find a way to get it
any loader. the choices for ring tones are great with so many tunes
to choose from but the options for audible/vibrate/silent are terrible
as you can only choose between them (ie you can't get audible and vibrate).not
only that but , like most of these 3 phones , it's really easy to dial
up to a video/ring tone/game that you didn't want and these are VERY
EXPENSIVE . i know somebody that had a £135 bill for the month
becuase she accidently downloaded stuff she didn't want . IT'S LOTS
OF THESE LITTLE THINGS THAT , AS YOU GET TO KNOW THE PHONE , YOU GET
REALLY DISAPOINTED WITH. i came from orange and a nokia (house brick(ok
smaller than the 3 phone)) 3330 and even that has a better menu system
and a more workable system than this thing. if you want lots of gismo's
and no substance then this is the phone for you but if you're like me
and just want a phone that works then i suggest you give this one a
WIDE BIRTH!
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Reviewed by James from uk on 15th May 2005
Im rating the phone 5star cuz its absolutely amazing but its actually
only worth a couple of stars cuz of the crappy 3 network.. its totally
awful u cant even use the internet html browser properly coz of their
'walled garden', but yeah on another network this phone is great
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Reviewed by faz from uk on 14th May 2005
very good phone, outstanding pda fuction, although i am very happy with
the phone but there is a slight down side to it and that is the camera;
its not very good for a phone like this but is just fine.
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Reviewed by Athos from UK on 14th May 2005
Generally a good phone. Many functions wide range of menu. Reception
wise very poor. Sometimes it freezes when you are in a hurry to access
a function. Text messaging a bit slow in comparison to Nokia phones.
If you are on the move text messaging is impossible. Nevertheless, its
menu and functions are exciting to exploit.
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Reviewed by Rob Harris from U.K. on 13th May 2005
Alot of the problems are the 3 network, (Its rubbish). Signal strength
of useless at best, I really don't like having to go upstairs in my
house just so I can answer my phone. For about 65% of the places I go,
call's are near on impossible. The e-mail is useful, but 3 do charge
you for using this separatly (bless them...). Any problems you may as
well take it to McDonalds, as you just get transfered arround a switchboard
merry-go-round in India where the operators have even less idea than
I do of how to solve the problems. The Button did fall off the front,
but luckily I found it and glued it back on. The finnish and build isn't
very strudy and I have the impression it won't last the 12 months it's
on contract. It has done the boot up thing a couple of times, but in
it's defence it has sorted itself out and does seem to work ok. Software
for linking to the PC is useless, and a pain to use, and now seem's
to make windows think the a1000 is a new modem and messes up my settings
when I use it. Makes a half decent MP3 player and with the 256MB expansion
card holds plenty of tracks, shame again that you have to buy this separate.
I really wish I'd stuck with my old Nokia and Orange, at least they
worked all the time and I could rely on it. Do yourself a favour....
don't bother.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Gary from England on 13th May 2005
No problem with the phone which is pretty good. Shame about the 3 network
which is rubbish
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Reviewed by Georgie from UK on 12th May 2005
I love the phone as a phone - it does all the things I want plus a few
I'm not that bothered about. But it is suffering more and more from
errors (I've had it since December 2004). It crashes often, losing the
homepage GUI which means I have to do the Windows thing of switching
it off and on again. It very often fails to connect to outgoing calls
or take incoming calls, even though the signal strength (according to
the handset) is fine. Or it fails to pick up signal in places where
I know I usually get 5 bars (e.g. central London - and no, not in the
dead bits, but in places like Trafalgar Square). Or it tells me that
video calling is not available, when I'm only trying to make a voice
call. Again, I have to keep doing the Windows-style reboot. Plus - and
this is minor but irritating - the silver coating is rubbing off the
handset lock slide switch, showing bare red plastic underneath. As yet,
it hasn't lost all my contacts, but if it does, I will cry.
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Reviewed by warren from uk on 11th May 2005
just bought the motorola A1000 and i'm really impressed . i signed up
previously to the nokia 6630 but found it very disapointing. not so
with this. i have had a nokia 3310 before this and found that i was
stuck in a nokia rutt . ok , nokia software is very good and everyone
is used to it . but this motorola A1000 is a lot better , it just takes
some getting used to. the sound is amazing , the texting is easy with
the touch screen (handwriting recognition is very impressive) and just
generally evrything about the menu system seems to be well thought out.
i have only one question to anyone: i've assigned voice tags to some
of my phone numbers but don't know how to dial them . any answers on
this???????? apart from this small detail , i would say it's a Great
phone. don't be put off by the wacky look . take a closer look and see
what this thing can do before you decide. i think it's a Winner!
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Reviewed by Chris W from England on 11th May 2005
Phone is probably great!,just is not for me, Ive had problems with the
Joystick falling off, lost the stylus stick, which is causing me major
problems! it keeps turning its self on and off and has recently rebooted
it's self. The camera isn't up to much!, my girlfriend has just got
the V3 and the picture quality is 10 times better. A very nice large
screen!! but very vunerable! Not sure if its me or the phone!! but i
wouldn't buy again!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Ben Stiller (Yes Iam the guy from Meet My Parents)
from USA on 4th May 2005
Looks 8/10 Video quality 8/10 Camera quality 8/10 Overall 9/10 BUY IT!
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Reviewed by BARRY REDDIN from SCOTLAND on 2nd
May 2005
I'VE ONLY HAD THE PHONE 3 MONTHS & ALREADY THE MAIN CURSER KEY HAS FALLEN
OFF & THE STYLUS HAS BROKEN!!! AVOID THIS SHOCKING PHONE/PDA AT ALL
COSTS!!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Brick from United States on 29th Apr
2005
It is Perfect. Buy one and you will see the difference.
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Reviewed by Mike from Australia on 24th Apr 2005
As u can c this isnt a fone its a PDA (PDA's and fones just dont mix).
The only thing it has going for it is a big screen and thats it. Now
hear r some of the bad points, need to hav a degree in technology just
to use the menu, the battery life isnt that great and y a tutch screen
on a fone, jeez motorola pick up ur game. I bought this fone had it
for a week then sold it and got a Motorola E1000 a much better fone
(but still lacks battery life).
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Peter Norman from Australia on 24th
Apr 2005
This phone is fantastic. I've had many phones in the past like the Nokia,
NEC and LG but this is the best by far and is what i've been looking
for. It very user friendly and all the functions are easy to operate.
Once I got the Appication CD working I got all my contacts on fine and
with the Transflash card in I've gotten my music and pics on very easily.
The keyboard is the best. Sms and emails are so easy and quick. I'm
with 3 in Australia and I get the content with no problems. So if you
looking for a phone to upgrade to, this is the one and it'll last you
a long time as I think it's hard to beat. Well done motorola.
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Reviewed by renick cameron from England on 22nd
Apr 2005
the best so far
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Reviewed by Faye from manhattan on 22nd Apr 2005
I got this phone last month and am very pleased with it. I suggest reading
the manual to get the most out of this phone as it offers such a great
deal. The only downside for me is the size. It would be perfect if it
was half the size! I guess you have to sacrifice something for such
a remarkable phone!
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Reviewed by seth from california on 22nd Apr 2005
Very cool phone!! Much more than just a phone! I love all the features,
especially as they are so easy to use. Great layout of functions. Camera
a little fuzzy in the dark though. Would recommend to anyone.
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Reviewed by sophie from london on 22nd Apr 2005
Got this phone a couple of months ago, and I've found it to be outstanding.
A little daunting at first because of all the functions, but one soon
becomes acquainted due to it's user friendly nature. Highly recommended!!
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Reviewed by Joshua from Australia on 21st Apr
2005
this phone is great. it has many featured of a pda. the only downside
is the camera can be a bit snowy in dark situations. i love how all
the accessories ocme in the box INCLUDING!!! a bluetooth headset!!!
the only other thing i bought was a car charger. great phone for anyone
that can afford it. you wont be let down.
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Reviewed by Hisam from Philadelphia on 20th Apr
2005
its and excellent phone it has all the features you need i bought it
and i really like it. The phone is also small and it looks good from
the outside aswell as the outstanding inside features! It is definately
a must buy!!! Go out there and get one!!! Hisam
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Reviewed by Marie Hill from England on 13th Apr
2005
Hi Only had my phone for a couple of weeks so don't know if I really
qualify to review it really!!! I have found the phones feature great
although I would love to be able to use it to view my hotmail!! Really
like the contacts though as on my previous motorola every single number
was seperate not like this where you can add all sorts of details. Must
admitt that after reading the latest review though I may well be backing
these up. Well was wondering if any of you lovelly people could help
me with a couple of my phones feature PLEASE!! I think I may sound a
little stupid here but how do you put MP3's on the phone?? Have dragged
and dropped them using the file viewer but when I go on my phone I cant
see the file in the MP3 player HELP. Also can't get my three email setup
properly - can send them from my phone but not recieving them. I keep
getting an error message! If any kind sole can help me in these delimmas
I would be eternally grateful as it is driving me crazy. Email: sacha_dune@hotmail.com
or sacha_dune@3mail.com Thanks everyone
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Reviewed by Jon Parker from England on 12th Apr
2005
This phone has really let me down! I expected a lot and for the first
week it delivered, then little things just started getting worse and
worse To start with it was just the phone's slowness that annoyed me,
but things soon changed. My phone hardly works at all now, it reboots
itself constantly, sometimes never fully swithing one and leaving the
reboot loop. About a week ago the phone crashed wiping all my memory.
I could have lived with this but it also wiped my sim card of all contacts
and that is just not on. Backup your address book I hear you cry...........
I WISH. The software that comes with the phone is TERRIBLE, as already
said, its so clunky and I can never get it to work with the USB cable.
I also hate Three's walled garden approach but have learned to live
with it; some of the free content they provide (news and sport) is actually
quite comprehensive and for the price, I can't really fault the network
The phone however, is terrible. Don't waste your time and money. Stick
with the Nokia, seems like they know how to do things properly!!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Richard Gatarski from Sweden on 11th
Apr 2005
Generally I agree with most reviewers here. The A1000 is an excellent
device (can't write "phone" because it is much more than that). The
pros include size, battery life (compared to earlier/other 3G pda/phones),
versatility and price/performance. The cons are mainly the lousy camera,
slow and cumbersome cable sync (for transferring audio and video content),
and lack of built in fast dialling (e.g. no speed dial buttons). For
more about my day-to-day experiences, see my blog mobile.typepad.com/a1000blog
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Reviewed by DONKEY from FINLAND on 6th Apr 2005
BRILLIANT PHONE.
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Reviewed by sexy han xxx from UK on 2nd Apr 2005
THIS FONE IS MINT!!! IT IS SO SEXY ND FAB EVERY 1 SHUD HAV I EVEN THO
I NEVA OWNED 1. I DONT NO WT AM CHATTIN BOUT BUT I FINK ITR LUKS GD
SO U SHUD GO ND GET 1 NOW !!!!!!!!!! XXXXX
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Reviewed by Cocktail from England on 1st Apr 2005
This Phone is the best on the market for 3, the phone is lacking the
ability to view sites other than its 3's fenced off network. I have
to say I havn't lost any sleep over this. I've loaded my a1000 with
top tunes, vids and doc's using my computer, very easy. This phone has
great visuals and sound quailty. The phone is easy to use. i've having
great fun using it, and do recommend it.
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Reviewed by pat gold from uk on 31st Mar 2005
phone gr8, camera suprisingly bad but v good for video calling, for
the first time (i've got 4 3 phones! SAD?) I can see the future is video
+ voice if want it.texting is the best although characters are small
for uncorrected middle aged eye sight like mine. MP3 player is the best
ive heard on a phone, ear phones drop out of ears tho. Calendar is brilliant,
my life is on my phone for the first time ever. I even like 3, tried
all the networks cept t mobile & its better or the same as the rest.
Voda doesnt work at all well where i live! Assisted GPS is a joke I
used it once hear Ipswich & it finally "found" me 12 miles off the coast
in the N sea. All in all I love it and so does everyone I've shown it
to.
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Reviewed by karl mersh from england on 29th Mar
2005
phone does so many good things but also has a few problems 1 camera
is rubbish in the dark 2 phone occasionally crashes 3 try texting when
your walking or in a moving vehicle... its hard. good sides r 1 the
Zoom in the picsel viewer is amazing. 2 the screen is great for watching
full screen pictures 3 it has so many amazing gizmos shame ill never
use them
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Reviewed by John Darwall from UK on 16th Mar 2005
You will either love this phone or hate it. Personally, I think it's
the best phone out there. Really, this is a phone, a PDA, an MP3 player,
a GPS and a games console all in one sleek little package. I think it
does each of these things better than any other all-in-one system. Sure,
you'll get better if you carry a phone, a Palm, an Ipod, a Canon, a
Garmin and a PSP - but considering how much THAT would weigh, it's amazing
that they've crammed so much into such a tiny space. This phone IS quirky,
so will appeal to the kind of person who likes tinkering. Are you the
kind of person who thinks that user manuals are for propping up chair
legs? This phone will probably appeal to you. Best points: - Picking
up all my mail on the go. - An excellent calendar, contacts and to-do
system that syncs perfectly with outlook. Finally, a phone organiser
that doesn't suck. - Looking at others playing 'Snake' while I load
up the full version of 'Doom'. - Having an inbuilt GPS that (for 20p)
will give me a map of where I am and tell me how to get to the nearest
hotel (or cinema or petrol station, etc) - Watching Divx's of south-park
on the train. - Value for money! The Sony P910i is a nice phone, but
try getting that phone for free on a £25 (500anytime) contract!
- Huge touchscreen combined with (I think) a really good operating system
makes everything very easy. - Quickoffice lets me not only view, but
edit all my office documents. - etc! Worst points: - If you're using
it on 3's UK network - you won't be able to use it's inbuilt xHTML browser
for anything but 3's own site (come on, 3, get with it!!) - The camera,
though over 1 megapixel, is quite low quality in dark conditions. (it's
great in bright sunlight though). - You'll have to shell out extra for
a case (which you definitely need to protect the great big screen and
the 2 cameras). Comments about other reviews: Ash Haeger- the gaming
buttons are at the top of the phone because the phone is used SIDEWAYS
for gaming (and watching movies). This gives you a widescreen display
and your hand doesn't cover the screen at all. Others- I've been through
O2's customer service, and compared to the short opening hours and waiting
almost an hour on hold just to be told that they're busy and will call
me back sometime tomorrow... I think that 3's 24hour service with (so
far) no waiting at all is just great. Simo H - To install software you
(1) download it, (2) double click on it (3) press 'yes' a few times
(4) uh, that's it. (and you don't need to put J2ME on it - it's already
got it) Conclusion: This phone is still on the bleeding edge, and so
the ride is sometimes rocky. Personally though- that's fine by me. I
love my A1000!
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Reviewed by Rob Young from England on 16th Mar
2005
I've had this phone for about a month and its gr8. I luv the way the
writing is set out as on the Sony ericsson p900 u would write a letter
n it wouldn't give the write 1! Having it on 3 is def a disadvantage
put only cause of the signal as I found them very friendly teaching
me the phones. The 1.2 mp is great but still shud b better as it's a
top phone. The battery time is standard as I end up charging it every
night. But overall I do like the phone the camera quality is gr8, the
lock on the side of the phone is gr8 as it isn't like a normal phone
lock, the sylus positon is a postive as it doesn't get in the way, the
speakerphone is gud as use that all the time, I cud go on but I wont.
The only thing I need help is getting mp3 songs on 2 the fone! If u
know how email me, icantgetoffmymobile@hotmail.com
Rating:
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Reviewed by jake furey from england on 11th Mar
2005
I would have given this phone 4 or 5 stars, but the screen has shorted
a couple of times, then to cap it all the phone reset itself and deleted
all my telephone numbers, txt messages, emails, videos and photos. I
spent a considerable amount of time speaking with Three in Glasgow and
Motorola. None of them seem to be able to recover the lost data and
no-one wishes to take responsibility for the problem. Motorola refered
me to a company CMRP who also weren't able to help, so it seems that
the data is lost forever. I had some personal photos of my mum's wedding
and some other important personal stuff, but now it seems as if it's
all lost. It's a shame because this phone was almost everything I needed
in a phone. If any of you who read this can help with suggestions on
how to recover this information then please email me on jfurey9@aol.com.
Thanks
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by vbk from uk on 2nd Mar 2005
had the phone for a week but still didnt find out how to make it ring
and vibrate at the same time!also reception is a bit poor with this
phone.I have it on 3,had a nokia and always had a reception in my office,now
with the same simcard,same number same provider but with a1000 i got
no reception at all....
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Reviewed by adam from scotland on 27th Feb 2005
hello - adam fairley again (look down) would also like to point out
that for people like me who never hear their phone ringing ie nokia
7600, moto t720i etc etc - you can acctaully hear this one - its so
loud that it even vibrates of its own accord from the volume of the
speakers alone! - ITS GREAT!!!!!
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Reviewed by claire from uk on 24th Feb 2005
I've have this phone for about 4days. The touch screen is great and
i like the way the texting is set out the only thing hold in it back
is trying to get onto sending e-mail's, one second i have a voice&picture
serice area(2.5/gprs) connention and then next it's gone, i can't work
it out because i haven't moved and i have a strong signal strenght.But
3 did say that some part of the country are better coved then over's...!!!!!I'm
still waiting to see 3g network but i'm not going to hold my breath
if only i could get this phone on another network to see if it was just
3 or the phone...!!
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Reviewed by adam fairley from scotland on 23rd
Feb 2005
well well, having had the nokia 7600 on three for a year i was impressed
with both handset, service and the network (am i the first??) - i've
had this fone a week now and all i can say is wow - being a emo-punk
kid however i refuse to use the stylus and manage to successfully use
my finger lol so i dont look like a geek (am 16 lol) also got the handset
for FREE with 500 mins and 1000 texts for £35 a month XD
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Reviewed by Matt from UK on 19th Feb 2005
The A1000 is a worthy successor to the A925 and, in my mind, betters
the Sony Ericson P900. The internet speaker and battery life are both
significantly improved as is the camera. My only gripes with this unit
relate to Three's dreadful service. For voice calls they seem fine,
given they share coverage with o2 for voice roaming, but denying customers
internet access is just plain stupid. It was disappointing that Motorola
didn't take the opportunity to add USB2 connectivity... uploading MP3s
can take an age.
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Reviewed by Dan from UK on 18th Feb 2005
This is an upgrade I have got from 3. I had the A825 which was rubbish.
I had to send it back 3 time for repair and then 3 gave me the A925
which had similar problems as the A825 with it rebooting and losing
signal on 3's network. The only way to get signal back is a reboot.
I had hoped I had seen the last of these issues with the A1000 but after
just a week the phone has started to reboot itself and several times
it has lost signal (well it says it has signal but you cant receive
calls or make calls). Dont even bother speaking to 3 about it as their
service sucks just like there stupidly restricted network. Im gonna
send mine back not just because of the bugs in the phone but as 3 destroyes
any hope this phone has with its rubbish network. Oh and as a side note
the PC software is also naff as its quite cluncky and very slow.
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Reviewed by Jerry Obukohwo from UK on 15th Feb
2005
Very well thought out design. The functionality is excellent, almost
intuitive. With the right download from the Motorola website I am able
to use it with my Win 98 run, PC. The MP3 if fine, does the job but
not better than that of the E398. The speaker is very loud for its size.
I cannot wait for the 3G walled garden to come down so that I can enjoy
the www on it as I am about a lot and will like to have this phone as
my main mobile entertaiment center. My next mission is to set up an
Avantgo acount for it as I presently have on my Jornada 565. All in
all the Motorola A1000 is a brilliant effort. Hurray MOTOROLA
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Reviewed by Todd Odd from Somewhere on 4th Feb
2005
This is a nice phone. It is very dissapointing. It is on 3 so it has
a walled garden so you can not use the HTMLx browser. It's a shame.
The camera is good because it is a MegaPixel camera which is better
than a VGA by miles. Motorola have done really big and bulky phones
but this is small and it is not big or bulky. The touch screen is good
too because buttons on most mobiles are too small for me so the touch
screen is good. And the screen is a big screen aswell which is also
a good thing. Im giving this phone a 4 star rating because NOTHING is
perfect i repeat this phone IS NOT PERFECT. Nothing is. It's a good
phone though with a screen that is a nice and clear screen. Its very
very very good but NOT perfect.
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Reviewed by Jay from UK on 28th Jan 2005
Having previously owned a Motorola A920, I am pleased to see the same
clear layout of the menu's. The annoying limitations of the A920 are
still apparant such as the ability to transfer music from unit to unit
via bluetooth. I must warn windows 98 users that the accompanying software
does not work on that OS. The battery is much improved, as is the weight
that has been removed (which is surprising considering the size of the
battery) The speaker quality is amazing for it's size, and the twin
camera's are the best I have seen on a mobile phone. The fact you can
run Microsoft documents (including PDF if you have enough memory) is
very handy. The built-in memory is 28MB which is far too small for a
phone with as many features as this. The 256MB upgrade is a must if
you intend to use this phone as an MP3 player. You can store a couple
of CDs with no problem. I run my A1000 on the 3G network and only run
into coverage problems when in the sticks. Even then I have not fou
nd one place in England (Except a pub on the Norfolk Broads) where you
cannot send emails or text when outside. The A1000 does need to be charged
a lot more when compared with a standard mobile, but after owning a
Motorola A920, anything longer than a day is a bonus. I get around four
days with little use. Video runs it down very quickly and any video
use over and hour will drain it completly. MP3's last around 5 hours
if used with the headset. Using the external speakers the battery lasts
about 40 minutes. If used just for making and receiving calls, you can
generally get a couple of days worth, which is a big improvement. The
stylus feels very flimsy and should really provide a spare. The IR unit
has been removed altogether, I assume to cut down on size, which is
the main difference between this and the A920. It's a lot more managable,
though the cursor button takes a bit of getting used to. The plus points
far outweigh those little details and the motorola A1000 is by far the
best phone I have owned to date. Highly Recommended.
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Reviewed by abdul from Saudi Arabia on 24th Jan
2005
the mobile is excellent in every thing except The wifi connection The
removable TransFlash card (up to 256 Mbytes) it's small
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Reviewed by Colin Martin from UK on 18th Jan 2005
I have had this phone for a week now after moving from a Palm and normal
phone. The one thing thats annoying is the lack of support for Macs.
If it had this I would give it 4 stars. There are plenty of workarounds
about but it will take time and effort to get it going. I have had no
problems with coverage staying in a major UK city so far and I do like
the way it handles text messages and emails. The OS and diary are not
up to Palm standards. I find the OS very clumsy and some of the buttons
are very small taking a good aim of the stylus to hit them. Windows
users probably would not have this criticism, I have just been spoilt
by OSX. Overall though an amazing and elegant device, just want to get
a decent leather case now to keep it looking beautiful.
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Reviewed by Anders Iversen from Denmark on 16th
Jan 2005
Hi! I just bought the A1000 two days ago, and I'm really impressed.
The calender function is excellent - I've never bothered to use a phone-calender
before, because they all were badly designed, and it was much easier
to write in scedules etc. in a paper-calender - but with this one its
just as easy. You can play old '3d' games on it like doom (not included)
and there comes a racing game with the phone (on the cd). You can race
against others via bluetooth! You can use IM (not included). Videotalk
is excellent, sound is excellent, screen is excellent. The Picsel viewer
to view office documents is excellent - really neat feature :) It supports
J2ME, so you can program your own stuff for your phone. The note feature
let you draw sketches to your notes. I could go on forever :) In Denmark,
3 let you surf the internet, and the opera browser does a good job converting
the pages to a small screen format. There are a few drawbacks: When
connecting to your pc LOTS of LOTS of people - including me - have this
problem: first time you connect it works fine, but disconnect the phone
from the cable and connect it again: nothing happens. The PC cannot
see your phone, and the phone cannot connect to your PC. Workaround
nr. 1: turn the phone off, and turn it on again. Nr. 2: Buy a bluetooth
thingy for your PC - it works without any problems. Also when placing
data on your phone, it have to go into a folder. Fx: placing audiofiles
in the /document/audio/britney.mp3 doesn't work you have to place it
in a subfolder you make yourself or in the "unfiled" folder there's
there allready: /document/audio/unfiled/britney.mp3 Well that's all
from me. If you asked me what phone to buy, the Motorola A1000 would
be my answer :)
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Reviewed by frnnis from uk on 12th Jan 2005
What a shame, this could have been a great phone... (apart from a few
basic design flaws) it really could have been something special, what
really lets it down is there no decent software or support & the fact
that motorola doesnt seem to want to know this or any other of its 3g
phones doesnt help, they dont support it in any way and THREE as we
all know only want to sell you what they want you to have ... what a
waste of a developers time and money, if i was the guy who put all this
effort into developing something this capable then having to see it
in this virtually paralized state i would be incensed ...shame on you
three .. and Motorola for letting them do it, what a waste
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Reviewed by Igor from Brazil on 8th Jan 2005
This phone is incredible. Excellent choice!
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Reviewed by BalooDK from Denmark on 2nd Jan 2005
Oliver: But there is a shortcut key.... just hold down the browser button
for 3-5 seconds !!! I converted from an updated a920 to this baby and
i must say..... I LOVE IT !!!!
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Reviewed by steve from UK on 21st Dec 2004
A big mistake from Motorola designing is not having the reset button
on this phone. If you are going to install software on this phone, BEWARE!!!
( cos many software are not compatible with A1000). When the operating
system crashed the only thing you can do is to send it back and get
a replacement. Not like a normal PDA can be reset to original situation
by pushing the reset button. It happens quite a lot (you can find in
most A1000 forums). Many people just crash OS after 2-3 days even few
hours (mine is 2days). Without this mistake, I will give 5 stars for
this phone.
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Reviewed by Pupung80 from Indonesia on 10th Dec
2004
Motorola A1000, Wonderful..., The One I Like The Most. So Try it or
You never Believe it.
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Reviewed by Ash Haeger from UK on 8th Dec 2004
I have had the A1000 for nearly three weeks now, and have had a few
problems with it. I thought at first that the headphone socket was broken,
but in fact you have to apply some force, more than you would ordinarily
apply to an electronic device, to get the plug to stay in the socket.
Bad news for the (at least) five percent of you reading this on a Mac,
as motorola offer no MacOS support. I find this very puzzling, since
the phone is aimed at 'professionals', and a glance around the offices
at works reveals quite a few Macs. Neither can I get the phone to sync
with WinXP, albeit emulated on my Powerbook. The camera seems rather
low quality for a megapixel, especially in low light conditions, where
there seems to be many artifacts in the picture, even in low-light mode.
Incidentally, the e1000 offers a better camera, which seems strange,
as I was to understand the A1000 was the superior phone, and the e1000
the 'consumer' model. The video function is limited to clips of 60 seconds,
which is an odd choice - why not just let me record until the memory
runs out? The positioning of the memory card under the battery is a
poor design choice, but the bluetooth function seems foolproof, so long
as you have that function available on your computer. The whole phone
screams sloppy design, from the stiff and uncomfortable joystick on
the front, to the twin buttons positioned high on the unit, for 'gaming'
apparently, except that your hands cover the screen while pressing them.
The software is similarly poorly thought out, the icons are too small
to press with your fingers, forcing you to use the flimsy stylus. Files
may only be accessed indirectly through layers of menus, and are easy
to lose, only to turn up in unexpected places. I have not tested the
mp3 player function, but since the world has moved on to AAC, neither
will most people. As has been mentioned in previous review, battery
life is limited by the large screen, and a standby life of 8 days may
only be true if you do literally nothing with the phone. I am charging
every two to three days, more if I make a few actual phone calls. God
only knows how the battery copes with video calling. In the phones defense,
the ability to display MSOffice files is handy, the screen is impressively
large and clear, errrm, I'm struggling to think of nice things to say...
I think it's unfair to criticize the phone over 3's content and performance,
suffice to say I'm very annoyed by 3's mad policy of blocking proper
internet browsing, which is not something I even thought to ask about
when I bought it, but the phone is allegedly capable of rendering web
pages. I'm left with the overall impression of a poorly tested, poorly
designed phone that could have been so much better with a little thought.
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Reviewed by Rajesh from UK on 8th Dec 2004
Amazing phone.. This is the best i have ever had. It is a lot better
than all 3G phones. The video call quality is amazing in out doors.
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Reviewed by Steve from England on 7th Dec 2004
Apart from the lack of a case with such a large screen I am very pleased.
Reception is better on 3 than my Panasonic with Orange. Synch with Outlook
works well once it was set-up (took an hour, but that was my fault as
you have to get the phone to link before the desktop manager). The PDA
works well enough for me to now sell mt Palm T3. Texting can't be done
while you are driving which I guess is safer, headphones that came with
phone work well and bluetooth on its way. Content on 3 is junk but I
bought it to combine the PDA and phone and that really well. But if
a real gadget freak I could see the phone being slow. But I intend keeping
mine
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Reviewed by Lou from England on 1st Dec 2004
I have to agree with the last message, this phone is poor..poor..poor
and the 3 Network really does suck & I only brought the phone on Saturday
and have sent it back today 4 days later. The phone may be Sybian but
it reguarly crashes with the popular P800/P900 apps that I use. The
battery life is worse than useless, charged it overnight and made One...I
repeat One 30 minute voice call and the phone battery was flat by the
next morning. I have found that the O/S or the phone is so ropey that
it will reboot on its own! and this has happened 3 times in the 4 days
I've had it. BTW, the 3 network is the worse I have come accross since
the early days of mobiles back in the late 80's, their content services
were down for most of Sat when I brought the phone and then the mail
services were unavailable for most of Monday as well, this in addition
to a customer service team based in a far off land begining with 'I'
where the people dealing with me hadn't heard of the term customer service.
BTW 3 does NOT offer internet browsing, they give you access to THEIR
OWN site and NOTHING ELSE, that would be bad enough but almost ALL the
content is chargeable!!! They don't tell you this in the shop when you
purchase. Anyway I'm taking delivery of my P910i today on Vodafone (as
I currently use a P900) and I'm really pleased to go back to a decent
manufacturer and network. PPS. If you synch between your PC with Outlook
then you will be amazed at how poor a job some of the smartphones do
it and I never realised what an EXCELLENT JOB Sony does until I tried
the poor A1000 and the even poorer Sendo X. I hope this review proves
useful to some of you making a decision on what phone to go for, the
A1000 & 3 network combination is not worth going for even though I got
the phone for free!!!
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Reviewed by Mike from Australia on 1st Dec 2004
Just a quick note to clarify something... In Australia you can access
any web page you want, UK is only one of a few countries where 3 has
decided to lock down content for soem sutpid reason.
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Reviewed by Simo H from England on 30th Nov 2004
I purchased a1000 to put on my own j2me on it. Even though i recard
myself as fairly computer savey... through poor documentation i cant
work out how to get my own applications installed through the desktop
suite...
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Reviewed by Rob Greenwood from UK on 30th Nov
2004
I went from a P800 to the A1000. The symbian OS hasn't changed so much
that it you have to relearn things, but there's a fair bit of familiarisation
to be done with this bad boy. Transflash under the battery is a bad
thing. I have a 128MB card, and prefer to take it out of the phone to
use in a card reader than to wait for transfers to go through on the
sync station. I believe that SanDisk are bringing out 256MB & 512MB
cards by December. According to this review this fone is only compatible
with 256MB. Why? That's dumb. Handling wise, I think this phone could
be better. Because of the low position of the buttons and the smoothness
of the case, I am worried about dropping this phone when using it one
handed. They should have stuck a jog dial on as well. Sony's 5-way is
better than the joypad this has on the front. The hold switch makes
sense though. Audio sound quality is very good. The headset is decent
quality, and MP3s sound very good. Better than P800. Speaker phone and
video is impressive. Some dropped calls on 3, but you live with it for
the cheapness of the deal. Some annoying shortcomings are the handwriting/text
input is worse than P800/P900, Can't customise more shortcuts and menus.
No case!
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Reviewed by john from england on 28th Nov 2004
THIS PHONE IS JUST RIDICULUSE ITS TERRIBLE I ADVISED YOU DONT GET THIS
PHONE ITS WORSE THAN WORSE. JUST THINK IT MYTE HAVE A LARGE SCREEN BUT
IT WAYS ABOUT 500 POUNDS I AM JUST GONNA GO BACK TO THE NOKIA 3410.
P.S SORRY 3 BUT YOUR NETWORK SUX
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Reviewed by oliver from uk on 27th Nov 2004
Just upgraded from a920, the a1000 is much better smaller by far and
battery life is great, software is the same almost can even change the
shortcut key in the control panel except it doesn't have one (the a920/a925
did) oops. It behaves strangely with bluetooth headset hs810 though
a great way to transfer contacts, notes, mp3's and pictures from old
phone. The camera's not very good in low light. Using a transflash card
located behind the battery means you have to switch of to swap cards
which could be a pain as like the a920 it takes a long time to reboot.
It didn't come with a case nor does anyone have one in stock but a sony/ericson
p900 case fits well.Is this phone a good buy to right it is plays mp3's
which you can use as a ringtone, touch sceen with handwriting reconition,address
book, camera, diary, reads various doc's, you can even use it as a phone
!!!
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Reviewed by Euro Djuro from UK on 23rd Nov 2004
I've just converted to the A1000 on 3 as well, as Orange were not playing
ball. Deep breath...and lets see how good the indian call centre is
at handling my number port as I had to read my number out about 5 times
before they got it right. The phone itself is cracking and I think I
have made the right choice. The only downside is that you are in a walled
garden of three content only and you have to pay a small fortune for
it. But who cares, it's the PDA functions I like and that is what attracted
me to it
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Reviewed by Karl Correia from U.K. on 22nd Nov
2004
I've had the phone over the weekend and cannot really find fault with
it. Reception is good for both voice and video calls and menus are simple
to use (although sometimes slow but not significant enough to gripe
about). Still find it hard to beleive that Moto have squeezed so much
into such a small phone - the reaility is its roughly half an inch bigger
top and side than a Sony Erriccson T610 (my previous phone) and if you
really need a phone that can do all bar make your dinner - you've found
it.
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Reviewed by Aleksandar from MACEDONIA on 21st
Nov 2004
i'v got no words.This phone is amazing 5 stars
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Reviewed by Philip from Hong Kong on 19th Nov
2004
Got the phone a couple of days ago subscribing to 3HK. Cost HKD3880
with locked 12-mth plan of HKD200/mth. So far so good; It is the best
PDA/phone I have used so far (I have used many). Setting up gprs and
email was easy without a hitch. Battery life seems to be good. Fully
charged, it could last for about two days of normal use. Voice quality
using the phone is good both ways. Surfing speed is surprisingly good
using gprs; and with 3G it is not far from home broadband. Menu response
is a bit slow but tolerable. Price/Performance wise, it beats XDAIIs,
and a brunch of other PDA-phones. Symbian O/S was a good choice for
the phone. If I have to complain it would be the camera, it should come
with a higher quality one (e.g. over 2M pixels at least)
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Reviewed by F. Montelatici from Italy on 17th
Nov 2004
It is quite an excellent cellular telephone, a good still camera, a
decent video camera and a very good PDA. It handles email quickly and
accounts are easily set up. I have had numerous PDAs and recently the
T-Mobile Pocket PC cellular telephone, the Sony Ericsson P-800 and this
Motorola is by far the superior device even ignoring its 3G capability.
At 99 euro with a 9 euro per month subscription to 3 in Italy it is
also quite a bargain. It is such a good device that I bought it even
after having bought an NEC 616 for 19 euro with the same plan. Anyone
want to buy an NEC 616? LOL
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Reviewed by Garry Chung from U.K. on 17th Nov
2004
I have had the phone Since Friday, apart from 3 taking four days to
connect me which was annoying. It was like having a new toy but I caouldn't
play with it. Motorola have done a very impresive job shrinking the
A925, and the A1000 is much more practical to carry than it's predecessor.
One problem I have encountered so far is I appear to have faulty headphones.
This could be a design fault as well because it is tricky trying to
get the headphones into the sock with the rubber protector in the way.
The three video clips work fine and does what it says on the tin, connection
can be a bit tempermental. The Quick find AGPS facility doesn't work
well. Transfering files from PC to A1000 is very slow but it could be
to do with teh fact I have only USB 1.1 on my PC Battery life is great
for a PDA phone as is the build quiality. You have to also remember
that you cannot surf the internet on this unit only limited to 3's services.
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