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Wed, 30 Sep 2009

/xHW/Motorola_A1200: Review of the Motorola A1200 PDA Mobile Phone aka. "Ming": So So

The Motorola A1200[1][2] is a Linux-based line of mobile phones targeted mainly at the Chinese market (the only language options are English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese). I chose this phone in advance because it was Open Source (Linux-based) and looked like it would satisfy my main requirements: an English system from which I could send and receive Chinese text messages, a touch-screen with handwriting recognition to facilitate my Chinese studies, and the probable capability of installing my favorite Linux Chinese-English dictionary.

I ended up buying an older, original model really cheap for 600 RMB (just under US$100) as the latest models, the A1200e and the A1210 were being quoted at 1600-1800+ RMB.

A bad first impression:

I tested the phone briefly in the shop, then took it home and plugged it in to charge while I played with it. It died, irreversably, within minutes: would not restart, and made weird chirping noises while it was supposed to be charging.
I took it back to the shop, where they gave me another battery after running a quick test. I took it home again. Same routine. Only by the next morning after "charging" all night the screen was flashing on and off in a weird fashion. This time when I went back to the shop it gave them the red screen of death with a message to effect that it was waiting to be "flashed". Really dead.
This time they sent me home with a new phone (which they tested somewhat more extensively) and TWO batteries. I took it home. Both batteries appeared to take the same quick jump off a cliff, and again I had a non-functioning phone.
I then did some research. Apparently others[3][4] have seen similar behavior, and were blaming it on an inability of the handset to charge a badly drained batter. I found a little "Universal Travel Charger" similar to this[5] (same company) in a local shop for 15 RMB / US$2+, and charged my batteries with it. And now the phone works (though I will need more time to assess just how bad the phone's built in charging capability really is.....)

So far I quite like the phone itself, but the battery fiasco is really a little unbelievable coming from a theoretically top-tier company like Motorola. I think most people would have given up on the phone already and tried to exchange it for something else. I still might, if I keep finding problems.... So far this evening I have found that my current Linux desktop cannot connect to the USB Mass Storage device on the phone, meaning I cannot use USB to get files on and off the phone. That makes the phone's onboard camera useless, and means I cannot install my dictionary.

So I guess I will go get a bluetooth card for my desktop and try to communicate with the phone that way....

[1] http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_a1200-1429.php
[2] http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto/us/motoming/specifications.asp
[3] http://www.fixya.com/support/t103363-phone_dosent_turn_or_nothinq
[4] http://www.fixya.com/support/t368258-motorola_a1200_problem
[5] http://www.abstech.com.cn/product.asp?pid=1242

posted at: 14:20 | path: /xHW/Motorola_A1200 | permanent link to this entry

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Wed, 30 Sep 2009