21–30 of 131 posts
I remember hacking around with this phone and trying to get apps on it. I think you could run jars on it, but it was a hassle to load them. And I think there weren't actually many apps available either.
I had a RAZR early on, and I would agree that the build quality was excellent. I bought several more to give to family members in the 2010-2011 time frame -- bought both online and in phone stores -- and found that the build quality had deteriorated badly (though they were much cheaper than the original RAZR). Back covers wouldn't snap shut as securely, edges didn't meet precisely, had to recharge much more frequently, buttons didn't click as smoothly, and some parts felt like painted plastic rather than metal. To this day I don't know if I received counterfeits or if Motorola regressed enormously in build quality to make them less expensive.
Ran some version of Linux, with lots more storage and SD slot, and if I can remember much slicker menus than the v3. There was some way of getting shell access too.
Finally enough storage to use for music sometimes, and an effective touch interface to the music player when closed on the mini screen. Trouble is it had no 3.5 jack and a terrible usb headphone dongle, designed to break every three uses, and catch on something every 5 minutes, making it useless as music player. What a waste.
Build quality that means my very heavily used 12 year old phone still looks and feels new except for losing the little plastic charge port cover. Can't get batteries reliably now though so it's not even an emergency backup for much longer.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Closer to the Razr (no palmos) was the Samsung A900. Just a dumb flip phone, but very solid and tiny. I miss small phones. I really don't want a 6" megolith to haul around.
> I miss small phones. Not quite "tiny," but pretty small regardless, the Xperia Compact line of phones is still a thing. You should check it out. A new Z5C can be had for about 150 USD, or 500 USD for an XZ2C if you can live with 5 inches. Sadly, it's not clear whether Sony will be releasing an XZ3C, so we may be coming to the end of what is arguably the only serious high-end compact smartphone out there.
I had miss this phone, but I realize that I wouldn't want it today. One of the big reasons is I don't memorize phone numbers anymore - as cool as the RAZR was, I don't have need for a flip phone of any kind. The numbers I dial are typically entered in once and then dialed from my phone book.
I'm confused, you do realise these phones had a built-in contacts storage, right?
I always preferred the follow up, the Razr 2 V9. Came a year or less before the iPhone I think. Ran some version of Linux, with lots more storage and SD slot, and if I can remember much slicker menus than the v3. There was some way of getting shell access too. Finally enough storage to use for music sometimes, and an effective touch interface to the music player when closed on the mini screen. Trouble is it had no 3.…
The software side was quite limited though.
Specifically, at the time I was diving into J2ME development (THAT was strangely pleasant to look backwards -- a pain to make it work, but such great satisfaction to overcome all those limitations) and the number of JSR it's JVM (or better, KVM) implemented was pretty low. For this reason, I decided to buy the awesome Nokia N73 (Express Music edition).
I always preferred the follow up, the Razr 2 V9. Came a year or less before the iPhone I think. Ran some version of Linux, with lots more storage and SD slot, and if I can remember much slicker menus than the v3. There was some way of getting shell access too. Finally enough storage to use for music sometimes, and an effective touch interface to the music player when closed on the mini screen. Trouble is it had no 3.…
Didn't the V9 run P2K/Triplets, while the V8 ran Linux?
I just bought one a few months ago when my 13 year old Nokia died. I actually dislike the phone quite a bit and prefer my old Nokia. I have to charge the Razr about every other day, even if I haven't used it for calls. It takes too many button presses to do anything. It isn't very responsive (it takes about 4 seconds for each text deletion). If I receive a missed call or text the phone will vibrate every 5 minutes un…