Motorola StarTAC ST7790si Cell Phone
Out of stock |
Similar in Cellular Phones
Ask Friends for feedback
- Overview
-
Reviews
-
Compare Prices
User ReviewRead All Reviews »
" I've gotta get one "
Pros
Size, phone book, vibra call alert
Cons
Few ring tones, flimsy flip, battery life could be better
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
The starTAC is a great small phone, that will handle a lot of extreme conditions. But beware of the flip!!!
When the first starTACs came out I thought to myself "I've gotta get one", but as soon as I saw the price I turned back. When the people from Bellsouth Mobility (a.k.a Cingular Wireless) told me that they were going to replace my water damaged Ericsson T19 with the Motorola starTAC. I was very excited. But that soon wore off........... The first one they gave me broke in half, about 3 months later ( I still don't know how that happened).And I think this one is not far behind.
THE GOOD POINTS
It's small, it has vibra call alert, a 99 number phone book, turbo dial, a feature where you can set a different ring tone for the people in your phone book. A nice LOUD ringer ( I think I'm deaf or something because I could never hear my Ericsson). And it also has this thing (as you can see I know nothing about technology) so I can switch between two phone numbers, with the click of a few buttons. The reception on this phone is wonderful (much better than Ericsson and Nokia), I never have less than 3 sticks on the meter. I know this depends on the provider..... but I have been in the car, and my wife's Nokia 8260 had no service... and my starTAC did (yes we are BOTH with Cingular).
THE BAD
First and foremost is the crapy antennae ... All of the starTACs have a retractable antennae that cracks with the slightest push. On both phones I have had this problem and Motorola has yet to correct it....... Why don't they learn from their mistakes?!?. Another bad point is the hinge on the flip, it sucks, my first starTAC cracked in half (once again I don't know how that happened), and this one already feels loose and has a visible crack on it. In addition, there is the terrible menu....... Ericsson and Nokia have much more "user friendly" menus. Speaking of the menu, in order to navigate through it, you must use the buttons on the side, well the button that you push to scroll down broke, I knew it was going to happen because it just felt cheap. The Battery life is another thing...... it's not terrible, but it could be better. The starTAC has better battery life than the Ericsson, but it's not as good as Nokia's. I can get about an hour of digital talk time and 50 hours of digital standby. The owners manual says that you can get 35 minutes of analog talk time, and 10 hours of analog standby ( I don't know if it's true, because I have never been in analog mode). Which is a good thing compared to my T19, where I was in analog the entire drive home.
**UPDATE** 11/29/02 I have had this phone for 5 months now, and it is still working fine. The crack on the hinge still scares me a bit, but it hasn't cracked off ( knock on wood ). Now that i have gotten over what happened to the first phone ... I guess the starTAC 7790 is not a bad phone at all, I drop it every once in a while and it works flawlessly. It was also put to the test a few days ago. My son took it to an amusement park and he was accidently sitting on it during a 5 minute ride, and it ended up with out a scratch ( which given the amount of weight put on it, and how much time it lasted ... shows excellent craftsmanship ).
THE GOOD POINTS
It's small, it has vibra call alert, a 99 number phone book, turbo dial, a feature where you can set a different ring tone for the people in your phone book. A nice LOUD ringer ( I think I'm deaf or something because I could never hear my Ericsson). And it also has this thing (as you can see I know nothing about technology) so I can switch between two phone numbers, with the click of a few buttons. The reception on this phone is wonderful (much better than Ericsson and Nokia), I never have less than 3 sticks on the meter. I know this depends on the provider..... but I have been in the car, and my wife's Nokia 8260 had no service... and my starTAC did (yes we are BOTH with Cingular).
THE BAD
First and foremost is the crapy antennae ... All of the starTACs have a retractable antennae that cracks with the slightest push. On both phones I have had this problem and Motorola has yet to correct it....... Why don't they learn from their mistakes?!?. Another bad point is the hinge on the flip, it sucks, my first starTAC cracked in half (once again I don't know how that happened), and this one already feels loose and has a visible crack on it. In addition, there is the terrible menu....... Ericsson and Nokia have much more "user friendly" menus. Speaking of the menu, in order to navigate through it, you must use the buttons on the side, well the button that you push to scroll down broke, I knew it was going to happen because it just felt cheap. The Battery life is another thing...... it's not terrible, but it could be better. The starTAC has better battery life than the Ericsson, but it's not as good as Nokia's. I can get about an hour of digital talk time and 50 hours of digital standby. The owners manual says that you can get 35 minutes of analog talk time, and 10 hours of analog standby ( I don't know if it's true, because I have never been in analog mode). Which is a good thing compared to my T19, where I was in analog the entire drive home.
**UPDATE** 11/29/02 I have had this phone for 5 months now, and it is still working fine. The crack on the hinge still scares me a bit, but it hasn't cracked off ( knock on wood ). Now that i have gotten over what happened to the first phone ... I guess the starTAC 7790 is not a bad phone at all, I drop it every once in a while and it works flawlessly. It was also put to the test a few days ago. My son took it to an amusement park and he was accidently sitting on it during a 5 minute ride, and it ended up with out a scratch ( which given the amount of weight put on it, and how much time it lasted ... shows excellent craftsmanship ).
