Seeking best handset for radio performance, voice quality

I know I am in the minority, but all I want my handset to do is to
complete a call. Therefore, I look for good radio performance in weak
signal areas, and good voice quality. I don't care about ringtones,
camera, internet access, etc.

I have been using a Motorola V325I and its battery is now dying.

For my needs, is there a Verizon handset that equals or exceeds the
V325I?

Thanks for any suggestions.
--
David Arnstein (00)
arnstein+usenet@pobox.com {{ }}
^^

David Arnstein wrote:
> I know I am in the minority, but all I want my handset to do is to
> complete a call. Therefore, I look for good radio performance in weak
> signal areas, and good voice quality. I don't care about ringtones,
> camera, internet access, etc.
>
> I have been using a Motorola V325I and its battery is now dying.
>
> For my needs, is there a Verizon handset that equals or exceeds the
> V325I?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.

Have you considered replacing the battery?

David Arnstein wrote:
> I know I am in the minority, but all I want my handset to do is to
> complete a call. Therefore, I look for good radio performance in weak
> signal areas, and good voice quality. I don't care about ringtones,
> camera, internet access, etc.
>
> I have been using a Motorola V325I and its battery is now dying.
>
> For my needs, is there a Verizon handset that equals or exceeds the
> V325I?

No.

I have three V325i's and no other phone I've tried equals it in signal
quality or sound quality.

I've bought replacement batteries, but the problem is that the Motorola
batteries I've bought are too old, and Li-Ion cells have a shelf life
that's independent of how they've been used. So the new battery is still
not great. I need to find an original or after-market battery that's of
more recent manufacture.

If you find some replacement batteries that are one year or less old,
let me know. The one I recently got has a June 2006 date code.

In article <2OydnZ3KL9eKxkzXnZ2dnUVZ_sudnZ2d@giganews.com>,
Richard B. Gilbert <rgilbert88@comcast.net> wrote:
>Have you considered replacing the battery?

It is a fair question, if a bit condescending. But see Steve Scharf's
reply for the answer. The batteries are old, and therefore half dead
already.

Also, the phones themselves are heavily subsidized by Verizon. Therefore,
it sometimes makes more sense to obtain a new phone than to pay for a
battery (unsubsidized).
--
David Arnstein (00)
arnstein+usenet@pobox.com {{ }}
^^

In article <4ad16892$0$1646$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>No.

Thanks Steve. I observe a developing pattern:

1. I replaced my worn-out Palm PDA with an iPod Touch. The Touch is a
worse PDA than the Palm, but the PDA business is fucked. The market has
spoken.

2. My Sony DSC-T10 is the best tiny camera EVER. The current crop of
little shooters have more pixels, and more features (that don't work
worth a shit). Once again, the market has spoken.

3. And now cell phones. I still think that my V325I performs no better
than my first cell phone, a Motorola Startac. And now it appears there
is no equal to the V325I for sale. The market has voted for ringtones
and awful cameras.

In any case, I am still searching for a decent handset. I accept that
I won't get another V325I. I would be grateful for other suggestions!
--
David Arnstein (00)
arnstein+usenet@pobox.com {{ }}
^^

David Arnstein wrote:

> In any case, I am still searching for a decent handset. I accept that
> I won't get another V325I. I would be grateful for other suggestions!

I think the problem I have is that I bought the extended battery and new
battery door. The SNN5783 battery is not used on any current model
phones. The regular capacity battery, the BT50 (SNN5771), is used on a
lot of phones and you can probably find a relatively new one, though it
may not be worth it ordering it from Motorola for $40. As far as I can
tell, the non-OEM batteries are not date coded.

The battery situation is a real pain in the ass for phones. For digital
cameras I can still get new Li-Ion batteries for older cameras. In fact
I have two digital cameras and one camcorder that all use the same BP511
battery which is widely available and very cheap.

On Oct 10, 11:56*pm, arnst...@panix.com (David Arnstein) wrote:
> I know I am in the minority, but all I want my handset to do is to
> complete a call. Therefore, I look for good radio performance in weak
> signal areas, and good voice quality. I don't care about ringtones,
> camera, internet access, etc.
>
> I have been using a Motorola V325I and its battery is now dying.
>
> For my needs, is there a Verizon handset that equals or exceeds the
> V325I?

You could try howardforums.com
Motorola still seems to have a reputation for the best reception and
sound quality

I haven't used the V325i, but I read good things about the vu30's
reception

I actually did the reverse of what you're looking to do.

I have a V750, which I really liked, except for the "red button" issue. I
don't mess around with "hacking" the phone via PC, so disabling the button
was (for now) out of the question. Goddamn
button ruins battery life, and annoying as Hell. What in the world is wrong
with Motorola, not issuing a software upgrade to option a "red button"
disable"?

I had always been interested in the V325i, and liked the form factor a lot.

Bought one in great shape off eBay for around $19 shipped.. The battery was,
of course, shot. I found a BT50 for around $6.00, and am a very happy camper
with my "downgrade".

One of these days I'll get around to messing with the V750, but no time now.

I know this doesn't really answer your question, but it worked for me.

Dean

"David Arnstein" <arnstein@panix.com> wrote in message
news:harl14$87r$1@reader1.panix.com...
>I know I am in the minority, but all I want my handset to do is to
> complete a call. Therefore, I look for good radio performance in weak
> signal areas, and good voice quality. I don't care about ringtones,
> camera, internet access, etc.
>
> I have been using a Motorola V325I and its battery is now dying.
>
> For my needs, is there a Verizon handset that equals or exceeds the
> V325I?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.
> --
> David Arnstein (00)
> arnstein+usenet@pobox.com {{ }}
> ^^

David Arnstein wrote:
> I know I am in the minority, but all I want my handset to do is to
> complete a call. Therefore, I look for good radio performance in weak
> signal areas, and good voice quality. I don't care about ringtones,
> camera, internet access, etc.
>
> I have been using a Motorola V325I and its battery is now dying.
>
> For my needs, is there a Verizon handset that equals or exceeds the
> V325I?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.

David, you might give the batteries at dealextreme.com a try:

BT60 (extended battery door on phone required)
"http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.23706"

BT50 (regular battery door on phone)
"http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.23708"

This is one case where it's probably better to buy the after-market
battery which may have less dated cells than the old Motorola stock.
Just be careful about it exploding.