Still worth buying?

[mat]

Hey guys,

Just wondered if its still worth getting a Milestone, remember it coming out and really liking the phone but already had a Hero at the time, but now I no longer have my Hero and haven't for about 5 months now, unfortunately it felt the wrath of my washing machine - it was supposed to be insured but my mum cancelled her policy without telling me :/.

The reason i'm interested in the Milestone is the price drop i've noticed and the fact I loved Android.

1. Is it still a good phone to buy?
2. Will it continue to receive updates?
3. Whats the battery life like?
4. Whats it like using google navigation?

Cheers.

 

[fejker]

The only point I feel the Milestone could do better is battery life. But that is the case with almost every smart phone (Nokia E71 and some others aside).
With the Nokia I could get about a week of battery life but with the milestone at the same level of usage I can only get about two days.

It's a good android device and I think it will be supported at least until Android 3.0 hits the world if not even longer.

 

[Clipse]

Dang phone is still expensive in Canada ugh! Price almost compares to a N1 or a XT701 over here. Ebay in the UK seems a lot cheaper but i`m sure you can get it less than ebay prices. Just because it is not the latest and greatest does not mean it is still not good...

 

[Szadzik]

The only point I feel the Milestone could do better is battery life. But that is the case with almost every smart phone (Nokia E71 and some others aside).
With the Nokia I could get about a week of battery life but with the milestone at the same level of usage I can only get about two days.

It's a good android device and I think it will be supported at least until Android 3.0 hits the world if not even longer.

Milestone is still a good device, the best if you are looking for a physical keyboard.

As for battery life: do not expect great battery life from a phone with 3.7" screen with 856x480 pixels resolution that requires a lot of CPU power and lots of apps using Internet all the time.

I get a day on one charge and am still happy as I have the dock and simply use my Milestone as a night clock and it charges overnight.
Nokia E71 has 2.36" screen with 320x240pixels resolution, which means it requires very little power to power.

 

[FadedSpark]

The only point I feel the Milestone could do better is battery life. But that is the case with almost every smart phone (Nokia E71 and some others aside).
With the Nokia I could get about a week of battery life but with the milestone at the same level of usage I can only get about two days.

It's a good android device and I think it will be supported at least until Android 3.0 hits the world if not even longer.

How much do you use your milestone in a day that you get 2 days? XD

I have 2 push email accounts, MSN connected constantly, facebook on a 30m update cycle, weather on 1hr... A lot of live data connections

Although I can echo your e71 comment completely in that it had utterly amazing battery life, and a PHENOMENAL keyboard.

 

[fejker]

@FadedSpark
I have the data connection disabled and enable it only when I need to check on the updates. At work I have WiFi enabled all the time but sync data only when the screen is on. Facebook and Twitter ... damn I hate those things.
You've got a lot going on with your phone so I guess a bit of conservative usage could help your battery life.

 

[FadedSpark]

@FadedSpark
I have the data connection disabled and enable it only when I need to check on the updates. At work I have WiFi enabled all the time but sync data only when the screen is on. Facebook and Twitter ... damn I hate those things.
You've got a lot going on with your phone so I guess a bit of conservative usage could help your battery life.

Ah so you meter your data out pretty much. Sounds like a good plan heh, but I can't be bothered. I sell phones, I use it as a demo all the time, and when I don't have customers, I'm using it for entertainment.

The fact it lasts me more than a day in the first place astounds me

 

[eachna]

Hey guys,

Just wondered if its still worth getting a Milestone, remember it coming out and really liking the phone but already had a Hero at the time, but now I no longer have my Hero and haven't for about 5 months now, unfortunately it felt the wrath of my washing machine - it was supposed to be insured but my mum cancelled her policy without telling me :/.

The reason i'm interested in the Milestone is the price drop i've noticed and the fact I loved Android.

1. Is it still a good phone to buy?
2. Will it continue to receive updates?
3. Whats the battery life like?
4. Whats it like using google navigation?

Cheers.

It's still a good phone to buy. It has a good keyboard, great phone functionality (incoming/outgoing audio), and beautiful screen.

Updates tend to be slow and are staggered not just by model but geographical region. By that I mean that even though Motorola says "Milestone" updates are available, it's really only for certain regions at any single time. Germany, Great Britain, South America, Hong Kong, and Canada are some of the regions I've noticed in other discussions. From your idioms and the question about Google Nav, I assume you're in GB. You might want to check the forums for past updates and see where GB seems to fit into the update pattern.

As others have said, the battery is really variable, based on your usage. The more features you disable, the longer it lasts. It's really a YMMV situation.

I *love love love* Google Nav. I use it whenver I'm driving somewhere I either don't know the route to, or I'm at least a little uncertain about. I do find that Google Nav does not always point me to the shortest route. In fact, it seems to systematically point me to the "first" working route, no matter how long it takes. So, if I'm driving on a highway and there are two different exits that I can follow, and taking the second one will provide me with a route that's 10 minutes shorter than the first, Google Nav will still route me to the first exit (and make me drive that extra 10 minutes). As someone who lives in a heavilty built up area with a complex warren of road systems, I'd rather drive the extra 10 minutes and not get lost. But I do mention it if you're one of those speedy people who would be frustrated by sub-optimal routing choices.

Bonus points on the Google Nav voice -- my teenaged son assures me "the Nav Lady has a sexy voice". I think it's an awesome voice, more natural sounding than the text to speech on my Kindle.

 

[fekish]

for me this is a huge disappointed...

I wouldn't suggest to anyone to buy it...

I cannot believe that some of the core features of the phone do not work properly and you have to search to find a solution...And motorola does nothing for it... After 12 years i bought a Motorola phone, and it will take me another 20 to buy another one...

 

[fejker]

What core features are you talking about fekish? Can you please elaborate.

 

[fekish]

Alarm not working...

Music just starts by itself...

 

[fejker]

Google for boot_img_from_SHOLS_U2_03.10.0.sbf and download it. Install RSD Lite and flash your phone with this image. Then all your problems will be gone.

And BTW, the alarm and music feature aren't core features.

 

[fekish]

OK thanks.

Alarm is a core feature... For 12 years all phones i had didnt have a problem with this simple feature. I dont think you are buying a phone and you dont assume that there is an alarm program on it, thus is a core feature.

Thank you for the link, but this shows clearly that Motorola doesnt care at all for its customers. Why just dont they issue an update to correct this? They definitely lost a customer through this...

 

[fejker]

I agree, the alarm shouldn't have been an issue. It wasn't until the 2.1 update that it became an issue. I'm sure the 2.2 update (coming soon) will fix this as we'll get a new boot image and hopefully the bootloader too.

On the other hand people buy a smart phone because they want to fiddle with the settings and different configurations and I think Motorola is wrong when they don't support the people who just buy the phone and don't actually know how to tweak it.