Two questions about my new Motorola V188 that I bought on Ebay yesterday

The first thing I did was ask Motorola, and you wouldn't believe the
gobblety gook they fired back. Create an account, get a password, revise my
querie, forward it to the proper department, etc etc etc. So I'm asking
you, since some of you probably know more than the Motorola techs anyway.

(1) I bought the phone to use for a few weeks once a year when I go abroad,
therefore it will be sitting around for months at a time waiting for my next
odyssey. Should I keep it fully charged, or just charge it up when I need
to make a call to keep my SIM card from expiring?

(2) When I'm in Europe will it be safe to charge it on 220 current using
the charger that comes with it, with a 110 to 220 transformer and a plug
adapter? I ask because I had to buy a 220 charger for my digital camera,
because the maker advised me that the 110 charger that came with the camera
might burn out since it would be plugged in for a much longer period than
your average hair dryer. And if I need a 220 charger where would I get it?
(Please don't tell me to ask Motorola!)

Thanks for any help you can give me.
Harriett

1:
If you're going to leave the phone lying around for months, I would recommend
that you remove the battery (but keep it in the same place you keep the phone!
) so that it won't drain as quickly. With my experience with motorola phones,
the longer the battery sits inside the phone without it being used, the more
the battery discharges. I would also recommend that you also get a second
battery (preferably brand new, and you can get one on www.cellphoneshop.net
for close to $15) and fully charge it 12-18 hours before you use it, just in
case the battery that came with the new phone you just bought is a piece of
crap. If you don't want to buy a new battery, try to use the v180 until the
phone cuts itself off, then charge it (with the phone off) overnight the day
before you leave town.

2:
I really don't know where you'd get a 220 volt charger... but I don't see why
the converter wouldn't work... Because GSM phones are available all over the
world, you might want to visit a kiosk or a cellphone shop while you're
overseas to see if they have any that would be considered compatible...

Harriett Wright wrote:
>The first thing I did was ask Motorola, and you wouldn't believe the
>gobblety gook they fired back. Create an account, get a password, revise my
>querie, forward it to the proper department, etc etc etc. So I'm asking
>you, since some of you probably know more than the Motorola techs anyway.
>
>(1) I bought the phone to use for a few weeks once a year when I go abroad,
>therefore it will be sitting around for months at a time waiting for my next
>odyssey. Should I keep it fully charged, or just charge it up when I need
>to make a call to keep my SIM card from expiring?
>
>(2) When I'm in Europe will it be safe to charge it on 220 current using
>the charger that comes with it, with a 110 to 220 transformer and a plug
>adapter? I ask because I had to buy a 220 charger for my digital camera,
>because the maker advised me that the 110 charger that came with the camera
>might burn out since it would be plugged in for a much longer period than
>your average hair dryer. And if I need a 220 charger where would I get it?
>(Please don't tell me to ask Motorola!)
>
>Thanks for any help you can give me.
>Harriett

Harriett Wright wrote:
> The first thing I did was ask Motorola, and you wouldn't believe the
> gobblety gook they fired back. Create an account, get a password, revise my
> querie, forward it to the proper department, etc etc etc. So I'm asking
> you, since some of you probably know more than the Motorola techs anyway.
>
> (1) I bought the phone to use for a few weeks once a year when I go abroad,
> therefore it will be sitting around for months at a time waiting for my next
> odyssey. Should I keep it fully charged, or just charge it up when I need
> to make a call to keep my SIM card from expiring?

I understand it's much cheaper to get a prepaid SIM, but you may want to post
in the Cingular and T-Mobile newsgroups where there are likely to be people
who have used US GSM phones abroad. (I'm a T-Mo customer but have never used
the phone anywhere outside California.)



--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Apple Valley, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED

It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.

Harriett Wright wrote in alt.cellular

> The first thing I did was ask Motorola, and you wouldn't believe the
> gobblety gook they fired back. Create an account, get a password,
> revise my querie, forward it to the proper department, etc etc etc. So
> I'm asking you, since some of you probably know more than the Motorola
> techs anyway.
>
> (1) I bought the phone to use for a few weeks once a year when I go
> abroad, therefore it will be sitting around for months at a time waiting
> for my next odyssey. Should I keep it fully charged, or just charge it
> up when I need to make a call to keep my SIM card from expiring?

use the phone occaisionally, and charge it up occaisionally. I would
make a point of at least once a month of running the battery down
a bit and recharging.

>
> (2) When I'm in Europe will it be safe to charge it on 220 current
> using the charger that comes with it, with a 110 to 220 transformer and
> a plug adapter? I ask because I had to buy a 220 charger for my digital
> camera, because the maker advised me that the 110 charger that came with
> the camera might burn out since it would be plugged in for a much longer
> period than your average hair dryer. And if I need a 220 charger where
> would I get it? (Please don't tell me to ask Motorola!)

I would look around and find a charger that was made for it rather than
risk playing with transformers and all.
You should be able to find one on ebay.
By the way, you do know that you can buy prepaid sims for roaming
around the world for a lot less than you would pay an American carrier
for roaming?


--
Dick #1349
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
~Benjamin Franklin

Home Page: dickcr.iwarp.com
email: dickcr@comcast.net

Thanks for the good advice, Dick. I was able to find a 220 charger on Ebay.
I agree that it would be foolish to take a chance.

I ordered a SIM card that can be used in 120 countries from United Mobile.
Calls from France, where I plan to spend two weeks this fall, are 49 cents a
minute and incoming calls are free. I generally go to a different country
every year, and the card won't expire as long as I use it within 9 months of
my last call. My husband will be able to use a calling card to call me for
less than three cents a minute.

I don't think I'll be able to take your advice on charging it up and running
it down every month unless there's a way of running it down without making
calls, since calls within the US are $2.50 a minute. For the cost of
running down the battery every month I could probably just buy a new
battery! I guess I'll just charge it up when I have to. Maybe I ought to
invest in a spare battery to take along.

Harriett

"Dick C" <foo.dickcr@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Xns981E5881E77BBdickcrcomcastnet@216.196.97.136...
> Harriett Wright wrote in alt.cellular
>
>> The first thing I did was ask Motorola, and you wouldn't believe the
>> gobblety gook they fired back. Create an account, get a password,
>> revise my querie, forward it to the proper department, etc etc etc. So
>> I'm asking you, since some of you probably know more than the Motorola
>> techs anyway.
>>
>> (1) I bought the phone to use for a few weeks once a year when I go
>> abroad, therefore it will be sitting around for months at a time waiting
>> for my next odyssey. Should I keep it fully charged, or just charge it
>> up when I need to make a call to keep my SIM card from expiring?
>
> use the phone occaisionally, and charge it up occaisionally. I would
> make a point of at least once a month of running the battery down
> a bit and recharging.
>
>>
>> (2) When I'm in Europe will it be safe to charge it on 220 current
>> using the charger that comes with it, with a 110 to 220 transformer and
>> a plug adapter? I ask because I had to buy a 220 charger for my digital
>> camera, because the maker advised me that the 110 charger that came with
>> the camera might burn out since it would be plugged in for a much longer
>> period than your average hair dryer. And if I need a 220 charger where
>> would I get it? (Please don't tell me to ask Motorola!)
>
> I would look around and find a charger that was made for it rather than
> risk playing with transformers and all.
> You should be able to find one on ebay.
> By the way, you do know that you can buy prepaid sims for roaming
> around the world for a lot less than you would pay an American carrier
> for roaming?
>
>
> --
> Dick #1349
> "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
> safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
> ~Benjamin Franklin
>
> Home Page: dickcr.iwarp.com
> email: dickcr@comcast.net
>

Harriett Wright wrote in alt.cellular

> Thanks for the good advice, Dick. I was able to find a 220 charger on
> Ebay. I agree that it would be foolish to take a chance.
>
> I ordered a SIM card that can be used in 120 countries from United
> Mobile. Calls from France, where I plan to spend two weeks this fall,
> are 49 cents a minute and incoming calls are free. I generally go to a
> different country every year, and the card won't expire as long as I use
> it within 9 months of my last call. My husband will be able to use a
> calling card to call me for less than three cents a minute.
>
> I don't think I'll be able to take your advice on charging it up and
> running it down every month unless there's a way of running it down
> without making calls, since calls within the US are $2.50 a minute. For
> the cost of running down the battery every month I could probably just
> buy a new battery! I guess I'll just charge it up when I have to.
> Maybe I ought to invest in a spare battery to take along.

always a good idea to have a spare battery, just in case.
And I am glad that you are going to go with the prepaid sim. Makes a lot
of sense unless you absolutely need to have your own phone number.


--
Dick #1349
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
~Benjamin Franklin

Home Page: dickcr.iwarp.com
email: dickcr@comcast.net