Motorola MOTO Z6W or Nokia 6301?

I'm with Fido in Canada. My cell just died on me, and I need a new one. My
Fido contract ran out last winter, but I've got enough Fido dollars
accumulated to get pretty much any cell I want as long as I renew for
another 2 years.

I like carrying my phone in my pockets, so flip-phones are out of the
question. It's got to be flat. In this category, I found 2 models that seem
pretty much identical feature-wise, with some exceptions.

BOTH PHONES: Allow Fido-Uno wi-fi, have a 2mp camera, play mp3's, etc. and
are $50 with a 2-year commitment.

MOTO Z6W: Slide-phone. Prettier than the Nokia, came out more recently, and
is therefore worth more ($350, or $50 with 2yr commitment). Does not come
with headset or SIM card.

NOKIA 6301: Neither a slide nor a flip. Slightly slimmer and lighter than
the Motorola. Comes with headset and SIM card. Older than the Motorola,
which explains the price cut (they're currently on sale at $175, or $50 with
2yr commitment).

According to the sales person at Fido, she had the Nokia for her own
personal use and switched to the Motorola because the Nokia was more
fragile. She even pulled out her cell to prove it (it was indeed the Z6W).
Of course, your mileage may vary, because another salesman in another Fido
store told me he swears by Nokia and will always recommend Nokia over
Motorola (not referring to these specific models).

What do you guys think? Which is the better bang for the buck? Keep in mind
that regardless of the fact that the Motorola is worth twice as much as the
Nokia, both are going for $50 with a 2yr commitment.. which I intend to get.

Does the fact that the Motorola is a slide-phone and the Nokia isn't make a
difference? I've only ever had a flip.

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› See More: Motorola MOTO Z6W or Nokia 6301?

"Evan Deez" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> What do you guys think? Which is the better bang for the buck? Keep in
> mind that regardless of the fact that the Motorola is worth twice as
> much as the Nokia, both are going for $50 with a 2yr commitment..
> which I intend to get.
>
> Does the fact that the Motorola is a slide-phone and the Nokia isn't
> make a difference? I've only ever had a flip.
>
>
>

I have a Motorola Z6m on Alltel, which probably has different features
turned on than your carrier allows. Alltel doesn't hobble up their
phones.

The operation of the slidephone is pretty nice. On the right side there
is a sliding lock switch which locks all the buttons and everything when
the phone is CLOSED, so you don't call Australia at $20/min
inadvertently. You can leave the switch in the locked position,
however, and use the phone by simply sliding it open....a great, useful
feature. When you slide it closed, again, all buttons are locked off
again.

Another thing you can do is you have a choice whether closing the phone
hands it up or not, your choice in the toolboxes. I like my phone to
hang up when I close it, but some people don't. You can choose which.

ANY earphones fit the earphone jack, not just sellphone earphones. The
music player, separate from the sound player, is a nice MP3 player
easily accessible from the front panel. The Z6 is LOUD! The stereo
speakers are in a little slot under the battery cover in the back. If
you lay the phone on a table or any hard flat surface, the shape of the
phone and the flat surface create a little audio feed horn to amplify
the sound further! Laying it on its back on a desk make it nicely loud
to listen to music. The ringtones come out loud, also, a common
complaint across all phones.

The camera is "acceptable"...what can you say about any sellphone
camera. It takes acceptable snapshots and little movies complete with
sound and stores them on either internal memory or the external microSD
card...directly. On the Alltel Z6m, you can copy, move, delete, paste
any files from internal memory to the microSD card for removal to your
PC. On the Verizon Z6tv, same phone with VZW firmware, you can't...it's
hobbled up. No copy or move commands. Verizon wants to sell you
messaging to move your pictures/sounds to your computer. That sucks.

The phone will charge from ANY USB source...even my laptop. Just plug
in a cable. ANY USB mobile charging cord will charge it, too, not just
Motorola's. I bought 10 cords directly from China for $1.76 off the net
and they all work fine. The phone also uses standard USB plugged into
your computer...no funny business.

Bluetooth, the good, the bad and the UGLY......

My Z6m is capable of the following Bluetooth functions:

FTP - transfers files to/from either memory location over Bluetooth FTP
OBEX - kinda the same idea
DUN - Bluetooth's answer to a radio modem. My Nokia N800 Linux tablet
connects to the phone via BT DUN for EVDO internet service at about 800-
1200Kbps. Makes a very acceptable internet connection....which Verizon
taking over our company is about to DESTROY.
A2DP - Buy the Motorola S9 stereo headset for your Z6 phone. S9 will
control the phone under BT handsfree AND play all the music files off
the phone's nice MP3 player just wonderfully. S9 is a fantastic,
powerful headset that is of soft rubber and makes NO NOISE OF ITS OWN.
It's WAY too loud for kids to listen to near full volume. S9 would make
them DEAF in a while....
Handsfree - all functions. When the phone rings, you press the phone
button on the headset and the phone pauses the music player while you
make a phone call, returning the music to your ears when you hang up.
Press the button to make a call and the music pauses, the excellent
voice recognition that does NOT have to be trained, listens to your
voice commands IF YOU ARE NOT IN A NOISY ENVIRONMENT to confuse it,
completely handsfree. Works fine if noone else is talking around you.
I transfer files to/from the Z6m from my Linux tablet over BT fast and
easily.

THE UGLY - The stupid phone is completely INCAPABLE of connecting to TWO
Bluetooth devices simultaneously. If my tablet is using the net...the
headset won't connect. If the headset is connected, you must shut it
down BEFORE it will respond to the DUN call from the tablet. BT is
capable...the Z6 is NOT! It will only connect to ONE device at a
time...which sucks.

The S9, by the way, IS capable of more than one device! I use it with a
Sony TMR-BT10 tiny little Bluetooth A2DP stereo transmitter plugged into
the tablet, freeing up CPU in the computer for more important stuff like
DivX movies. The S9 WILL connect handsfree to the Z6 AND receive stereo
audio from the Sony BT transmitter SIMULTANEOUSLY if you pair the phone
FIRST, then pair the Sony SECOND. From that point on, S9 ignores the
A2DP connect calls from the phone until you RE-pair the phone with it
and start over. I tricked it!

The phone is a nice picture viewer in landscape mode so you can show
your friends the pictures stored on it out of your pocket.

Z6m is one of the nicest phones I ever had. BUT, to be truthful, I'm on
my SECOND one as the first one had a major processor failure after about
3 weeks. The second unit has been beaten around and runs/looks great.
Everyone I meet likes its looks and sound.....(c;]

Your mileage may vary with your carrier's hobbling and tinkering in the
W GSM model.

"Larry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Your mileage may vary with your carrier's hobbling and tinkering in the
> W GSM model.

Thanks for writing all that, Larry. Appreciated!

"Evan Deez" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> "Larry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> Your mileage may vary with your carrier's hobbling and tinkering in the
>> W GSM model.
>
> Thanks for writing all that, Larry. Appreciated!
>
>
>

It's hard to make up your mind what phone to get. I had to go through 4
phones at Alltel to find one that would actually tether and stay connected
to my Nokia N800 Linux tablet before the Z6m worked.

I'm about to lose what I've enjoyed as Alltel is swallowed by the most
dispicable carrier in America, Verizon Wireless. I say we're going to get
screwed because noone from either company, only 1.5 months before the
takeover, can tell me what's going to happen. This only tells me it's not
going to be pleasant, is going to cost lots more money as Alltel is really
cheap, and I'll lose unlimited mobile internet service as Verizon doesn't
have it.

I may abandon sellphones altogether and just use Skype over wifi, which is
available free all over the city, now. I don't really need to talk while
driving and Skype's voicemail works great between stops. Sure is lots
cheaper than paying Verizon $1200/year just to have a sellphone.