Motorola Q Smartphone - 3 Month Review, Updating Tips and Hacks

Chuck — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 01:08:00 -0400

The Motorola Q smartphone was one of the most anticipated and hyped smartphones to go to market. After three months of using the Q, does it live up to the hype? For me the answer is yes, but I never had “Blackberry killer” expectations.

My previous phone was a Samsung i730 Pocket PC phone. The i730 is a great PDA device but it was terrible phone. There weren’t enough notifications for missed calls and voicemails out of the box. And the voice quality was awful. No one I talked to could hear me clearly or loud enough.

So I decided to sacrifice the great PDA features of the i730 for the Motorola Q and its better calling features, RF and voice quality. I’m very happy with the Q as a phone. Voice quality both listening and talking is excellent and I can have an actual conversation without hearing… What did you say?

I don’t think it’s fair comparing the Q with the Treo, i730 or Blackberries. Windows Mobile 5.0 is not robust enough to make it a fair comparison. Comparing a Smartphone OS to a Pocket PC OS, Palm OS or Blackberry/RIM OS is an apple to oranges comparison. They are different tools for different people. Granted, it’s Verizon/Motorola’s fault for hyping the phone as the Treo/Blackberry killer.

If you are looking for great phone with adequate PDA/productivity features get the Q. However if you are looking for a great PDA/productivity phone get a Pocket PC, Treo or Blackberry device.

For my needs, the Q is the perfect phone. It’s a great phone first and a PDA/PIM second. The features that I love about the Q are:

Form factor and stylish design - it speaks for itself
QWERTY keyboard - excellent implementation
Speakerphone - best stereo speakerphone I’ve heard yet
Directional pad - best designed d-pad on the market, I hardly use the thumb wheel
RF and voice quality - YES! I can hear you now!!!
Bluetooth profiles - extremely easy to pair BT devices

The misses for the Q are:

No push email - Solved with the latest software update
Poor battery life - if you use Goodlink or a frequent multi-media user, battery life is short
Limited customization - without using registry hacks, there is no customization.

Geek.com wrote the best Motorola Q review that I have seen to date. Over the last month, ZDNet’s Between the Lines blog has written a series on the Q after everyday usage. David Berlind disses the Q pretty hard but I don’t agree with most of his issues, particularly his second post that dogs the Q for missing the dial by directory feature. The issue is valid but the fix takes 10 seconds to install.

Software Update

I’m happy with my Q because I updated the software yesterday and did some hacks to improve the functionality. I’ll start out with the new Motorola Q Software Update. The new software update provides the following enhancements:

Start menu icons display 4 items per row instead of 3.
Improved operating performance - I haven’t noticed significant improvement, but I never had any issues.
AKU-2/push e-mail - Requires Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or Verizon Wireless Sync
Dial-up networking (DUN) - requires $15/month fee to use the Q as a modem

First off, it’s an easy update if you follow the instructions exactly. Second, all of your personal data (pictures, music, ringtones, background images, etc.) will be deleted and you will have to reinstall any 3rd party apps that are on your Q.

Before beginning the update process, I would think diligently about the need to update your Q. If you really need direct push email or DUN, then go for it, but be warned that you could run into issues as demonstrated by this 18+ page thread on Qusers.com forum. If you are not comfortable with troubleshooting your phone and are currently happy with its performance I recommend holding off on the update.

Best case scenario the update takes 15 - 20 minutes and additional time to reinstall your 3rd party apps and personal data. Worst case scenario, your phone may get hosed. If you are a glutton for punishment, here are additional directions for the software update.

Go to the Motorola Software Update site.
After you select Verizon and Q, read and print out the guidelines and instructions. Make sure you follow the instructions!
Backup your data. You can manually back up your personal data by using the “Explore” icon in ActiveSync and copying your files. Or you can save a lot of time by using Sprite Backup, which will backup all of your data and 3rd party apps.
Charge your phone completely and disconnect after the charge is complete.
Download this file: MSU_VZW_STAND_ALONE_FIRMWARE_MOL_1.msi. This is step 2 on the Motorola update site. You have to download and install this file (double-click the file after you downloaded it to start the installation process). Many people have had issues because they failed to install this file.
I recommend disabling any firewalls after you download the software update.
Download the software update (step 4 on Moto site) and continue following the instructions.
My USB driver update failed initially. Then I was asked to soft reset/power cycle my Q. I had a black screen on the Q with “USB connected” displayed. I could not turn off my Q and ended up removing the battery to soft reset the phone. Once I reconnected the Q, the installation process continued and completed successfully.
After the update is complete, you’ll have to use OTA programming to make and receive calls. Dial *228, select option 1.
Now re-sync your data with ActiveSync, copy all personal data files and re-install your 3rd party apps. Using the Sprite Backup will save you a lot of time with this step.

At this point, I hope your phone is successfully updated. If you run into any issues, search the following forums Qusers.com forum or PDAPhone.com forum for troubleshooting tips. Again, I want to re-emphasize that the software update process should go smoothly if you follow the instructions. However, the process is not for someone who is uncomfortable troubleshooting issues.

Hacks

There is a ton of great information on the Qusers.com forums and the PDAPhone.com Q forum. I’ll point out a couple of registry hacks from these forums that have improved performance and functionality of my Q.

Before you begin, download the Resco Explorer 2005, which is a registry editor and file explorer. If you are not comfortable with editing registry settings don’t attempt any of these hacks because you could damage your phone. So proceed at your own risk.

Dial by Directory

This is an easy hack because a forum user packaged the install files into a self-installing CAB file. This hack will display the alphabet mapping for the number keys.

The directions are simple for this hack. Just click on one of the four dialing images that you like and download the appropriate CAB file. Then transfer the file to your Q using ActiveSync and remember the location. On your Q, use Resco Explorer and navigate to the CAB file location and click on it. The file should self-install. Power cycle your Q and you should be good to go.

To find out more details about this hack, go to this Qusers.com forum topic. Thanks to tonyxcom, gadget, isayx3, Ben74 and blue rocket for contributing to this great fix.

Remove Sent Message Confirmation with SMS

If you hate the sent message confirmation that is displayed after you send an SMS message, use the following registry hack to disable the confirmation message.

Select Start and open Resco Registry app
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Inbox
Enter Inbox, select Menu –> File, New Key
Name the New Key as “Settings”
Click on “Settings” and select Menu –> File, New String Value
On “Value name:”, enter in SMSNoSentMsg and in value data “String”, enter 1
Soft reset your device and test by sending an SMS, the confirmation message should not display.

There are several other registry hacks for changing the startup sound, increasing call history, changing the start menu from grid view to list view and several others on this Qusers.com registry hack thread.

Motorola Q Accessories

If you are not interested in hacking your Q, then check out these Q accessories.

Finally, if you are looking for the next “Blackberry killer”, check out the Nokia E62.

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Motorola Q Smartphone - 3 Month Review, Updating Tips and Hacks