"Guest_V220 said:
Listen Dont bother spending big bucks for either phone, Sony Ericssons have good build quality ,great features but buggy reception on most models with the exception of the T237 Series , but u should go 4 the V220, its got most features except for bluetooth plus its smaller , cheaper and it is Quad-band so think of it as a bonus , thats how i c it :lol: :lol: :shock: :lol: :o :) :D"

"Anonymous said:
Well Folks,

Firstly thanks to those who spent some time reading this even though it wasn't much on-topic. I'll get to my Z500 impressions later.

As for the V400: it turns out my first V400 was defective. The RF rapidly dwindled to become non existant on the second day, so I exchanged it but without much hope (first impressions...). In contrast. the second unit has been working very. I made RF tests and basically got basically the same results as with the V180. Almost, that is. I found the V180 had a slight edge over the the V400 3 times out of 5, the V400 2 times out of 5.

Although some of its dsign drove me nuts (especially the ridiculous way tehy speakerphone operates), I kept it beacuse of its build quality over teh V180 and of course, its gorgeous screen. Surprisingly, that unit also takes remarkably sharp pictures, in sharp contrast with the first unit. Finally, the earpiece volume, although being lower and sounding slightly tinnier tha the V180, is basically acceptable although not great. Definitely would need a boost, got to get a cable and hack the gain table.

So I can confirm that if you are NOT satisfied with your V400, don't discount it right away (except for design issues, of course). You may have gotten one that slipped past quality assurance.

And if you prefer the V180 for style reasons, by all means get it, beacuse it is indeed superior to the V400 in terms of sound and RF quality out-of-the-box. I would have kept mine but what am I going to do with 3 cell phone contracts!

V400 vs Z600 content [assuming we're talking about the Sony Ericsson Z600]: I had the chance to try a variant, the Z500 (if I understand corrcetly, the Z500 is like the Z600 but without bluetooth), at the Fido kiosk last weekend.

Very nice phone indeed. Feels very solid and I liked the solid looking, cool blue, squarish shape. Style wise, the V400 in contrast appears to be effeminate with its rounded shape. But the Z600 as cool as it looks, has a vastly inferior, dull looking screen and it doesn't have a removable antenna, so no way to connect effiiently to an external antenna (back plug adapters wen available have inferior performance in my experience, compared to directly connecting to the stub antenna socket)."

i need help looking for unlock codes for the motorla v400, where can i go?

Well Folks,

Firstly thanks to those who spent some time reading this even though it wasn't much on-topic. I'll get to my Z500 impressions later.

As for the V400: it turns out my first V400 was defective. The RF rapidly dwindled to become non existant on the second day, so I exchanged it but without much hope (first impressions...). In contrast. the second unit has been working very. I made RF tests and basically got basically the same results as with the V180. Almost, that is. I found the V180 had a slight edge over the the V400 3 times out of 5, the V400 2 times out of 5.

Although some of its dsign drove me nuts (especially the ridiculous way tehy speakerphone operates), I kept it beacuse of its build quality over teh V180 and of course, its gorgeous screen. Surprisingly, that unit also takes remarkably sharp pictures, in sharp contrast with the first unit. Finally, the earpiece volume, although being lower and sounding slightly tinnier tha the V180, is basically acceptable although not great. Definitely would need a boost, got to get a cable and hack the gain table.

So I can confirm that if you are NOT satisfied with your V400, don't discount it right away (except for design issues, of course). You may have gotten one that slipped past quality assurance.

And if you prefer the V180 for style reasons, by all means get it, beacuse it is indeed superior to the V400 in terms of sound and RF quality out-of-the-box. I would have kept mine but what am I going to do with 3 cell phone contracts!

V400 vs Z600 content [assuming we're talking about the Sony Ericsson Z600]: I had the chance to try a variant, the Z500 (if I understand corrcetly, the Z500 is like the Z600 but without bluetooth), at the Fido kiosk last weekend.

Very nice phone indeed. Feels very solid and I liked the solid looking, cool blue, squarish shape. Style wise, the V400 in contrast appears to be effeminate with its rounded shape. But the Z600 as cool as it looks, has a vastly inferior, dull looking screen and it doesn't have a removable antenna, so no way to connect effiiently to an external antenna (back plug adapters wen available have inferior performance in my experience, compared to directly connecting to the stub antenna socket).

Well I got myself the V400 so I'll be able to compare both side by side for a few days. Fido definitely has a great return policy!

I can confirm now that the V400 low speaker volume issue is still there. I would have hoped they would ahve corrected this in their latest firmware releases, but no. And the speakerphone that cannot be put on right away is definitely an annoyance. Those issues do not affect the V180...

But wow, what a nice screen!

As for the exterior LCD, I personally don't like. I would have much rather had the one of the V180, reverse video style with white backlight instead of blue. Much more legible!

The camera is, well... just a gadget IMO. I hope it works better in bright light. Indoors, it's quite poor.

The phone feels sturdier than the V180. But does it work any better? Is it worth the extra $50 and the trouble to flash it? I'm not convinced yet. The V180 works so much better right out of the box... I'll have both for a few days to compare.

Thank you citru5cyrus, your comments are much appreciated. Although I like the reception I get compared to my old phone (and to Bell's LG5550 which was supposed to replace it), the size of this phone is my main complaint, I'm just afraid it's going to break apart...

I'm off tomorrow at the Fido kiosk to upgrade to the heavier, more solid looking V400 and hope the reception is going to be as good (or better) than that of the v180 (I've been using the Rogers network option). I simply hope Motorola has resolved the faint speaker issue so many have complained about in the past and hope I can live with the seemingly quirky speakerphone operation.

BTW I made an adapter that screws in the OEM antenna socket and the reception uising my Yagi antenna is 5 bars where it used to be 2-3 bars with my old Bell phone, and it always rings when I call (I would more often than not be shoved to voicemail with the same setup on my old Samsung A460 Bell phone). And I didn't even adjust the antenna direction yet (I'm approximately 30 degrees off the 'local' tower at this point). Since the Yagi was designed for the old 850-ish analog wavelength I expected to wrok just as great on similar GSM wavelegths...

So to comment back on the antenna adapter you may be right, the best signal feed is probably directly from the stub antenna socket.

As for the USB cable, are you saying the V400 needs a different USB cable from the V180? My digicam cable fits the V180 perfectly...

I will make some tests in the remaining three days I have on my 15 day satisfaction guarantee period and get back on this forum for feedback comparing both phones.

Thank again for your input, looking forward for anything else you may wish to comment on.

Chris

v180 is the upgrade of the old school v66. Screen's smaller, same 65k colour though, reception is ALRIGHT...reason i say that is cuz it drops calls like there's no tomorrow..depending on the location. I would definitely spend the extra cash for the v400 if you dont care about the USB port. The external antenna adaptor has raised many issues. Phones have that gold pin plug thing for a antenna, but what people do not kno is that it is only good for cars not for houses or what hve you.. to answer your question, there is no adaptor for the antenna, for any fido phone at least..

- C

How does the V400 compare to the V180 in terms of reception and sound quality?

I've had the V180 for 10 days now (15 days satisfaction assurance on Fido) and the sound is IMO exceptional but I don't like it's fragile plasticky feel... I could upgrade to the V400 for $50 more, is it worth it? And does it have an external antenna adapter (you can remove the stub on the v180 and easily install an adapter there)?

Thanks for youir input!

"citru5cyrus said:
heyhey!

IMO, they're identical phones..the ONLY reason you're paying extra for is bluetooth on the V600. Other than that, the V400 and V600 are the same phones.. If you aren't gonna use bluetooth...i wouldn't even bother paying the difference. The V400 is quad-band instead of tri-band...its just an extra frequency its capable of using.. no biggie..not a need either..

I have the V400 and "i'm lovin' it!"..:)

- Cyrus"
:lol: :o :( 8)

> is it me or de worlds gon cwazy! bro hes askin bout V400 Vs. ZZZZZZZZZZ600!!! not VVV600!!!

my bad.. with the recent price drop for the v400..if ur not looking for infrared or bluetooth..get the v400.. like i said, it depends on what you'll be using the phone for primarily..

Listen Dont bother spending big bucks for either phone, Sony Ericssons have good build quality ,great features but buggy reception on most models with the exception of the T237 Series , but u should go 4 the V220, its got most features except for bluetooth plus its smaller , cheaper and it is Quad-band so think of it as a bonus , thats how i c it :lol: :lol: :shock: :lol: :o :) :D

is it me or de worlds gon cwazy! bro hes askin bout V400 Vs. ZZZZZZZZZZ600!!! not VVV600!!!

dis niga wuz rite:
"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper
is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the Swiss hold
the Americas cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance
and Germany doesn't want to go to war"

heyhey!

IMO, they're identical phones..the ONLY reason you're paying extra for is bluetooth on the V600. Other than that, the V400 and V600 are the same phones.. If you aren't gonna use bluetooth...i wouldn't even bother paying the difference. The V400 is quad-band instead of tri-band...its just an extra frequency its capable of using.. no biggie..not a need either..

I have the V400 and "i'm lovin' it!"..:)

- Cyrus