Motorola E398 - is it good?

Quadophile

Quadophile

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Has anyone used this phone? I think it is a good toy for a 15 year old! I am planning to get one for my sons birthday (January 30) when he turns 15. Any input would be great as in my own circle (age group) this phone is not used. :D

The reviews seem glowing but thought I'd ask users or those who had a go at it, first hand information always comes handy. :thumb:
 
Ive never used a recent motorola phone, i have always stuck to Nokia, and now Sony Ericcsson. And plan on keeping it that way.

BUT

The E398 (which i believe is the only non-clamshell motorola currently produce) looks really good - i'm sure your son would absolutely love one! Its got all the feautures teenagers love, and it's by no means uncool looking.
 
christopherpostill said:
The E398 (which i believe is the only non-clamshell motorola currently produce) looks really good - i'm sure your son would absolutely love one! Its got all the feautures teenagers love, and it's by no means uncool looking.
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Chris,

Thanks for the input.

I just came across this review of E-398 which is enough to convince me to go for it! :thumb:

I did not know this cell phone was capable of reproducing music in stereo.:eek:

Here is a picture of it with one of the speaker on its side :cool:
 

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In my experience with phones all i can say is that i found Nokia the best. The Nokia 6230 is an extrememly nice phone, it has video playback/download, plays MP3's out loud like a little stereo, has radio, plenty of ringtones to play with or make yourself, loadsa games to d/l and its all in a relativly small phone! But they do retail for around £200 :/.
 
Reefsmoka said:
In my experience with phones all i can say is that i found Nokia the best. The Nokia 6230 is an extrememly nice phone, it has video playback/download, plays MP3's out loud like a little stereo, has radio, plenty of ringtones to play with or make yourself, loadsa games to d/l and its all in a relativly small phone! But they do retail for around £200 :/.
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Reef,

The Nokia you mentioned is a very similar phone to the E-398 indeed. I did a check on it by comparing both the phones, see the comparision and I think the E-398 is a better buy. The difference in the screen size is not small, E-398 has a huge screen compared to the 6230. However, I do not deny both have good features and it may be a matter of personal choice in the end and to some extent a matter of brand loyalty. My son has used both a motorola (C350) and nokia (1100) in the past and he is no longer interested in Nokia anymore.

Thank you for your feedback which is much appreciated. :)
 
Quadophile said:
Has anyone used this phone? I think it is a good toy for a 15 year old! I am planning to get one for my sons birthday (January 30) when he turns 15. Any input would be great as in my own circle (age group) this phone is not used. :D

The reviews seem glowing but thought I'd ask users or those who had a go at it, first hand information always comes handy. :thumb:
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What about the s700?
that really does look like a super super phone!

I have never got any phone other than a Nokia!
always been a boring Nokia geezer!
 
yes i have the Nokia 6230!

its a great phone its got everything that Reef's mentioned!


good all round phone if u ask me, done me proud so far!
u got to see the case i got its crazy!

try looking up the sony ericsson s700i i think its called this looks to be a real beauty!
 
psd99 said:
What about the s700?
that really does look like a super super phone!

I have never got any phone other than a Nokia!
always been a boring Nokia geezer!
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I am asking whether a Toyota is OK or not and you are suggesting why not I go for a Rolls Royce. Am I missing something?

The S700 is more than twice the price of E-398 how does it compare? There is no comparision, the two are menat for different market segments.

The Sony comparible to Motorola in this case is K700.
 
Quadophile said:
I am asking whether a Toyota is OK or not and you are suggesting why not I go for a Rolls Royce. Am I missing something?

The S700 is more than twice the price of E-398 how does it compare? There is no comparision, the two are menat for different market segments.

The Sony comparible to Motorola in this case is K700.
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fair enough Pink Panther!!!!

out of the two u mentioned
go for the sony ericcson, its much better than motorola, take it from me the guy with first hand experience!
 
psd99 said:
fair enough Pink Panther!!!!

out of the two u mentioned
go for the sony ericcson, its much better than motorola, take it from me the guy with first hand experience!
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I sure will pass on your comment to my son who will ultimately decide. He will go through this thread as well. He has been doing research on his own. We will make the decision later today andI will pick up the one he puts his finger on.

psd99, Sorry I think I sounded a bit rude in my previous post, no hard feelings I suppose? :o
 
Quadophile said:
I sure will pass on your comment to my son who will ultimately decide. He will go through this thread as well. He has been doing research on his own. We will make the decision later today andI will pick up the one he puts his finger on.

psd99, Sorry I think I sounded a bit rude in my previous post, no hard feelings I suppose? :o
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no i dont think u were rude, you were just getting your point across in a firm manner

well good luck, and no hard feelings:)
 
Sony Erriccson are VERY good, i have the T610 at the moment, is quite good and packed with features.

The E398 loooks awesome, so why not give it a try... Theres no point in just sticking with what you know, experiment!
 
Thanks psd99, it makes me feel better! :)

By the way I just checked the full review of the K700 and after a bit of serch, my personal opinion is that if I were to chose a phone for myself I would probably go for the K700 as this model is more suitable to go with my age :D The E-398 IMHO is most definately a teenagers best buy.
 
My son called from home and his decision is to finally go for the Motorola E-398 after considering a few on his list which included Siemens as well as Sony Ericsson.
 
The E-398 has turned out to be a real goodie. Some of my sons friends have shifted their loyalties from Nokia and Sony Ericssons to Motorola. :D

Thanks to everyone who contributed on this thread, much appreciated.
 
I nearly bought an E398 today - i could have pretty much any phone from T-Mobile for free, or nearly free, on my 11 month free upgrade thing... for my Mix It plan...

I nearly went for it, but they said i could have a £50 discount off the phones contract RRP - so i bought a Sony Erricsson K700i instead - for £20 :D

Must say it's a very good phone - MP3 player, Video Recorder, Digital Camera, MP3 Ringtone, 41Mb free memory (better than the 1mb i had on my T610...)

Yeah... Its good!

I especially like the panoramic setting on the camera where you take 3 photos and it merges them together... see attached!!
 

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3 of my sons friends who had K700i chucked them and went for E398, they are glad they switched the phone :D
 
christopherpostill said:
I nearly bought an E398 today - i could have pretty much any phone from T-Mobile for free, or nearly free, on my 11 month free upgrade thing... for my Mix It plan...

I!!
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ive seen that phone quite impressive.

just wondering u said that you are on mixit
if u dont mind me asking why are u on mixit?

i presume this is where u pay line rental and get your alllowance minutes and text messagaes. but any other calls u make u are to top up your mobile like a pay as u go cumstomer.


ive noticed if u pester t-mobile u are v likely to get a good deal, last time my upgrade was due they sent me out 5 different phone models before i made my decision.the only downside was that I had to pay a fiver for delivery each time I recieved a phone. I think I did pester them to get a good deal.

What I did notice is this. T-Mobile and other networks are under very great competition against these local phone dealers. its like they are both providing the same services but techinally cancelling ach other out.
what i mean to say is most people that go to these local phone dealers will do a 12 month contract then AT THE END they will ring their network up and tell them they want to cancel their contract. then that phone service provider will try their utmost to persuade that customer to stay with them. if the customer does not get a good deal its back off down to the local phone dealer to get a really good deal!

I find that circle very weird to understand, the networks are providing the local dealers the contracts, but in the end the company are striving to save the lines they issued!
thats what the t-mobile team when i spoke to them were emphasising to me!
 
Well feature wise the K700i is superior to the E398 - has video recording and some other stuff, but i have never used the E398 before so that was another reason to stick with Sony Erricsson... Another reason was i already had a data cable for my T610, though i think the E398 may come with one. And this might sound "shallow" but i rate the looks of the K700i much more than the E398...

I never used a dealer really, i have always gone to T-Mobile direct - be it at www.t-mobile.co.uk or their shop down in Aldershot, like yesterday. I did try and push the guy for a deal but they had given me £50 already, so i was happy enough.

They did put the price of my plan up by £2 a month though, which sucks...and i can't use my minutes for WAP access any more. It's now £15.99 for 13 hours of calls off peak and 50 messages...

Mix It is good because it means i can't overspend my contracted allowance and find myself with a HUUGE bill... It's a contract, but I am in control. If i want to overspend, then i just top up like pay as you go. It's also good for if my phone gets nicked...

I have always had very good experiences with T-Mobile - though i'm not with them by choice. Where we live we can't get any network coverage with ANY other network, but with T-Mobile my phone registers consistent 100% signal strength.

All in all i'm pretty happy...

Chris
 
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