The keyboard is pretty good. Beware, it is very cramped and some people with fat fingers may quickly become frustrated. This is not really a Motorola Q problem as much as it is a problem with many smaller QWERT devices. There's no way to make a small device with a keyboard without cramming the keys together. A few times I pushed a key and it didn't register, I had to hit it again. I think this was just about getting use to how hard you need to press the keys in for the Q to recognize it. After a few days of using the Q, I quickly became more accustomed to the keyboard. Having the QWERTY keyboard available on a phone that is so small and so light was amazing! Typing up emails and text messages was a snap.
The Q is also the first Windows Mobile Smartphone to have a scroll wheel. This is something RIM has included on their Blackberry devices for years. It is a welcome addition to the Windows line. It worked great and made navigating SO much easier. I hope other manufacturers will take notice.
Battery life on the Q is acceptable but not exceptional. Under normal use I typically got about 24 hours out of it. You should plan on plugging the Q in every night for a recharge. The standard mini-USB plug did help, allowing you to plug it into any computer with a standard USB cable as well as the wall and car adapter.
The biggest drawback of the Q is Verizon's data plans. $45 for unlimited data is too much! This price works great for business users who don't actually end up paying the bill but if they want this phone to catch on with normal consumers, there has to be something cheaper available.
Despite the few small complaints, I can't say enough good things about the Q. I was wowed by its size and weight (or lack there of) and continue to be impressed by it even after using it for a few weeks. The screen is amazing and, most importantly, it's great for making phone calls. The price is a shockingly small as the device! $199 with a Verizon 2 year contract and data plan. The Motorola Q is only available from Verizon Wireless until 2007.
Obsolete cell phones can now be recycled
By Gina Faridniya, Special to The Star
July 12, 2006
Buried beneath bank statements and business cards, old cellular phones lie at the bottom of a drawer. It is, say state officials, the disposal option of choice for users who have moved on to newer, sleeker models.
The state's toxic substances agency reports that 75 percent of obsolete cell phones are stockpiled in drawers. Until now, the question has been just what else to do with them. A landmark California law now provides a simple solution: Wherever you can buy a
new phone, you can also recycle your old one.
The nation's first cellular phone recycling requirement, authored by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, went into effect July 1. The law requires any store selling cellular phones to also take back and recycle old phones at no cost to the consumer — whether or not the phone was purchased there. Vendors must inform customers of recycling options when they buy a new phone.
A second new law requires retailers selling rechargeable batteries to take them back for recycling, reuse or proper disposal. Again, these recycling options must be offered at no cost to the customer.
Testing by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control has shown that chemicals such as arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc that are present in cellular devices are likely to become hazardous. Therefore, cellular phones must be recycled and managed as hazardous waste, according to waste regulations.
Californians Against Waste, a nonprofit environmental research and advocacy organization, sponsored the recycling legislation that eventually became law.
How are retailers responding? Very well, says Joshua Townsend, spokesman for Pavley.
Major wireless carriers contacted by The Star all report that their recycling programs are up and running. The carriers offered voluntary recycling programs in the past; many had existing programs that com- complied with the new law's requirements.
"For Sprint Nextel, the new law simply means business as usual," said Mark Krantz, regional vice president. "We take our environmental commitment seriously, and wireless recycling has long been an integral part of that commitment."
Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste, said the industry at first resisted the mandatory requirement to provide recycling outlets. Cellular retailers opposed the bill when it was first introduced, arguing that a state mandate was unnecessary.
"You know you have succeeded when you have turned someone who has initially opposed your bill into a cheerleader for it," Murray said.
Wireless carriers Cingular, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless all supported the bill in its final form and have upheld existing cellular recycling programs.
Sprint Nextel expanded Sprint Project Connect, a nationwide wireless recycling program that already met the standards of the new law. Since 2001, Sprint Nextel has collected nearly 7 million wireless devices that otherwise would have ended up in landfills.
"People are invited and encouraged to come in and put their phone in the collection box," said Kathleen Dunleavy, spokeswoman for Sprint Nextel.
The unwanted phones are then given to vendors specializing in the recycling of wireless phones into common commercial products — including automotive dashboards, bumpers and rechargeable battery packs. Proceeds benefit education programs.
Cingular, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless maintain cellular recycling programs similar to Sprint Nextel's program. Verizon's HopeLine recycles and refurbishes cellular phones and donates the proceeds to anti-domestic violence organizations.
T-Mobile's "Get More, Give More" program provides incentives to stores whose employees collect the most wireless recyclables. In the past, Cingular offered recycling programs in conjunction with the March of Dimes.
Retailers Fry's Electronics and Best Buy also maintain recycling programs. For several years, Best Buy stores have accepted used cellular phones, PDAs, inkjet cartridges and rechargeable batteries at their indoor kiosks, spokeswoman Kelly Groehler said. Fry's did not implement a storewide program until recently, but has launched localized pilot programs in the past.
What's next on the agenda for electronics recycling? Californians Against Waste is pushing Assembly Bill 2202, which would require manufacturers of electronic equipment to discontinue the use of known toxic and carcinogenic elements.
The bill awaits action in the Senate Appropriations Committee when lawmakers return from their summer recess next month. |
