Tech Savvy Mama

Parenting in the Digital Age

Tech Savvy Daddy Reviews the T-Mobile Motorola Zine (and Sidekick giveaway!)

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This week Tech Savvy Daddy is reviewing devices by T-Mobile and each day you can enter to win a gift package containing a Sidekick and SkinIt customized cell phone skin. One lucky reader will be notified on Christmas Day.

Here’s the rundown of reviews:

 Today- Motorola Motozine
Moday, December 22- T-Mobile G1 Google Phone
Tuesday, December 23- Sidekick
Wednesday, December 24- T-Mobile Cameo digital picture frame
Thursday, December 25- Winner of Sidekick and SkinIt announced!

Here’s what Tech Savvy Daddy had to say about the Motozine…

The Motorola Zine is an excellent all-around phone with a 5 megapixel camera, sleek design, and a high-quality screen.

Upon first picking up this phone, it feels good in your hand. The size is right, it feels solid, and it has a beautiful screen.

It’s got all of the tablestakes for a phone these days, Bluetooth, email, web, ringtones, all that. It also has WiFi, which I suppose is useful in places without coverage, or for data access while at home/work/Starbucks.

The number pad is a flat surface that has backlit numbers and bumps over the phone digits. This should keep dirt and spilled lattes out of the phone quite well.

When in camera-mode, additional buttons appear on the keypad as they are illuminated from the backlight. It has a camera lens that auto-focuses the image, and a built-in flash. The pictures it takes are far better than a typical camera phone. Both the mechanically focusing lens and the flash improve the image quality substantially. The phone has a micro-SD memory card slot which you can use to store a ton of pictures, movies, or music. Your phone could end up with more storage than your digital camera. After staring at the camera-side of the phone, I decided it somehow reminds me of my old Kodak Disc camera. Ok, I’ve dated myself. Moving on….

The initial screen is T-Mobile’s myFave’s screen, giving you instant access to your five favorite contacts. If you hit main menu, you get a simple yet elegant menu with easy to understand icons for all major functions. I’ve had serious problems understanding the user interface on some Motorola phones over the years, but this one makes sense to me. The huge high-resolution screen and crisp fonts and menus make it a pleasure to navigate through the menus.

One of the icons on the home screen is for the “t-Zones.” This links to a pseudo-internet experience where T-Mobile has arranged content including Games, Ringtones, Wallpapers, Web pages, and such for you. If you type a company name or website name into the top, you can sometimes get unexpected results, where it is showing you a match for that listing that appears inside the T-Mobile content, versus what you are actually searching for. For example, when I searched for “MSNBC”, the results were a story on “CBS Sports Mobile.” If you type in www.msnbc.com, it offers to take you to the real MSNBC site. The web browser can also be accessed directly from the “Fun and Games” screen, at the bottom, option #7 “Web Access.”

The Motorola Zine comes across as a stylish phone without going over the top. It reminds me of a much improved version of a phone I had years ago, the Sony Ericsson T616. This phone is highly recommended as a great multipurpose phone and it takes excellent pictures. I’d be happy to carry one around.

Enter to win a Sidekick and SkinIt by:

  1. Leaving a comment comparing your phone to the one mentioned above.
  2. Write a post linking to my site and giveaway then leave an additional comment with your permalink.
  3. Twitter about the contest (I’m @techsavvymama on Twitter) and leave another comment.
  4. Add me to your blogroll and leave an additional comment letting me know!
  5. Subscribe to my feed through e-mail or a reader and leave a comment for an extra entry!

Thanks to T-Mobile for providing the Sidekick and to SkinIt for our giveaway!

Fine print: To be eligible, enter by completing the above tasks and leaving your comments by Wednesday, December 24, 2008 at Midnight. Commenting, posting, and Twittering about eacy day’s post will earn you up to three entries per day. Blogroll and feed subscriptions will earn you an additional entry each only once throughout the duration of this giveaway. Winner will be chosen at random by random.org and will need to reply with their mailing address 48 hours to claim their prize. T-Mobile Sidekick will only be shipped within the United States.

Thanks for reading Tech Savvy Mama through your feed!

Original post by Tech Savvy Mama
©2012

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. nape says

    My phone? HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

    Oh. I shouldn’t laugh. It’s not nice to make fun of dinosaurs.

    My phone is able to place calls and receive calls. Yours is from this century.

  4. Bonggamom says

    My phone is small and pink and cute. It dials numbers, and that’s the only thing is has in common with this. It really is archaic, which is why I’d love to win this Zine!

  6. pestkaj says

    I have a motorola pebble, not a bad phone but certainly nothing fancy. Plus it was discontinued right away, so I can’t replca it at all…

  11. Rebecca says

    There is no comparison. I got my phone when my twins were 2, they are now almost 6! My phone is a technological dinosaur! On the plus side, no contract and I don’t freak if one of the kids drops it down the stairs, LOL!
    beccaj73[at]hickorytech[dot]net

  12. HopelesslyDeb says

    Okay, but my phone sis a little old! I can place & receive calls, texts and photos. There is no internet or bluetooth capabilities. Npw the T-Mobile phone has capabilies I have never even heard about!

  15. Stimey says

    I can’t compare my phone to this phone. I think it has a camera, but I’m not sure how to use it well. And I know it can get text messages, but again, I don’t know how to use it.

  19. Terri Fisher says

    My phone is nowhere near as sophisticated as this one! I basically use mine for calling when I’m away from home, as we still have a landline since where we live, we have no cell phone reception! (Huge dead zone!!) I would love to have internet access on my phone and a big screen like this phone has!

  21. Ginny says

    My phone is a 2+ year old Sony Ericsson. Mine has a smaller camera, cracked screen & is lose. I’d love this big screen, internet & the better camera!

  25. Patti Lalley says

    Uhm, my little virgin mobile phone is 3 years old and all scratched up – I’d love to win this!

  26. Kristinia - Loving Heart Mommy says

    My phone is scratched up, only half of the buttons work, it doesn’t hold much data (pics, music, etc..). Compared to the Sidekick it is definately “outdated”! Being a Mom of 3, its hard to “afford” (keep up) with a new trendy phone. Plus mine has baby drool in it, despite some of the buttons not working, I bet the sidekick doesn’t include that! LOL

    kristinia at lovingheartmommy dot com

  29. traymona says

    I’m that person you heard about but didn’t believe existed, the without a cell phone. That’s the reason I’m entering to win one.
    traymona[at]aol.com

  32. makeetis says

    My phone is an old, old phone. It’s just a regular phone with no bluetooth,camera,or nothing. Just a phone to talk on and text on regular number text. I would love to have a new phone. Thanks for the chance. brewerchickey78(at)yahoo.com

  36. Bloggy Finds says

    My phone really has nothing to compare to this but I’ll try. My phone’s stand out features are it is a flip, I get to choose from 6 ringtones, 2 themes…, an alarm clock, a thingy for notes….ummm I think that is about it.

    jeanilynne[at]gmail[dot]com

  37. Emilie says

    My phone is really the bare minimum and really doesn’t compare to all the wonderful features this phone has.. I have no camera and I essentially just use it to talk and that is it. I’ve been wanting an upgrade but just haven’t been able to justify the cost. This would be fantastic!

  42. Liz says

    I would if I had a phone. Now days I have an hour round trip to take my daughter to work its all highway but there is nothing else out there. So if I have car trouble I’m strained in the middle of nowhere

  46. Lilith Silvermane says

    My phone… Well… it went swimming. Here is the story!

    I was at my boyfriends house (I had only been dating him about a month, same amount of time I had the phone).

    He had gotten me a drink, a lovely fuzzy navel, and I set it in between us on the floor, with my phone on the arm of the chair.

    I leaned over to kiss him.. (Yep… you see where this is going right?), Ker-plop, right into the SMALL GLASS ON THE FLOOR. (my luck.. always!), needless to say, it drowned.
    It has a hang-over. It is no longer with us. Pushin’ up daisies.

    I loved my month old phone… it was a Rizr. ~sighs~

    So.. THIS phone is much cooler than mine currently, since mine is sticky.

  47. holly says

    Comparing my phone to this one huh? Well my phone has a camera so in that they are similar, but that phone’s camera is much better tha mine. Also that phone is sleeker, and you know, less dented. It also has a nicer screen.
    hollyollyberry[at]yahoo.com

  49. carogonza says

    My phone has nothing and I mean nothing. You can call and then answer. I get text messages but can’t text. It has no camera or anything else. It’s the bottom of the line. hee hee

  50. Joanne says

    I have a Nokia Xpress Music. The camera on the Motorola Zine is way better than mine. And I take a lot of pictures.
    Also I am sure it is not turning itself off and on like my possessed phone is doing now…serves me right for not getting a warranty with a toddler in the house!

  52. Don A. says

    My daughter would most appreciate it because she has been working really hard to save up for a nice new one, but isn’t making much at her job. She never complains though. She would go crazy for this one!! It sure looks fancy

  53. hazel says

    To compare my phone to this phone makes me a little ashamed of my phone. My phone doesn’t have a camera, doesn’t have a nice screen, doesn’t connect to the internet.

    mitanari(at)yahoo(dot)com