Motorola i530 / Reviews

I truck for a living.. long distance, coast-to-coast. I've been using mobile phones (PTT)since 1980, and graduated to cell phones in 1983, when my first one cost $2500.00.(You read that right, youngsters..twenty-five hundred dollars for the phone and a dollar a minute for the airtime, PLUS roaming charges!)

Have had the i530 for 2+ years now. It has been used and abused like no other cell phone I've had (and this is cell phone number 8). It has been dropped numerous times, bounced around almost as many times, rained on, thrown, kicked and otherwise abused, and still keeps on ticking. Our company of 15 owner-operators all purchased this phone, set up a talkgroup with our dispatch, and we beep-a-da-beep all day long.

Pros: Very rugged, excellent Telus(Nextel) coverage.
Cons: Menu system takes some getting used to, tinny sounding speaker on higher volume.

Summary: This radio doesn't have all the bells & whistles of the newer radios, but for what it does, it's an excellent unit. As for battery life, mine usually sits on the dashboard plugged into the cigarette lighter most of the day, so its usually charged. On days when I don't plug it in, it will give me 1 1/2 to 2 days of talk before requiring recharging. When new, it would run 3 days on a full charge. I bought a new battery for it when I bought the phone, and have yet to take it out of the package.

At the price of these phones now(usually free with the right plan) you won't go wrong with one of these as a workhorse day-to-day phone.