Motorola Adventure V750 Cell Phone

I recently bought this phone. My phone was worn out (keys were sticking regularly). I read quite a few online reviews, pro and con, before making a decision. I thought the camera would be nice to have, and I wanted a rugged phone because I often am outdoors with friends and retrievers. I wanted a phone with good sound, because due to the echoes in the building, I had to step outdoors when at work.

I still have to leave the building where I work to make a call. The phone feels and acts significantly less rugged than the old Nokia. It is slightly thinner, but at least as heavy to carry.

To use the camera, Verizon customers must phone the pictures somewhere, and pay Verizon's charges for transmitting them -- I read it is 75 cents per photo. Verizon blocks downloading them directly to a PC (Geez, I always thought when you bought a camera, by definition you owned the photos that you took with it). If you buy the Motorola Phone Tools to download photos to your PC and perform other "magic", Verizon blocks its capabilities, so you either pay their charge or do not use the feature. When I was unable to use the software, Motorola added in the "tech support" email that Verizon blocks all the software's multimedia capabilities. At least Motorola replied to my requests for help; Verizon did not. Motorola told me they warn buyers before purchase, saying "check with your provider". I thought I read the description carefully, but I missed this warning.

Back to the phone itself: The GPS only works in Verizon areas of the USA, and they charge per month to use it. I have a great Garmin that works through the USA and Canada without regard to where Verizon has coverage --- and I do not pay a monthly charge (the annual map updates are less than half the Verizon charge). All phones text. My iPod has mediocre sound quality, but it is significantly above the phone's, so I wouldn't consider putting MP3 files on it.

I bought the phone at a Verizon store, and there they told me they did not have in stock the cables and software to download photos, but that I could just order them online, or they could order them for me. I chose to do it myself rather than driving back to the store. Obviously, I was misinformed. If the Motorola software, or the reviews I read had mentioned clearly that Verizon forces its customers to pay for every feature on a per-use basis and blocks transfers otherwise, I definitely would not have bought this phone, let alone the Phone Tools package. Until and unless Verizon changes its policies, from now on I will just buy the most basic and cheapest phone available. Why stay with Verizon? Because it is the only carrier that has coverage everywhere I go regularly.