UTStarcom: Maker of Crap
Winston Smith, American Patriot
I returned to the United States after over more than a dozen years abroad.
So I can be forgiven for not knowing what product/product maker to avoid
and to whom to turn.
I signed up with a mobile telephony carrier (Metro PCS) after an extensive
determination that they would provide international connections to one city
I needed service to (Ankara, Turkey) for 5 cents per minute, the best I
have found. And the service is pretty good.
Unfortunately, I can say nothing of the kind for the telephone I bought
from carrier. It is bad enough that the phones are generally tied to the
carriers, which is NOT the case for the rest of the planet...it is amazing
that in the country (the United States) that proclaims to be the place
where you are given many choices, you are NOT allowed to choose phones and
carriers separately, whereas on the rest of the planet, you can choose your
phone separately from your carrier.
Anyway, the phone I bought was a $99 UTStarcom 7xxx or something
forgettable. I don't mind so much the $99: the carrier had a "first-month
free" sign up and so obviously the cost was figured in to the purchase of
the phone. My main complaint is that the rechargeable battery lasts only
24-36 hours, and that is with no use whatsoever. The word "pathetic" does
not even begin to describe the software interface and presentation of
display. I imagine that after rummaging around Nokia's trash cans that the
engineers found the design schematics to Nokia's first prototypes of a
mobile telephone and then put them into their phone. Sort of like someone
making a pulse rotary dial analog phone in a digital age.
I was not trying to buy the cheapest mobile telephone. In fact it was
probably the 2nd or 3rd cheapest. I rather figure that there is something
to the notion that MORE OFTEN THAN NOT that the quality of a product is
proportional to the cost of the product.
Take-home message: Do I recommend you not buy a single product from
UTStarcom? I most certainly do recommend that you do NOT buy a single
product from UT Starcom, inasmuch as I have made the decision not to buy
from them in the future. Does anyone have a different view?
Rod Speed
> I returned to the United States after over more than a dozen years abroad.
> So I can be forgiven for not knowing what product/
> product maker to avoid and to whom to turn.
> I signed up with a mobile telephony carrier (Metro PCS) after an
> extensive determination that they would provide international
> connections to one city I needed service to (Ankara, Turkey) for 5
> cents per minute, the best I have found. And the service is pretty
> good.
> Unfortunately, I can say nothing of the kind for the telephone I
> bought from carrier. It is bad enough that the phones are generally
> tied to the carriers, which is NOT the case for the rest of the
> planet...it is amazing that in the country (the United States) that
> proclaims to be the place where you are given many choices, you are
> NOT allowed to choose phones and carriers separately, whereas on the
> rest of the planet, you can choose your phone separately from your carrier.
You can do that in the US too if you want to.
> Anyway, the phone I bought was a $99 UTStarcom 7xxx or something
> forgettable. I don't mind so much the $99: the carrier had a
> "first-month free" sign up and so obviously the cost was figured in
> to the purchase of the phone. My main complaint is that the
> rechargeable battery lasts only 24-36 hours, and that is with no use
> whatsoever. The word "pathetic" does not even begin to describe the
> software interface and presentation of display. I imagine that after
> rummaging around Nokia's trash cans that the engineers found the
> design schematics to Nokia's first prototypes of a mobile telephone
> and then put them into their phone. Sort of like someone making a
> pulse rotary dial analog phone in a digital age.
> I was not trying to buy the cheapest mobile telephone. In fact it
> was probably the 2nd or 3rd cheapest. I rather figure that there
> is something to the notion that MORE OFTEN THAN NOT that the
> quality of a product is proportional to the cost of the product.
> Take-home message: Do I recommend you not buy a single product from
> UTStarcom? I most certainly do recommend that you do NOT buy a single
> product from UT Starcom, inasmuch as I have made the decision not to
> buy from them in the future. Does anyone have a different view?
Yep, it makes a lot more sense to research the phone before buying what you need.