Milestone at the end of the road

My Motorola Milestone 2 smartphone, which I bought nearly two years ago, has gone kaput. When I slide out the keyboard, the display goes blank. The device is usable, but only as an ordinary phone. I can imagine what has happened. There is probably a flexible ribbon cable like in the KX3 connecting the two halves, and a trace has broken. (A good job I’ve got the charger for the KX3 so I don’t have to keep opening it up to change the batteries.)

Of course, it is out of warranty. The question is, is it repairable at a reasonable cost? Motorola’s support site won’t give an estimated cost of repair. “Send it to us and we’ll give you a quote” they say. I’d really like a ballpark figure for what it is going to cost before doing that.

I guess I’ll just have to spring for a new phone. But there weren’t many alternatives with a real hardware keyboard and I expect there are even fewer now. I wish I could type using the software keyboard (which I’ll have to for now) but I have a 50% error rate. I don’t think my fingers are much fatter than normal. How do you guys manage? Perhaps you don’t text much and don’t do email on the phone.

Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].

3 Responses to “Milestone at the end of the road”

  • Deb AB9WX:

    I had the same fears when I broke my LG enV Touch. I was so happy to discover that my error rate actually dropped using the virtual keyboard. I never would have guessed that would happen. Also, try to Google how to do the repair. Parts were readily available online for my phone and may be for yours.

    73,
    Deb

  • Greg No Callsign... yet:

    A good software keyboard is Swiftkey. Give it a try, it has some pretty good error correction. That is how i manage. thought i still would like to have a hardware keyboard. But my phone is large enough to not have to worry too much about the hardware keyboard.

  • Matt NM9O:

    I don’t have a hardware keyboard, but I have recently switched to using a morse keyboard on my android phone and tablet as a way of helping me work on my CW skills a little more. Maybe that would work for you as well?

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.emergent.android.morseime

Leave a Comment

Subscribe FREE to AmateurRadio.com's
Amateur Radio Newsletter
News, Opinion, Giveaways & More!

E-mail 
Join over 7,000 subscribers!
We never share your e-mail address.



Also available via RSS feed, Twitter, and Facebook.


Subscribe FREE to AmateurRadio.com's
Amateur Radio Newsletter

 
We never share your e-mail address.


Do you like to write?
Interesting project to share?
Helpful tips and ideas for other hams?

Submit an article and we will review it for publication on AmateurRadio.com!

Have a ham radio product or service?
Consider advertising on our site.

Are you a reporter covering ham radio?
Find ham radio experts for your story.

How to Set Up a Ham Radio Blog
Get started in less than 15 minutes!


  • Matt W1MST, Managing Editor




Sign up for our free
Amateur Radio Newsletter

Enter your e-mail address: