StarTac 3700 Series
Kevin Martin | Staff Writer

This time of year, many freshmen and transfer students arrive at Radford University wanting all the comforts of home. One of the first things they start shopping for is cellular service. For many students, this is their first time in a cellular market with unusual characteristics. The local area contains many hills and mountains, along with the requisite valleys. While these features make driving the local roads like riding a roller-coaster, the effects on cellular signal are great. These signal challenges have been overcome by two providers, US Cellular and Verizon, but selecting the right phone makes all the difference. It determines how clear your call is and how well you switch from a digital signal, found in the towns and cities, to an analog signal, found in the more rural areas.

Perhaps one of the best choices of phones available is the Motorola Star-Tac 3700 series. The StarTac 3700 series is not the newest telephone on the market. It is however, one of the most reliable, and is guranteed to work correctly with the local cellular providers equipment. It is priced quite a bit higher then what most people want to pay for a cellphone, but it is well priced for all of its features.

The features of the 3700 include 99 memory locations, (each location holding 4 different numbers), a built in vibrate feature, Caller ID, Call Waiting/3 way call capable, a "smart" button, and a very easy to read display. In addition, the phone features auto-switching between digital and analog signal, essential for traveling along the interstate on your way home. What is even better about the auto-switch is unlike PCS carriers (Intelos, Suncom, Sprint), switching to analog signal does not cause your call to drop.

The StarTac is incredibly durable. My Star Tac has been dropped more times then I can count, frozen, baked in a hot car, dropped in puddles and snow, smashed into many walls and desks, left turned on 24/7/365, and used for over 12,000 minutes of talk time. After all this use and abuse, the phone has a few minor scratches, and a small crack to show for damage. Though I strongly suggest carrying insurance on your phone if you are as abusive as I am, it is plain to see that the Motorola Star Tac 3700 series phone is as durable as it is stylish.

For the techies’ out there, the StarTac comes loaded with advanced features, including a mini-browser for on the go surfing, instant messaging, and with an optional cable and software, will act as the modem for your laptop computer. This last feature gives you a connection speed of up to 56k.

All in all, the StarTac is exactly what Motorola intended it to be, cutting edge, feature rich, and indestructible.