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My Personal View of the Motorola MC Range of Mobile Devices
By Brendon McLoughlin

MC1000

For me personally, I found this unit hard to operate at first, when I did master it however, it quickly became obvious it was a rock solid entry level Windows CE device. Excellent for speed key (mobile phone type keypad operation) or terminal emulator / smart client / terminal services applications.

Be aware, this is a tiny display by many standards at 240 x 240 resolution/2.2-in. monochrome The unit does offers an entry level point for enterprise mobile one handed applications, but as a mobile office I found it unusable.

MC3000

One of my personal all time favourite mobile devices, second only to the MC55. It is most notable because it has a super 1D laser scan engine, rotating head, big QWERTY keypad, crisp x 320 colour display (Mono is an option too) on a Windows CE platform and a truly excellent balanced robust feel to the unit when you hold it in your hand which it is also available in a gun configuration.

The bottom line however is, it is great for business applications like POD.GoMobile.ie / SAP console / SAP web console or smart form type applications, but it lacks the integrated smart phone features and functions of a true mobile office and in my view, its just too darn big to be used as a mobile phone.

MC35

This unit is perhaps best summarised in my view as the eccentric relative in MC range, while it looks excellent … for me, this device is nothing more than a well built hard wearing smart phone which has lost its way when it trys to measure up to the usual EDA barcode scanner devices normally found in the Symbol / Motorola range. It you need more than 24 barcode scans in a single day, you will perhaps should start looking else where in the range. If however, your looking for an excellent smartphone with gprs or camera, the MC35 is your entry level option. I have two of these personally and as a smartphone I noticed the shorter than normal battery life and the smaller screen size. It does however come with Mobile Office, Email etc..., but I personally find the screen size only just a little to small for me.

MC50

Now ‘End-Of-Life’ has been replaced by the MC55 which is a serious upgrade. Despite having a love hate relationship with this device personally, I felt I would have to acknowledge it was a great success for Symbol as a in the field PDA/EDA mobile office device. The MC50 has both its die hard fans and its less than positive fans.

As a mobile office, this unit was a good all a rounder. It was better than most consumer PDA’s, but for me where it fell short, was what makes a EDA so much better than a PDA … data capture. I liked the look, I liked the feel and the Windows Mobile 5 platform, but any of the imagers I tested with on difficult barcodes I felt it was just not up to the usual Symbol standard.

MC55

What can I say, this is my personal windows mobile 6.1 unit of choice. This for me offers the best mobile office and data capture enterprise business best all rounder option of the entire Motorola MC range of mobile devices. Its size (while a little obese) is just about acceptable for mobile phone work. Given a choice (as I was) as to which unit offered best value for money and was flexible across a wide range of business applications, when I narrowed my view to MC55, MC70 and MC75, the MC55 was my personal choice.

However, be aware, as a mobile phone, “… its the battery Jim, I’m giving you she got… she just cant take it Jim …” .

The MicroSD slot configuration which sits under the SIM card slot is well below the usual Motorola standard, in my view.

The battery release latch mechanism is where I expect later we may have our first hardware problems with this unit.

MC70

Its hard to even consider the wisdom of the MC70 ever moving off into the sunset as this unit is currently being shadowed by the MC75. But this giant amongst EDA mobile computers has been the work horse of many enterprise applications and mobile solutions for many years now.

While is it still the younger little brother to the MC9000 series, it gave us a real insight into future EDA possibilities as a true mobile office handheld device. Sure, you pretty nearly needed a degree in surgery to open and close the battery compartment lid without damaging the clips or losing one of the two rubber grommets, but this was a minor detail. The MC70 was always the preferred choice for mobile office, field force and road warrior work force business applications.

MC75

Is the successor to the work horse MC70, but the MC70 has at this point such a pedigree, the MC75 unit now looks much like a over priced pretender to the throne when you consider it has an approximate price which is 10-20% over that of the same model within the old MC70 range, while the new kid on the block has yet to prove its pedigree. However, based on the results we see in the MC55, its not hard to look at the MC75 as the new bully on the block who will muscle his way into your business at some point.

The MC75 looks rough and touch, beefy and full of new tricks, sadly though I fear given the price difference is hard not to choose the MC55 or the MC70 old dog (which are still available) when your pushed to make a choice. Its hard to notice the difference in the MC70 v MC75, but they are there i.e. Windows Mobile 5 v 6, QVGA v VGA Display and some of those new tricks include, 3.5G GSM HSDPA and 3G CDMA-EVDO Rev A, GPS and a 2mp Auto Focus Digital Camera.

MC9000

I remember the first time I picked one of these up, it was a pistol grip version, you know you have a serious bit of kit in your hand for serious business applications when you hold an MC9000. Even the cradle is king sized. If you see someone walking towards you with an MC9000 gun configuration in their hand, you know someone has a dual purpose device as this unit could double as one hell of a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands. I once came across a YouTube clip of someone claiming to be from ‘Walmart’ in the US and was conducting trials and tests on an MC9000, what was amazing about this was they were using the unit much like a hammer and directly bearing down onto a concert floor with all the force they could muster. The MC9000 even in brick form, they are more commonly found in the warehouse or on a shop floor. The MC9000 also has a major roll in logistics, transportation and petrol chemical industries where i-safe versions are critical.

The mind boggles at how or why Motorola will ever approach replacing this unit, it is for me, the ultimate Symbol / Bartec / Motorola flagship mobile ruggedized computing product.

The MC9000 scan engines are second to none in the MC range. Sadly the units is starting to look a little dated now. The MC9000 unit is touch, I believe the mobile computing phrase ‘Brick’ configuration was coined in solely in relation to the MC9000, the price (all be it good value) is pretty touch too.

To read more about the 'Enterprise Digital Assistants' and 'Industrial Scanning Mobile Devices', please Click Here!

Other Related articles:
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Related downloads:
MC5590 Leaflet
MC5574 Leaflet

Related websites:
Motorola
Mobile.GoMobile.ie