Motorola's cell phone highs and lows

Remember me? I'm the StarTac.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Yesterday, Motorola laid a bit of a bombshell on the cell phone world. The company announced it was considering a "structural realignment" to rejuvenate its mobile device business. Though the company had a huge hit with its ultrathin Razr V3 in late 2004, Moto has been struggling to regain solid footing over the last couple years. It could bask in the Razr glow for only so long before customers started to demand more devices that weren't just Razr refreshes. The company's continued uneven performance eventually led to the departure of CEO Ed Zander last November. And then just last week, Moto reported an 84 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit, mostly because of sharp declines in its handset business.

More of the same?

(Credit: CNET Networks)

So as Wall Street and the company's management ponder a spin-off, it's important to remember the strong contributions Moto made to cell phone technology. Besides the Razr, the compnay had a number of hits. There was the StarTac, otherwise known as the device that gave us the flip phone. The ubiquitous V60 and the V70 swivel handset. Just like every other company, Moto had its share of duds as well. So join us as we take a walk down memory lane. Our slide show brings you a few of the best and worst of Motorola (with a few average models in between). Be sure to let us know which handsets you loved and loathed, and let is know which models we missed.

[U. Tripps]

The StarTac was great

The StarTac was my first cell phone. I thought it was weird that they were trying to market towards Star Trek nostalgia, but were trying to be sly about it or something. It seemed so expensive, but was a good deal cheaper than today's cutting edge phones. Something is wrong with that.

[JoelBrown]

You missed the real innovations!

The StarTAC was a late innovation! What about the early Moto stars like the DynaTAC 8000X which came out in 1984 (I'll always remember my first "brick" phone...) or the extremely cool MicroTAC from 1989? Even though it was more of a "flip" than a "clamshell", I think of the MicroTAC as the real grand daddy of the modern flip phone. I had a TDMA MicroTAC which was a great phone, although I have to admit that I liked my GSM Ericsson T28W better. Since the good old days I've had an early Razr V3 which was great and now I use a Q9h which I'm very happy with.