My best phone ever, but...
Written: Sep 09 '01 (Updated Sep 09 '01)
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Pros: extremely rugged, good contact functionality, messaging
Cons: gets warm during use, terrible keys, no extra ringtones
The Bottom Line: Get this phone, especially for work use! Multiple contact numbers are convenient and this phone is durable, maybe more than a Timex. Messaging feature is nice, too.
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| dmatsumo's Full Review: Panasonic DuraMax EB-TX220 |
I've owned a lot of phones over the past 10 years, and of course, they get better and better over time. I thought that the Nokia 6160 was the best phone yet, until one of my co-workers came in with the DuraMax. Once he told me about it shock-absorption features, I was intrigued... The problem I've had with every Nokia phone that I've owned (6190, 6160, 8190) is that if I drop the phone *once* from maybe about 3 or 4 feet, the display breaks! Sure, I have insurance, but it's a relative inconvenience to have to drive to the local PacBell or AT&T Wireless office to have the phone replaced.
That's one area where the DuraMax really shines! I've dropped this phone several times, and once even threw it against the wall at work. Nothing broke, and in fact, the case on my phone still isn't scratched! I leave it in my pocket all day with my keys, and the screen also is unscathed!
The next feature I appreciate in this phone is the contacts function. With the Nokia phones (and many others), you can save a person's name and phone number. The DuraMax takes it one step further by allowing you to enter a person's work, home, cell, and pager numbers, as well as their email address! This is the feature I've been looking for for a long, long time in a package that's small, light, and aethestically pleasing.
You can also change the display color between green and amber. I like the green and my roommate likes the amber. This is convenient because we'd get our phones mixed up otherwise. You can't change the message on the display like you can on the Nokia 6190 or 8190 phones, which is a bit of a bummer.
Text messaging with the phone is a real breeze. I almost always use the Word or word function, which minimizes the amount of keys you have to press in order to type a word. For example, let's say you want to send a message that says "Hello". With the older phones, I remember that you'd hit 4 twice to get "H". Then you'd have to hit the Shift key to go to lowercase. Then you'd hit 3 twice, 5 three times, either wait or hit the right arrow (because you have 2 l's next to each other), then hit 6 three times. With the DuraMax, you simply type 4 3 5 5 6. The most common word will pop up first. If it's not the right word, just hit the down arrow to go to the next common word that matches these key presses. I've *never* had to hit the down arrow more than once! The "Word" function results in "Hello", and using the "word" function results in "hello". I absolutely love this feature!
My next favorite thing... the price! I traded in my Nokia 6160 for this phone, and only had to pay $39.95 for the upgrade!
I do have a few complaints about this phone, however. First of all, I wish the keys were rubberized like the Nokia phones. The DuraMax has buttons that are clear, slick, and hard. When I'm dialing the phone, I don't have a very good sense of where the keys are.
My next point, though not very critical, is the inability to load new ringtones. A ton of websites are coming up that offer free ringtones, and you'll notice that they only support Nokia and Motorola. I don't understand why I can't have the same kind of fun... it's just not fair. =)
The DuraMax also has multiple alarms, which is really nice. I like the fact that I can set alarms for different times of the day, and also have customized messages. You can even make the alarm occur daily, if needed. So why is this feature in the complaints section? If you want to set a one-time alarm, you have to explicitly set the date. It would be nice if the date automatically defaults to today, but instead it defaults to the last alarm date. For example, if you set a doctor's appointment for 8/1/2001, and now you want to set an alarm for lunch today with a friend, which is 9/9/2001, you have to key in the date! I really hate this because I don't always remember what the date is, I just know that I have to do something TODAY. When I first got the phone I didn't pay attention to the date and actually missed an appointment... oops! So now I use the daily alarm because it defaults the date to today each time. =)
The last gripe is about battery life, and the battery indicator. Maybe there's a small bug in the firmware, but the battery indicator shows 100% most of the time, then all of a sudden it drops to 25%. Once this happens, you're in trouble, because I guarantee that in the middle of a phone call or two later, you'll get the Low Battery beep... and this beep is really annoying because it's constantly going. And it's even more annoying because once you get the beep, the phone dies about 45 seconds later. What kind of Low Battery warning is that??? With the Nokia phones, you would get multiple levels of warnings, and at least have some time to chat still. The Panasonic phone just goes from full, to almost empty, to dead without much advance notice. I noticed that the batter indicator refreshes more accurately when you power cycle the phone, but I never turn my phone off!
My final gripe applies to all phones offered under the AT&T service... they get hot!!! If you have a conversation longer than 10 minutes, the earpiece gets hot (ok, maybe just very, very warm), and this gives me a headache. I hate that, but you just can't beat the AT&T service.
So all in all, I think this is still a fabulous phone. I love the look, the durability, the contacts list, and the other features. I only wish I could have new ringtones (there aren't many built in, and most are lame) and a better battery indicator.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 39.95
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Epinions.com ID:
dmatsumo
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Location: San Jose, CA
Reviews written: 81
Trusted by: 19 members
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