It's my baby!
Written: Jul 24 '02 (Updated Jul 24 '02)
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Pros: Durable; withstands "wear and tear." Lets you go online!!
Cons: I want spiffy ringtones. :-(
The Bottom Line: Buy it if you want a nifty phone that lets you do all sorts of fun things instead of paying attention in class. Don't if you need cool ringtones.
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| lizzamay's Full Review: Samsung SCH 8500 CDMA / AMPS Cellular Phone |
Well, actually it's my pet. My computer is my baby.
I got my Sprint PCS Samsung SCH-8500 at Circuit City on a whim. I'd never had a cell phone before, and I decided I needed one right at that moment.
I took it home and immediately began playing with my new toy. It was fairly easy to set up (which is really more of a reflection on my provider), and I only had to consult my manual a couple times.
Some of the features I use most often:
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Wireless Internet
This alone is worth spending the money on this phone. It gives you access to Yahoo, CNN, Google, AOL Instant Messenger, and even lets you chat in little wireless "chat rooms." All the addictive, time-killing bliss of the Internet, packed into one little phone! Yay! It's also fairly easy to type; it comes installed with a little program that guesses what you're trying to type, so most of the time you don't have to peck out 7-4-4-6-6-6-#-6-6-3-3 just to spell the word "phone." Now you just have to type five letters. The only downside is that sometimes the words overlap and you'll get a totally different word. It's easy to circumvent this, though, by typing another word that begins with the same one. If I try to type "bus," it comes out, "cup," but I can write "buses" and delete the last two letters. It sounds complicated, but hell, so was Epinions when you first joined, right? It becomes second nature. Seriously.
AOL Instant Messenger is nifty because it works with the phone's text messaging feature -- which means you can close your phone, and when the person writes back, the phone will beep as though you'd received a page or a text message. Cool, eh?
Calendar
I love that this phone lets you set up a little appointment book. It also has an alarm clock with a cheery ring annoyingly chipper enough even to drag you out of bed in the morning. My only complaint is that there's no vibrate alarm; if your phone is on vibrate, the alarm will just be silent.
Phone Directory
The phone stores up to... 200 names, I think. You can store multiple phone numbers for each name, though only one can be set as the official speed-dial number. You can also "prepend" numbers, so if you generally have to choose from a phone menu, you can set it to automatically press the extra numbers.
The little flashing light
I absolutely adore this. When the phone rings, when you get a page or a text message, and when the alarm goes off, a little red light flashes on the outside of the phone. This is extremely helpful if you're like me and tend to lose your phone in the bottom of your purse/backpack/bedroom. Sure, hearing it helps, but it's wonderful to look into a dark backpack and say, "THERE IT IS!" I've saved myself from missing so many calls this way.
Data In
If you've got a Palm Pilot, you can actually buy an extension that plugs into the bottom of this phone and lets you use it as a phone jack to connect your Palm to the Internet. This is WAY spiffly, especially if you're like, in airports or something like that, where you have long periods of time to kill.
Lock
Pretty basic; you can set a code so that you have to input a PIN when you turn on the phone.
Calculator
I like that my phone has a calculator, but I don't like that you can only do one calculation at a time. If I add two numbers and get a result, and then I want to add a third number, I have to retype the sum. Example. I want to add 3+3+5. I have to do the 3+3 first, get my sum of 6, and then re-enter 6+5. It gets to be a hassle, so I don't use the calculator often.
Shortcuts
You can use the arrows on the keypad to cut to different features on the phone. The left arrow puts you in the calendar menu, while the right arrow gets you online. The up arrow gives you your phone directory in speed-dial-number order, and the down arrow gives you the directory in alphabetical order.
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The phone can be really LOUD at times, but there's a volume control on the side. There's also a button you can use to record short voice-memos, but I don't use this often.
The phone has no games. :-( On the bright side, if you've got lots and lots of night and weekend minutes, you can play all sorts of games online. Yay!
Also... buy an extra battery. Seriously. There's no way this baby's lasting you all day with only one battery, unless it's off most of the time. However, two batteries should be sufficient to get you from morning to night without recharging. The battery charger has two slots, and you can stick the entire phone into the top one, since the battery goes on the back. Charge 'em overnight, and you're all set.
One more downside to this phone is that you can't have it burst out in "Toreador" or something in the middle of class. This is actually rather nice... but I wish I could program Sarah McLachlan songs into my phone like my friends do with their Nokias... then again, their Nokias can't log them onto AIM. *grin*
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 160something
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Epinions.com ID:
lizzamay
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Member: Lisa, aka Lizza
Location: Southern CA
Reviews written: 88
Trusted by: 147 members
About Me:
I was gone... but I'm back!
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