the most phone for your money
Written: Dec 14 '00 (Updated Jan 09 '01)
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Pros: small, light, clear calls, many functions, easy to learn to use
Cons: battery life less than advertised, there are cheaper options
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| mjb2's Full Review: Samsung SCH 3500 CDMA / AMPS Cellular Phone |
In short, this is a great phone. To be honest, the main reason I bought the Samsung SCH-3500 because it was small and looked cool. At $130, it wasn't the cheapest of the Sprint PCS phones available, but all the less expensive ones were too large to fit comfortably in a pocket. I've used it quite a bit over the last six months and have no complaints at all - it has a lot of features, but not many superfluous ones, and is powerful yet very easy to learn to use. Calls are perfectly clear, and the phone feels very solidly constructed.
The phone comes with all the standard features - call waiting, three-way calling, redial, and different ring volumes, including silent and vibrate. There's also a very useful voice-memo recorder and a lock code that can prevent anyone else from using your phone. The phone book holds almost 300 names, and it's very easy to enter, edit, and delete new names. You also have the option of using distinctive rings for different types of calls - you can assign different rings (only a couple of which are obnoxious) to roam calls, blocked-ID calls, voice messages, pages, and text messages. There are also several major features I've never actually used myself - an entire voice-activated dialing system, wireless internet capability, and a headphone jack. And the best thing about all these options is that they're so easy to use that you don't really even need the manual.
The only downside to this phone is the battery life - in my experience it's much shorter than advertised in both active and standby modes. According to Samsung the battery is supposed to last something like 130 hours in standby, but I find that it fades completely in only a couple of days. And in active use the battery lasts only about 2 hours, as opposed to the advertised 4. For this reason it's definitely worth spending the extra $25-30 for a car adapter kit - it recharges the phone quickly and saves you the hassle of having to lug the AC adapter and charging stand around with you.
Overall the Samsung SCH-3500 is almost ideal, both for high-power users with a lot of needs and low-demand customers who just need a mobile phone. It's not the cheapest phone on the market, but there are definitely more expensive ones that aren't nearly as nice. The combination of features, size, call clarity, and solid construction in is model makes it about the best you can do in terms of value for your money.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 130
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Epinions.com ID:
mjb2
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Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 17
Trusted by: 6 members
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