Compact, good reception, rugged, but some issues
Written: Apr 09 '00 (Updated Jun 10 '00)
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Pros: size, good reception
Cons: size, voice dial is not what I had hoped.
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| KenRona's Full Review: Samsung SCH 8500 CDMA / AMPS Cellular Phone |
Summary: Good phone, rugged, good reception, voice dial feature is not really good unless you are in a quiet environment. PIM is to hard to use. Receives both digital and analog. Currently very popular and hard to find. A very good choice [Last updated 6/10/2000].
I am about to start traveling. A lot. It was time for a cell phone. Before purchasing anything, I generally do a lot of research. This purchase was no exception. I started out with service providers and came up with Sprint PCS. They get high marks for customer service (the rating I saw had them listed at number 2) and have generally good coverage. ATT has better coverage, but they have over subscribed some markets (see: http://www.epinions.com/elec_Cell_Service_Plans-New_York-AT%26T) NYC, in particular, and use a slightly worse technology. I believe it is TDMA. I don't think any other major carrier uses this technology. In contrast, Sprint, and most other carriers, use CDMA. The upshot is that if you use AT&T, your phone can not be used on any other network. If I don't like Sprint, this phone will let me change pretty easily.
I really don't like having things bouncing around in my pockets. In terms of picking a phone, I wanted small and lightweight. Initally. Web access was not important to me (I was wrong, I really like it). Other than that, the most important thing was reception. Sprint is currently running a deal where web access is free for 6 months and they give you 50 bucks credit on the phone.
The StarTacs were in the choice set, but have gotten generally mixed reviews. In addition, they were kind of expensive. Here is the URL to one of the other SCH-8500 reviews that makes the comparison more explicitly (see: http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-2966-BC95E42-38E6C4A6-prod2). Sprint is charging around 250 bucks for a Startac. On the upside, the Startac Timeport will interface with Outlook. On the downside, reviews say that is difficult to use the synch software. People on epinions also complain that they break easily. I was poking around at Point.com and found another small phone, the SCH-8500. BTW, if you are seriously looking for a cell phone, go check out Point.com. They have a lot of data. Some of it is not quite up-to-date, but it is a good site to get a feel for what is out there.
Onto the Phone.
The phone is small. I mean really small. And light. It is probably not the lightest phone on the market, but much lighter and it would blow away. It is just under 4 ozs. It fits in my pocket without any problems and does not bother me. The downside of the small size is that the keys are tiny. I have a little bit of a hard time dialing. My fingers are not particularly big, either. If you have big fingers, this is not the phone for you.
The battery is not great. If you can find it, I would buy the extended life battery. I recharge the phone whenever I walk into the house. The charger is good and fast. I have never run the phone all the way down, but it charges from 1/3 to full in about an hour and a half. [update: this was the first day I forgot to charge the phone and it ran out of juice at noon. I probably spent 30 minutes on the phone the day before and have been using the PIM a lot. Second update: The battery life does seem to get better as I use the phone. I can basicly go 2 days without charging]
The reception is generally good. I have some problems when it rains. Durham does not have the best coverage, but the phone works noticeably better when the weather is clear. If you are in Seattle, this is not the phone for you. In addition, the phone will not always find the PCS service, even when available. It tends to stay in Analog mode unless I turn it off and on again. I have done this three or four times and gotten a solid digital connection every time. I don't quite get it, but it has not been a major hardship [update: I spoke with Sprint and they tell me I need a "prefered roaming update". This means I have to go to the local Sprint store and have them revise my roaming software. I should get to it this weekend. I'll revise this sections once I know how it works.]
In terms of usability, the phone is good. I have only had to break open the manual once. The calculator was a little hard to use. The worst part was getting the service set up and that took only 10 minutes. Not the phones fault.
The phone has a PIM that is fairly good, but really basic. About the only thing it will do is remind you of appointments. I wish it would synch to Outlook, but it does not. In order to enter text, you have to push the keys multiple times to cycle through the letters. This method is cumbersome, but I think we are stuck with it until voice recognition gets better. I have been using the PIM pretty actively. It seems to drain the battery. Even still, it has been useful.
The mini-browser is about what you would expect. The only site I go to is Yahoo. Not great, but usable in a pinch. I suspect I am really going to like this feature when I start traveling. I have checked my email through Yahoo and it worked fine. If you are a tech savvy exec, you are probably going to want a web enabled phone in the near future. This is as good a choice. I would suggest going to Yahoo and signing up for My Yahoo!. The site is already part of the phone's menu system and they work pretty well together.
Now the voice recognition. For me, this was a disappointment. It has not work well in noisy areas. I have found that I tend to use the call log and my speed dial setting much more than the voice dial. If you want to install the phone in a car (there is a hands free, car kit), then this feature might be useful.
The phone has a number of ringer options including multiple rings, beep once, and vibrate. I also like the fact that the volume, beep, and vibrate can be controlled by two buttons on the outside of the phone. I do like the ability to toggle between ringers quickly.
Last feature that I want to mention is the voice recorder. You can store 4 minutes of speech. Good when you meet someone and want to record their email address.
All in all, I am happy with the phone and would not have made another choice. I will post updates as I use it.
Here is the link to the manufacturers page. http://samsungelectronics.com/mobile/products/cdma/sch8500/features.html
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 149 (on special)
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Epinions.com ID:
KenRona
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Member: Kenneth Rona
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 25 members
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