An Excellent Little Phone
Written: Oct 08 '01 (Updated Oct 08 '01)
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Pros: Excellent battery life as well as good reception and clarity.
Cons: Antenna is kind of flimsy, doesn't look as cool as my Star-tac.
The Bottom Line: A really great all-around phone with only a couple minor quibbles.
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| veganweb's Full Review: Kyocera QCP 2035a Cell Phone |
I first came into contact with the Kyocera 2035 when my Star-Tac had to go into the shop. They didn't have any Star-tacs to give me as a loaner so I was stuck with the less than cool looking 2035. At first I didn't care for the phone. I was used to having my phone compact and on my hip. The 2035 was small but lacked a belt clip. I was concerned about buttons being pressed and/or called being made while I carried the phone in my pocket.
Overall I was generally unimpressed with the phone...at first.
Going back to the Alltel store, the service tech showed me the joys of Key Guard, a feature that locks the keypad when the phone is on standby so that the buttons can't be accidentally pressed. This relieved my fears about unwanted dialing. I was still skeptical about the function of the phone but those fears were laid to rest quickly.
Soon after the I got the phone I had to leave town on a family emergency. During this time my phone saw dozens of calls. It was used inside and out, while the main land line was being used. The phone effectively gave us another phone line as my Dad's phone couldn't get a signal where we were. The 2035 not only got a signal but a strong one at that. Calls were clear enough that my Grandmother had no problem using the phone (after I showed her how to dial). Receiving calls were as simple and easy as with any other cell phone I've used. Throughout all the calls, incoming and outgoing, the phone never dropped a call due to battery life. Granted, I made sure to charge it nightly but now that my girlfriend has one, she can go several days between charges and make several calls before the low battery message shows up.
The only way she kills the battery is by leaving it on in the hospital where she works. She can't get a signal in the hospital building so it's constantly trying to search for a signal. That will kill the battery pretty quickly.
The phone she has is the 2035 as I had as the loaner. It's a tri-mode phone (which makes it better than my Star-Tac) meaning that it will receive analog and two types of digital signals. I received the phone free when I added a second line to my calling plan. I chose this phone based on my prior experience with it.
As far as features go, I'm no expert. I'm not big on extra doo-dads on my phone so I don't go nuts over a hundred different ring tones. This phone has maybe a dozen different ringers. It will also to the wireless web stuff, but I don't have that on my plan so I've never used it on the phone. Settings on the phone are easy to get to and adjust. It takes a little getting used to how the menus respond, I kept exiting instead of choosing, but once you get the hang of it you're golden.
There are a couple features that can and did come in helpful. There is a calculator as well as a TIP calculator, which can be very handy if you're not real good at figuring out how much of a tip to leave. It also has a breakout-style game. This is a very easy and simple game but when you are stuck in another town with no car and no entertainment (as I was during my family problems) even this game can occupy your time nicely.
My main complaint with the phone is that it doesn't come with a car-charger. Most of the time this isn't a problem because the battery seems to have an excellent life but they're always nice to have in case of emergency. Fortunately we picked one up for ten bucks at Wal-Mart.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
veganweb
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Member: Jim Chichester
Location: Gainesville, FL
Reviews written: 344
Trusted by: 21 members
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