A phone to carry
Written: Jan 04 '02 (Updated Jan 14 '02)
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Pros: Full featured, easy to carry
Cons: Getting use to talk into the air. The vibrator is more like a silence alarm.
The Bottom Line: For $19.99 the phone is unbeatable. I might still pick it even if all phones are free.
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| yoshimato's Full Review: LG SP510/TP1100 Cell Phone |
The spec & features according to Sprint
Dimensions: 3.4" x 1.9" x 1.0"
Battery Life: Approximately 2.5 hours talk time or 135 hours of stand-by time in digital.
Weight: 4.2 oz One of the shortest phones on the market.
LCD: 6 lines, 16 characteristics/line, + 1 status line for icons. External LCD, 1 status line + 1 line for caller ID / time /date. About 12 characteristics. You can see the caller ID in the external LCD (and internal). If you want to answer, open the phone and talk. Close the phone to end call.
Caller ID: See numbers of incoming calls in areas supported by Caller ID. If stored in your phone book you'll see the name, too.
Area of Use: Operates anywhere on the Sprint PCS national CDMA network, or anywhere Sprint PCS has CDMA roaming agreements.
Battery Type: Lithium Ion
Power Save Mode: The phone goes into this mode automatically to preserve battery life when not in a service area.
Security Lock: You can enter a private code to "lock" your phone so others can't make unauthorized calls or gain access with your phone. Standard feature.
Tegic : Automatically matches your keystrokes with words in an internal word database to predict the word you are typing. It’s sometimes annoying if you use a lot of short hand in your own diary and emails.
VoiceMail: One-touch access to voicemail messages. Standard.
Messaging: Receive numeric and text messages in areas that offer messaging services.
Call Log Enhanced: Recalls most recent outgoing and incoming numbers, including missed calls. There are no missed call log on some previous phones.
Text Storage: "Smart" filing system uses folders for organization and quick access of text messages.
Personal Information Manager : Calendar provides the ability to schedule events and view for today, weekly and monthly. Also includes calculator.
Phonebook Description: One entry in your Internal Phone Book can have multiple phone numbers. Store hundreds of phone numbers for easy access on the go. Standard feature.
Packaged with a standard lithium-ion battery and desktop charger with AC adapter charger.
Ringer Options: Seventeen distinctive ringer options, plus a silent vibrating ringer alert.
Sprint PCS Wireless WebSMBrowser : View text versions of popular web sites to access information such as e-mail, news, weather, stock quotes, sports scores and more.
Sprint PCS Wireless WebSMConnection : This phone is data ready, which allows customers circuit-switched data and fax connectivity (separate purchase is necessary for Wireless Web Connection Kit).
The technology
Sprint provides only one technology, digital CDMA at the PCS band – 1900 MHz. The cellular band at 800 MHz has a mixture of analog and digital service. I’ll like to round them up to 1GHz for cellular and 2GHz for PCS. There are three types of digital technologies, CDMA, TDMA and GSM. All Sprint phones are 2GHz CDMA phones. For dual mode phones, somebody else provides the analog service, with agreements from Sprint. By ‘Sprint provides’ I mean that the ground network is built and owned by Sprint.
The TP1100 is a single mode phone, CDMA 2GHz. CDMA is a more advanced technology and it is tougher to build for higher frequency. So you can rest assured that this phone is more expensive than other technologies and band. Bear this in mind if you compare the size and weight of this phone to that of other technologies – TDMA and GSM.
So is CDMA superior? It depends, but the technology itself is. For example, if CDMA has larger coverage and higher capacity, the operator just builds less base stations and save money. It also depends on how much they pay for the frequency spectrum – it is less crowded at 2 GHz. So in normal circumstances, you will not notice much difference in the voice quality. The difference will be in marginal cases at the edge of cell coverage, or in areas where a lot of people make calls..
CDMA do have some inherent advantages. The technology is so well proven that all 3G proposals are improved versions of CDMA. The CDMA technology is superior when the signal get reflected and refracted, hitting your phone at many directions. The situations arise when you are moving or indoor. Early GSM phones cannot get good receptions indoors – at the office I have to talk near the window, at home I have to get upstairs. Even now, I was told that some phones can’t connect in buildings, malls and LAX. So if you are not lucky enough to have an office in your own garden or lay on the beach often, ask around about the performance. But the poorer indoor reception is not always true. A TDMA and GSM operator can built more tiny base stations around and within high traffic areas, like airports, to compensate for the technology. The bottom line is that, the performance of other technology drops very fast once indoors, whereas for CDMA the drop is less drastic. As a later player, CDMA has better voice Codec so you may notice the difference especially in tough environments. When the capacity is limited due to too many people calling, GSM/TDMA will simply not allow any more calls. CDMA allows a higher capacity by, amongst other things, allowing more calls at the expense of the call quality of all users in the cell. When the capacity is low, you expect a better signal than GSM/TDMA, but the signal strength doesn’t translate directly to perceived call quality. CDMA also has advantages during hand-over, when you are moving from one cell to the other. I should not have started this, I was just cruising around. It’s getting heavy to write.
Some features come with the technology and some not. The operator can also have the option to provide it or not. For example, SMS (short text messages) are part of the GSM standard since a long time ago. You can send a text message from your phone to any other GSM phone numbers. CDMA does not have this in the standard. You cannot send text message from your phone, but you can always send and receive email via the internet connection. For SMS you need fewer keystokes to get into it. Composition is offline and you are not charged for the time. For web messages, you generally need a keystroke or more to get into the emails. You are being charged once you are connected to the web. However, you are not charged continuously. It looks like that you are charged for the time taken to receive web pages and the information you send. You are not charged when you are reading the web page. On top of that, you are charged a flat monthly fee for the web connection.
Future proof ?
At the moment, no phone is. 3G is coming. All GSM and TDMA (?) providers will upgrade to WCDMA. It would be easier for current CDMA providers to upgrade to CDMA2000, but you can go the other route if you make a big leap from 2G to 3G, instead of via 2.5G.
GSM/TDMA and CDMA are lumped into 2G, which is not fair. CDMA is developed later and more advanced. There are two ‘compatible’ 3G technologies – WCDMA and CDMA2000. This is also confusing. The networks and phones will have to be different. You cannot use a CDMA2000 phone on a WCDMA network. Even worse, CDMA2000 has a 1X mode that has similar bandwidth to current networks. So when you hear that 3G is coming, it is only CDMA2000 1X. It’s a 3G standard but the advantage is only 2.5G at most. The 3X mode is comparable to WCDMA. For the GSM/TDMA camp, the upgrade will be enhanced GSM called EDGE, which is regarded as 2.5G.
So if you use your phone for calls mostly, you don’t need to worry about 3G and any phone will be usable later. If you want higher speed connection and more advanced features, don’t tie yourself up with a 2-year contract.
Easy to talk or easy to carry?
This is the major decision to make. I think folding phones or clamshell phones are the way to go, if you carry the phone more than talking. By splitting the electronic components into 2 parts, an inch of length can be taken from the phone. The disadvantage is that it is more expensive to manufacturer, and an extra external LCD is necessary to make it more convenient to use. It is noticeable that Samsung do not have any more clam shell models. In general, flip phones are a bit longer because most of the electronics are in one piece. There is no need for a 2nd LCD as the LCD is always visible. Clam-shell models are a bit thicker.
The TP1100 is not difficult to use and talk at all. Once opened, the distance between the ear piece and mic are similar to other flip phones, a little longer than non-flip phones. Fold phones and flip phones typically have a curve that is better matched to the ear and mouth positions than non-flip phones. The TP1100 is not too small in this department – the ear to mouth distance may be shorter than some larger clam shell phones but it is longer than typically non-flip phones.
I don’t see how the TP1100 is more difficult to talk for heavy users. Except that you have to open the phone to talk. But you can always leave the phone open. You cannot do this if you are on the move. But then the TP1100 is easier to carry. With the smaller size, the 1100 is easier to open and close by one hand. In a way, it’s a surer thing to open the phone to talk rather than to hit the talk button, when you are on the move.
The size
At 3.4” long, it is one of the shortest phones. The weight is average at over 4 oz. So you might feel a little bit heavy, as all the weight is concentrated within your palm. Yes, the phone sits inside my palm with good margins. I had the non-flip CDM4000 before. The weight is about the same but the antenna sticks a little bit out of the shirt pocket. Because of the length, the CDM4000 tended to weight open my shirt pocket rather than weight it shut. For the pant pockets, the CDM4000 type phones gets in the way a bit. But the TP1100 is as transparent as your purse or keys, or any other things that go inside your pant pockets. I also had the SCH 8500 that the SprintPCS guy is still holding today. The style is similar but the 8500 adds a bit on all dimensions and weight, looked like the big brother of TP1100.
The TP1100 is single mode only, which helps the size and the price. So don’t go anywhere remote without a dual mode phone. I am impressed that the analog mode in the 8500 works deep within the Sierra mountain roads. The analog network is not going away any time soon. By the way, SprintPCS don’t cover Needles, which is not that remote. If the Las Vegas to LA route is blocked, you may need a dual mode phone if you have to do an ultra long detour via Needles.
The features
I was surprised that for the price and size, the 1100 almost got all the features of the 8500 (except for the analog mode). Voice command, web browser, calendar, calculator and 3 games. I can’t say much about these features except that they work. I didn’t try the voice command yet even though I had the 8500 for a year now. My wife always gets the long straw and leaves me with the 4000. Web browsing is a bit painful for these small phones. If you are into these features, I recommend getting a combined organizer and phone, either closer to a phone or closer to an organizer. Though the web connection is ideal for connecting to things like your portfolio in yahoo, your yahoo address book, and check your emails. But it is painful to log in if your password is 32 characters long. One useful feature is that if you send yourself an email with a phone number in it, the phone can grape the number and put it in your phone book. It saves your typing and it’s a poor way to mimic synchronizing your phone book with that on your computer, instead of using USB or Bluetooth.
Actually the 1100 has better features. Now I understand the logic behind the external small LCD screen. When you see the caller ID, you may not want to answer. But if you want to answer, you can just open the phone and talk. Without the external LCD, you have to press the talk button in the 8500 to talk, after you opened the phone. For this reason, I think this is the way to go for two part phones. Two part phones, with substantial electronics in the base and cover, can take off 1 inch of length from the phone. The external LCD is so nice that I wouldn’t do without it again. To open the phone and then press the talk button is excessive. However, the manufacturing cost is higher that means lower profit margins.
This is the phone that I will send to my mother when she flies over next time. Last time I mail her the spare 4000 with all one-touch dialing set to my phone number, and almost all keys are set to answer. The danger is that she may press the rare buttons that cannot be used to answer calls, and that she may not remember to end the call with the end button and therefore run out of battery. She did managed to receive my call when she arrived at the airport. But then when she saw the INS officers, she said she had to go and hang-up on me! I was planning to be the remote translator. She didn’t know any English. This 1100 will be much better for this purpose. There are the 10 standard numeric buttons in black without any other confusing buttons below them. There are only a minimal of 3 white keys and the 4-way navigation button at the top.
Did you remember the first time that you are using a cell phone, you are trying to look at something to mimic the off hook function of the good old telephone, and find the dial tone? There’s no such thing – you just dial first and then press the talk button. A fold phone or flip phone allows you to replace the off hook function with opening the phone.
I love the navigation button on the 4000, beats the 8500 hands down. But the button on the 4000 looked ugly. It looked beautifully on the 1100 and feels better.
This little phone is easier to open and close with one hand using the thumb.
The standby time and talk time is neither exceptional good nor poor. For it’s size it should not be too good. But minor differences will not change my habit of use. If I talk a lot, I charge it on my desktop stand every day or every other day. If I don’t, I leave it on the stand anyway without charging for days. I seldom need a car charger and none is bundled.
The external rocker switch is a very nice design to adjust either the speaker volume or the ring volume. But the switch is disabled when the phone is closed. It is enabled in the 8500, which is more convenient.
The rumors
I like the Eopinions’ system of reviewing, as they are more believable. What I saw elsewhere was that the external LCD leaks! Well I never saw any LCD leaks before and it didn’t leak on me this time. There are no scratches and it didn’t fall off. The calls didn’t drop dead on me also. The sound is pretty normal as with my other phones, but I am not a Hi-Fi enthusiast. The hinge didn’t feel as solid and rigid as the 8500. But it may be that the design is like that, rather than that the reliability is poorer. It doesn’t matter that much as long as it will last for two years, the end of my agreement. I normally go for 1-year agreement at most but this TP1100 is small enough for me to live with. I had enough cell phones for my collection. Though, I wouldn’t always slam the two parts together like I did with the 8500. This pretty little lady deserves some sensitive treatment. For one hand operation, I sacrifice my fingers to absorb the impact before closing the phone all the way. I did slam the phone close from time to time and I dropped it on the floor. It survived as expected.
Even if some of the rumors are true, I am happy to take some risk for the size, price and features. As I have said elsewhere, not all lots of 1100 are created equal. Don’t expect too much for the first lots if LG just setup a new factory in China or Malaysia. But they should have plenty of time to fix many design and production problems in the later lots, as with other high-tech consumer products.
It is true that the battery charge will be reduced a lot if you leave the phone somewhere without service. The phone has to do a lot of work to search for base stations in all possible channels. It is necessary for these attempts to be repeated in regular intervals indefinitely. In contrast, in standby mode the phone just need to receive a tiny bit of information for every, say, 5 seconds. But this is true for all phones, the only difference is the interval between searches. You want to find stations as soon as they are available but you also want to save power. You can’t win them all. For CDMA phones, if the reception is normal otherwise, it’s rather difficult to shield it from the base stations even if you put it under the mattress, or something like that. A dual mode phone works a bit different. The phone will go into analog mode without digital coverage. The power consumption is much worse, as bad as an analog phone. With an analog service, the phone will try to search for digital service less frequently than with service.
The phone book is not as bad as it sounds. If you try to find Bob, all Bobs will come out in the order in which they appear on the book, not alphabetically sorted. Bob can be the first name or last name or something else. The advantage is that the search is super fast, as you can see the result changes as you types. And I don’t see anything wrong with it, the hit rate that you find your Bob without scrolling is pretty much the same, sorted or not. All phone books I had are not sorted. The presentation of the search results is a little bit different. If you know 20 Bobs, type a bit more to filter out the other Bobs. There’s no way you can manage a large phone list by scrolling around.
The security
There are two schools of philosophy regarding phone book security. The Verison (Airtouch) school protects part of the phone by a passcode. It is more natural but inconvenient sometimes. The Sprint school keeps you from seeing the secret number only. Anyone can do anything with the secret entry JH except reading the secret phone number. But you can always call JH to see that if he is John or if she is Joan. I still don’t understand the reasons behind this except for convenience on top of a low-level secrecy. But you can always lock the whole phone. In the lock mode, the 1100 allows three programmed numbers to go through, in or out, plus emergency numbers.
The service
You cannot buy a phone without looking at the service provider or operator. The worse things that can happen is that you could end up with no reception in your favorite places. You lost your activation fee. This is a reasonable charge since they actually have to do something on it when you purchase the phone and service – entering the phones ID into the network, and take it back or reassign it to another person if you don’t want it anymore. The job is not difficult but cannot be trivial because of security reasons. I think this fee is also used to discourage people from trying all the models of all operators before committing to any one. Then the low price cannot be maintained. So if coverage is important to you, wait for promotions that waive the activation fee. Then you have a week or two to test the coverage and phone. Otherwise you have to ask around and borrow somebody’s phone to test first.
It is rather easy to take a guess on the coverage. They will build enough base stations where the money is. Town center, commercial areas, office areas are best bet, even for tall large buildings. Residential areas are also good if the houses are spread evenly. Major freeways and commuter routes. In these areas, the service is likely to be capacity limited rather than coverage limited. That is, everybody has a good distance from base stations because there must be enough to handle the busy traffic. You always get a good signal, but you may not get a line when everybody else is talking. The opposite case is in rural areas where the chance of busy phone traffic is small, but the signal may not be good because of the distance from the base stations.
So if you are living in a flat city, master planned residential area, you have no worries if your city is in the coverage map. If you live in a multi-million dollar home by a private beach in some remote areas, or up the hills, you are on your own.
My out of state experience is better with Sprint, perhaps because that they claim to have a national coverage. When I am out of state, I can make calls and receive calls. (Although the person who call me is also using a sprint phone in the same area.) For Airtouch (Verison), I can make calls but I cannot receive. (Although the person who call me used a land line from out of state.) I guess it’s easiest if you are in the same operator network. Otherwise, you may have to make some roaming agreement first, not automatic.
Custom service is more or less the same for all operators, or any other large entities for that matter. Try to clear any doubt and questions in you mind before you go with any operator. You have to wait a bit for your calls to get through. Don’t even thing about email and letters. They record your conversations so a call is as good as emails and letters. But it is just as bad in the sense that everything is on the record. If that’s your first phone or you changed operator, it may be a good idea to get your phone from the stores instead of online. Most likely you will be able to make calls right at the stores. And if there are some unusual problems you can go back to the stores, without feeling irrelevant. But if I feel that if my problems will have the sympathy of most other customers, I will go in person to any place that represent the company, with a lot of customers and potential customers around, relevant or not.
The Cons
For such a small phone, you have to get use to speaking right into the air more. Bear in mind that the earpiece to mouthpiece distance is longer than some straight one-piece phones. Try the vibrator first and get use to it before you actually allow it to vibrate when you are not fully prepared. It is very powerful and makes a lot of noise on the hard desk. I can still hear the vibrating noise even if the phone is inside my pockets. But I think this is designed for putting in handbags! If your party dress have no place for a phone, you can still keep it close to you without losing touch. I think the handbag will shake with the phone even if you are only holding the bag handle.
The price I paid is $129.99 minus $50 service credit and $60 rebate. Taxed on the $129.99. $34 activation fee. Free air shipping.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 19.99
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Epinions.com ID:
yoshimato
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Location: Beach Cities, CA, USA
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Among other things I reviewed, I also like writing, or more appropriately, being read.
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