3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
I miss my old phone :(
Date of Review: Jul 18, 2002
The Bottom Line: Better phones to be had than this one. Don't fall for it. Compare before buying.
This phone was bought as a replacement for an older Qualcomm phone that accidentally went swimming.
When I had to replace my phone, I didn't really do my homework. I hadn't checked out the various reviews on the different phones.
I had seen this phone at a local Radio Shack and the salesperson gave a very convincing demo of the phone. It had all the features that I wanted in a nice sized package. The salesperson had one himself and stated that he had never had a problem with it. He even let me try it out in the store. The reception in the store was fantastic, clear sounding and had full signal strength. So I bought my very own.
The phone was very easy to set up and use. The problem came when I tried using it at work. The reception in the store was so good, because unbeknown to me, Sprint has a tower less than 1 mile from our Radio Shack. Once I got to work, it was like somebody had flipped the cell towers off. (Nearest tower at work is only about two miles away.) As soon as I would walk into my office building, I would receive no signal. The phone would start searching for a service area. I even switched it back to analog roam with no luck. I took it to Sprint they have repeatedly upgraded the signal strength and tested the unit. They state that it is working just fine. My old Qualcomm would average 3 bars no matter where in the office building I was located. This one I have to go outside to use and even then if the wind is blowing just right, I still don't get any signal.
My wife and I were recently traveling in the OH/PA area and we both took our phones. While in the Cleveland area (a covered area) I could not get any signal at all. My wife's 4 year old Samsung did just fine. While we were in the Pittsburgh area, I would average two bars of signal strength to my wife's four.
Overall, the sound quality is Ok if you are near a tower. Too far away and you get a double voice effect. On some occasions, your own voice is echoed back through the ear piece. Reception is terrible inside of structures.
I know of three other people at work who have this same phone and they all have the exact same problems.
The phone does have some good points to it. The phone book is very easy to utilize and allows you to store multiple numbers per name. The display while tiny is very easy to read. I also like the fact that the flip ear piece covers the keys when not in use, thus helping to minimize accidental phone calls. Battery life is very good as long as the phone is spending most of the day looking for a cell tower. The phone does seem to be durable. I have dropped the phone and had it knocked off of my desk a few times. It once took a fall of about five feet onto a cement patio and survived with nothing more than a scratch on the back battery cover.
Bottom line, I wish that I had done better research on this phone. If I had, I wouldn't have bought it. I think it speaks volumes for the fact that when I bought it, it was one of Sprint's newest phones. Now less than three months after I have purchased it, Sprint doesn't even sell this phone anymore. You figure it out. :)
