- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 74 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
19 out of 21 people found this review helpful
3.0 stars
"False Advertising and Bait and Switch"
Pros: Good Looking, Memory Card, Plays MP3's,
Cons: Crippled Bluetooth, Crippled USB Connectivity, Menus for Dating Services can't be removed,
Summary: The A920 could have been a 10 but Sprint and Samsung have crippled it's memory card card accessibility apparently to drive users to their web content($2.50 per song ouch) and on demand channels. The only way to get music on the memory card is to remove the fragile little card (hard to push in) and stick it in a SD card and then into a SD reader on your PC. (you might have to purchase an SD reader for around $30). A lot of work to move one song or a picture, and what about the wear and tear on the card reader slot. The process is not too bad if you want to load all your music at one time. The user's guide doesn't even tell you that you need to make a MUSIC folder on the drive and put your mp3's there. I guess they hope users won't figure that out. Sprint salesmen still today 4/20/06 are advertising that the USB cable that comes with the phone allows the device to connect as a USB Mass Storage drive like the A900. They are not even trained to sell this model. Fact is USBMass Storage, a common feature in many phones, is not supported for no apparent reason except to promote their high price download services. Don't expect to find these limitations in their users guide. You have to search the web for user groups or visit their support site (something you typically do after you purchase the product)
http://erms.samsungusa.com/customer/sea/jsp/faqs/faqs_view.jsp?PG_ID=557&AT_ID=55968&PROD_SUB_ID=559&PROD_ID=680
They also block you from using Voice Memo, MP3 songs and other media on the card as ringers. Come on Sprint, don't you make enough in phone services? People like to be creative. Hopefully Samsung will make a driver for the phone and put it on their website. At the very least they should be putting these limitations in their documentation and advertising. I did finally find the limitations on their support site. (see above)
By the way, it won't work with a bluetooth stereo headset either, except to answer calls but not to play music
It also comes with a non standard 2.5 jack so you can't use your favorite headphones or FM transmitter either. (don't know if they make a converter)
All these features work on the a900 but who wants to play memory shuffle with only 50 MB of storage. Again I am sure that not putting a memory card (or a reasonable amount of internal memory )on the A900 was by design to drive their content sales.
This site offers a way to make ringers for this phone. Have not tried it yet.
http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-54271.html
In summary. It is my hope that enough users will complain and Samsung will care enough about it's reputation to fix these shortcomings and provide a PC solution and update for the crippled Bluetooth. If that happens I would seriously recommend this phone as one of the best products on the market. As of right now I am having Sprint disable the Internet account on this phone and I will use it just as an MP3 player and phone unless they clean up their act. There is no parental controls and putting Dating Service Links (match.com)in the menu is just poor judgment.
As for Sprint's phone plans, They show Sirius, ABC News Now in their Vision Access Pack for $15/mo but I found out that you just get a link to these services for $15 and you have to pay an additional $7 for Sirius and more for other channels. How do they get away with this false advertising. See the Sprint Service Plans & Rates brochure. I have been a Sprint customer for almost 2 years, love the reliability of the service but this is just the wrong way to run a business.
- 1 reply to this review
-
I agree with what you write regarding expensive downloads. My first bill was so high that I needed to switch to a standard internet plan. Apparently, you have to pay for ringtones, mp3s, internet television, on-demand (sports, maps, directions, tv listings, dictionary, money news, weather) etc....
You can get all this by using the regular internet, but Sprint packages it into an easier to use interface for $1.99 - $3.99/month for each of the above services. The bill adds-up quickly!
I do not find bluetooth to be crippled. Sprint wants to charge $40.00 for using the phone as a modem while Cingular offers it as part of their standard MediaNet Service.
%20user%20review%20and%20rating%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/samsung-mm-a920-sprint/4864-6454_7-31629390-2.html){kind=small}