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"Awesome Phone" on by ufkenmill
Pros: Extremely Durable
Cons: a little heavy
Summary: Great phone all the way around, don't listen to all these negatives. I love this phone. The day I got it I was floating it in the sink and showering with it. My wife thought I was nuts when I first dunked it in the water but now is a believer! It's a little heavy but so what?? It's tough looking and extremely rugged, what guy wouldn't like it?? The OS is fast and useful and has all the tools I need on it. I don't have a use for blue tooth (I'd rather use speakerphone that one of those cyborg looking earpieces) or uploading/downloading a bunch of nonsense. I have a laptop and video iPod for that stuff. I don't need a crackberry (I leave work AT the office). I use it to TALK, TEXT and take little pictures of my wife acting goofy (I have a high-end SLR camera for real pictures). The best part about this phone is I can beat the He&& out of it and it still works! That's all I care about, I've gone through too many phones to care about all those little features in other high-tech phones. I lost 2 to the rain and 2 more to one to many drops on the pavement. Lost another to the flip top "flipping" off and the mfg didn't cover it under warranty. Now I'm finally HAPPY with a phone that's tough enough for ME. woohoo!
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"a sturdy phone with lots of things that make you say, "Huh?"" on by hipcatticus
Pros: Sturdy is (mostly) the operative word here
Cons: some odd features missing for a flip phone
Summary: Yes, you can dash it to the ground and plunge it in water and it will work just fine. A very nice coolness factor, if you are interested in that sort of thing. I am not... I am in construction. I need a phone that wouldn't be overly phased by a plunge to the ground from atop a ladder.
However, as you dash it to the ground, make sure you see which direction the battery bounces as it frequently separates from the phone, even though it is "locked" into place with an imposing looking little screw doohickey. I does go back together and function perfectly quite easily, but I didn't anticipate that the battery would become separated from the phone with such speed and aclarity. A definite minus in my book for a "military tested phone." I would think I had a bad unit, but hubby's phone does the same thing.
I also have a couple of niggling things that annoy me with it. #1 the "max" volume control just isn't. I am very hard of hearing and have been using bluetooth phones for two years at this point. I have adjusted all volumes to "max" and I can only hear the other end of the conversation if there is no background noise around me. It seems silly to have to press the bluetooth headset firmly to my head to hear the other person, kinda defeats the whole "hands free" aspect of bluetooth. Even sharp-eared hubby wishes it would turn up one more notch. And a side note to the bluetooth... the phone drops bluetooth connectivity at the drop of a hat. Ten feet appears to be the max range it is capable of and I am on the exact same headset that performed admirably with my other phone. Also, it isn't too quick to reconnect, either.
Issue #2... the voice activated dialing SUCKS FANNY WITH A FIRE HOSE!!!!!! It has "voice recognition software" built into it so you don't have to prerecord "call Mom". What you have to do instead is press a button to activate voice command mode... then "please say a command"... you say "call"... it says "repeat, command not recognized"... you repeat... and it goes on and on ad nauseum. If you are lucky, after about 10 minutes of irritating commands later, it finally puts through a call to your boss named Don as opposed to your mom that you were trying to place the call to. The voice dialing feature is completely useless.
Issue #3... not a big deal, just annoying... When you go to hang up a call you have to open the phone and press the end key. There is no button on the outside of the phone to hang up the call. Why not? I could use the hang up button on the bluetooth headset, but that always shifts the headset slightly and, when done repeatedly over the course of a day, bothers my ear, so I usually hang up at the phone.
Issue #4... The camera is one of the worst I have seen in a phone in years. I can live with 1.3 megapixels, but it is very hard to be completely still when snapping a shot. I haven't managed to take a non-blurred shot yet because I persist in breathing and the movement is too much for the camera. And I need the camera for work. When I need a question answered at a jobsite by the boss, a picture is an invaluable tool.
And one last pesky nuisance... the ringtones are horrible and it is quite expensive to purchase decent ones. I use one ring for hubby, one for all my work associates, one for family, one for friends, and one last one for everyone else. This way I know from across the room how professional I must sound on the phone before I even get to it.
If you aren't interested in bluetooth (or have fantastic ears) or the camera... it's a great phone. But I expected better... especially after seeing C-net's glowing review. -
"How to Program Speed Dial for G'zOne Type S" on by mzkmann
Pros: handy, durable, good camera, video
Cons: difficult to program speed dials
Summary: The first type S I got from Verizon didn't program the speed dial correctly. I went to the Verizon company store and they couldn't do it either...told me to send it back as defective. The second one I got did the same thing. I searched online for a solution but couldn't find one. Called UTStarcom, the U.S. distributor for Casio at 800-229-1235. A VERY helpful tech support rep helped me. HERE'S HOW TO PROGRAM THE SPEED DIAL: Go to the "Contacts" menu, select the contact name, then select "EDIT". Very important: Highlight the contact's phone number THEN select the "Options" button. Three options will appear, one of which is "Set Speed Dial" (option 1). Obviously, select "OK" for this. Then just assign it to the speed dial number you want by entering "SET". It will say "Add contact to speed Dial?" Select "Yes". It will say "Speed Dial Set". THEN make sure to select "Save" by hitting the center navigation button. It will say "Contact Saved". Only in this manner can you save this speed dial entry to your phone's memory. After this, your Contact List will reappear with the contact name you just edited/saved. To check your work, hit the center navigation key; "Contacts" will appear on display. Select #4 "Speed Dials" and any/all speed dial entry(ies) should appear in that list. If this doesn't work, your phone is definitely defective! Another helpful hint: Get an extended life battery!!! The provided battery is two days tops!
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"overall a good rugged phone!" on by AceLoSchiavo
Pros: water, dust, shock resistant, bluetooth, speakerphone, flash which doubles as a flashlight, stopwatch/countdown timer, average picture quality, text and pic messaging, able to buy games and ringtones,
Cons: poor camera quality, no expandable memory slot, not able to transfer pics or videos to computer easily, no vcast
Summary: all in all, this is a good phone and a better choice for me personally than the g'zone type-v. I spent a lot of time comparing different phones and types and brands before settling on this phone. others that I looked at were: the samsung sch-u740, LG enV, g'zone type-v. I narrowed it down to this phone because I wanted a camera phone, bluetooth, a flip phone, a rugged durable phone that would last a long time. I am sad I don't have an expandable memory slot or that I don't have a better quality camera, but you take the bad with the good. I like the built in flashlight, I love the style of the phone, It hasn't dropped a call yet that I know of, it has great reception, it has good sound quality, it is easy to manuver around the settings and options. I have customised it to my liking and have already bought 1 game and ringtone on the phone. Alot of people judge a phone based on music player ability, camera quality, internet browser, looks, etc.. I wanted a phone that was going to be able to take alot of use and perhaps getting dropped on the floor at times. I wanted a phone that was going to last me pas the two year contract. I have an ipod at home, a cd player in the car, itunes on my computer. I am content without having a music player on my phone. it has a lot of memory for pics, video, games, etc. that is a plus! I like the design because it reminds me of my digital watch. The picture quality isn't too great, but who am i to complain? I have had this phone now for a week. I have only dropped it once in the car and it was fine. i have not water tested it. I am not going to bother with testing the durablitly, that will happen all on its own. I have been reading alot of reviews from different sites on this phone and they are pathetic in marking it down because its camera isn't that great or because it doesn't have a music player.. remember when a phone was just a phone? personally i like all the little extras it comes with these days.. but you shouldn't mark it down just because it doesn't have every little thing! its still great in the original reason it was designed- to make phone calls when you are not at home.
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"Great Phone...Few Drawbacks" on by thatoneguy8518
Pros: Excellent Call Quality, Rugged, Great Basic Phone
Cons: Speakerphone Lacks Punch, Slippery to Hold, Easy to Turn on Silent if in your Pocket
Summary: This phone is by a mile long better than my previous phones...It connects very quick...is very clear...battery life is good, only on a full charge though...There is petty complaints here and there with this phone but unless you really need all the fancy features this phone WILL NOT dissapoint...Great Phone!!!
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