Manage updates with the Download App
-
"EXCELLENT phone for the right person..."
on by LthlWeponPros Loaded with features, dual keyboards...
Cons "Perfect" is hard to come by regardless of catagory...
Summary I believe it is important to evaluate things based on their targeted market. With that being considered, this the perfect phone for a young teenage female, or even male, who primarily needs a phone, but also the email, internet, and other Windows Mobile features on occasion.
When I find myself reading these reviews with people criticizing a cell phones inadequate features as a camera, computer, video camera, etc., I always think back to my first cell phone from the then "Cell One." It was a big black bag that weighed about 10 pounds with a strap attached so you could carry it over your shoulder. Inside was a collapsible antenna and a handset with the number keypad on the back attached to a brick that served as the battery/phone. Oh, and the ONLY feature set it had was the ability to place a telephone call... Provided of course you had your head tilted the right way to get a signal.
When I think of that phone, it puts things in perspective. Today we have MANY options and MANY features to chose from when purchasing cell phones. We even have internet available to the masses.
So, now that I have painted that picture for you, let me tell you more about this phone. This is really a great "entry level" PDA/smart phone. The display is crisp and easy to read/view, the keyboard if fine for a young man or woman with small hands/fingers, but may be difficult for someone with large fingers to use. It would have been nice if the phone also had touch screen capabilities. As with any PDA/smart phone, I would highly recommend you spend a few dollars and purchase a pack of screen protectors. Without the protector ALL screens are subject to scratching. With the protector over the screen if it becomes dirty or scuffed up, you simply peel it off and replace it with a new one.
While only a 1.3 mega pixel camera (There I go too, "only" we are so spoiled) it takes decent clear pictures. The phone has a flash as well. As with ANY cell phone, I would not recommend you purchase the "phone" with the intentions of using it as a "camera." I doubt you take any pictures worthy of a cover shot for vogue with the Pantech Duo, but it is perfect for taking shots of an accident scene, or friends fooling around on a Saturday night. If you are really serious about taking digital pictures and fancy yourself a connoisseur of photography, buy yourself a Hasselblad H3DII-39 - not a cell "phone."
The "phone" is also easy to set up for most email servers requiring you to only input a little info like your email address and password. If it is a popular server such as Yahoo, AOL, MSN, etc., the phone automatically configures everything for you.
The phone is 3G capable so if you are in an area where 3G service is available, the "phone" is pretty darn quick about loading web pages, downloading files, etc... Even the EDGE service that is available in most areas is pretty quick.
The "phone" is also WIFI capable, so if you are in a hot spot connection is quick and trouble free.
The "Phone" does not have as much memory as some of the PDA phones out there more suited for the business professional and being a windows operating system, you may find yourself having to close the unused programs and even restarting the phone from time-to-time depending on how long you spend browsing the internet in a day.
A casual user should not run into the problems that are typical of Windows under heavy use. If you do multi task a lot with the phone, then you will have to use the task manager to close unused programs on a regular basis and restart the phone periodically.
If you are going to be a heavy user of the "business features" of this phone then you should probably take a look at something more suited for that sort of use. I have been a big fan of the HTC phones for some time now and have owned the 8125, 8525, and now the Tilt.
Again, think about what you want a cell "phone" for. I bought this phone for my soon to be 19 year old daughter who is in the Marine Corps and I used the phone for several weeks before giving it to her and she loves it... I thought it would be perfect for her needs when looking to find her a "phone" and I hit the nail on the head with this "phone."
She mainly uses the "phone" as a "phone" yet it has the features needed to exchange email and pictures, some occasional casual browsing of the internet for information, the outlook calender for scheduling, notes/to do list, Outlook Contact features to store phone numbers and address, etc... She can also store some music on the mini SD cards, etc.,... etc.,... etc.,...
The bottom line is that this is a great phone for the right person... It is not a professional camera, video camera, computer, etc... I HIGHLY recommend this "phone" for someone with the needs I have mentioned. It will not disappoint you.
If you are going to be a heavy net user, multi task with the business applications, etc., buy something more suited for that sort of use with a faster processor and more built in memory.
And just for the sake of saying so, because I get so annoyed at the harsh critics of cell phone cameras, you will NOT find a cell phone anywhere with a really high quality camera. If you are looking to take pictures with something, buy a camera!!!
I hope this rant helps someone with their decision... And of course as one person pointed out,with AT&T, you have 30 days to try the phone out... If you don't like it, return it for something else until you find the device that is best suited for your needs.
If you can't find something you appreciate with all the options we have available in a cell "phone" today, email me... I think I still have one of those old bag phones I mentioned earlier... Carry one of those for a day and you will appreciate anything!
SemperFi -
"Fancy, fun, but ultimately disappointing"
on by susan-bbPros Small size, QWERTY keyboard
Cons Tone length, quirks
Summary My husband and I did a lot of shopping around before settling on the Duo. We both wanted QWERTY keyboards and a small phone size, and compared to what's out there, this phone seems to fit the bill. However, the phone takes a lot of getting used to, and some functions just don't seem to work right with no obvious solution.
For instance, when I call my office, or he calls his, we cannot ring through to extensions or to voice mail, because the automated phone systems don't recognize the touch tones -- I think they are too short. I stopped by an AT&T store to ask if this could be adjusted, and they didn't know and suggested I contact Pantech. (No response yet.)
Setting up our Outlook e-mail was easy, except when I did it per the instructions of the AT&T tech I spoke to by phone, it didn't work. A call to our IT department confirmed that the steps I had been given by the AT&T rep were all wrong, and it took 2 hours to undo it all and reinstall the functionality properly. Works great now.
The voice dial feature is superb. But it took us awhile to realize that, unlike our old phones, you don't just press a button and say "Mom," but rather "CALL Mom." Sounds stupid, but we didn't know and we spent several days misdialing people until we figured it out. Also, the button you press for the voice dialing is quirky and sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. If the whole point of having voice dialing is so you can keep your attention elsewhere (like when driving), then having to peer at the tiny screen to see if the voice dial button "took" each time you press the button is a little defeating.
The sound quality of calls on my phone is awful: buzzy and muffled. But his phone doesn't have this problem. I have seen this problem noted in other reviews. A trip back (again) to the AT&T store was fruitless; they said the SIM card needed replacing, but that didn't help. I think I just have a bad earpiece, which I gather means I will need a whole new phone.
Today I sent a text message to my babysitter and for some (unexplained) reason I got an error message that it did not go through. Again, there was no (obvious) way to simply resend it. I got frustrated after 10 minutes and just retyped it.
We both love the dual slider feature of the keypads and the convenient size, but I think I am ultimately going to trade this in for either a Tilt or maybe one of the Verizon Samsung smart phones. It seems that even after 2 weeks, I am still peering at the screen trying to figure out what to press just to answer a call or reply to a text message, and more than half the time I really can't figure out how to accomplish whatever task I'm trying to do. Doesn't mean it can't be done, but if you are not a 15 year old boy who is an expert at electronics (I am a mere 42 year old company CEO), this may not be the phone for you. My 4 year old free LG phone was so much more intuitive to use! -
"I Like It so far!"
on by karatchePros Incredibly Fast Data Transfers
Cons Limits in what web sites you can view - java related
Summary I purchased this phone for my daughter who is not so tech savy however I thought this phone would give her a good introduction to where things are going, with word and excel applications on the phone and other capabilities. Im a 8525 user and use all applications daily for business. I used the 2125 for a year or so prior and this phone is very similar in what it does to the 2125. My experience initially with the phone is good. I was able to use the quarty key pad with little trouble and did not find the phone to be slow in its transfer from horizontal orientation to vertical. It transitioned fine for me. What I notices the most was the incerdible spped at which web pages loaded. However on that note- it is disappointing that as it was with the 2125, many pages that use java to run do not run on this browser. I tried to open mapquest and could not. I'm not sure about the camera as I have not experimented with it and have not used the phone on it yet.
-
"A little thick but the dual keyboards is a nice plus"
on by superguyPros Numeric keypad and qwerty keypad. Quick internet
Cons Fat. Directional pad not back lit. No LED notification.
Summary I've had this for about a week.
I installed all my regular windows mobile software and have used it quite a bit.
1st off, it's not very comfortable to hold. It's a little thick but the real trouble is this thing needs a some rubber grips. I feel like it can fall out my hand. Especially since it gets a little hot after some usage.
Call quality could be better. Everything sounds fuzzy. Maybe this is a defective phone. It starts to vibrate now and then for no reason and it last for at least 30 seconds.
The keys are a little tight but it's not that bad if you are used to hunting and pecking. So far I keep thinking keys will be somewhere else. The keys are bright when they are lit, but the 4 way directional navi is not backlit. This seems to be one of the more important buttons. There's also a lock button at the bottom but by pressing it once, you get a menu with power off at as the top choice. Press and hold to lock, or press once for the menu.
Windows Mobile 6 is the main reason I upgraded. Some of the new features should have been there since version 1 and seem like a no brainer. I thought HTML emails would be a big plus but the scrolling makes it awkward and I think I may need to turn it off. No threaded text messages but new filtering makes finding conversations a little easier. Windows Mobile has always felt like an after thought. Text messages pile in endlessly unless you manually delete one by one. No empty folder on the inbox or "delete after 30 days" option here.
The LED only shows charging status. No LED for reminders, missed calls and text messages. This should be standard on all phones. I'm happy there is no annoying blue LED to let you know bluetooth is on. Also, when using a headset, I cann't figure out how to get back to the handset instead without turning off bluetooth.
It does come with the 3 major IM clients but after all these years, I can never figure out how to keep these things connected. After a few hours, they're always offline.
I'm not sure if I'm keeping this thing. I don't really need a keyboard if it adds this much bulk and makes the phone so uncomfortable to hold. Also, for a slider, you cannot answer or hang up by sliding the phone open and closed. I really want a dual hinge flip like the Samsung. It would give the same functionality but it a smaller form factor. -
"Mediocre for any phone let alone a smart phone"
on by jainscoPros Has a keyboard and number pad
Cons Keyboard is too flat, poor call quality
Summary This is a great platform but it needs work. I like the dual slide functionality with a QWERTY keyboard as well as dedicated number buttons for making calls but the keyboard is too flat and my fingers are too big to type quickly. There is no cut and paste functionality for text messaging. The call quality was poor. Numerous times when checking voicemail I wasn't able to fast forward or delete messages because the phone wouldn't generate the tone to perform those voicemail functions. There doesn't appear to be any way to do a conference (three way) call on this phone. Jeff, Denver CO
Write a Review
Online Stores
| Store | Promotions | In Stock | Price | Total Cost | Initial Sort Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Get free shipping on orders over $25! | Yes | Ship: TBD Tax: TBD | $188.95 | |
| See all prices | |||||
%20-%20Smartphones%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/pantech-duo-c810-at/4852-6452_7-32730547.html&x_breadcrumb=8900:3488:3504:6452&x_arw_bkts=DNA_PAGEMODE:normal,DNA_ADVERTISER:,DNA_ADVERTISER_MFG_ID:,DNA_SPINNER_ID:,MAD:first_impression){kind=small}