nüvifone™. The navigation phone.
- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 15 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Good unit with a few problems"
Pros: Keyboard, wi-fi, etc.
Cons: hands free speaker tinny and bluetooth problems.
Summary: By the spec sheet, this phone is fantastic.
The good:
Nice video, functunality, good keyboard, etc.
A fair amount of Pocket PC software exists to enhance the phone.
The keyboard slides out and works very well. I can type fairly quickly with my thumbs on it.
USB charging.
MP3 ringtones
The Bad:
The hands free speaker is weak and tinny sounding. To compensate, I got a bluetooth headset. While that fixes the sound problem, the unit loses connection with the headset after a couple of hours. There is a registry hack to help but results seem to vary person to person. Supposedly, Starcom is putting out a ROM update in December 2006 to fix this.
The cradle/charger is aweful as it is simply a USB connector sticking up out resting mount. It takes two hands to seat and unseat the phone from the charger.
Also, if you view other people's mailboxes in Exchange via Outlook, getting the phone to see those same extra inboxes is quite a chore and requires third party software. That it takes extra software is nothing new, but there seems to be only two, maybe three programs out there to do this and none are really great or well developed. The Palm definately has an advantage in this area. Ultimately, I went with Intellisync but had to figure out a few things myself as their tech support gave up before I did.
The screen can be difficult to see in strong sunlight.
Would I buy this phone again? I'm reasonably pleased with the phone though I had to spend more money to make it really functional, ie. memory card, headset, software, etc. The forums on ppc6700users.com really helped out.
Got the phone through Alltel on 2 year contract for $200 each. Both my wife and I got one.
- 3 replies to this review
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same problem...mine dials (or re-dials) at random. I've had this phone for several months.
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Overall, I am satisfied with my phone. This is definitely the best $200 PPC/Smartphone on the market (the price after rebates.
PRO: I like the options that are available. Games and applications are available for the PPC phones in windows market place. The pictures came out decent for a 1.3 camera and you can adjust the pic quality. You can also put pics of the person who is calling on your caller id. See the number and picture. The charger base can take either USB charging or 120 V charging and though the same two slots on base charge, the slot will work with the correct voltage only. The modem to phone instructions in the manual are a totally fabrications. You have to call the Sprint technician to get help to set it up. But what he does not tell you that at the last of the windows for setting up new modem, there is a box that says if you want a desktop icon. Check yes. Rename box to whatever you want. I find that the update to get the Sprint icon for internet access window is a farce. This works a lot better. The ability to turn the window lenthwise is really nice for when typing text or reading text. The slide out keyboard is nice. Just takes getting used too. I read complaints about using the items on the window. Well, I had the Treo 600 and I have a big thumb and can surf thru the windows and cuts down on the stylus a lot. The joystick is OK, but again practice makes perfect. I like the option of using virtual keyboard, sliding keyboard, or virtual writing recognition. You can save notes in virtual writing too, that is great as sometimes I just want to jot prices down. I have 2Gb memory card and that is no problem, as you will need it to access the music and other items. The sliding keyboard is nice to use and the window automatically changes so you can read it while typing. I like the keyboard better than the Treo 600. The hotsynch is automatic when you plug phone in charger. Updates are available, but READ about them first. So when something does not work you know why. Bluetooth is effected by updates. Using the phone as modem, I disconnected my ATT home phone and ATT dial up internet service. Now for about $4 more I get faster than broadband service.
CON: The ringtones were not really loud and sounded weakt. But by accident, I can record some music and then download the recording to my ringtone file and then it sounds nice. Plus I will never have to pay for a ringtone again. There is a program out there that you can program particular ringtones for certain phone numbers. How about I get my gf recorded to say, "Hi, this is Gloria calling? maybe with some music too." So just record the recording to ringtone for whoever I want. The charger base takes two hands to put in and take out. The need to put bigger icons & fonts on the lockout and unlock letters. If you have it UNLOCK put it 3X the size. This way you can see it is locked as you cannot use the features anyway. I read complaints and reviews of the PPC 6700, but then I find that I took the time to read the manual and I already know how to touch the window screen as I have had previous experience. The instruction says you can use a mini SD card but then does not say how much. I plan to order a 4 Gb card from crucial.com as if it does not work, I can get my money back. The Sprint tech said it should work, not "It will work." They have somehow put the speaker below the attenna. Then when it rings in the holder you could hear it better. Some say it is bulky, but again matter of opinion. I want functional not neat looking. The phone as modem as some major problems from the phone maker. But I use the desktop icon and then unplug the cord to charger to reset to computer. Though you can synch with computer there is no way to get to use as a modem with out first changing to wireless modem and replugging the cord again to reset application. But I get used to it. I plan to go to Radio Shack to buy a cheap on and off switch to save trouble of unplugging and plugging in again plug to base charger.
I have yet to test it on bluetooth yet. Overall, extremely pleases for $200 I got a PPC phone and then some. -
Everyone seems to be having problems with the phone and some of them unique. I love the phone but it just keeps turning itself on an sometimes dials phones numbers, unbeknownst to me. I have had people returning calls or asking why I called them 3 times last night. Although the phone keeps turning itself on, yet The automatic turn on is not even for notifications or alarms. Yet, I have difficulty turning it on when it turns off the backlight. Syncing is idiosyncratic - sometimes it do and sometimes it don't.
I like the user interface, the sliding keypad, the easy internet connectivity--don't understand the need for both wi-fi and phone connection to the internet. They both connect to the internet. I like the tasks showing up on the today screen and the appointments for future dates if none are available for today. I did not get that with the IPAQ, which I thought was God's gift. I find myself using it more often than I did the IPaq. I can take quick notes in meetings using the slide keypad. I love the slide keypad. I am ambidexterous so I slide with left hand and tap with my right. I think the speaker could be little louder. I haven't figured out how to use the built in flash--does it really exist?. With a built in camere, I can't figure why it is not capable of sending picture mail. I have to send pics in an email. I can receive them, but I can't send them - go figure.
Just wish the phone would stop turning itself on and dialing numbers. It already turned itself on and off three times during the writing of this post. I still love the phone though.
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