With an integrated camera, voice dialing, and dual color displays, the Samsung VGA1000 makes a great mobile companion. Other features, like support for Sprint's wireless Web services, as well as built-in games and ringtones, round out a strong package that is sure to please.
Design
The VGA1000's handsome clamshell form factor houses an internal 128 x 160, 65,000-color display. There's also a supplementary color display on the front panel of the device that displays call information, battery life, time of day, signal strength and more. An extendable antenna is located on the top right side of the phone, and the camera and flash unit are placed on the rear of the device. Meanwhile, most of the phone's features and on-screen menus are controlled by a five-way center button above the handset's dial pad. A 2.5mm headset jack is also provided.
Calling Features
The phone's built-in address book allows you to assign up to 300 entries, each storing six numbers, with a total capacity for 300 numbers and 300 email and Web addresses. You can customize your caller ID by linking a photo to a specific phone number in your contact list. In addition to a vibrate mode, the phone allows you to choose from a number of polyphonic ringtones that make your received calls all the more exciting. The VGA1000's GPS location technology pinpoints your exact location when you dial 911 (where available). Perhaps most importantly for users in rural areas, the VGA1000 is a tri-mode phone, meaning it can operate on Sprint's digital PCS network, as well as analog networks that serve many outlying areas.
Another key calling feature of the VGA1000 is its enhanced voice recognition capabilities. The system allows you to speak numbers digit by digit or speak the name of anyone in your phonebook. Voice features are speaker-independent, so there's no need to train the phone to respond to any one person's voice.
Messaging, Internet and Tools
If you need basic messaging capabilities, the VGA1000 has you covered as support is built-in for sending and receiving SMS text messages (Sprint PCS text messaging charges apply). T9 text entry, a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built-into the unit-- a plus for text messaging users.
The phone also supports PCS Vision email and instant messaging capabilities. Sprint PCS Vision transforms the wireless experience from something that's simply functional into something visual, entertaining and highly personalized. MSN Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and AOL Instant Messenger are all supported by Sprint's PCS Vision service. PCS Vision mobile Web services let you check out sports scores, get your seven-day forecast, check your flight status, and stay up to date with the latest news. Experience full-color graphic versions of popular Web sites.
A number of handy software tools are bundled with the VGA1000 including a calendar, a calculator, an alarm clock and a to-do list. A voice recorder lets you record memos for later retrieval.
Imaging and Entertainment
With its robust set of camera functions, the VGA1000 shines in the imaging department. The VGA-quality (640x480) digital camera lets you take, view, store and send pictures wirelessly in full color. You can also control brightness levels, white balance and color tone to get the image and effects you want. Other features include a self-timer for group shots, built-in fun frames to decorate your images, a multi-shot function for action sequences, and a self-portrait mode for special moments. Capture pictures in high, medium or low resolution and digitally zoom in up to 4 times. As mentioned, there's also a flash for low-light situations.
The VGA1000 lets you choose from a variety of pre-set images to customize your main and external displays and make them unique to you. With PCS Vision service, you can download games like Tetris and Pac-Man, as well as additional ringers, screensavers and backgrounds. You can even turn your phone into a gaming device with an optional, attachable game pad that makes it fun and easy to navigate when playing complex, fast-paced games on your phone.
Vital Statistics
The Samsung VGA1000 weighs 4.48 ounces and measures 3.5 x 1.9 x 1 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 2.9 hours of digital talk time, and up to 168 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the AMPS 800/CDMA 800/CDMA 1900 frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.
What's in the Box
VGA1000 handset, AC battery charger, lithium-ion battery, user's manual.
The Samsung VGA1000 combines the functionality of a digital camera with the clear calls of a PCS Phone enabling Sprint wireless customers to instantly shoot, view and share photos nationwide in addition to making crystal clear calls on the PCS enhanced nationwide network. The Samsung VGA1000 is designed to support the PCS Vision applications and services, including downloadable ringers and games. Compact Clamshell Design - 3.5 x 1.9 x 1.0 and weighs only 4.5 ounces VGA-Quality Camera - Take a picture anytime and share it with family and friends instantly while on the enhanced Sprint Nationwide PCS Network. You can even attach a 10-second voice message and text a text message to your picture. Voice Recognition - Call contacts in your phonebook, dial numbers by saying each number ("digit dial"), play games, or start the browser simply by speaking into the microphone. Camera Flash - The integrated flash provides enough light to improve picture quality in many low-light environments. Polyphonic Speaker - 16-chord polyphonic speaker for a more musical result. Ringtones can sound like a small orchestra with several different instruments, and games have more memorable sound effects.
1 OK phone. Probably better off with something else
+ Reception is fine - bar meter acts almost exactly the same as my Hitachi P300 when tested in various areas. I don't think that there is as much noticable difference in reception between today's phones as some people would make you think. (Quality between providers is a whole other story.)
+ Talk quality - my earpiece is too loud. There are about 6 volume levels. I always keep mine on 1 and it is still commonly too loud. I am thinking of sticking something on the earpiece to dampen the volume. To comfortably have a conversation, you want to be able to put the earpiece right up to your ear without getting blasted. Also, you don't want everyone in the room to hear your conversation.
I have intermittent faint beeps in my earpiece while using the phone (also reported by many other users of this phone).
+ Picture quality - Usually not very good; finicky about lighting conditions and requires subject of photo to be perfectly still. Also, if you want to email photos or put them on your PC, you must pay $5/mo for Sprint's picture service -- you can not just pay per Kilobyte. Or, I read that you can get a third party software and connection cable (not so fun). But, this is true of all Sprint camera phones.
+ Battery life - fine; up to par.
+ Bugs - when you are in the menu or on the web, the phone randomly exits and goes back to the initial wallpaper/screensaver screen. This problem is also widely reported by other users. (Yes, I have the current software: WL15). Not much of a problem if you use the phone only for talking, but if you like to play with the Vision and whatnot, this would be annoying.
+ The phone has a nice quality feel. It is heavy and feels substantial - not plasticy or like a toy. The screen is beautiful (far more brilliant than my Hitachi P300 screen). The phone also looks nice and classy. However, it is bigger than many clamshells - it may be too big for some people.
+ I had to do it all over again, I would not get this phone. It is not that bad, but you can do better. I value talk quality and physical design most in a phone (not cameras, internet, bells, whistles etc). While not entirely fatal, the talk quality issues that this phone has (i.e. earpiece too loud and faint beeps) brings its score way down in my book.
At this point, this phone is old. There are alot more Sprint phones to choose from that are probably a smarter choice.
I might look into the Motorola v60v or LG vi125 down the road (A featureless clamshell with good talk quality). Word on the street is that the newer LGs for Sprint are way better than the older ones which had tons of problems.
2 Not the best phone
Had this phone for about 15 months; just long enough for the warranty to expire. Both my wife and I own this phone and we have the same problems with it. The phone has developed a habit of shutting off at just about anytime. I replaced the battery, but still have the problem on both phones. Lots of dropped calls, basically just not happy at all with it. Should have went with what my friend got, he is very happy with his sanyo phone, it gets better reception and no dropped calls. Dont buy a samsung.
3 great great phone
have had the cell for about 1.5 years now and its great. though not as small as my older one, none the less the more important issue is that it works flawlessly. havent had any issue's with the phone. the cam on the phone as well is great, phone book is nice and big, keeps 20 of that last calls made saved better then my last one which only held 10 in place. all in all, the only bad thing is sprint service but thats not the phones problem.
edit - one issue no sms, text messaging can get expensive but if you dont do text messagin then dont worry about it.
4 It's alright.
Iv'e had this phone since its come out about 1.5 years. I replaced it once cause it just stopped charging, not cause of the battery was old, it just wouldnt wouldnt charge, now about 8 months of getting my replacement phone it's doing the same thing, I have to sit there and wiggle the charger just to get it charged, I want to go replace it again, but I have all my settings and downloads on it and I don't want to have to start over. It also doesn't have sms, you have to sign onto the web to text, which can be slow sometimes, and other times it totally doesn't even work. Other times my phone will just turn off by itself. The camera is alright, it's fun to have, but picture quality is bad, and the flash is useless cause it just washes the picture out completly. I like the size of it, not too big.
5 WHY??
I THINK THAT THIS IS ONE OF SPRINT'S TOP OF THE LINE PHONES EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT READY LINK!! I WAS LOOKING FOR ONE OF THESE AND WHEN I WENT TO SPRINT THEY TOLD ME THEY WERE DISCONTINUED!! I AM LOOKING FOR A PHONE LIKE THIS. IF ANYONE HAVE ONE AND WOULD LIKE TO SALE IT, PLEASE CONTACT ME. MY E-MAIL IS JOE14872002@HOTMAIL.COM OR JOE18872005@HOTMAIL.COM
THANKS
6 NIce looking, not that great
I have owned this phone since it came out (1.5 years) and it has done OK for. My biggest complaint is that no one can hear me on it. People are constantly complaining that I cut out when I am talking. The camera sucks too, not even really worth having. The phone looks nice, gets pretty good reception, I like the applications that it comes with. The battery life is average compared to the other phones that I have had. Overall I would not probably recomend this phone unless you just want a decent phone for cheap.
7 DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE
Do not buy this phone! I owned this phone for just over a year! There were constant chronic problems. It has some major flaws and goes in and out of handsfree mode and eventually a little after a year (after the warranty is expired), it is completely useless! Sprint will not replace this phone or compensate you in anyway to purchase a new phone after the warrany has expired!! Every person I encounter has replaced this phone (if they were lucky enough that the problems became noticeable BEFORE the year was out) because it was messed up and eventually stopped working due to these chronic problems. Do not waste your money on this phone!! It is not worth it!
8 Great Phone with a big screen.
First of all I would like to say that this phone is awsome. It has a larger screen than almost any other phone in the same price range. These new TFT screens are very clear(great for games). The camara is also very cool. The web brower works better than you might think a web browser would work on a phone. All in all a great phone.
9 BAD PHONE BAD SERVICE
FIRST OF ALL SPRINT IS A PIECE OF CRAPP. THIS PHONE LOOKS COOL BUT HAS THE WORST BATTERY LIFE POSSIBLE. THIS PHONE IF YOU TAKE 15 PICTURES YOUR BATTERY LOWERS FROM FULLY CHARGED TO 2/3 CHARGED. WORSE IS WHEN YOU TALK TO PEOPLE. THE PHONE HANGS UP ON YOU FOR NO REASON. THE PHONE IF FULLY CHARGED AFTER AN HOUR OF TALKING IT IS LOW BATTERY. YOU GET SO MANY DROPED CALLS. ONE OF THE WORST PARTS IS TEXT MESSAGING. IF U LIKE TO TEXT MESSAGE THIS PHONE IS NOT FOR YOU. TO USE THE TEXT MESSAGE YOU HAVE TO GO ON THE PHONES INTERNET. REMIND YOU INTERNET COST MONEY AND TEXT MESSAGE COST MONEY TO. SO IF YOU TEXT MESSAGE FOR FIVE MINUTES AND YOU TEXT ABOUT 10 TEXT IT COST ABOUT 3 DOLLARS ADD THAT UP IF U TEXT MORE. AND TEXT MESSAGE IS THE SLOWEST THING OF LIFE B/C YOU HAVE TO LOAD EVERY MESSAGE. MY FIRST PHONE WAS A NOKIA AND I LOVED IT ahgggggg!!! IT GETS ME MAD HOW BAD THIS PHONE IS. I SPENT ABOUT 150 DOLLERS ON A PIECE OF CRAPP. THE FLASH IS USELESS UNLESS YOU STAND 2 FEET AWAY. I HATE THIS PHONE AND I HOPE I CONVICED EVERY ONE NOT TO GET SAMSUNG AND SPRINT. STICK WITH CINGULAR/ ATT/ TMOBILE
10 Decent phone, very pleased
I've had this phone for almost one year. I'm very picky about battery life so was very pleased with this phone and it's solid battery. I love the big screen and buttons since I don't have tiny fingers. The camera isn't the greatest at all and the external face is hard to see that when someone calls I open up my phone anyways to see who it is since I can never see on the outside. I wish it came with more screensavers but nowadays you have to pay for ringers and pictures online and I'm not into that. Just another way to make money. Overall, fun phone and easy to navigate.
11 Great features, bad phone
I replaced my old motorola phone (which lasted the streets of NYC for 2.5 years) with this one because Sprint no longer carries Motorola. I love all the features; web, camera, IM, text messaging, look & design. However, as a phone, it stinks. It can hold the signal, but the sound quality is horrible. People are always telling me that I sound muffled, which was not the case with my old phone. I have to talk very loudly to have heard at a normal level. Plus, it shorts out quite often causing the phone to power down unexpectedly. Very annoying if you are expecting calls. I am not a tough customer and expect these phones to be disposable - especially with the heavy duty use I give it. However, after having high satisfaction with my motorola, I will go back to them. As read, I am not the only one having problems with this phone and quite a few of my friends do not like their Samsung phones. I would stay away if you can.
12 Sound Quality is Awful
I bought this phone for the features, and while they are very good, the actual phone on the Samsung VGA1000 is awful. The sound quality is terrible. The camera is nice, but you can find cameras as good or better on other phones. Keep away. This is a dud phone. Samsung should know better.
13 bad sound quality
This phone is cute - small, with fun features - I can connect to the web, I can take pictures, I can even download screen savers and ringtones. However, I bought a phone to be able to make calls. This phone misses the mark on the basics. The sound quality is terrible. The voices are muffled and echo. My old StarTac had much better sound quality. I've already returned this model once for a replacement to see if was just a lemon. I think this one is going back too.
14 The Jury is still out since it's a recent purchase
Overall, it appears to be a good little phone. I have only had it a few months, and what I like and dislike so far:
It's small enough to carry in the pocket without having to have a carrier on your belt...enough junk hanging on my belt already.
The pictures are much better than expected from such a tiny camera. I have printed off a few, and if you take one in good light with a stationary subject, they come out as good as many film cameras.
The address book has several new features that allow you to store the birthdate, a separate picture (that shows when the person calls you) and even assign a distinct ringer for each person. Makes it easy to know when the wife or the boss is calling.
The ability to download screen savers and ringers is cool. It's an extra cost, but not too bad ($1.50 + connection charges) as long as you don't go crazy with it.
The downsides are probably more related to Sprint service than the phone itself. I always have had a terrible time with their spotty reception. Even in a major city, I am frequently going through areas where you get cut off because there is no tower coverage. I also wish you could delete portions of the software that you don't like, for example the games. I've never played them and never will. It would be nice to be able to use the extra memory by deleting them from my phone.
Not a bad phone for the cost (+/- $50). I would be very upset if I actually had to pay $250 for it though.
15 Good Phone
All and all its a good phone, but it freezes sometimes when im on the internet, or playing a game. But it might just be the service, I dropped it like 100 times and it still works after like 4 months of dropping it. So now im looking at the sanyo pm-8200 phone, cause i guess the camera quality is better and it has speakerphone.
16 Sprint service
I've been a Sprint customer for 5 years and I'd like to dispel the misconceptions I've found in most of these review's about Sprint's service.
WHAT'S GOOD (and misreported in most reviews):
* Service quality is GREAT and has been improving over the years where I live (SF Bay Area). Local service quality depends on your local geography, what kind of buildings your surrounded by, the number of antennas Sprint has near you, the number of Sprint users that live near you and many other factors, so never take another user's service review seriously unless you know they are in your area.
* Ringers, games and other downloads DO NOT expire and DO NOT need to be repurchased. Those items that list an expiration date actually expire from your vault BUT NOT FROM YOUR PHONE. Unless you delete the items from your phone after the expiration date, you will not have to repurchase them. If the item doesn't expire or it's before the expiration date, you have the option of carrying over your content to a new phone, or to your phone if it has needed a hard reset (i've had my phone for about 15 months, and other Sprint PCS phones from Samsung and Qualcomm for 4 years before that, and I've never needed to do a hard reset).
* You DO NOT have to pay a $15 PCS vision fee to take pictures, send text messages or use the Internet. You can take pictures for free (sending them is a different story). I use text messaging and the Internet a moderate amount (about 10-15 text messages and 15 various web accesses per month) and don't buy the service, just pay per kilobyte or whatever it is and I've never paid more than $3 in a month. Also, in the 15 months that I've had a Vision enabled phone, I've ended up getting 6 (not 2) months of free Internet. Every once in a while Sprint will call me up and ask if I'd like another free trial. I load up on content (games, ringers, etc.) during the trials, since you get a $10/month allowance, so I've never even paid for content. My only problem is that my phone is about to run out of storage space!
* I haven't had too much trouble with customer service. Obviously, YMMV. Problems do seem to be solved a lot quicker when I casually mention that I'm a 5 year customer and on my 5th Sprint PCS phone.
WHAT'S BAD:
* Sending pictures does require the $15 service and is slow and cumbersome. I've mostly just opted to keep my pictures on my phone. They look terrible on a computer screen anyway. I like the phone feature as a capture a moment (you see something hilarious and don't have a real camera handy) or safety thing (car accidents and such), but I don't think it really has applications beyond that.
* Text messaging is very slow and requires you to go through wireless web. I don't use it too much, so I've learned to deal, but if text messaging is your life, I don't recommend Sprint. I think phones with SMS text messaging capability may solve this problem, but Sprint has just come out with them recently, and my phone isn't one of the lucky ones.
As far as phones go, I have the Sanyo 8100 and LOVE it. This phone is being seriously considered for my next upgrade, with the one drawback being that it doesn't have speakerphone.
17 Fun but no one can hear me...
I was resistant to the flip phone at first, this was the only replacement they could give me under my service plan. I really liked the camera feature but the photos are grainy and your subject has to be COMPLETELY still or the photo is blurry. My biggest issue was that no one can hear me, everyone says it sounds like I am in a tunnel or on the highway even when I am in a quiet room. The voice volume feature will not fix the problem so I have to yell into my phone, very embarrasing at the grocery store. The signal strength is generally weak, I live in central Dallas and I have to go outside to use my phone to make sure the call isn't dropped, inside the house is a unlucky gamble. The flip hinge did break, but I was able to Superglue it after Best Buy told me that it was user damage so I could not return it, now I am returning it based on the voice volume problem. The text messaging takes awhile to access but I think that is a Sprint issue not a specific phone issue.
On a positive note I love the calendar/alarm feature and use it most everyday. The games and ringers I have down loaded play very well, the display is nice.
18 Best phone so far!
I had to give up my much beloved Sanyo 8100 because a button died and I got the Samsung VA100 as a replacement. I was a little worried that I was getting a phone that had less functionalities than the Sanyo, but boy was I wrong.
I absolutely love this phone, it's as if somebody listened to all the things I didn't like about my old phone and fixed them for the Samsung.
The camera has a built-in flash although not terribly efficient, and you can also zoom in [digital zoom] or apply various effects to the picture such as sepia or black and white tones, frame styles, etc. Picture quality is good, pretty much what you would expect from a camera phone.
The alarm settings is one of the things that I love about this phone. You can set the alarm to repeat Monday through Friday or Sat and Sunday or everyday. This is one thing that I disliked about my old phone, I would have to turn it off on week-end nights for the next morning, otherwise the alarm would wake me up!
The menu and options are easy to navigate and access and voice command is very sweet. You tell your phone to open the phone book, what name to call and what number to call, in case you have more than 1 number for the same person. With voice command you can also access other items, such as games, the web, voice memo, etc. Voice recognition is accurate, it hasn't screwed up on me yet.
Sound quality is great too.
Reception is awesome, I have an office in the basement of my house and with my old phone I did not dare make calls from down there. Absolutely no service. With the Samsung however, things are different. I have at least 1 out of 3 lines of signal, sometimes even 2. I haven't dropped or missed a call yet.
Battery life is good. After long talks the phone tends to get a little warm, but then again, so do other ones.
NOTE! With Lithium Ion batteries you do NOT have to completely discharge the battery before you can plug it in. Many people recommend that, even Sprint representatives, but this is not so. Their mentality is stuck on the old rechargeable-type batteries.
Li-Ion batteries do not develop that so-called "memory" that kills the battery in time. With Li-Ion, depleting the battery every time actually puts strain on it, shortening it's life so rest assured you can [and should] recharge your battery often, whenever it's halfway or so down. Maybe let it die once a month so the battery meter resets itself.
But hey, don't take my word for it, look it up yourself! Technology always improves.
So, all in all, so far this is the best phone I've owned. Easy to use, great deal of options, I recommend it to everyone that likes camera flip-phones.
19 This Phone Is HORRIBLE!!!!!!!
Having been a sprint customer for years I have had numerous phones. The one thing I learned... Samsung Phones aren't built to last. First, every time you buy one you have to buy all new accessories. They are not interchangeable. Sanyo phones are. I bought a Sanyo 5300 and it worked great. After a ton of wear and tear the screen went out, and ERP sent me this phone. After 1 week I was in the sprint store trying to give it back. It was dropping calls, my wireless web wasn't working, and everybody I talked to said it sounded like I was chewing on the phone, or in a tunnel. Whenever I would try to save a number I would be halfway done and the phone would just jump back to the main screen and I would have to start all over. Then the antenna bent, IN THE TUBE MIND YOU and when I tried to straighten it, it popped off!! I haven't had the phone a year yet and I finished talking on it and i tried to hang up, it wouldn't close. I have to play with the cord to get the phone to charge. And the battery only last about 45min. if that talking or not. When ever I am travelling and I go through a dead zone, when I get out of it I have to turn the phone comepletely off then back on to get a signal. I would not recommend this phone to ANYONE!!!!!
20 good fone, bit pricey
i like this phone. i got it when my previous samsung phone broke after about 4 years of heavy duty use. this one is a much better replacement. easy to use, reliable, and fun.
i really like the crappy built in camera. it comes in really handy when you don't have your digital camera with you but you wanna snap a shot of something like friends at a restaurant, car accidents, furniture, whatever. the quality sucks but its a telephone not a camera, what do you expect?
the other feature i love is the external color display. it shows all the important info, date, time, signal strength, battery life, caller id, etc. without opening the cover. all my phones have had external displays, but this one is the easiest/fastest to read.
the phone book is also better than most, aided by a mostly intuitive interface. the web browser is adequate, i wish you could still customize your home page but sprint seems to have taken that feature away. also it has downloadable video games. i bought video poker and splinter cell 3 and it is actually pretty fun to play. totally kills the battery though.
my complaints: 1) you can't easily download the phone book onto your computer without additional software, 2) the plexiglass cover for my external display cracked when i sat on the phone (still works but looks like a ghettophone now), and 3) the "power save" display mode toggle turns off the keypad backlight and lowers the display brightness. these should be independently selectable. i like a dim display but i want my keys lit up.
overall i dig this phone a lot and would definitely recommend it.
21 Never want to change this phone!
The Samsung VGA1000 is the best phone I've seen and have the pleasure to own. Reasons why I love it:
1. Easy Menu - the menu is so easy to navigate, my 5 year old niece understands it. It numbers different selections so u can just press 5, for example, instead of scrolling down constantly. The buttons are comfortable to use and are placed just right.
2. The screens - the external, !COLOR! LCD screen. The internal one is huge! It has amazing clarity and you can adjust the contrast.
3. Great sound - the polyphonic thingamabod...anywayz it has great sound. u can download ringtones and they all sound really good. I like 3gupload.com because for $10 u can download unlimited ringtones, screensavers, applications and games for a year and they dont expire.
4. Clear Calls - all calls sounded clear and I get great reception. It has good talk time. I charge it and can leave it for days b4 I have to charge it again.
Things I don't like that kept me from giving 5 stars:
1. The rings sound fine but are not high enough. Too many times I'd be in another room and would miss calls because I couldn't hear the phone, even though it was on high. Ur best bet would be to put it on high & vibe.
2. It's a little on the hefty side.
3. No speakerphone. I mean I wouldn't die without it but its a nice feature the phone lacks.
Overall this phone is very very good, definitely would recommend it. I've seen newer phones that are way more expensive and still cant compare with the VGA1000. I plan to keep buying this same phone. If this phone had speakerphone, video, and Ready link, it would be without a doubt the best in the market.
22 Samsung VGA1000
Well, I've owned this phone since April 2004. It is now August 2004 and I am still amazed at the features it has!!! I was reading a previous article, and they said it cost $15 just to send pictures. Well, this $15 isn't JUST for pictures. You can get a plan for $15 which includes unlimited web access, send unlimited pictures, and send 100 SMS Text Messages! And dude, a data cable isn't $80........ SURF THE WEB! I got mine for $0.10, yes 10 CENTS! Anyways, this is a great phone and I LOVE IT! Its packed with cool features!
23 Cheap and flimsy. Dont Buy
After three months of use the top half of this phone seperated from the bottom half.
Sprint reaction: "Samsung warranty doesnt cover this"
Bestbuy reaction: "Sound like physical abuse"
If physical abuse is opening the phone to make a call then Guilty as charged.
Dont Buy this flimsy item
24 Smooth, Fast, Stable
Samsung did a tremendous design job on this phone, the VGA1000 (for the Sprint PCS network). My soon-to-be-wife and I purchased identical phones a few months ago and decided to give them a test run. The design on this phone is subperb - it is small, elegant, and professional, while at the same time remaining trendy and up with the times. Its camera is one of the best out there, and the screen on this phone is beautiful. We've also found the sound quality to be delightful, and have been impressed with its durability as well.
The software is quite fast on this phone -- although the web browser is a bit slower than on Sanyo phones, it is plenty fast nonetheless. We also found the software to be quite stable, with very few of those problems that often come up with the "latest and greatest" PCS phones.
The only cons: Reception is poor compared to Sanyos when in the Sprint PCS network. That said, it seems to find a digital roaming signal BETTER than my old Sanyo 8100 did. It also has a strange quirk wherein you can punch a one-number dial and press talk, only to realize you pressed the wrong number.... so you press "end." However, as soon as you try to dial a different number, you find yourself calling the one to accidentally dialed to begin with if you didn't completely shut your phone. Not a big deal - just a silly quirk. Perhaps they've fixed this with the newer versions of the phone.
Overall, this is a great phone!
25 Great this phone and i know you will enjoy it
I personal own this phone and I believe that is the best phone that I have even bought. I found out that it works very well in my neighborhood and one the road to visit my family. I have used other phones but none have compared to this phone. I love the features that on the phone, like the camera, the voice dialing, the phonebook can hold up to 250 names, you can view the web on your phone and you can also use yahoo messenger on it so that way you never really have to take a huge computer around with you, you can just take your phone and do a lot of the same things. I have only had this phone for four months and have no problems with the phone or the service areas. I have even asked others to buy this phone and they have so I am recommending it to you also.
26 Good phone.
I was a little hesitant to go to a Samsung from my excellent Sanyo, but it was time to upgrade and this was by far the best value available to me. So far I have been satisfied by the phone. The camera is surprisingly good. Picture quality is about what you would expect from a phone. At first, I was disappointed with the battery life, but I've concluded that it was mostly because I was doing a lot of changing of the settings entering phone numbers into the directory. It seems though under just normal conditions the battery will hold up to the advertised stand-by hours.
My biggest gripe with the phone, as mentioned before, is that most of the perks are subscription based. If you want to use the camera function, you will need a way to download them. You can either pay $15 a month from Sprint to use their vision program, or you can buy a data cable. I stopped into the Sprint store and they said that Best Buy carries it for $80. A little pricey. Backgrounds and ringers run from $1-$2 and expire after 90 days (although you could probably get them for free if you buy the data cable). The backgrounds that come with the phone are not very good.
The functionality of the phone is about what you should expect though. I've found nothing that would keep me from recommending the phone based on the functionality of the phone, although the Sprint service leaves something to be desired.
27 Good phone with ok service.
Let me first say that this is a good phone. It has web service, a camera, games, and other good features. I bought a phone with Sprint. I'm kinda glad I did There service is was ok because I've had a few problems with Sprint. A lot better than my friend's Alltel phone. Here is the good and the bad.
Pros & Cons
PROS
- A phone book that lets you have speed dial up to 300.
- Instant messaging that works good.
- A fast web service.
- High quality camera.
CONS
- The web only has a few websites, but still very useful at times.
- Ringer tone downloads are low quality and sound cheesy with such a good phone.
- Games are sometimes expensive.
- Sprint isn't the best service out there. Verizon Wireless and T Mobile are better.
I somewhat recommend this phone.
28 THE BEST PHONE I EVER USED, LOVE THE CAMERA... DUHHH
This phone has everything you need, everything. Camera perfect, games, perfect. you end up not even payin that much for real games and rings anyway, besides u end up having so much fun with it. yes it is hard to see in a lot of light but there is a lot of shade everywhere unless you live in the desert or something. The camera, fun every thing is fun GET IT NOW!!!
29 great
the vga-1000 has all you need and more. i love being able to check my email wherever i am!
alsom, this phone is amazingly durable. lets see: i've dropped it down a wooden staircase.. it hit all 13 steps. and guess what? not a scratch. i've also dropped it several other times in parking lots, etc. and besides a few small marks it looks good as new.
as for the camera, it's quite good considering it's on a phone. better than the other ones i've seen, for sure. the "flash" is really like a little white light that comes on for a few seconds if you want it to. it works okay for close ups.
for the web browsing, sprint has the fastest in the country- almost dial up speeds.
i would buy again.
30 Battery doesn't stay charged!
The guidebook for this phone gives me 3 hours talk time and 7 long days of standby time. Well, it's been about 2 days, with one phone call made, and no other actions done, and the phone is dead! This is the second phone in a row with this exact problem, so it's not specific to this unit. This is crazy. I'm going to another brand.
31 Like not love this phone
I like this little phone. Yes the quality of the pictures is poor and it is difficult to see in the daylight. You can download free ringers and games at www.myhonefiles.com. Once I personalized the phone using this site I was much happier.
32 Not What I Expected
I purchased this phone after owning another Samsung phone for 3 years prior with no problems. However, the VGA 1000 I purchased just 8 months ago broke on the hinge when closing the phone and is now in two pieces. After contacting Samsung, I was told this is considered "physical damage" and not a defect, at which point they implied that I had abused the phone and would charge me $75 to try to repair it. Sprint, with whom I have my service, also called me a liar and insisted that the phone could not have broken on the hinge simply by closing it. I beg to differ. Neither company will do anything to help me. I am disappointed as I considered Samsung a reputable product and had even paid more money to get a Samsung phone than had I gone with another brand.
33 This is a great cellphone choice!
Referring to the comment about all the little extra charges made by another reviewer, for the extra $15 per month Sprint charges for PCS vision and Internet access which you can start and stop at any time (beginning with a free two-month trial period), not mentioned but included is a ten-dollar per month credit that can be applied toward the purchase of any of the online options, including the downloadable ringers, screen savers, games and more. This $10 credit can even be applied during the free 60-day trial period, so essentially you're getting $20 worth of extras for free during the trial period. So it isn?t nearly as bad a deal as a previous poster made it sound. Ringers range in price from 1.50 to 2.50 each and expire in 90 days. There are hundreds to choose from, and play in true music with vocals and all, not just the melody.
You may have seen Sprint's TV commercials with the kids taking a break on the bleachers while holding dodge balls and being asked to guess how many tries they had with the dodge ball to get someone out without going over, or else it would be a waste... the advertisement for Sprint's new Fair & Flexible plan? I signed up for this plan and am very pleased with this new approach to the PCS pricing schedule (go to sprintpcs.com for more details). Essentially, anyone who signs up for this plan begins with 300 anytime minutes for $35 per month, which increases by $2.50 for each block of 25 minutes needed beyond that. If you always use a lot of anytime minutes, then this is not the cheapest plan for you. However, it can be very cost-wise if, like myself, you use 300 anytime minutes or less during some months, but in other months require 500 anytime minutes but don't want to be charged 35 cents per minute for over the limit usage. The plan includes unlimited nights and weekends for any calls made to anywhere in the USA, so you get free long distance during those times. For another $5 per month you can make your nights begin at 7 pm instead of 9 pm. Nights end at 7 am.
Back to the Samsung VGA1000. This is a better than average cellphone. It includes all the latest technology. This phone is not at all difficult to learn by playing around with it and pressing buttons to see what happens. The bilingual (Spanish/English) manual included with it is compact enough for a small purse but thick enough to be very informative and is also available online. While it's true the screen is harder to see in bright sunlight, there's always shade available so it's not that big of a problem, in my experience. Dialing can be done by voice, so the screen isn't essential anyway. You can locate people in your address book by voice commands and then dial them, or you can dial direct by voice command. Here's how: Press the left arrow (left side of camera picture) then state "DIGIT DIAL" then state each number beginning with the area code. It will confirm the number you stated before dialing it. This is all done without requiring ever looking at the screen. I do not consider games a necessity for any cellphone, but the games available for this phone are good fun and great time-passers, especially if you have a charger nearby allowing you to play endlessly while keeping your battery fully charged. I enjoy the bowling game. My favorite screensaver is one of the 4 included screen savers: the calendar. It shows the entire month, outlining the current day in bold and upcoming days with appointments in blue. The screen uses the most power, but it goes into auto-dim mode after about 8 seconds, and turns itself off after another 8 seconds. So playing games, reviewing pics, etc, all use the most power. However the recharger quickly recharges and gives a green light when ready (red until then). You can buy a charger that plugs into your car?s vehicle charging port (the cigarette lighter).
The camera function can be used to snap pics of your friends (or of yourself using the volume button), and store a photo of each of them with their name. You can connect to the internet and read your email. You can send photos that you take with your phone to anyone's email address, or to another vision phone, or to your included webspace for storage, enabling you to clear your photos from your camera and take a whole bunch more. You can take up to 26 high resolution photos at 19 kb each. From the share/review menu you can select to "upload this" or "upload all" photos stored in your camera. The medium resolution photos are 5 kb. The medium res. photos may seem a bit grainy if you're a true camera buff, but they are of a good enough quality to enjoy and bring back memories. And this "camera" is so tiny you can hide it in your shirt pocket and easily disguise when you are snapping a picture of someone. I have more photos of my friends than they realize! I now have many pictures of people that I would never have had without this handy little cellphone. This great new technology allows you to take and send a digital photo to almost anyone as soon as you take it. A plumbing contractor friend of mine was studying my cellphone recently when suddenly it occurred to him that his field personnel could send digital photos of hard-to-identify parts, either back to the shop or directly to the parts supplier, saving both time and money and reducing error, as most unknown parts that need replacing are described over the phone. A picture is worth a thousand words, and maybe a few dollars as well.
34 (...) get your facts straight!!!
"Battery Life mediocre, and Downloading Games expensive and only lasts a few months-what a scam"?????
what are you talking about? I have this phone and the battery life is great, allot better than the samsung a-460. It lasts a couple of days give or take a few hours depending on how much you talk, use the browser, or your phone is searching for a signal. Try setting your phone to automode instead of just the sprint network, that way you will save some power. also you dont buy ringers and then only get to keep them for a month or so, if you buy a ringer, then it yours for good.
35 Sprint... Bad Service
Buyer beware... do not buy Sprint. I give them zero stars! I purchased a Treo 600 for metro Atlanta. Basically the service was very bad. I called to cancelled and charged me $112 and change. As a business customer or any customer why am I being changed for poor service. I am not going to speak bad about their customer service because they tried. But they do not understand about business relationships and how to assist the customer. If you intend to buy a phone from them get the least expensive plan first. Then will not loose as much monsy as I did for just 7 days of service.
36 be careful... this phone looks cool, but doesn't work well
this is not a great phone at all. i bought it in november and had to return it in january because it kept turning off by itself and it would not want to restart. it's fairly slow and there are often errors when using pcs vision.
it doesn't stop there. my mom got the same phone in december and THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO HERS! one day it just stopped working. wouldn't turn on.
my coworker had the SAME THING HAPPEN TO HIM!!! he took his phone back, too.
we are not crazy, violent people who throw our phones at brick walls! this phone looks really nice, but it's NOT a great phone. i strongly recommend buying a non-camera phone, as those tend to have less problems.
if you buy it--good luck!
37 Best phone ever
I have this phone and have a blast with it. Being able to take picture spur of the moment is awesome. They may not be the greatest quality but they are a memory. Downloading ringers and games add to the fun.
38 Cool gadget!
I purchased this phone for both my teenage daughter and myself. It's a great little gadget. The reception is very clear, and I have no problem hearing on it, even out in crowds with a lot of background noise. I'm amazed by all that it can do. The display is great, and the keys are much more durable than the rubber keypads other phones have. It's LIGHTYEARS ahead of my old Nokia 3360. My daughter has a lot of fun with the camera phone function, and I've found all of it's features fairly easy to use. You do have to remember to logoff the web after accessing the internet, but as long as you do so, it's not a problem. As for accessories, I dislike the leather case Sprint sells to go with it. The double snaps were awkward. I much prefer the Bodyglove leather case that's also available at the Sprint store.
39 No Fireworks, just OK.
I have been using Sprint now for close to 5 years. First I would say that I have been happy with their service. Now let's talk about the phone for a little while, then we can go back to talking a little on Sprint again....
I purchased this phone about a week ago. I have had two other phones while using Sprint's service. I think the phone is built to last. Sturdy construction. It is a nice small phone, which is what I wanted. The camera with flash is fun to use. Just dont expect the picutes to be the best quality pictures. If you are using the phone outside, it is hard to read the screen. At night or inside though, it is fine. Just hard to read the phone outdoors on a sunny day. The phone book and camera are easy to use. I dont find the games on the phone that I got all that great. I never used my phone much in the past though to play games. Since this is a new phone Sprint will give you the internet free for two months. I have gone out there to see the weather report or check my email. The phone connects to the web pretty fast.
Now the not so great that make this just an average phone. I mentioned I would go back and talk a little about sprint. I would say the quality of reception I dont find to be all that great. I notice a lot of static. Can you hear me now? Huh? You're breaking up.... this is enough for me to seriously think about upgrading this phone to something else. I find if I dont hold this phone just right, it is hard to hear. I saw in a review that if you go with Sprint you will pay fees for the pictures. That is correct. It is $15 a month for the internet and to be able to upload your pictures. Also noted if you want to connect to the web, there can be fees. So if you want messenger, there are fees. If you want to get stock reports, there are fees. If you want to download ringers, or screen savers, there are fees. You will find some of these things you download will expire after 90 days(such as ringers and screen savers). So think about it, 2 bucks here, 4.95 there to download a game, 2.50 for a cool song for when your phone rings and it can add up fast. We live in a world of fees and charges so I was not too overly shocked by that. You just need to be careful. The bill for your monthly services can add up fast.
Overall, I would give this phone a 'C' average. Nothing special. Like I said earlier, I am thinking about taking it back. I like the added features such as the pictures and the internet. However when the rubber hits the road, I need a phone that truely is clear when I use it. That is not happening. When the phone isn't clear and you add in that you have to hold it just right to hear, it can be a challenge. Ohe I dont have time for. I just want to be able to get the most of the phone I have. So I think I will go back to the Sprint store and see what else is out there.
40 Samsung does NOT stand behind their product
I have had this phone for 5 months - and the hinge for the flip portion is cracking on the left side. As soon as the cracked peice falls off, the flip top portion can come out of the hinge, potentially rendering the phone unusable. So until then, I have to use the phone with extreme care and caution to prolong the inevitable.
Upon contacting Samsung for a warrantly repair, I was informed that this flaw was "cosmetic" and a repair will cost $75. If I wait until the phone actually breaks, then of course the repair will be much more expensive and still not covered by the 1 year "warranty" - it is classified as "normal wear and tear". The customer service person I spoke with was very straight forward, and informed me that this is an extremely common problem with Samsung flip phones. It apparantly occurs because the hinge is not strong enough to withstand normal use - i.e. holding the phone to your ear, opening and closing, etc. A small crack develops internally and eventually spreads to the outside of the hinge. When I questioned the logic of having a phone break after only 5 months of nrmal use, the Samsung response was that their phones are not built to last forever - just like cars, they are also engineered to break down. To which I say at least car companies use tempered metal for high stress componets, rather than PLASTIC. Car companies also issue recalls to repair common faults.
The only advice Samsung personnel gave me was to not buy another flip phone. I plan to go them one better and not buy any Samsung phones at all.
41 good phone bad provider
the phone is awsome best reception ive ever had camera is great easy to navigate
Sprint PCS is a horrible provider you have to pay for everything even storing the picture that you take on you OWN phone 15 extra a month you should be able to upload the pictures to your comp with out having to pay for it. i dont see kodak and hp and other makers of digital cameras charging you to upload your pictures to your computer sprint is horrible
42 Sanyo 8100 or Samsung VGA1000?
I will try to avoid complaining about Sprints service, but that is in a way what I am dealing with here. I recently got the VGA1000 as replacement for a Sanyo 8100 I broke. I like the features of the phone and all, but the service I get on the VGA1000 is not nearly as good as the service I got on the 8100. I have noticed that I will only get at most 2 bars of service in areas where I was getting 4 bars on my Sanyo and in some spots I won't get service where I was getting service on the 8100. I would also have to say that the Sanyo battery lasts longer which I liked a lot. I also want to clarify that the 8100 seems much more durable to me. I know I said I broke the 8100, but trust me it went through one heck of a beating before it did break. The camera and ear peace are better on the VGA1000, but the microphone you speak into is in an akward position and people can't hear you well if you dont hold the phone a certain way. WHAT IT ALL COMES DOWN TO IS GO WITH THE SANYO 8100 FOR THE BETTER SIGNAL AND BETTER DURABILITY
43 the best phone ever!
I LOVE THIS PHONE! The camera is so easy to use and i always have service even when my freinds with other phone companys dont. this is the best looking phone i have ever seen, in my opinion its the best phone ever! i would only change one thing and that would be to add a movie camera on it like one of the other sprint phones.
44 Great Phone, great pics
I have been with Sprint for over 2 years, and have been through many of Sprints phones. At first the coverage was horrible, but has improved over time. But this is a review on a phone not the service, so I continue.
As far as the phone goes, I am rather impressed with the built in camera. For an integrated camera, its the most impressive I have seen, out doing even the famed Nokia camera phone in picture quality. There was also an effort to build in a flash into the phone to enhance darker pictures, but this does little in terms of really dark subjects.
The signal is better then I ever remember on previous phone I have owned, and the calls are clear until you get to two "bars", then it becomes hard to understand. However data transfer does not seem to be interupted when the signal is low.
There is a glitch in the software that, to this day, has not been solved with a software glitch. When the phone recieves data signal, it goes into active data mode then will not go back into normal mode. When you go to make a phone call, you must first remove the battery, then put it back in to able to reset the phone (merely trying to turn off the phone simply by using the power button doesn't work). Its an annoyance that sprint insists that will be solved by a simple software fix..."soon".
The phone is stylish, with a respectable amount of accesories available for it. However, the screen is a little small to even play pacman on it, and the buttons for game play are rather cumbersome to say the least. I recomend getting the game pad for this purpose.
45 VGA 1000 / SPH-A620
The phone itself is decent with a few quirks. In general, it works as expected. The interface is pretty intuitive. I like the larger phone book (250) but I can't select an entry by their entry number. You can call the number like it's speed dial, but can't select an alternate number for that person.
It bugs me that the buttons on the side of the phone don't light up the display when it's closed. My previous Sprint phone had that and I didn't realize how useful it is until this phone failed to do the same.
The battery life is pretty low. I charge it every night and still have issues if I use the phone for more than about an hour during the day. I think it'd last a lot longer if I weren't roaming so often, which is another annoyance. Also I really don't like that I have to pay for the internet service for text messages. That's enough whining.
46 Poor outgoing sound when held in the left hand
This stylish-looking phone with camera has a huge drawback - it is not designed to be used by left-handed person.
You probably would wonder what the difference between left-handed and right-handed phone is. Usually there isn't a significant one, because the microphone is located on the middle bottom part of the handset, so that you could hold the phone with any hand. However, if you look carefully on this phone the microphone is located on the bottom right side, so if you happen to hold this phone with your left hand, your breathing will create very strong air dynamics that will interfere with the quality of the sound.
It took me two weeks to figure out what was wrong with this phone. Every person I talked to was complaining about wind gusts like sounds and ability to hear every breath I took. However, once I would change holding hand from left to right the problems with sound would diminish.
I disliked overall acoustics of this phone to such an extend that I decided to exchange it to Sanyo SCP-8100 - and it made a world of difference for me.
47 Quite good.
I had this phone for about 6 months & I really never had any complaints (I swapped it for a Samsung i500 to integrate Palm & phone & therefore accepted the disintegration of phone & camera).
The build quality is good, the graphics (including the readability of the caller ID window) are very good & the ability to lock on and hold a signal are excellent (for a Sprint phone), as is the sound quality on both ends during a call. The other features are nice and about what you expect with a cellphone these days.
The camera though is another matter. I had an 8100 before this phone and swapped thinking that with VGA resolution, plus a flash, the camera would become a more useful feature. Well, it isn't. Quality (at least to my eye) on 9 out of 10 pics is still awful, storage is limited (who cares after a while?) and uploading and making these images useful (outside of associating them internally as screen icons for various callers) is a real challenge. In fact, let me go way out on a limb and say that despite the recent rage here and no matter how well received they are in Japan, camera phones here are a passing fancy.
Give me a phone (& a provider!) that works almost perfectly as a *phone* and I'll follow you anywhere. For the record, let me add that cellphones strike me as a largely unfulfilled promise; the quality of service has really made little progress in the last 10 years when compared to technology like broadband. Sorry for the rant.
48 Nice phone, terrible service
I've been very pleased with the VGA phone (adequate picture capability, good reception, good voice recognition, nice color screen), but I would NOT recommend Sprint as your cellular provider. As one example, any ring tones you buy are only good for 3 months, then you have to buy them again. The Vision service is quite expensive (only free for 2 months then you have to pay quite a bit extra). Customer service is also terrible--in my encounters with them, they have been unfriendly, confrontational, and there are always VERY long waits on the phone or at the store. Too bad T-Mobile's reception in my home was bad, because their customer service was top-notch. I'd much rather be a T-Mobile customer, but now I'm stuck for two years. Don't make the same mistake!
49 the best
this product is ok that is why i prefer doing my shopping in the samsong company.
I love this product so well that is why somebody can relay on it.
50 Good phone but easy to get nickel and dimed
The phone itself is good. I love the voice digits feature so, in traffic, I don't have to look down and dial. The sounds on the phone are great. The camera is as expected. Menu is good and the phone is fairly easy to use. What I don't like is that to receive the SMS (short mail) messaging I have to connect via the web on my phone to read them. The phone is advertised with 2 way messaging but they don't say it is all web-enabled. I'm a basic phone user so I don't get into all the features. What I really don't like is the nickle and diming you get from ringers, games, etc. Paying $2.50 for a ringer is pretty steep but especially when you only get to use it for 90 days! Also, I got charges for ringers that weren't actually downloaded (I did get credits but not through Sprint, who said it was my problem) and incurred connect charges even though I had the Vision plan?? On this phone I also hit A LOT more roaming spots than I did on my last Samsung I300. My entire city is supposed to be covered (actually the entire state of Florida) but I am hitting roaming spots daily that are a pain. So, in summary, phone is pretty good, but Sprint could improve.
51 Good Phone Horrible Customer Service
PROS
-Tons of Features
-Voice Dialing is Great (the one on the phone, don't pay Sprint for their service)
-Downloading Games
-Very easy to take pictures and send them off
-Receiving text messages easy
-Your personal Sprint Web site is pretty useful and full of info and options to service your account
-Above average reception so far, haven't gone outside of Houston yet
CONS
-Customer Service simply awful. They told me to go down to a Sprint Store when I really didn't need to. They could not Port In my old mobile number even though they told me I could before hand, then they told me my number was restricted by my old service even though Cingular confirmed TO THEM that is was eligible (literally spent hours on this one with no success).
-Downloading Games expensive and only lasts a few months-what a scam!
-Seems to be a glitch in my phone, sometimes moves twice to the left or right when I only press it once
-Internet service is SLOOOW, and sometimes unreliable
-The methodoligy for sending a text message is painfully tidious considering the speed of internet connection (odd why they do this since sending a pic is so easy)
-No way to "reply" instantly to a text message
-Can't send text message to email address
-Sprint charges more than any other company in surcharges that are not mandated taxes. This should be illegal when they advertise a cetain rate plan price.
-Battery Life mediocre
52 Overall Good Phone, Customer Service Horrible
PROS
-Tons of Features
-Voice Dialing is Great (the one on the phone, don't pay Sprint for their service)
-Downloading Games
-Very easy to take pictures and send them off
-Receiving text messages easy
-Your personal Sprint Web site is pretty useful and full of info and options to service your account
-Above average reception so far, haven't gone outside of Houston yet
CONS
-Customer Service simply awful. They told me to go down to a Sprint Store when I really didn't need to. They could not Port In my old mobile number even though they told me I could before hand, then they told me my number was restricted by my old service even though Cingular confirmed TO THEM that is was eligible (literally spent hours on this one with no success).
-Downloading Games expensive and only lasts a few months-what a scam!
-Seems to be a glitch in my phone, sometimes moves twice to the left or right when I only press it once
-Internet service is SLOOOW, and sometimes unreliable
-The methodoligy for sending a text message is painfully tidious considering the speed of internet connection (odd why they do this since sending a pic is so easy)
-No way to "reply" instantly to a text message
-Can't send text message to email address
-Sprint charges more than any other company in surcharges that are not mandated taxes. This should be illegal when they advertise a cetain rate plan price.
-Battery Life mediocre
53 This phone is the BOMB!@!!
I'm loving it ..ba da ba ba
For real this phone is the best ever!!
54 Great phone but has a disabling defect
This phone gets excellent reception (still my primary use for a phone!) and most features work well and are easy to control. The camera is quite good for a phone, and Sprint's picture sharing service, and uploading work flawlessly. I wish I could share pictures with daughter's T-Mobile phone but unfortunately the carriers don't support such a standard right now. That limitation is not specific to Sprint. I would give this phone 5 stars but for a major problem. After receiving a text message, the phone completely locks up (somewhat like a PC gone blue screen) and the only way to reset is to pull the battery. This is a bizarre defect, and one I imagine that new firmware will address. Unfortunately until then, if you happen to use text messaging I would avoid this phone. Otherwise, it is a pleasure to use.
55 Good phone with a couple minor negatives
I just got my VGA1000 a couple of weeks ago, and I love it. I play with it constantly. I'm always taking pictures and uploading them to the internet where you make a photo album with captions and all, its really fun. The camera takes good pictures in high quality mode. Wireless web is fast and simple. The screen is big, bright, and clear. It will be a while before get rid of this phone. A few minor gripes include the battery, it gets really hot if you use the phone for more than about 30 min. The flash on the camera tends to just screw up the picture instead of helping it out. Also, the camera is very sensitive, you must hold the phone completely still for the clearest picture. These are only minor complaints though, the good far outweighs the bad. There is currently a good deal on this phone too, so if you're in the market don't pass this phone up.
56 GR8!
this phone is really great. the pictures are high quality and it can hold 27 hi def pics. and the camera has outlines (mona lisa, etc.) for you to place someone elses head in. And with the offers that save you lots of money make this phone only [money]
57 The king of dropped calls!
I had this phone about 3 frustrating weeks then I exchanged it for a Sanyo, it dropped nearly EVERY call. I have had sprint since they were introduced, I had more dropped calls in the three weeks of using this phone then I have the entire time I have had the sprint service. The signal strength was very good nearly every time, still dropped the calls. Also the phone would make beeping sounds in the ear peice the entire time you were talking on it... and one more thing, after a short while the of use the phones battery would get very hot. Samsung needs to go back to school on this one!
What I did like... The color screen was incredible and the ease of use was great, if it wasn't for the problems I would have gave a very high rating of this phone. It has some nice features.
One final thought... Its too bad Motorola doesn't have any sprint phones anymore nothing compares to the quality and durability of a Motorola.
58 The king of dropped calls!
I had this phone about 3 frustrating weeks then I exchanged it for a Sanyo, it dropped nearly EVERY call. I have had sprint since they were introduced, I had more dropped calls in the three weeks of using this phone then I have the entire time I have had the sprint service. The signal strength was very good nearly every time, still dropped the calls. Also the phone would make beeping sounds in the ear peice the entire time you were talking on it... and one more thing, after a short while the of use the phones battery would get very hot. Samsung needs to go back to school on this one!
What I did like... The color screen was incredible and the ease of use was great, if it wasn't for the problems I would have gave a very high rating of this phone. It has some nice features.
One final thought... Its too bad Motorola doesn't have any sprint phones anymore nothing compares to the quality and durability of a Motorola.
59 Easy to use
I like how easy it is to use this phone. This is my first cell phone, and I have never had any problems with its usage since I got it in November. I like how you can set up different ringers for different people. The snapshot picture for each person is pretty cool too. The reception is great. I do wish the phone didn't get so hot after long usage time, but it goes away quickly after I hang up. Overall, its a very good phone to have.
60 This cellphone is Awesome. BUT THE PRICE WENT UP!!!
I HAVE MY EYE ON THIS PHONE FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS AND IT WAS FREE, IN FACT YOU GOT 60 BUCKS FOR BUYING THIS PHONE FROM AMAZON.COM
MY DAD WASNT SURE IF HE WANTED TO BUY ME THIS PHONE, AND I SAW THE PRICE OF THIS PHONE ONLINE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY AND IT WAS FREE AS SAID ABOVE, WELL WHEN I SAW IT TODAY, WHEN MY DAD FINALLY AGREED TO GET IT FROM AMAZON.COM, THE PRICE WENT UP ALL THE WAY TO $79.99!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS WRONG, AND I HOPE YOU GET THE PRICE DOWN BECUASE I WANT TO BUY THIS PHONE BUT IF THE PRICE REMAINS THE SAME, I'LL HAVE TO BUY A PHONE FROM CINGULAR
61 Somewhat disappointed
Phone loses connectiosn often.
Phone does not store usage information. Requires connecting and minutes to get usage.
Does not show all call history. Only most recent from a particular number. No details as to call length stored.
Camera is almost useless unless you subscribe to the picture plus service so you can send pictures to people ($15/month). Can not download pictures not taken on the phone. Quality of photos pretty weak. If you upload a photo and later download it, it is too large to use as a caller ID image.
You can download ringtones or games but have to pay for them and only get them for 30 days, or they rebill.
62 Great phone
I got this phone a few days ago and am loving it. It's got an excellent menu and navigation which are very important to me. The phone book is great because it enables you to have home, mobile, email, pager, other, a ringer, the person's birthday and a picture. Although I don't plan to use the camera very much it's great- its got a zoom feature and edit feature so you can take a better picture than with most. It's a little slow to power up, but I guess that's because of all the features and the Sprint web service is backed up, so despite a call to customer service and a few days I still don't have access. But the service is much improved from a few years ago, the cust. service rep actually called me back later that afternoon and will do a follow up call tomorrow. So I can't complain too much
63 Very disappointed
I ordered this phone for myself and one for my girlfriend because of the free rebate from Amazon. After having it a day we both noticed these beeps while we would talk. After going to Sprint they tested both and said they were defective and gave each of us a new phone. We again had the same problem with these. This chirping sound that can last for 10seconds at a time. Regardless of the phone being free, for $260 there is no reason to have this problem. I called Samsung to see if there is something I can do and the 2 people i spoke to were not friendly and said a 3rd person will call me back within 3 days and it has been over a week with no contact.
The camera on the phone is terrific, the phone is easy to use and learn. The outside of the phone is one of the better looking phones on the market, but none of this is worth not being able to talk normally.
64 It's okay
Cons: The battery life [is poor] on this phone. It lasts about 2 days if I don't use it. I compared the pictures taken from my phone and my friend's Sanyo SCP5300 and it doesn't compare to it. Sometimes the phone will freeze and I can't turn it off. Instead I have to take off the battery to restart it.
Pros: The phone is fun to take funny pictures of friends with the fun frames. The reception is great on this phone. I haven't had a dropped call yet.
65 Absolutely great product
I have been looking for a number features while looking for a cellphone. I saw samsung vga 1000 answers all that I am looking for. Went ahead and bought it on Amazon. Now I know that I made a wise decision. Absolutely great picture,sound quality.
The phone is great.There is no problem with signal too. But the problem is with the sprint customer service online as well as in the stores. The service representative could not answer any of my basic questions.
66 Much better then the A500
I just received the phone as a warranty replacement for my Samsung A500. I was not a big fan of the A500 due to ringer issues and the fact that it turned off from time to time for no reason.
I was a little worried about trying another Samsung after the A500 but I'm pleased so far with the VGA1000. All the functions are easy to use, including the camera. I had a hard time getting the vision setup after my last phone but that was mostly due to Sprint customer service issue rather then the phone itself.
I like the overall feel of the phone, it feels more solid then the A500 did. I also like the larger screen and color external screen. The camera function is a novel idea but not sure I'll use it too much.
The one thing I do like about the VGA1000 compared to the A500 is that it has a normal ringer included with it. The A500 did not have a normal ringer so I had to pay for a downloaded one.
The ringer on the VGA1000 sounds good and isn't disruptive like some of the ringers (crazy chicken) on the A500.
Overall I'm pretty happy with this phone and would recommend it to anyone who needs a new phone through sprint and wants to try out the camera phone technology.
67 Download the PDF Manual
Phone is nice and has a lot of features for someone who is coming off an old Motorola v120. Biggest complaint is the manual that came with the Sprint Service phone was woefully inadequate. You must download the PDF Manual from here or Samsung to be able to make sense of many of the features. Speed dial setup is also very quirky.
68 simply the best
i'm very satified with this samsung phone so far.
just one comment,
some guys in the earlier comments mentioned that turning external LCD required users to open the phone, but you don't have to open it to turn on the external screen. all you have to do is to press the volumn key on the side, then the external LCD screen will come on without opening the phone. hope this helps.
69 Great Phone
I came back to Sprint as an unhappy customer due to dropped calls and roaming in the suburbs where I should have had coverage. This was years ago, Sprint has improved their network a lot. In the city of Chicago, coverage is excellent. I have full signal bars with no fading. In the suburbs, I get about 1-3 bars, but I can still carry on a conversation with one bar. I was skeptical at first but it will hold the call. There are dropped calls, but not many. I bought the Samsung VGA-1000 knewing it would be a top model. I like it alot. It is very easy to use and take pictures. Text messaging is a pain, though having to go online and only being able to text Sprint PCS customers. Sound quality is probably the best I have ever had and I have had about 20 cell phones with almost every carrier out there. Switching from ear to ear is no problem and the volume levels adjust to hear in even loud environments. I also bought a Jabra headset which works well while driving. There have been some issues that Sprint and Samsung cannot answer for me. With Sprint PCS Vision, the phone locks up now and then not allowing for calls not to be made or recieved. You must take the battery out and repower the phone on or try to access the web and end it. That's about it. The phone has a lot of room for downloads like ringers. The battery life is very good for a color screen phone. I bought the Samsung grey holster extra which you really don't need. It does hold the phone well and it rotates. The strap that comes with adds a nice touch and can be put around your wrist so you don't drop the phone. So, in all, a solid phone with great features and sound quality which was very important to me. I would definitely buy another Samsung. I have my eye on the Samsung A-600 with rotating screen, but my wife said if I get it, I 'll be single so I'll keep my VGA-1000.
70 such a great phone
no word needed just buy it
71 coolest camera phone yet!!
This is one awsome phone!! it's so cute and you can so many cool stuff with it!!! LOL well i would definetly recommend it to anyone the only thing is that sprint is kinda expensive and is mostly for rich people but other than that i LOVE THIS PHONE!!! =)
72 I love the Samsung vga1000
I just got the phone for a christmas present. So I have had it for almost a week I love it. Nice sharp pictures, nice features, and very easy to do anything. The only problem I have is when I send short messages (text) most of the time it doesn't go through, meaning I have to type it all over again and hope the next time is different. But that should just be my reception problem I don't know about anyone els.
73 Sprint's Service
I bought my phone from a Sprint store. The sales rep messed up when setting up my plan, Sprint then refunded me the extra charges I was paying, but added me to some additional plan without my knowledge. I've tried to have them set up my phone as advertised in the store and their response is it isn't their problem that their employee messed up, so they want me to pay $15 extra a month. Avoid Sprint.
74 samsung vga 1000
i absolutely love this phone! just swithced from verizon to sprint and its way better! color on the phone is exceptional. one reveiwer stated that you cant see the time on the outside LCD w/o opening the flip, this is not the case, simply hold the volume key down for a few seconds and the outside LCD will ight up. the sound and clarity of this phone is awesome.i do agree that the manual is very basic, but the more that i play with the phone the more i am discovering exactly what it can do and it can do alot!! i recomend this phone to anyone. so far so good w/ the battery life. the only thing that i dont care for is when you download ringers, you cant preview them first w/o buying. other than that ...i love my phone!!!!!!
75 Good phone, great price on Amazon, a few drawbacks!
I'll keep this short... yeah right! Great price on Amazon, so the phone is definitely worth having, especially for the casual user.
1. Sound quality on calls: Like other users have mentioned, the phone is not the most comfortable, but it is still okay. If you don't place the phone just right on your ear, you cannot hear very well. Volume and quality are fine to me, but I just switched over from ATT, which was absolutely horrible. The phone gets VERY hot when talking. This is normal for this phone according to all the other reviewers. Reception is excellent on the Sprint network. No dropped calls yet!
2. Size: Industry standard. Nearly the same as all the other new flip-phones out there. Very small and nice.
3. External LCD: Nice. Very Nice. EXCEPT there is no way to activate the backlighting on the external LCD unless you open it. That is kind of a pain if you just want to see the time and reception w/out having to open it up.
4. Internal LCD: Excellent. My only beef with the LCD and internal lighting on this phone are that the keypad lighting is not as good as some other phones. The 'talk' and 'end' buttons are green and red, respectively. You cannot see the red very well, so the 'end' looks like a dim red glow at night. Oh well, again very minimal problem.
5. Camera: Fine for fun pictures just to send to another phone or email to a friend, but if there is ANY movement at all, you can count on a blurry picture. Flash is not what it is cracked up to be. It is more of a light that comes on for a slow second or two, rather than a quick, brilliant flash that we are used to. All in all, who cares. Extra feature that is there for fun, so I don't get too hung up about it. Would be nice to be able to turn just the flash on for a light at night. You can add fun frames around your pictures, like footprints, balloons, etc... which are fun.
6. Build quality: Just great!
6a. Battery life: Good so far. But if you put animated screen savers and browse the web much, your battery life goes way down.
7. Games: I don't think it comes with any preloaded, and not even sure how to play them. The manual that comes with the phone is extremely basic, and doesn't cover most of the things, such as setting up your security password when you turn on the phone so that if someone steals it, they can't use it.
8. Problems: Just one. As another user mentioned below, if someone messages you, the phone will think that it is still in send/receive mode or something, b/c if you go to make a call, you will get some error that says "you must end your session first..." and even if you press 'end' it still won't work. Sometimes you need to turn the phone off and on again. I thought it was just me until I read the other review.
9. Overall: Highly recommend, especially for the price. I skipped buying this phone on Amazon and went directly into the Sprint store. I told them about this price on Amazon, and that I only wanted a 1 year contract, not 2. They gave me (2) VGA1000 phones for free, waived the activation, and I only had to sign a 1 year term! (2) phones w/ 1000 minutes for $65.00 Best of all, I didn't have to deal with all the rebate forms, etc... that is a real pain! When you go into a sprint store, make sure you haggle. They can do anything if you speak with the right person!
76 nice phone!
Overall, decent. The LCD is nice and bright, and it's a good size too. I was surprised at how crisp the screen was. The display was nice and clear-- two thumbs up. I tried out the camera of course. The flash option is nice, but doesn't do as much brighting I hoped (I didn't try taking pictures outside, but I'm sure those would be 10 times better) Many of the other pictures stored on the phone seemed a bit dark as well. However, besides that, the quality of the pictures was really good. Also, there are options for different kinds of photos you want to take-- whether you are taking one of someone else, taking a self portrait, or doing a group photo. The phone is cute. Silver, flip phone, camera, color screen. It is by far one of the best in it's class. It is true that Sprint has high prices on service plans, and I've also heard that the customer service is lousy, but as for their phones, Sprint is holding the weight. Plus, the phone is free right now, so hey, why not?
77 Great Features and Performance
The VGA 1000 more than met my expectations. I almost got the Sanyo 8100, but the store sold the last one right in front of me. Boy was I lucky, the features on this phone exceeded the 8100 and Sprint had offerred both phones for free with a 2 year contract. Additional features such as the flash, multishot, VGA, zoom, increased picture memory and increased talk time made the VGA 1000 a lot better deal. My calls have been very clear and I have not noticed any performance quirks in either of the two phones I purchased. I judge the features of an item by how much I will be using them. From what I have found so far, it looks like I will be using the VGA 1000's many features a lot. The only thing I didn't like was the automatic features on the camera (white balance, brightnes etc.) did not perform well, I found manual adjustments were often necessary to get good quality pictures.
78 Best camera phone
Iam proud to be the owner of this phone.It has very good features.Its LCD screen is clear and bright.The battery life is ok.But when u use the camera and web it discharges fast.The picture quality is good.The look of the phone is pretty good especially the location of the camera.The features in this phone are easy to navigate.The games are not that good.no doubt in saying that it is one of the best phones available in the market.
79 It would be nice if I could hear
After massive amounts of researching I decided on this phone. ATT's gsm coverage is horrid in central Phoenix so I took back the tiny T616. I have always heard that the Sprint coverage in Phoenix was very good with excellent call quality. Well...not for me. I live near downtown and barely get a signal inside my house. At 7ave & McDowell I rec'd "no svc available, try analog". This is not acceptable. Everybody I talk with say that they hear me very clearly, but it's not the same on my end. I thought it might be the speaker on the phone, but I returned it and tried another. The calls are consistently fair to poor. It sounds like the other person is on a cell phone being held by their head. They aren't. I'm still within my 2 week trial on this one, so I'll probably return it. I'm at a loss as to what to try next. The next choice is Verizon with the LG VX6000, but I don't like their calling plans. I'm afraid that T-Mobile's gsm service will be as crappy as ATT's. Why can't one of these companies make a camera phone with speakerphone and/or bluetooth that actually provides good reception. I don't know anyone that needs a 1000 number of phonebook entries, but I guess that's easier.
80 Downloaded Pictures
The pictures look okay BUT they are alot smaller than the pictures that my brother gets from ihis LG phone
81 A major software revision is needed.
I bought this phone as a replacement for my Samsung 8500, (a phone that has served me extremely well over the last three years). I researched many many phones before I decided to get this one.
I am rather disappointed with this phone for several reasons.
1. Signal strength meter consistently at 1 or 2 bars only. I very rarely ever see more than two signal bars, but I don't have many problems with making calls, and it does better making a call in known weak areas than the 8500 did. The thing is, I only know where the weak areas are from past experience using my 8500. I sure wouldn't know where the weak areas are by looking at the signal strength on this phone, it's ALWAYS low.
2. When using a headset (which is how I make about 90% of my calls), the person I am talking to tells me that I keep cutting out (digital packet loss). The problem is worse if I am in a weak service area. If I unplug the headset and hold the phone to my ear, they can hear me fine. The problem is NOT the headset. I have several headsets, and they all do the same thing. Also, although the handset has a good volume level, when I use my headset, I can hardly hear. My 8500 was usually too loud, but could be turned down. I never had any problem with hearing or being heard with any of my headsets on my 8500 unless I was in a bad service area.
3. Call timers... What call timers! They totally did away with them. Other than the CURRENT call you are on, there is NO history of how long past phone calls were. Once you hang up, it's gone... FOREVER! It makes it difficult to bill for my phone time when I cannot go back into the call history to see how long a phone call was. As far as I am concerned, with the amount of memory the modern day phones have, there should be a cumulative call timer for every listing in your phone book, and possibly even in the caller ID list. The phone should have the length of the call listed for every individual inbound and outbound call. The lifetime counter (odometer) is completely gone too. Why!?!?
4. Major software bug. Text messages cause a ghost data session. Anytime I receive any kind of text message or e-mail, I cannot make an outbound phone call without having to log onto and then off of the internet or power cycle the phone. It totally defeats the purpose of having someone hit 2 in voicemail for the caller to have their caller ID number sent to your phone as a text message. When you go to read the message and hit the button to call them back, it says you cannot do that until you press end to quit the data session. When you do that, it still does not end the data session. This is a MAJOR problem for me as I receive a majority of my messages via caller ID and text messaging.
5. Ringers do not stay where I want them. I leave the phone on vibrate most of the time, however, if you leave the flip open, it turns escalating ring (louder the longer it rings). If you have it plugged into the charger, it just goes into straight ring on extremely _L_O_U_D_! This is beyond annoying when you are trying to sleep.
6. Wireless web. Although the speed of the 3G wireless web is impressive, many of the features that I used to be able to get into with the 2G (straight text) wireless internet are just plain gone from the available menus of 3G wireless internet. The ones I used the most, the Sprint wireless web people tried to help me get them back, but some of them just plain and simple will not work on the new phone. I thought that I would be able to get to all of the stuff I got with my old phone plus a whole lot more. Instead, they just removed about 75% of what used to be there and replaced it with subscription & pay based services. The ones that I miss most are Yahoo finance message board and Buzztime trivia. GONE!
7. Backlight Part 1. The color screen is very nice, however the controls for the brightness could be a bit more flexible. First of all, there should be some way to get light into the phone other than strictly from the backlight. When I try to look at the phone during a call, the display is completely black. It is NOT possible to read anything on the display without the backlight. (The outside display CAN be read without the backlight)
8. Backlight Part 2. I leave the screen settings in "power save mode" most of the time, because the display is just too bright (especially at night). The bad part about using "power save mode" is that when you do, the keypad lights are turned completely off (a problem at night).
9. The outside display is awesome. I love virtually everything about it. I wish that there was an easy way to make the backlight come on to look at the time. While on the subject of time, I don't know why the spinning compass (when searching for service) is more important than the current time. Leave the time up on the screen and do something else for searching for service.
9. The camera is easy to use, does well in poorly lighted rooms, quality is decent, and the "fun frames" are pretty cool.
82 VGA-1000 leaves me speachless...
Ok, so I was impressed with the specs and all so I go and buy two of these Sprint phones because of the great deal I got at Radio Shack (appropriatly named). Took one back immediately because of flakyness and errors in some of the phones features. And as I've been analog phone guy for quite awhile, I always had thought that digital phones were "suppose" to have better sound quality. With the Samsung's I was getting terrible reception (cross talk, drop outs, tin can effects) on both phones....and we don't live in the mountains either! Camera is fun but kinda useless for adults (low rez). Even the Sprint guy who checked them out was suprized at how crappy they sounded (maybe he was a good actor). To be fair, I honestly do like most of the abundant features of this phone, but as a phone it get's a D+ from me (the + is because I do in fact get connected most of the time). Maybe you'll have better luck, but I'm going to swap these two for something that works more like a telephone (can you hear me now!)
83 pretty good
this cell phone is pretty much awsome, if not for a few things that hold it back from being the best it could be. The camera is the best i have ever used on a cell phone; i take a lot of pictures with it, and have even printed a few out. The voice recognition sofware is the best i've ever used also, and comes in handy when you're using an ear piece. My only real gripe about the phone is that once in a while, there will be a wierd beeping noise for no apparent reason...that's kind of annoying. My earpiece is from bodyglove, and its pretty good. The clip i bought was from sprint; it's kind of annoying to use cause its hard to get the phone out of it sometimes, but it's alright.
Overall i'd recomend the phone, it's a good one.
84 Toys and more, this phone has extras
The VGA 1000 is a nice phone. The earphone placement is a little high, forcing you to have to move the phone low on your ear, and it takes a little getting used to. It doesnt nearly feel like a regular phone and that can become uncomfortable for the ears. It does get VERY hot. This thing could be a handwarmer in the winter. Seriously. I dont have a real big problem with that. The pictures come out fine if there is no motion in the shot and the light is right. Don't be fooled, this flash isnt doing a whole lot of illuminating. I bought it for the flash alone because the 8100 didnt have one. It's still a pretty rudimentary camera. The LCD is HUGE! By far the biggest until you get into the PDA type phones. The sound quality is fabulous. You can do tons of things with the scheduler and alarms, etc... The games are kinda silly and you have to pay a subscription fee to get them from sprint. Otherwise, you're stuck with three little crappy demo games. The battery is pretty good, but the camera will kill it fast. If you can get this phone for free, get it. However, I would never advise anyone to pay much for this phone. A lot of the gadgets are all subscription based garbage.
85 Ok phone with annoying features
I had the Samsung VGA1000 phone for a month before I returned it. Sure, the camera with flash was a nice feature, but honestly, it is FAR from the real thing to be paying the full price for. The battery life with color display seemed to be one of the strong points of the phone. Keep in mind, you will have to pay extra for the PCS Vision contract to access any pictures taken with the camera. Despite trying for a few weeks, I could not find a reliable data cable and software driver to transfer pictures from the camera to my PC. By far the most annoying (unadvertised) feature of the phone was a background ringing during conversations, much like the semi-silent ringing during hearing tests. That nuisance distracts enough to barely notice the rising tempature of the phone while in use. It's the only cell phone I've had that warms your hands. Also, I've been a Sprint customer for over 5 years, and after agreeing to matching the price on Amazon (at $49.99 when I placed the order) for renewing my expired contract, Sprint backed out of the promise and charged me $179.99 for the phone. Now, I'm stuck with the contract, or risk paying extra each month for not having one. (BTW: AT&T stores match Amazon prices without hassle). Conclusion: Sprint's network is great. I haven't had a problem with their reception or availability yet. But, this phone is not worth paying much of anything for the annoying background ringing and heat emission. Also, try limiting the amount you have to deal with Sprint customer service in their stores or over the phone. They qualify as one of the rudest, manipulative and deceiving set of customer service representatives ever (unless you're a new customer and they are trying to coax into signing a SprintPCS contract).
86 Great DEAL
THis is a very good phone. This phone is the best phone that i have looked at. It has many useful features and it is all for free. WIth rebates this phone turns out to be free how can you beat that deal.
THis phone uses PCS nationwide service which is very reliable and they have good connection in almost all places. I know how important that is when you are buying a phone. THe most important thing is the service plan and this phone has a great provider. I hate when your in the middle of a conversation and the connection gives out. WIth this phone that rarely happens ever and i have not expirenced that yet. THere are plans for everyone. This phone is for people who use 800 minutes or 100 it doesnt matter.
What really makes this phone an excellent deal is the phones unlimited features. THis phone features are what makes it separate from all other color and non color phones. First this phone is very light and small and you can barely feel it when it is in your pocket. I hate big bulky phones where you can feel it with every step. When i am walking around with the phone in my pocket i have to check to make sure its still there thats how light it is. This phone has a stratigically placed carmera so it hard to see it from just glancing at it. This phone has voice activated dial as well as those amusing ringtones and games. These ringtones sound just liek the real song its scary and the games can keep you busy for hours. THe games are all in color and resemble the games you would play on a gameboy. These are good for if you are ina waitng room and have nothing to do.
Overall the price on thios phone cannot be beat where else are u going a phone this good for free
87 The Best of the Rest
When I was shopping for a new phone, I was not really sure if i wanted to spend all that extra money for a color/camera phone. Everyone told me that all I need was something to make calls on and not something to play with. Well I decided to go ahead and get this phone, and boy did I make the RIGHT decision. This is an amazing phone. Everything you could want is on this phone. Out of all the camera phones, I beleive that this one comes with the best picture and best camera options (you can ever out extra graphis around the picture you take!!). The signal on this phone is all incredible. I have not had one dropped call yet, and I get reception in the places I never used to get with my old phone. The color is also the best I have seen. Very bright with alot of great detail. The only real problem that I have with this phone is that is has great lights on the keypad. I just think it would add to phone if they were blue, but this is just an unimportant opinion. If you are debating bying the phone becuase of the price, go with your get AND GET IT! You wont be dissapointed.
88 Simply the best
I've been a sprint subcriber for several years now and I usually buy LG phones. I was going to buy the sanyo 8100 until I saw this model and then read the review and all the tech info on it. All I have to say is that this is the best phone I ever owned. I didn't realize all the features it had until I brought it home and started to play with it. What a big improvement over my last phone which I thought was a great phone also but it doesn't compare. Lots of features, clear displays, fast net, long battery life excellent reception, I haven't had one drop call yet. Best of all it doesn't look like a camera phone because of the location of the camera. I highly recommend this phone.
89 One of the Best Cell Phones!
My Sprint PCS plan was about to expire and I I decided that it was time to update my phone to something hip and trendier since I always have to be the first to try out the newest in technology so I thought why not give the VGA1000 phone a try and I just love it! It's basically an update of my previous samsung phone the SCH-8500 which I also loved, but after dropping it one to many times over the past 2 1/2 years it was very weather beaten. The VGA has a large color screen with amazing resolution and the menu is so easy to navigate. I love the camera feature as well and have everyone in my phonebook linked to their picture and it shows up on the external caller ID. Since I travel a lot mostly to big cities I always need a phone that will get great reception everywhere and it does! I always have crisp clear calls in Boston, NYC, north Jersey, Milwaulkee, and Ft. Myers Beach. This phone is so compact and I never forget to throw it in my purse or pocket. I love it and could not recommended anything better!
