Sanyo SCP-5500 / VM-4500
Average Ratings
VERY close to perfection ... VERY!
I'll get to the PROs and CONs in the latter part of this "review". But first let me tell you that I'm a gadget head! Everything from XBOX to Sony NetMD. From the Samsung A600 to the Sanyo VM4500. I even have a Fujitsu Lifestyle Notebook ... Top that! *laughing* Anyway, this is absolutely the best mobile I have ever had. I totally dig the SMS Messaging, and the groovy new menus! The color display is a pretty good improvement over the 8100 (my previous phone). Now here's the grooviest feature: The speakerphone baby ... YEAH! You can use it with either the phone flipped closed or open. My reception is the best I've had from either a Samsung or Sanyo mobile. I really can't speak on the PTT feature because no one know has it. I live in D.C. so everyone has different carriers(mostly Verizon and Nextel), and those who do have Sprint think it's a waste of cash because it's not that widespread of a feature! As a matter of fact hat's the only con with this phone. Hope this was useful to you. ;-D
Best phone to date no question
this phone is the bomb...alot of people complain about the price but its very well worth it...i love how lightweight it is and i also love the loud speakerphone..you can put the volume on low and the speakerphone is still loud...pic quality and vid is great for a phone...the only downside which is minor is the battery life, but if you use your cam and vid of course your battery is gonna soak but overall the battery life is good considering...also i wish they had a better sound for the ready link i like the nexttel beeps and sprint need to add more noise control when your using ready link..the phone rocks hands downand the led really set the phone off...i love the voice dial as well when it says the name of whos calling....this phone could have been 600 bucks and i would have still got it with no questions.....
Sanyo in name only...
Ah, the Sanyo 5500/VM4500. The very last phone I owned before leaving Sprint. This phone seemed to be the spiritual successor to the 5300. Had a better camera with video recording, nicer displays, push to talk capabilities (readylink), and so on. Seemed to be the best phone released by Sanyo at that time right? Wrong. It wasn't a bad phone by any means, it just wasn't...well...a Sanyo.
The RF performance on this phone was bad. I would drop calls here and there. It didn't happen frequently, but enough to be a nuisance. Again, I didn't expect this from a Sanyo. The speakerphone is loud and clear though, and the voice/call quality is decent as well. It's just that this phone wasn't that great at holding a signal. Battery life wasn't so hot either. The VM4500 is not a bad phone (barely decent is more like it), it just didn't stack up to its previous Sanyo brethren.
This Phone Sucks
1.cheap camera
2.when it flips it sounds like the flip is gonna break
3.cheap design
4.high price
5.old from 2003
Dont Buy it
This Phone is Garbage
This phone is the worst cell phone I ever had. I have been a wireless phone customer since June 2000 and have never had a phone or any other piece of electronics that performed so poorly as the Sanyo vm4500. In the past I have had simple phones that only made and received calls with excellent battery life from Samsung. I replaced this phone twice and all 3 that I had malfunction. Sanyo should be ashamed for charging $379 + tax for a phone that does not charge properly, has a short battery life, and does not handle sprints crappy INTERNET feature without getting constant errors. Before I buy another $400 phone, I will think twice about whether I need to have an abundance of features or just the plain old ability to make and receive calls without any problems. Sanyo really let its customers down with this phone. Everybody who purchased this phone should be entitled to a rebate because Sanyo ripped us off!
... WHAT ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT!!!??!?!
WHAT IS EVERYONE SAYING....." Tisk Tisk, this phone loses signal, this phone that, bla bla bla" Ok, listen....... what u do is get up off your butt, and go to a sprint store, and get the software update! not that hard. I had same problems but i wasn't all anal about it and the recent software update fixed all the problems.
This phone is STILL one of the best phones sprint has to offer right now. I've never had a speaker phone before so i really can't compare the vm4500's to a different phone but it is AWSOME. CRYSTAL CLEAR! NO JOKE!!! Pic quality is almost the same as the Samsung VGA1000, if not better. Even tho its about one year old, it still has much more awsome features than the new samsung A680. It may not seem like a big difference, but the 32-chord polyphonic ringer really makes a difference rather than the Samsung VGA1000's 16-chord polyphonic ringer. Oh yeah... it also has on-board SMS text messaging, unlike stupid "Short mail" on other vision phones that takes about 10 minutes just to access. THE POINT OF "TEXT MESSAGING" is that its supposed to be fast! I'm able to send a text in under 30 sec's with this phone....Unlike the 3 minutes it took me with the vga1000!!! I LOVE THE built in Text Messaging!!!! I recomend this phone to all you peeps out there who want a great video/camera phone with tons of great features.
All i have to say against this phone is that i miss the voice features on the samsung vga1000. C'mon Sanyo, you could've done better. Other than that..... this phone is da bomb!!!!!
Great Phone!
Phone had a lot of great features. Itâs kind of complicated when the owners guide isnât complete. Anyhow, the best phone that I have came across so far!
This is a good phone
Sanyo makes good cell phones. I used to use 8100 and now upgraded to 5500. I haven't used the Ready Link function. However, the pictures quality from the 8100 is much better. The video portion is a lot of fun. I also like that you can send multiple pic to multiple people. Then they receive the pictures, It shows them one and then it carries them to Sprint and allows the viewer to see an album. Also, I like the text messaging. They have made it really easy to use and reply. Next, this phone has much more memory for both pic, addresses an video.
The cons: speaker phone volume is either really load or soft. have to open back up to turn it off. when I have an ear phone plug in, it's extremely loud even with it turned all the way down.
Other than that, this is great phone and definitely would recommend this one.
gj
VM4500, dissapointment, but Sprint's best
cons:
-the font on the front screen is too small. I like the font on the VGA1000's front screen.
-You can't have separate screen savers for the front screen and the inside screen.
-on the front screen, the picture is 1/3 blocked by the phone status stuff.
-The backlight doesnât go off when youâre in a call, it stays on low brightness, so it kills the battery faster.
-the video feature is very gimicky. Its more like "let's see if we can make it do video, cool!!" Actual usefulness aside.
-The camera doesn't handle indoor, incandescant lighting very well. Pics look yellow.
-the volume settings for the earpiece are pretty wacked. the lowest one is usually too quiet and the next one up is probably close to twice as loud, literally, which is often too loud for my ear.
-You only get one button you can assign.
-the battery remaining bars are way off. three bars lasts about 70% of the battery life.
-the volume doesn't go low enough when using hands free earpiece.
-The ringer volume does not go loud enough for downloaded ringers.
pros:
-the colors of the screen are really brilliant.
-the size of the screen is nice to use and look at.
-People I'm talking to say the sound quality is great.
-Its easy to send picture mail and messages to phones or emails.
-the locations of the buttons, camera, and speaker are great. I find this phone easier to hold than the 8100.
-I like that the microphone is in the middle of the bottom of the phone and not off on one side like the VGA1000, where I would always cover it with my chin.
-You can make calls, pick up calls, hang up calls, answer call waiting, and take pics all while the phone is closed.
-Having Screen Call is the greatest thing.
-the menus are fast and direct and easy to navigate.
-The camera takes great outdoor, daylight pictures.
-The speaker phone is a great benefit.
-It has a 32 chord ringer, ringers sound great.
-Quality construction. No buggy behavior. Very dependable.
This Is Amost Everything I Ever Wanted
This is the best phone I have come across, it provides so many features into one unit, camera, video, speakerphone, PPT, just to name a few. The only maybe con I give this phone is the lack of data capable for my laptop. Easily over looked, owning 3 to say the least. Between my coworkers and myself speaking on their behalf...definately a 5!
