Casio G'zOne Type-S
Average Ratings
This phone blows.
Seriously. So you can dunk it in water and it'll still work. Big deal.
I run a service biz from my cell phone. I'm on the 2100 minute plan. Lots of talk time and brain cancer for me. For 2.5 years I abused an LG VX3200. When that one wore out I decided to try this phone because it was "rugged".
It might be "rugged" but it suffers from usability problems.
Cannot see the screen in sunlight. This is supposed to be for outdoor enthusiasts? The pasty-faces who designed it never took it outside... obviously.
The speaker is crap. In a quiet room I cannot hear the person on the speaker. Completely useless.
It is always setting itself to silent mode - apparently from me leaning against some fatty side button or getting pressed against my seat belt. I have to check it regularly to make sure the ring is still turned on.
Crappy ring tones. I'm not into downloading ring tones. The LG had sufficient and useful tones - this phone has very few and mostly annoying ring tones. bah.
Did I mention the stupid fat buttons on the side that set the thing into silent mode when I accidentally sit on the phone? Retarded.
To its credit - I dropped it on the pavement the other day and I picked it up in one piece, not 16 like a typical phone. I think I can fix that with an aluminum bat though.
gak out.
gzone s (lite imo)
I am a contractor, this is a good sturdy phone on the physical side
pros:
-sturdy case wi protected glass
-cool flashlight
-seems to take drops/bumps/splashes quite well
Cons:
-dim screen
-lousy camera (not fixed on the black one)
-only digital capable (they didn't tell me that!)
-poor speacker, and buttons that always accidentaly turn speacker on
-software defect (only turns up on [save][update existing] function, but still a defect)
T9 can be set
Ok I've just bought the Gz'One-s after my -v was allowed to take a very long walk off the pier. I had to get a -S as a replacement. In reading the reviews I found them helpful and the positive ones were accurate at least from what I've seen thus far. One thing I'd like to correct is on the text messaging its an option to set your input mode to T9 over Abc or ABC. Just go to your menu and do so.
Just my $.02 I'll add more once I've shaken the bugs out.
Verizon Version of i580
If you looking for a phone that comes close to a Moto i580, this is it. I just got the new Matte (flat) Black version. Its amazing what a color can do. It looks and feels nothing like it Blue counterpart. It really has a cool look.
The phone gets an amazing signal, don't believe otherwise. Functionality is very good. The screen res is better than most at 176x220. Only complain is the tinny speaker phone caused by the waterproof design.
I gotta laugh at the people who buy a bigger type phone then list it as a "CON"?????
If your looking for a Verizon Rugged Phone thats made to Mil-Std-810 for shock, vibration, humidity, salt fog and water immersion, then the new Matte Black Type-S is for you.
Not for outdoor use
I really wanted a V series but could not find one this side of ebay.
As a contractor I needed the toughness of this phone.
It is solidly built, for me that is where the good mostly ends for me.
Pros:
Well built
Decent keyboard
Reception seems good based on limited use
Cons:
The deal breaker for me, I returned this phone, the display screen on the inside is not bright enough to use outdoors. It was slightly overcast one day, sunny another and even a very cloudy day, and the screen was very difficult to see.
Another issue, also display-related, is the size of the screen, among the smallest I've seen. For a phone this size, this is sad.
The VGA camera was also a disappointment.
Some of this is an overall comparison to the V series, which my friend owns. It has a large, bright screen (260K colors vs. 65K on the S series, and a 2.2 screen vs. the 1.8 on the S)
The addition of Bluetooth in no way covers the downgrading of this phone in almost every other feature. So, two stars for turning a great phone into something barely usable for one who needs an outdoor phone with decent display screen.
Some cons/some pros
All and all this has been my best phone. it stays in my hand, as the grip is great with the rubberized finish. Nice idea. I have yet to drop this phone. I am outside and busy so much, I am thrilled with the fact I have yet to drop the phone. I usually put grip tape on the phones, no need this time. Easy to touch and use keys. I am struggling with sending text, as it seems to revert to some non capitals, or something, more than likely, it is just me. I may actually read all of the directions.
What drives me insane is the buttons on the right side. I have to be very careful, as I put it on speaker phone more often than I ever want to when I open it. They are just TOO easy to activate. For this reason, I will probably not buy my wife one, as we usually like to have the same type of phones for charger issues. A button more on the left side would have been awesome, if it would have opened a space on the right. Perhaps there was no way to do it. And I may get used to it. We will see. Buy it again for myself, HECK YA!
Manufacturer has a software issue
Love the durability of this phone. When purchased at Verizon was informed that it Had Web capabilities. For only Two minuets with all bars. Then was informed by Verizon that their are equipment issues and a software fix is needed from the manufacturer that does not yet exist. We were informed to return the phone because a software patch did not yet exist. They are still selling the phone and not informing the public of this issue.
Not so good
This phone is good only if you want to use it as a stone to throw around.
it had extremely bad reception, I was dropping calls all the time, I was losing signal through out the day. and I tried 5 different blue tooth head sets and non of them worked clear with this phone.
when it did work, it had great sound quality, feels great in your hand, and that is about it.
good:
feels good
great sound quality
Bad
reception
Speaker sound is very bad and low
bad camera
scratches easy
drops calls all the time at least 4-5 daily in different areas and cities as well.
tried 4 of the this phone, 2 had problems with the charging system, and took them back immediately, and the other 2 I kept for about 2 weeks each and finally had to return due to the very very bad reception.
i think i got a bad one
i recently switched to the gz one for the blackberry 8830, and it was a big change. i sell phones, so i know what i was getting myself into. the camera is ok, but i found out after i bought it the type v had a 2 mega-pixel camera. and the screen is bigger on the v. the only thing better about the s is bluetooth which sucks. the day i got it i put it underwater, after calling utstarcom and them telling me it is submersible to 3 ft deep, or 1 meter for 30 minutes. so i put it in a bowl of water for about 1 minute, and called it, and it rang and i answered it all wet and it worked fine. so the next day i do the same thing showing one of my friends, put it in the water for about 45 seconds maybe 3 inches deep. i call it, it rings, i answer it all wet perfectly. THEN i notice there is water on the inside of both my screens, internal and external. very disappointing. some friends have them and they have never had a prob with theirs. honestly not a good start to the most rugged phone.... ill write again when i get the replacement
gzone type s/severe disappointment
Its not my style to bash, But truely this phone lacks. I'm an industry veteran and my strong faith in verizon's LG and Samsung models comes from my carreer in cellular networks. they make better prodcts for CDMA. Still, I was interested in the original gZone type v and when my second 8300 died, I jumped. My closest store location assured he had them in stock. turns out all he has are the new ones, the type-s. I knew it launched june 1 but the dude sweared he could activate it for me. I knew the network would allow it so I bought the phone. I got him in trouble the next day when I returned the phone to his manager. Oh well. He was clear he wanted to sell it to me. So, the night I got the Type-s, I programmed everything right away and dove into the toys. The pictures are aweful, akin to the original camera phones 5 years ago. The net is slow and phonescoop is wrong about EVDO. this phone is 1X only. confirmed on verizonwireless.com and on their internal literature. The keypad light is so dim is it worthless. I had to turn on my car's maplights to find the navigation keys. The voice quality was fair but I dropped 1 call on my way home but wrote it off as a fluke. Then I dropped 3 more calls standing in my driveway. The next day I couldnt even get it to connect. My 8300 worked in my basement! I couldnt take it, so I left the house early and xchanged the phone for a sammy u540. im stoked with it. I also have a U620 mobile tv phone on a different line and thats even better, with or without tv. So let me sum up:
pros:
~you can submerge it. wow
~its rugged design
~it didnt blow up
cons:
Poor signal sensitivity (dropped calls)
key light a joke
awkward keypad layout (looks great, difficult to use)
aweful pictures, and I mean bad
slow menu
slow software response time
no evdo (some people care, some dont. I now do)
text messages took forever to send.
expensive for such a basic phone
did I mention it dropped 4 calls in 12 hours?
best wishes
~tha wizz
