Audiovox CDM-8900
Average Ratings
This is a Brilliant Phone
I've been waiting for Audiovox CDM-8900 to come out since july. It was worth the wait. I took this phone on the road trip(I live in the heartland) and the reception is excellent. I never lost reception or a dropped call.
Pros: SIGNAL is wonderful, excellent sound, very loud, small but when flipped open perfect from ear to mouth, big and clear screen, easy to use features, long lasting battery, nice games and rings you can download, speaker phone and camera all rolled into one.
Cons: Speaker phone is good but the speaker is on the back, when the microphone is in the front of the phone. Its kinda awkward. Picture colors could be higher, like the LG VX-6000.
Other than that it is a wonderful phone.
The best verizon phone
Wow! This phone has everything you could want. Unless your the type who wines about how it needs bluetooth, it is perfect!!! Face it, bluetooth is a dead technology, and rarely used. The camera's 300k is medium setting, which can be changed to about a mega pixel. Besides, a real photographer who really needs quality should know better then to use his CELL PHONE to take amazing shots, so the camera is perfect for everyday life! The interface is the Cell phone equivalent to Mac OS, beatiful and simple (I loooove macs) and makes everything easy! The voice dialing is flawless, and i use it always now. It feels so cool, and makes me feel so cool when i just have to say "Bill Office" and it instantly dials Bill at his Office!!! Never fails! I love it, would highly recomend it. And of course, the call quality is awsome, EVEN WITH THE ANTENNA DOWN! Honestly, i did not realize that the phone had an antenna for the first month, but still got stellar call quality. The call quality increased exponentially when I started using the antenna, but it is unneccisary. I love this phone: Solid feel, killer cosmetics, plentiful features, and solid quality. Great phone!
Cons: Comes with 0 games, have to download from telus mobile. Same for wallpapers and ringtones, though there is a preloded but limited section of thoose.
Finally a phone with features & reception!
Service:
Verizon Wireless
Orlando, FL
Signal is fantastic and even in 'black holes' switches to analog seamlessly. I haven't dropped a call yet. The camera is quite usable for a phone this packed, although not nearly as good as the VX6000. The speaker phone is loud enough even though it distorts a bit. Has a 2 minute reminder capability for incoming messages & alerts. Voice dialing is about average for this kind of phone. Only complaint is that the signal indicator flat out LIES, but at least in the good direction. I can talk clearly even when there are no bars. I use the 1x indicator pretty much instead. Pretty much would give this a perfect score if not for this.
Pros:
Reception
Number of features in one phone (camera + speakerphone + tri-mode!)
Cons:
Signal indicator sandbags big time.
No data cable/office kit or charging cradle yet.
Don't buy this phone
The speakerphone on the 8900 is completely useless. It can't be used unless there is absolutely no backround noise. Otherwise, you won't be able to hear anything. In addition, for some reason the ringer will not ring at full volume unless the phone is closed. If you leave it on your seat or in a phone holder with the phone open, the ring is muted and you will end up missing all of your calls.
The only thing that I like better about the phone than all of the Motorola's that I've had is the way that phonebook entries are stored. You can store 4 or 5 numbers with each name, so you will have 50 names to scroll through rather than 150 (if each person has a home, work and cell #).
better than a 3.5
i got this phone recently and am impressed with its overall quality.the speakerphone is nice,the reception is awesome,the battry life is better than i expected,the camera was much better than i thought it would be with vzwpix its been easy to get tones and screens.i was surprised at how easy the menu was to get used to(been an lg man since 98)i would say that whoever wrote the manual for this phone needs to get back to the planet they came from cuz that thing is thick and tells nothing. people new to digital phones and all the features on todays carriers will be totally lost trying to make heads or tails of it.instructions are for when all else fails anyway so i do not detract for this.the only points i give off are for the external display.i am spoiled by the vx4400s display that you can see from several feet away.this one is WAY TO DIM.id give it a 4.7 but that is not an option.if you are fairly phone literate,like lots of bells and whistles,silver colored flip phone that is packed with quality and features give this one a try.with verizon you have 14 days to try it but i doubt you will return it for another phone
AudioVox 8900 (Updated Softwere)
I have had the LG 4400B, LG510, and V60, and this is the better phone. Not by a land slide but over all it is better. I do not like camera phones so I will not even comment on that because it is a total waist. However the sound quality is very good and plenty loud especially compared to the V60. The construction of the phone is very sturdy, and the screen is PERFECT! My only complaints are the flashing verizon logo, not vibrate for text messages, and voice mails, and no vibrate and then ring for voice calls. Unfortunately this is a huge issue for me and I will most likely take it back for the A530s or the AudioVox 8600. If they could fix those little problems with the vibrate and the flashing logo it would be as close to perfect as a phone can get. Hope this review helps you.
Glenn
Very Good Choice
This phone has performed very well for me, and I have had Verizon service back to the days of U.S. West Newvector, even before AirTouch. Although I agree with the rub against Verizon being their snail's pace for getting phones to market, this one has all the bells and whistles and functionality for a very good phone. If you're wanting bluetooth from Verizon then switch carriers, it isn't happening soon. If you want a megapixel and/or multimedia camera phone, then switch carriers cuz it isn't happening soon. If you DO want a nice tri-band phone with a decent (not great) little camera, stopwatch, calendar with appointments, world time zones, voice recorder, calculator, voice dialing, bright and clear screen, then this phone is for you. I had a CDM9500 before this and it was a flawless peformer, so the reviewer who didn't like Audiovox phones may have got the one-off lemon. Go for this one...
THIS PHONE IS AWSOME
I just got this phone a week ago, and i think it is awesome and it the best phone ever. The reception is great, the speaker phone is loud and clear and so it the regular ear piece. Even though there aren't that many good ringers verizon offers you to be able to download them along with games for only 1.00! There are no games on the phone, but i don't mind. It is defiantly better then my old LG. The camera is great for a phone! Overall I am really impressed on how good they made this phone! I am a satisfied customer!!!
Works well for me!
I did a lot of testing and comparing before I bought the Audiovox CDM-8900, and I've been very happy. My primary criteria were size, tri-mode capability, and voice quality. The camera was a fun gimmick that helped push me to the 8900 vs. the LG4400, which I was also considering and liked a lot.
PROS:
- Great reception in both digital mode and (out in the boonies) analog mode
- Good voice quality (though slightly poorer than the LG4400, which I also tested and which sounded as good as a land-line phone)
- Fairly good user interface
- Voice-activated dialing
- Good battery life
- camera (fun for capturing memories on-the- spot, though not for high-quality photography)
- nice small size/weight
- decent keys for such a small phone
CONS:
- Voice-activated dialing list isn't connected to the address book
- Annoying music/tones when you power the phone on or off (although there is a simple one-button control to turn on "etiquette mode", which silences the ringer)
- The battery power level meter isn't very well calibrated: the power meter display gradually drops from 4 bars (full), to 3, to 2, but then the battery level seems to go from 2 bars to dead very quickly (overnight).
By the way, I know that many people have complained about a Verizon Wireless banner that scrolls across the screen periodically (on the LCD screen on the outside of the phone, I believe). For what it's worth, I got the phone in December in the San Francisco area and have not experienced this.
Good phone in a nice size.
I really like this phone. The screen is easy to read indoors and out and has a good interface that is easy to use and setup without having to read the manual. There are no built-in games but it has a decent address book, voice dialing, and a usable speaker phone. It also has TXT messaging, web browsing, and memo pad for those people who like using a two inch screen and number pads to use such things. Verizon allows you to download a number of useful applications, games, ring tones, etc. directly to the phone for reasonable prices. No bluetooth support but this doesn't really matter to me.
The camera takes decent pictures for a phone which is to say they're just passable. No it doesn't have a bunch of tweaking features and is strictly for basic snapshots that you can send out. One neat feature is that the camera can take pictures when closed with the external camera button. This activates the external LCD screen as a Black and White viewer which is nice when you don't want to make it obvious you're taking candid shots of friends. On the subject of camera phones: I don't understand why people expect a phone to take pro-quality digital SLR camera images. It's like getting mad at your toaster for not being a good TV. Realize it's a phone first and deal with it.
Overall I think the phone is a good value with a good feature set. The battery life is decent and the reception is very good with full tri-band support. Finally the audio quality is very good as well. For people who are looking for a phone to be a phone first and not a camera, wireless hub, organizer, microwave oven, etc., this is one to check out.
