Audiovox CDM-8600
Average Ratings
frustrating cool phone
I have been with verizon for two years now and have been waiting for them to come out with a cool little phone. It has always seemed to me that verizon's phones have always been bigger and bulkier than other carriers, so when audiovox came out with the cdm-8600 for verizon I was excited. I bought it but was sadley disapointed. The phone book is the most unmanageable one I have ever delt with. The only reason you have a cell phone is so you can make phone calls. It is so frustrating to try to find a phone number quickly and it's almost impossible to search through your whole contact list. If you are entering a phone number in the directory you can only put one cell number and if the person has two then you must put it under a home number or something different. That's annoying. also if you have more than one phone number stored under a contact you can't use a primary number. you have to always scroll down and choose "cell" or "home" and then you can push send. It makes more buttons to push that just annoys me. I couldn't figure out how to change somebodies group listing, that was annoying.
Another annoying feature is the external display flashes "verizon wireless" so if you go to check the time or date you have to wait 5 secs for "verizon wireless" to disappear so you can see the time and you have another 5 secs to read it before it disappears. It becomes very frustrating.
This really isn't a bad phone, it has a lot of features that I like; for example the speaker phone is my favorite feature. I love it. It works very well. It also has a nice color screen. It has a lot of other good features but enough annoying ones that made me return the phone. I'm going back to my good old kyocera 2235.
Pros. excelent speaker phone, good color, good signal strength, good battery life.
Cons. annoyingly frustrating phone book, not customizable at all, annoying "verizon wireless" flashing on outer display
i want a different phone
i have to agree with the comments from oct 27, 2003. those were my exact complaints.
por: it looks nice
cons: speaker volume and earpiece volume fluctuates sometimes i can hear well sometiems person sounds too low. my calls are saved under military time which think is dumb, i dont want to know someone called at 19:02. the verizon wireless flashing on the outside is so annoying i have to wait two seconds or so before i can see who is calling and five seconds before i can see what time it is. also i have to say hello twice when i answer a call. apparently there is a delay before the person hears me on the other side. thank goodness i got 15 days to exchange, to be honest i dont think they can make a phone without complaints that has all the features i want. none of these phones interest me but i have to choose one.
Great little phone
I picked up the CDM8600 last week and I have to say it is a great GREAT little phone.
It's small, light and is packed with enough features to make me happy for the next 2 years.
The more I use it, the more little features I find. For example, the outer side buttons have multiple functions:
1) Volume of Ringer
2) Volume of voice
3) Outer LCD blue backlight
which only enhances the experience with the phone.
Only con I would say is that it is almost too small. Sometimes you may need to press the number button twice to get the correct number. Oh well..the price you pay for smaller size!
Most awful phone in the world
Terrible phone. Ringers are too low, Verizon Wireless flashing on outer LCD really is really annoying. Sound quality is terrible. Everybody I talk on phone complains that my voice is annoying from the phone. poor speaker phone, stupid phone book, very slow processor, if you have to delete a text message or recent calls you would have to delete one by one. Most irritating part is that you have to assign ringer to every person on your phone book, otherwise it gives you a default ringer which is terribly low. I am stuck with this phone for 2 years. This is a awful product from Audiovox . Donât even try this phone. This is the most appalling phone I ever had in my life. Audiovox should discontinue this phone right away. The only plus point of this phone is Battery life.
My suggestion for everybody!--- NEVER TRY THIS PHONE.
How to fix annoying Verizon blinker: CDM8600
Menu > Settings > System > NAM Set > Auto NAM > Set to yes (6-4-3-1-yes).
This works only as long as your phone is on, once you power off then on again, the setting is lost. Setting this to "Auto NAM" should not have any side effects.
For those who don't know what NAM is:
Number Assignment Module. The NAM is the electronic memory in the wireless phone that stores the telephone number and an electronic serial number.
Not Worth it
I've had this phone for a little over a month. Before this, I was using an old Nokia (both through Verizon in CA.
Pros: small size, nice speaker phone, nice color screen and signal is ok outside of the house or buildings.
Cons: Ringer volume is very low and there are no "normal" ring tones. The outside display is huge and ugly. The Verizon banner flashes every 5 seconds. The fix for the banner with the AutoNAM proposed on here automatically disables when I lose signal in my house (another major pain, but most phones don't get signal inside my house) or turn off the phone. Verizon has their name all over this thing. Phonebook is hard to navigate. Searching through the list, you can enter letters to help narrow down the search like the Nokia but instead of showing all names that start with "D" when you enter "D," it shows every name with a "D" in it. Phone comes with no wallpapers/screensavers/games/normal ring tones. They make you buy everything through get it now. Alarm feature is difficult and time consuming to set up and the ringer is not loud enough to be effective anyway. The manual is useless. It tells you whats on the phone, but doesn't explain anything.
Conclusion: I don't think this phone is worth it. I was much happier with my old Nokia when it was working. The signal for the Nokia was far better than the Audiovox even in the house or in buildings and it was alot easier to navigate. If I played with the phone more when I first got it, I would have known to return it. Now I'm stuck with it for a year.
Love it
After trying an LG VX4400 for 2 weeks, I went back to Verizon and traded it for the Audiovox CDM8600. It has exceptional clarity in all areas even when analog which is important to us as we travel extensively across the US. It has a 3-way speaker phone which is wonderful when talking to the kids as we can both hear what they're saying. It also has the capability to force analog which is important when we're in an area where the digital signal is weak. Others have complained about the phone number programming and speed dial capabilities. Since we previously owned an Audiovox tri-mode for 2 years, I'm used to the way the phone works. After traveling extensively for 4 months in Canada and Alaska with our 2-year old Audiovox phone and Verizon Wireless, we were amazed at the exceptional service. Therefore after trying the LG at the salesperson's recommendation, we couldn't wait to try the new Audiovox CDM8600. As with any phone we've tried when in an analog area with only 1 or 2 bars, you can't dial out and all incoming calls go to voice mail. When a manufacturer has a phone that overcomes that hurdle, we'll be the first to buy it. It doesn't have all the fancy wallpaper and ring tones, but that's not important to me.
Good Small, Color, Clamshell Speakerphone
Being a phone nut, I have to change phones every ten months. I was using an Audiovox CDM-9500, which is the best phone I have ever used. The CDM-8600 comes close though.
Signal strength seems to be good... no dropped calls yet. Color screen looks nice, though it is a small one like most other color phones.
I switched to the 8600 because I wanted a tri-mode clamshell color phone with a speakerphone. The CDM-8600 is the only phone Verizon offers that meets these four criteria now that they no longer carry the CDM-9500.
Phonebook entry is very simple. If you have a long list of entries it can be a pain to get to them when making a call... you have to go through a three-button sequence to get to the alphabetical list of entries. Another annoyance is you can't change the icons types for the number entries. For example, if someone has two work phone numbers, you'll populate one work icon entry and then have to fill in the home or pager entry for the other one.
the outside LCD is nice, but for some reason the backlight for it that you see at bootup doesn't turn on when you open the phone. Why does this annoy me? Because I don't wear a watch and I got into the habbit with the 9500 of opening the phone a crack to backlight the outside LCD to check the time. I haven't found a setting that will pop on that LCD light yet.
Battery life has been good so far... I can go a few days of moderate use before I need to charge, which is a benefit over the 9500 which needed a charge every other day on the standard battery.
The buttons have a nice blue backlight for easy night-time dialing.
A leather case is not included with the phone, but I can recommend the one Verizon sells.
Pros: small, volumes seem to be acceptable, color screen is very readable
Cons: phone book navigation somewhat of a pain, outside LCD doesn't turn on when phone is opened
Summary: A good performer in a cute little package.
Could be better.
This phone is nice and compact, has a nice bright screen and well lit keys. However it has some very irritating shortcomings: Voice Dial does not allow a single key selection, only flip-to-activate (apparently a SW bug). Speed dial will not allow more than one phone number per person, even though the person may have 3 or more numbers (home, work, cell, etc.)another SW bug. Sound quality varies quite a bit, from barely audible to crystal clear. The external screen is the worst I've ever seen, useless. And the manual is AWFUL.
Decent Phone_but think twice
I have had this phone for 2 weeks and so far its a decent phone...but the LGvx4400 is a much better!! The only real troubling thing is ALOT of the people I call state a poor connection...they complain of poor voice quality, fading, low volume, choppy voice, and at times (short) periods of time where they will hear silence (as the voice cuts in and out). Also poor reception inside buildings?? This does not happen all the time, but often
Pros: Small Size, color screen, nice blue backlight for buttons, speaker phone....small size!!
cons: poor menus, you can't see the screen in the sunlight, poor wallpaper, lousy ringers (why can't I get a ringer that sounds like a normal telephone ring...do I have to have the knight rider theme, or MC Hammer?? (that's not the phone though). Outside LCD keeps switching between the time and Verizon Wirless. The phone seems slow...
Basically, the phone is good enough for the size. But so far the best overall phone I have had for Verizon was the LGvx4400.
