Kyocera 7135
Average Ratings
Wow
To start off with, if you're looking for a really good cellphone, I don't think this should be your pick.
However, if you're looking for a really good data platform, with a built it pda, with PalmOS, this is your baby. Holy cow is this thing powerful.
I've had this phone for 2 weeks now, and I can't believe what this thing can do. Pros and cons below.
Cons:
Resets and fatal exceptions, this phone is not for novices. I haven't lost data or address books, but
you will get a reset window occasionally.
Pros:
Wanna pick up email off of multiple account? No problem. Send email through your home server? No problem.
All the beautiful palm features? No problem.
Text messaging? No problem.
Group text messaging through the email client(built in)? No problem.
Web browsing? No problem.
How about editing html and uploading the new files to your site???? No problem.
Torpedoe html editor.
LFTP ftp program.
It just goes on and on.
This thing is incredible, but not for the faint of heart.
Bad Phone
After getting a second phone from Verizon I have determined this phone is not ready for prime time. My batteries kept draining after an hour with no warning my system reset itself and lost all my contact data and calendar information. All was lost. After the fourth time with a second phone I have decided I can't live with it.
Pro's - not many. Not too big - MP3 was nice. Photo gallery was pretty neat.
Con's - Battery never gave me more than 1 hour talk time. Constant soft ware resets done. Lost data 4 times (not good for business people.) No extended battery available. Don't buy this phone period.
Great phone, IF the battery held a charge
I upgraded from the 6035 to the 7135, and was pleasantly impressed with the compact size and weight. The Palm feature set was very much the same as the 6035, just more colorful and additional features.
After using the 6035 for almost 2 years, it bordered on perfect as a telecom companion (barring the size). My expectations were quite high for the 7135. What happened?
The screen was decent, but not bright enough in the sun.
But, the killer for me was the battery life. I did not get more than 30 minutes of digital talk time, before I was down to the lowest bar. The realistic battery life is too short to be an effective portable companion. I haven't seen it reach 25% of the claimed 2 hours / 180 hours.
Too bad. I hope the new Samsung is better!
Kyocera 7135 on US Cellular works great!
Just purchased a Kyocera 7135 Smartphone from US Cellular and have been using the device for the past week. The firmware for both phone and PDA have been very stable. US Cellular did a GREAT job on the firmware!
When one considers all the features Kyocera has put into this device (e.g. Tri-band CDMA phone, Palm OS 4.1, SD/MMC card slot, MP3 Player, PhotoSuite, Palm OS memo support for text, doodle and voice recording, ability to create custom ringers and alarms, external display for caller id, speakerphone, hands-free headset, built-in fax modem, voice dialing, speed dialing, SMS messaging, ability to browse the web and access e-mail wirelessly, removeable/replaceable lithium-ion battery, support for 1000's of Palm OS applications, and more!), as well as, the potential for future hardware and software offerings (e.g. SANDisk announcement for SD card with 256 MB and built-in 802.11b access, ability to write custom Palm OS applications to take advantage of 7135 wireless capabilities, etc), you have to admit...
The Kyocera 7135 Smartphone is the best combination cell phone and Palm OS based PDA ever! GREAT job Kyocera!
If you're looking for a true Smartphone, take a closer look at the Kyocera 7135!
Almost perfect!!
This unit, by far, is the greatest convergence of PDA and Phone, with lots of other handy features. It's built extremely sturdy, unlike most flip phones. It comes with an innovative holster - while it "swivels" on the belt clip, it also "clicks" as it turns, so if you have a belly, you can click the holster sideways, and it will stay there. Very cool.
The Palm features are seamlessly integrated. You can call directly from the Palm Address Book, and text message people in the same manner. The screen is very bright and clear, although I turn mine down to try and extend battery time.
The phone has an mp3 player, plays videos (although so far no sound with the videos), shows JPEGs and allows you to make your own rings (with an MP3 converter supplied). You can have the phone play a supplied sound (or create your own) when you open and close the flip. With all that, it also has (and needs) an expansion slot.
The phone signal has been terrific to me (here in Houston) but it will be tested more when I travel to domestic fringe areas (West Texas, Wyoming, Colorado). So it's a great phone and well worth the money.
Cons:
The speakerphone, while not pitiful (like an Ericsson R520), is not great (like the Motorola 270C). It actually sounds better playing mp3s than it does during a phone call.
The (numeric dialing) buttons are hard to press. They don't click, and if you don't have the TT sound up, you may not know if you hit the right button or not. Also, the phone part processes input slowly. I can dial pretty fast and the phone has a hard time keeping up.
The 33mHz processor hurts the Palm Pilot in certain areas (like Web Browsing). The phone is 1XRTT (utilizes VZW's Express Network) and averages data speeds of 50-60 kbps when hooked up to my Pentium 3 laptop, but the Palm cannot bring up web sites this quickly. I imagine it's being hamstrung by the slow processor.
I've run out of characters. I adore this phone but it's not perfect.
Retro Phone
I bought the Kyocera 7135 from my Verizon store after dumping my AT&T contract. I was interested in an "ALL-IN-ONE" phone that would allow me to access the web, read and respond to e-mail, and act as my PDA.
The RETRO comment is from comments I got concerning the size of the phone (Bulky), and the optional noise I got it to make when it opens (dolphins) that makes it look and sound like a 1968 Star Trek (The Original Series) communicator.
Here's my observations on this model:
Poor Signal reception:
On my 1st week I travelled to Seattle to find that my reception was poor. The unit needed to have the antenna fully extended and held to get a signal. Another Verizon phone in the same location was fine.
Poor Battery life:
If the unit could not find a signal, it seemed to spent a lot of power searching for one. I had to charge it every night, or it was dead in the morning.
Unreliable:
During my trip the unit went into a Fatal Error and lost my contacts, calendar, and preferences. I did not think I needed to bring my Sync-cradle as it is very heavy and bulky (intended as a desk ornament). I went to the Verizon store in Northgate Mall in Seattle to see if I could get a travel sync-cable similar to the Palm accessories. I waited 45 minutes in line before they could tell me that the only synch cable is the sync-cradle and they don't sell it separately. I effectively lost ALL my data needed for my trip and had to use my hardcopy back-up.
Awkward & Bulky:
I found the unit difficult to use in a hand's free operation in a rental car as it it too big and heavy to sit in a cupholder, or on the seat, while driving.
Not the Latest & Greatest:
I have a source in the industry that tells me that this is 2 year old technology and will be replaced late 2005 - early 2005.
Summary:
I've returned the phone and replaced it with a 'freebie' while I've purchased a separate and 'reliable' Palm PDA.
I'll look at the technology again in early 2005 and see what new "ALL-IN-ONE" phones are available.
Best Available
I've had this phone for 8 months now and I think it is terrific. Nothing is better than syncing all of your contacts and appointments into the phone in seconds and then dialing numbers with the touch of a button. The headset is very good because you can dial the phone using the voice recognizer just by pressing a button on the headset wire. This is very useful as you are rolling down the road. I believe this feature is unique to this phone. The speaker phone is good in a quiet room. The phone is well build and has stood up to a bunch of drops. (I wish the industry would come out w/ a sport phone like the old Sony Sport Walkman) I'd buy that in a second.
I've heard folks knock the size, but honestly, it replaces the PDA and I for one wouldn't want a smaller screen. Showing folks photos on this is fun.
This phone really is the prototype for all phones in the future and it is the best I can find. One could consider the Treo 600, which I've read is quite good. The Treo has the same screen resolution, however. Also you can't get the Treo through Verizon right now, so you are stuck with an inferior carrier if you opt for the Treo. The Treo make sense if you want the camera and the mini QWRTY keyboard.
That being said, there is a ton of room for improvement. Specifically, the screen res is too low, the phone crashes and requires resetting alot, the standard earpiece speaker is hard to hear but the headset is great. The battery is good for only a day. Bluetooth support would be great. Web browsing is useless.
In summary, if you are in the market for a phone and you have alot of contacts and appointment to synch there is no better phone. And if you're not in the market because you already have a PDA, you should think again. I gave up my Tungsten for this phone because I can dial the one handed w/o having to juggle two devices this is a priceless benefit.
If you like the Palm OS, it is your duty to buy this phone :)
Kyocera 7135 not a real Palm, yet!
I purchased this phone 2 weeks ago before a business trip in order to carry one item verses a Palm and a mobile phone. I was extremely pleased with the call quality, graphics and features of this smart phone. I found many short comings in the re-programing of the Palm Software by the Kyocera folks. Several wonderful programs were missing that are standard on a PDA. The key pad buttons leave alot to be desired, they are close together and very smooth. The half dozen fatal errors that re-booted the software were troubling. The worst was the 59 minutes of talk time from a phone rated for approximately 3 hours. I even used a headset with the phone closed to save the battery life by not powering the display. It's a great attempt at the blending of PDA and phone, but the sacrifices are not tolerable at this point in it's evolution. Perhaps they'll get it right in the next few years.
Excellent Device
Pro: You can access web thru different applications. ir capability. Great color for pictures. Many more. Just too many to mention.
Cons: None I can really speak of.
ADVICE:DO NOT DOWNLOAD BAD APPLICATIONS IT WILL SCREW UP YOUR PHONE. IT WILL GIVE YOU FATAL EXCEPTION. THE POWER BUTTON MAY NOT SHUT THE PHONE OFF, BECAUSE OF BAD DOWNLOADS.
Important tip
I've used this phone for a week now and it's just insanely great. It has a few UI quirks and I wish it were a tad less "chunky", but it's changed my life.
An *important* tip though. If you are like me and often have a bit of text following some phone numbers in the address book, when you try to dial that number the phone will convert the text to numbers and dial it as part of the call, and the call will fail. Very annoying and I really need that text sometimes.
After exhaustive trial-and-error I found the one and only one character that you can follow a phone number with that will cause the dialer to ignore the remaining text. That character is "%".
Also check out the "FingerDial" app for super-easy dialing from the address book.
