Audiovox CDM-8500
Average Ratings
8500
I got this phone in August of 2003, and I was really excited at the time. I mean I'm a kid, only 14 at the time. At first the phone was cool and everything, but then things just got bad from there. Some of the good things about it though, is that there's an external caller I.D., 7 different color backlighting, and an "ok" battery life. Some of the "not-so-good" things about it is hat there is a terrible reception in my area. I have the phone through Virgin Mobile. It will work in very few areas around my town. It'll work barely work outside. I've noticed, while my mom is driving, that sometimes when she drives by one of those tower things, that the phone just don't work. Personally i think it's because it's a pre-pay service, so you can't do the roaming stuff like you would with a monthly service.... That's just my opinion though. Some other things is that the phone is so tiny, the sound quality of calls could be a lot better, and I get dropped calls all the time.
Great phone for the infrequent user
This is my first phone and I use it with Virgin Mobile, mostly in the Oklahoma City (73136) and Lubbock, Texas (79407) area. As you may know, Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint PCS network and I have found coverage in this region to be quite excellent/above expectations.
Even though it is mostly nit-picky "cons" below, I have really enjoyed this little phone(and I mean little ... much smaller than a Moto V60). I was weary to go with Audiovox but I have found it to be well built and it still feels sturdy after a few months use (and a few drops). Also, the antenna is screw-off which is a good thing if you break it (easy to replace).
CON: The menu system is easy to learn, but the plethora of options slows you down after you've been using the phone a while.
PRO: The external LCD display is extremely handy and has more information on it than most phones: Date, Time, Signal Strength, Phone Mode (type of network), Ringtone Mode/Silent Mode icon, Current Phone Status, and Battery Indicator.
CON: The built in ringers both lame and annoying. Definitely plan on spending a few dollars on ringtone downloads.
PRO: Comes with more features than most users know exist (and most are well implimented). My favorites include voice memos, calculator, and the T9 text entry.
CON: The earpeice/speaker is very tinny and makes people sound more annoying than they really are. The actual quality and reception of the call is very good - you can tell by plugging in a headset.
The manual is not very well written or detailed. Don't expect someone unfamiliar with cell phones to pick up on the advanced features without help.
Overall, this phone has many more features and is better built than I would have expected for something in this price range. I would recommend it for those who will use their phone infrequently and need something very small and portable.
Good at first. abd with time
When I first got the phone, I thought it was very nice. It looks nice and has a nice feel to it. Now after about 4 months of use, i'm ready to trash it. The LCD colors are off and don't look right, the lower right LED is brighter than the rest, the speaker phone is lower, the ringtones crackle sometimes, my phone rarely rings and get this...it creaks when I close the flip! The list goes on and on. When i'm surfing the web or on the phone, the reception will bounce up and down even when I'm not moving. I'll be on a call and it will say that the call was lost and there's no reception and about 3 seconds later, it'll have full reception. I don't understand whats the deal with this phone. it just seems slapped together. Oh and by the way, it can only hold 30 text messages. blah!
VALUE DRIVEN HANDSET
I work for Bell Mobility and we have had a high success rate with sales for this phone, however, we have also had many service issues. After the initial launch of this handset, there was a new version of software which improved the ringer volume level, among other things. Overall, the phone itself offers mediocre reception and a sub-par speakerphone; it is, however, a very compact phone loaded with many nice extras like voice activated dialing. If you need a phone for business use--don't get this phone. If you need something small and cute--go for it.
Good Phone
Have owed this phone for over 6 months and not have had not one problem.It is a good little phone.Compact not bulky, easy to navigate through menus using buttons, and with the differnet color screens makes it funky recommend to anyboby.
I thought it was good
The phone started out great when we first started selling the product a few weeks ago...As I started to check the inventory room I noticed that many had started coming back...Inside of only a few days over 97% of the phones sold had been returned...I started calling around in other markets and found that others were trashing them by cases at a time...My wife carried the product for a week and absolutely loved it...of course she doesn't like to talk on the phone.
I had my hope up......then they crashed to Earth.
I bought the phone about a week ago, and the first few days I loved it. The LCD color options were fun, although a few of them were a bit too dark. The animations were dull but I didn't really feel the urge to use them anyway. I thought that the digital clock was fun, and less boring than that of most phones. But once I got done setting my phone to the way I wanted it and started NOT getting my phone calls I was disappointed. I always had my phone with me and it never rang. Then when I called people I was informed by many that they tried to call me. I checked the phone to see if there were any missed calls and there weren't, and when I checked my voice mail I had no messages. This phone is fun if you're just going to mess around with the settings, but once you need it as a phone and not a toy it will not be your friend.
