Sanyo PM-8200 / SCP-8200
Average Ratings
good phone...........a tad late to the party
a few months ago i agreed to an agent plan that allowed me to purchase this phone for 40.00 bucks. understanding it was discontinued and replaced i wasn't about to buy an oughtright priced phone with a service i haven't tried myself. so i purchased and i have only minor complaints.
PROS:
readly link. sprints ptt solution isn't all that bad. in central pa it rocks.
external display. on a phone this low in price you'd expect it to be cheesy but its actully pretty darn good.
vision ready. it carries alot of sprints multimedia services. it a pm so its not as much as an mm phone but hey it still rocks.
flashlight on camera. helpful when sticking the key in my door at home.
CONS:
battery life. to sum it up it SUCKS! it dies just looking at it for 3 hours let a long talking on it for 1 hour.
keypad. i got this phone because sanyo was rated #1 by jd powers. now i know jd and his powers are overrated. THE KEYPAD BURNS! playing a game for 10 minutes then answering a call is a bad idea. TRUST ME!
speakerphone. ready link works fantastic but having a conversation from the speaker phone is like beating blood from a penny with this thing. NOT HAPPENING!
and to top it off sanyo's charging ports are cheap and flimsy. atleast moto's you can bootleg them to make them work.
OVERALL:
if you just talk sparingly on cell phones and thats it. this is a great buy. anything else i wouldn't do because the keypad will make you pay for it.
AWESOME PHONE!!!!!!
Most have said it already.. i have owned a motorola(nextel.. crap!!) I have also owned a Nokia 3560(Unicel A.K.A. Unihell.. Crap!!) I didn't like either phones.. They were just junk.
Pros-
1) The great design. The antenna is great, gets better reception than anyother phone i have had.
2) The Camer is awesome.. I love the Zoom feature with the different Resolutions. The Flash also comes in handy most of the time. The Cool fun borders are awesome too.
3) The speakerphone is great.... Best i have ever had. Yes i admit it has alittle distortion when turned up too lud but what cellphone doesn't. Other than that awesome.
4) Also The Readylink and the voice command feature are great. Never seen any better.
5) The menu is extremely easy as well.
6) I like the little polarbear.. hes is great.
7) over all i love this phone.. Its the best i have ever owned.
Cons-
1) Cant change menu from text to Icons.. Which isn't a big deal.
2) Also can't change the little buddy and get others. which isn't a big deal.. he amuses me.. and i dont think i would change him anyway.. lol
Honestly i hope to hold onto this phone as long as i can. Maybe in two or three years it will finally die and i will be pretty sad to let it go. But hopefully the Sanyo 8300 will be just as great. If so.. there is a phone with my name on it. :P Also if they didnt pull this from my store.. i would be recommending it to all.. atleast for a beginniner phone.. :)
love it
I currently work for a cellphone company in MS (indirect), and I have carried a Sprint demo phone for almost 2 years now. I got the 8100 back in December of 2003, and loved it, never changed because I never had any problems with it. Just a week ago, I caved and bought a (semi-used) 8200 that we took in from a customer, and I am in love. It's as simple as my 8100, but it's slimmer (I never was a fan of the bulkiness of the 8100), and the speakerphone is incredible. I also love the fact that I can text message with a regular screen, instead of having the access the web (with SMS). The reception is SLIGHTLY lower than the 8100 (I live in the Jackson area, in MS), but not enough to bother me at all, just less bars. No more dropping calls than normal, no choppiness...it's great.
pros:
speakerphone, 2way messaging, awesome picture quality, flash, zoom, more compact
cons:
ringtones are not very loud at all, even at their loudest, but at least it's not obnoxiously loud, and I can still hear it. that's really about it.
overall...absolutely love it. would recommend it to anybody!
Sanyo does it again with the PM-8200
In late Dec 2003 I left my Samsung A460 and Sprint for ATT and the Samsung X426 because it was a free phone with color display and to save a little on my bill. What a mistake. If I had stuck out the 18 mos. waiting period (that started in Nov 2002), I could have had my 8200 sooner. Sanyo simply makes the finest cell phones in the industry. I've had the Motorola mpx220 and v551. The mpx220 was released to market too soon with problems too long to list. The v551
has a gorgeous screen but doesn't have the feature set of the Sanyo. Motorolaâs menus are difficult to navigate. Sanyoâs menus are amongst the easiest to navigate, right there with Samsung and Nokia. True, the screen is a little below the Motorola in clarity but I could care less. Ultimately, sound quality is what matters most and that's what Sanyo excels in. If you want a picture phone, ultra easy intuitive navigation, LOUD speakerphone, and don't need video, I can't imagine what would be a better fit. I got the new deep forest green model and love the color! What are you waiting for? Buy this phone. You won't regret it. Are you still reading? GO!
cute but smart...
sanyos, as a rule, are superior to samsungs on cdma networks. only sprint carries them; and this one is no exception. functionality as a phone in and of itself is superior to all we sell... and the bells and whistles it packs don't compromise a thing, only enhance what's already awesome. with 3 hours solid talk time and 12 DAYS standby mode, the sensible part of you knows it's got the strength to power all the goodies its got inside. this is our bestseller... and no wonder. in three different colors, with sanyo's stellar reputation, ptt/speakerphone capalbilities, camera w/ flash, and superb sound quality (the ringers sound fabulous)... i manage to find something new on it everyday. i love the voice memo thing... and voice command calling is so sweet. i watched tv on my phone today too.. ha that was badass. what made me even happier was that after all that playing around and tweaking and surfing the net... my battery was still fully charged. i love this phone!
Great Phone
Ok - I've had them all. This phone is a gem. The screen is crystal clear, the phone audio is just as clear. I get service here near the Superstition Mountains in Arizona. It has a handy speakerphone, external LCD and push to talk feature. Its sharp and sexy. Sprint PCS has come a long way and their customer service is out to win your business over.
Picture Caller ID
This 1 thing about this phone which most phones don't have is a camera and a color LCD screen in the front of the phone which can be used as picture caller id so when someone calls you will see their picture on the front before u flip it open its very helpful and a nice feature!
Great phone
I had the previous version, the 8100, so I decided to give this a shot. So far it has been a great phone. I have not found one thing that I don't like about it.
Pros: speakerphone
flash
love the ready link
cons: so far...none
I have had 2 previous Sanyos before this with nothing but good things to say.
Overall...great phone!!
Great Phone, Excellent Reception
I'm not a cellphone freak. It's strictly a communications tool to me, but an essential one. That's why after 10 years I ported my Verizon number to Sprint, the only reliable service provider where I live.
My wife and son have been on Sprint for a year, using Nokia 3588i's. These cheap phones are simply fantastic: great reception, clear audio, plenty of volume and so bright we use them as flashlights! Being free w/2yr contract is icing on the cake. The only reason I considered the Sanyo was I'm a flip-phone fan.
After researching here and talking to the Sprint folks, I decided to take the PM-8200 for a spin. I am pleased I did. Having used Motorola phones most of my life, I was a bit confused by the Sanyo menus. But I am ecstatic that I can make and receive calls 100% of the time inside my home and office, something the Nokia's can't always do.
Pros: Fantastic reception
Excellent speakerphone
Great contact list
Bright screen
Loud ringer
Strong vibrate
Good volume
Good key layout
Universal power connector
The camera is cool but limited quality
Picture caller-ID is very cool
Neutral: Battery life is OK
Ready-Link capable, if you do that
Sound quality fair, needs low freq.
Cons: Side buttons mostly useless
Only 1 programmable key
Frequent settings not convenient
No belt case/clip included
No OEM car install kit
No OEM USB data/power cable kit
No Bodyglove scuba case (yet)
Stock ringers mostly suck
Only 4 mediocre backgrounds
Only 4 mediocre screen savers
One 1 crappy game
I'm hoping that as time goes on more accessories will be available. I'd really like a hard-install car kit w/jack for an external antenna. Contrary to other reports, the buttons are NOT flush, but slightly indented: I have no trouble feeling them. I do wish I could reprogram some of the keys, a'la the Motorola V60.
Overall, I'm extremely happy!
8200
I got mine a few weeks ago and was waiting before I reviewed it. I love the phone! I got the blue one and kind of wish I got the red one now. I had a 4900 which was awesome. I wanted a switch to a flip phone and speaker phone is important to me. I didn't care about the camera but now that I have used it and uploaded pics and sent my friend who has a 5300 pictures to his phone. It's really cool.
I had one bad phone call when I 1st got the phone and it got so muffled I couldn't understand a word the person on the other end was saying. But I don't know if it was her phone or mine. I did lower the ear piece. But I haven't had a problem like that since. The vision is so much better and faster then my 4900. Of course reception and battery life was better on the 4900 but that doesn't bother me. My car charger from the 4900 works on the 8200 so that's good. There's really not one thing I don't like about the phone except I too agree blue lights would've been cool. It's cool to be able to close the phone and speaker also. Plus it has a flash light on it. The camera flash becomes a flash light at night.
I haven't and wont use Ready Link I don't need it and have mobile to mobile. I did almost wait for the 4920 since I had the 4900 but I am glad I chose the 8200. I really wanted a flip for a change and the 8200 is nice. If only the clear By Tech case would come out. Rose
