Audiovox 8600 vs 9500 decision time

[MnMnIA]

Folks, I need some advice on whether to wait for Verizon to release the 8600, or just bite the bullet and get the 9500. The dealer says if it comes out in a couple of months, then I would
have to pay full price for the 8600. He also said if I quit my plan (ie 175 bucks down the tube) to get the new phone at the reduced price, VZW would not allow me to get a contract in my
name for 6 mos. Is this true based on your experiences? I guess my fear is that the plans on offer are pretty good right now, and they could change before the new phone comes
out. Thanks for helping the newbie. Also posted in the Audi group.

[GoodmanR]

You seem fairly confused about this...

Firstly, I would not buy the Audiovox 9500 at full retail, or even at a discounted price. The battery life is bad, the menus are slow etc...The 8600 looks to be a good phone though, but we wont know until it comes out...

You are allowed to change your plan at any time, whether or not you are a current customer, under contract, or not under contract.

If you are currently under contract and are not nearing the end of that contract, you must pay full retail price for a new phone. You could concievably cancel your service, pay the $175 ETF and then reactivate it (I will talk about that in a min.) but I would not recommend that. The full retail price of a phone usually isnt $175 + over the promotional price. So its really not worth doing that.

If you do decide to cancel your service and reactivate, this is waht happens. You have 90 days to reactivate your service with the same number, you can take advantage of any promotion avalible to new customers and sign a new contract, your treated just as a new customer is, but your account and number are allready set up. I am not sure where he got that six months number from, but its wrong. You have 90 days to reactivate your account, if after that you want Verizon, you must start a new account, but tehre are no limitations on time for this.

[Jack]

I liked the 9500 when I had it but I felt that the phone was just too big and battery life was not that great. If you are in need of a phone now I would consider the vx4400, samsung A530 and the vx 6000. The only negatives are that the last 2 have no analog backup.

If you upgrade now and want to upgrade in a few months THEN you will pay full price for the phone

Jack

[Tony E!]

if you really like the audiovox 9500, go for it, you can't go wrong, i know battery life sucks, but just buy the extended 1050mAH battery and it will take care of that problem. i've gone through
lg 4400, lg6000, and none of them beat the audiovox in reception, but don't take my word for it, read phone scoop's reviews or cdm angels, and that will give you an overall view of the audiovox-9500.
one more thing, the menu is not slow at all on my 9500, all recent 9500's have the new software version 111.033, just make sure the one you get has that version, if not have verizon update it for you and you'll be fine.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[MnMnIA]

Sorry for the confusion. I am 2.5 yrs into my original plan, so I am looking for a new phone
and plan.

[Tony E!]

even if you want the audiovox 9500, i don't think you can get it through verizon anymore.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

[MnMnIA]

Yeah, I know. They disappeard off the VZW website for my zip about, oh, two weeks ago, so I'll
have to hunt around a little....

[Tony E!]

your second choice could be letstalkcom, they have it for $99.00 (149.00) minus $50 rebate.

[MnMnIA]

Cool! I'll check it out. How are things in Cali? I hope Ahhnold wins! (I was born and raised in
the SGV).

[wyldekard]

If you are still debating purchasing the 8600 vs the 9500, what you are really deciding is wether to buy Hyundai (the 8600) or Toshiba (the 9500). I don't think Hyundai's (they are hiding behind the name Curitel) reputation can stand up to Toshiba's. I bought the extended battery ( I always buy a second battery anyway) and I've been very happy with my 9500.

[shanewise]

I am also considering the two phones and am curious about how much talk time you get out of the extended battery on the 9500??

Thanks
Shane

[Tullphan]

I've got the 9500 w/a genuine Audiovox extended battery purchased @ VZW when I bought the phone. I can talk for about an hour...it'll go from a full charge to one red bar.
I don't know if this is good or not.
My wife has a v60i that we purchased from some putz on eBay who claimed it was mint. The metal casing was dented & scratched & had terrible battery life (full charge to one bar in less than 18 hrs w/less than 45 min talk time). I've tried 2 generic extended life batteries & one motorola brand extended battery & I get the same results. I think it's a problem with the phone, tho, & not the batteries. Seeing's how the putz won't make good on the phone & I have no idea as to the original date of purchase, I don't know my options short of sending it to Motorola. Is there a way of telling the age from the ESN?

[braindead500]

unfortunately the 9500 will be discontinued soon at us cellular and since they seem to always be behind the times i'm sure they are following other companies. So you may be buying a doomed phone but I wouldn't wait for the 8600 as already mentioned its a hyundai

[Tony E!]

any word on the audiovox 9600 ever being release?

[MnMnIA]

I believe I read somewhere, either here or phonescoop, the 9600 has been dropped by Audiovox.

[braindead500]

yep it was cancelled