My first views on the 8600

[Dv8]

These are my opinions, but hopefully they will help give someone something to look at when purchasing the phone.
I do not have a price listing yet, we just got these into inventory today. expected launch date ~oct 14th.


pros:
size!
spkr phone
color screen
get it now capable (of course)
ems capable
lots of musical ringers
earpiece quality good (probably due to spkr phone output)
surprisingly more room than expected on the keypad
TRIMODE!!

cons:
menu styling of the 8300 (horrible) with no user changeable icons or list version
spkr phone comes out the earpiece....not very loud but better than some models (don't think it will work flip closed)
built in wallpapers are horrible also, there are 3: a baby, a desert (cookie and milk) & (I forgot, something stupid)
extremely hard to read outside display!, backlighting is just about non-existent
ringers.... has a ton of musicals and about 5-6 bells... not a one a regular ringer though
poor display quality (I'd say equivalent to the 720 or worse)
"softkeys" are thin and seem hard to hit if you have bigger fingers


overall the size of the phone and the fact it is trimode is awesome, but I am really disappointed in the use of the phone, audiovox's menu systems have been horrible and is the main reason why I have never bought a recent model audiovox (came close with the 9500 though). Personally I was waiting to trade my 720c in for this but I just cant deal with the way the phone is set up [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

guess im still waiting.....

[Phone]

As a previous owner of a t720 i think the phoen has a better build quality feel to it. The flip on the 720 has more feedback so that may make one feel like the flip is higher quality but i personally don;t feel the phone has poor build quality. I think the inner display is better than a 720 display but it has a high color output which may make the difference to me. Still uses an stn screen though which woint; compare to the tft the 6000 uses.


The menu setup is takign abit of getting used to and i must admit i now realize how nice the 720 emnu setting and custmazation were. But after alittle use i'm geeting used to the setup, which i think jsut about any phone requires.

Thought i'd drop my two cents in on this phone as well so far i am a happy consumer

[Ripper]

To All,

Just got this phone (CDM 8600) yesterday after almost a year waiting for Verizon to offer a model I was interested in buying. Did not want or need a camera phone, Kyocera 7135 is nice but too expensive, Mot T720 was reportedly a nightmare, etc.

First impressions are:

Seems sturdy though only for normal use. It may not survive a drop very well.

Very compact size.

Ear speaker is plenty loud and people I spoke with said the sound quality was excellent.

Inside screen is bright and easy to read. Outside display is monochrome with a blue backlight that's only so-so and may require a magnifying glass for those with less than excellent vision.

Menus seem intuitive for users who are familiar with programing cell phones, however, the user manual is probably one of the worst I've seen for any piece of electronic equipment. Just awful, so it helps to have had experience with using these gadgets.

Speakerphone is usable but nothing to rave about. The sound actually comes from the earpiece so it's a bit tinny and will only work with the phone in the open position.

Ringers consist of the usual assortment of idiotic tunes and electronic sounds. Why won't any of these phone makers provide at least one or two ringtones that are normal?

Still need to determine if battery life is acceptable and I will take the next two weeks to run this phone through its paces. I will report more findings soon.

Ripper

[orioles150]

Ok, Well I finally got this phone yesterday and so I figured I would post my first remarks on this phone.

First I want to say that this phone is awesome! I really have liked it so far.

pros:

Its size; It is so small, yet it feels sturdy. I dont think it feels like a toy at all.

I like the ringers. They are different than a lot of other phones, if you are looking for serious ringers, once again you wont be satisfied but for a college kid like me, they are more than adequate.

Speaker phone is a cool feature, it doesnt seem like it is loud enough for extensive use, but should be fine to sit at a desk and use.

The outer display is ok, mine keeps switching back and forth from saying "Verizon Wireless" and the time, which is rather annoying. I just want it to have the clock and thats it (if anyone knows how to change this I am all ears..) Also the backlight which everyone complains about isnt bad at all. Its not as bright as my other phones but my other ones could almost be flashlights they were so bright. This one is adequate to let you read the display which is all you need.

Very easy to switch into Vibrate only mode. Unlike a lot of phones which you can switch into "silent mode" only easily this one leaves vibrate on while in what they call "ettiquette mode"

Voice recognition works very well. After about 3 minutes of training it, I now can just speak the number i want it to call and say "call" and it will call the number for me. This wil be VERY helpful while driving.

Cons:

There are a few quirks that arent a big deal but are just annoying.
1) if a word doesnt fit on the screen the rate at which it scrolls is rediculously slow. like a letter every 3 seconds or something

2) The phone comes with no images and 3 screen savers (which arent very exciting), which i think is a little weak I wish it came with more so it could be customized easily.

3) I only played with it for a little while, but I had some problems trying to put people in different groups and also assigning a picture to a person (though i think the second part is because the phone has no pictures to assign)

All in all I am more than satisfied with this phone (which is good because I cant return it even if I wanted to) As for battery life, I just got it yesterday and havent had a chance to test it out. Also I will post how i find the reception of this phone once i get home again. I am near albany which i havent been to since I had verizon, so i cannot make any comparisons. If anyone has more questions feel free to ask me.

[GoodmanR]

Did you pay full retail? if so how much?

[orioles150]

I paid the 1 year contract price, it was 199 with a $50 mail in rebate.