Audiovox 8600 questions

[kwitel]

Hi, you guys seem to really know your stuff...so was wondering if you could answer a quick couple o q's for me. First, just bought the 8600 today and am a little dissapointed. Is the ringer really low, or is it just me? Also, can barely hear people talking; seems like if i slightly move the phone around my ear, i lose hearing. Can i do anything about either one of these problems?
Also, in general, would like to know how you guys feel about the phones overall performance. Im on verizon in NYC; is there another phone i should consider getting? Maybe the Mot t730?
Anyone know when the Mot v810 is coming out?
I know theres alot here to answer, but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanx so much.

[Tony E!]

well nobody seems to be here so let me give it a shot.

it could be that your ringer and earpiece volume are set too low, try going into your call-settings and turn up your volume on both. the ringer volume and earpiece, now keep in mind that you have 15 days to try your phone out and if you're not happy with it, which i'm sure you probably won't be for long, i would take it back and exchange it (if you like Audiovox) for the 8900, it has nice loud ringers and sound quality on calls are also excellent.
i wouldn't recommend the Motorola T730, it 's had it's share of Software problems, stay away, run away from it. as far as the Motorola v810 is concerned, with Verizon as with any carrier is hard to tell whan they will actually decide to released a phone.

[kwitel]

hey-thnx so much for the speedie response!!
does it warrant me spending the extra 50 bucks to get the 8900, even though i really dont need a camera?
Is the 8900 just an overall better phone? Any thoughts on the LG's?
Thnx again-Steve

[Tony E!]

well if you don't need a camera then i would recommend the LG4400 (one of Verizon's best sellers) it's tri-mode nice color screens very loud ringers (they could have made them sound more normal) the earpiece is definetly LOUD, you may have to turn it down a bit. then there's the brand new LG4500 being released tomorrow that has alot of brand new features, you can check out more info in the LG forum which is where i hang out most of the time.

[lets456]

I recently purchased the 8600 and am pleased with it so far. Actually, I thought the volume was too loud when using the handset. I have not purchased the earpiece, but may do that at a later date. As far as reception and battery life go, well once again I am pleased. Got 4.5 days of stand bye with light use (10-20 minutes of calls a day). However, the biggest problem I see is the user interface. I am used to the Motorola's and Nokia's...much better. You can not search a name in the phone book. Very annoying while driving, and dangerous. Yes, the ringer is a bit on the quiet side,but I can deal with that. I think as far as the important things go...reception,battery life,small,good voice quality,speakerphone (I have not checked that out yet)..it's a decent phone.

[orioles150]

hmm, im not here for one night and a question is asked about the 8600! lol, thanks Tony for taking this one. Just to add on to what everyone else said, I have actually found the 8600 to be to loud when talking to people, I sometimes finding myself pulling the phone away from my ear and turning the volume down on it. Yes the ringers are very quiet, sadly enough I think i hear it vibrating against a table better than I hear it ringing! I would definately take a look at the new lg 4500 that came out today, it should be a pretty nice phone with more features than the audiovox has (and most likely it wont have that annoying "verizon wireless banner" flashing on the front.

lets456 -- the speakerphone on it is a little disapointing, it is only usable in very quiet rooms.

[lets456]

orioles150, how do you find the reception to be? I am comparing it to the V120e and A310, and find it to be as good and better at times. Also, no dropped calls in 1-week...the V120e would drop at least one call a day. Overall I think this phone is pretty impressive...as far as reception,sound quality,etc go. I was leary getting an Audiovox, I was never impressed by their products. However, when I found out the internals are Hyundai, I was a little relieved. Hyundai makes good computer components (Ram,etc.).

[lets456]

ORIOLES,Thanks to our wonderful NJ state governor, it will soon be illegal to talk on your cell phone while driving....just another way for the state of NJ to increase it's revenue. Anyway, I will have to buy the "earpiece" thing and was wondering if the volume and sound through such a device is acceptable. I am in my 15 day trial, and this has now become an important issue.

[orioles150]

i actually use an earpiece 90% of the time, and it works great! I find its easier just to have the earpeice in and not have to worry about holding the phone to your ear. and its not an expensive headset that i have just one that was sitting around the house.

as far as reception goes it seems to be on par with other phones I have. I live in a very spotty area in which every phone drops calls but this phone does pretty well for itself! you might want to check out the 4500 because it might have a better speakerphone making it so you wont need the earpiece (the phone just came out so i have not heard anything about the speakerphone quality on it) Also you said the interface irked you a little and you probably would enjoy the LG interface better.

[lets456]

Hey Orioles,
How would you compare the Audiovox RF to The LG phones? Is it better? How about sound quality?

[orioles150]

I would say that the RF is pretty comparable to the LGs, it has been a while since i have used the LG phones but I have found that the Audiovox can keep a signal just as well as the LGs had. As far as the sound quality I think the LGs might have a little leg up on the audiovox. I think the audiovox is pretty good but every once in a while its muffled and I have a hard time understanding the other person. I am interested in seeing how the 4500 performs because if it works well, I might see if I can get a deal on trading in my 8600

[lets456]

I was thinking about the 4500 until I found out it was digital only....I want to stay with the tri-mode phones. I may look at the 4400, but if the rf is the same as the 4400 then I will stick with the 8600. Like I said, I am fairly pleased with the 8600. Order of importance to me is: Reception, voice clarity, battery life and UI. The Audi has 3 of the 4 covered. I am an "older" guy, so ringtones and "loud" ringers really don't matter much to me, the phone is usually on vibrate.

[orioles150]

I must say I was a HUGE advocate of getting phones that had analog because there might be a time when you need it. I recently was on vacation in Massachusettes where I could only get an analog signal and I must say that if i was in an emergency analog would have been no use; I couldnt keep a call for more then 10 seconds before it would drop, and those 10 seconds would be extremely static filled. I know this is only 1 area and I shouldnt base my whole opinion of analog on that one experience but it was a very disheartening thing since for months I disputed withother members why analog was so important and we shouldnt get phones like the vx6000 or the a530. That said I still am not sure I am ready to give up analog, but I am definately considering it a lot more now than before.

[lets456]

Perfect example, I was recently in Cedar Key, FL with my family and the nearest town was approx. 35-40 minutes away. I was only able to get an analog signal (probably Alltel and in the extended network), and it was a good signal (2-4 bars) on my V120E. That was an entire week to keep in touch with my family, job and check on the house and our neighbor who was taking care of it and our pet. This is just one instance. I have hit some analog spots while traveling in GA, NC and PA. I may only hit these spots once or twice a year, but with my luck, I would buy an all digital phone and then breakdown in an analog only area....
you know how that goes.

[orioles150]

yup I definately understand what you are saying...I think Verizon isnt ready to have their lineup converted to all digital but for some reason more and more phones are coming out all digital.