Sanyo 5500 or 8200?

[NBAJ2K]

First time poster here so please be nice
I have the Toshiba 4050 but decided i wanted a phone with a solid speakerphone as it really sucks on the 4050. Between the Sanyo 5500 and 8200 which would you reccommend? Ive gotten opinions both ways, and i know there have been a lot of faulty 5500s out there, not sure if all the issues have been fixed yet though. Ive posted this on other forums, just looking for some input.

If I can get a 5500 with new firmware, out of the 2 which one would you reccomend, the video capturing isn't a big deal to me, if i have it great, if not fine. I have a lot of friends with the 8200 so if the 5500 was ok that would be what im going for. My 14 days to switch phones is almost up, so im not sure what happens if i go in tomorrow and they don't have the 5500 in, my decision might be made for me.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

~J

[Yankees368]

Originally Posted by NBAJ2K

First time poster here so please be nice
I have the Toshiba 4050 but decided i wanted a phone with a solid speakerphone as it really sucks on the 4050. Between the Sanyo 5500 and 8200 which would you reccommend? Ive gotten opinions both ways, and i know there have been a lot of faulty 5500s out there, not sure if all the issues have been fixed yet though. Ive posted this on other forums, just looking for some input.

If I can get a 5500 with new firmware, out of the 2 which one would you reccomend, the video capturing isn't a big deal to me, if i have it great, if not fine. I have a lot of friends with the 8200 so if the 5500 was ok that would be what im going for. My 14 days to switch phones is almost up, so im not sure what happens if i go in tomorrow and they don't have the 5500 in, my decision might be made for me.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

~J

WELCOME TO WIRELESS ADVISOR!

Its really all about which you like better. Try them both out, and see which one works well for you. In my opinion, i would go with the 8200.

[AnthroMatt]

Good luck even finding the 5500, they are in very short supply at Sprint stores. In all honesty, if video doesn't mean that much, I'd go with the 8200. It gets better battery life and you will end up getting some $$$ back too.

[Tony E!]

I agree with Anthro, i have the 5500 and honestly the camera and especially the video quality is garbage, though i'm aware that the main purpose of the phone is to make calls, it would be a waste of your money if you pay extra for those features even if you don't use them much, now if you put those features aside, i still love the looks of the 5500 better than the 8200...
Comparing the two as far as the speakerphone goes, they are pretty much the same, both just as bad, Sanyo we want a full duplex speaker...

[NBAJ2K]

but compared to the 4050, the speakerphone has got to be pretty good. A ton of people i know just picked up the 8200, thats why i wasn't sure if i wanted it. I know you can go online and get different skins to put on it too though. I was looking for a phone i could attatch to the vent in my car and hear talk to a friend while driving on speakerphone. I know the nice thing about the sanyos is that you can answer a call on speakerphone with the phone still being closed and talk like that which i liked, and the speakerphone is a lot louder. The video feature i don't really need. The camera quality of my current 4050 is pretty awesome i would think. You get the right lighting and the pictures are really sharp. I know having that nice screen helps out too, but even when i upload them they are ok.

Comparing camera quality between the 4050 i have now and the 5500 and the 8200 how do they stack up?

Thanks,

~J

[AnthroMatt]

The speakerphone on both the 8200 and 5500 is louder (easier to hear) than the Toshiba, but unfortunately none of the speakerphones are all that practical for having a two-way conversation. The camera on the 8200 is pretty good. There's nothing at all wrong with the camera on the 5500 either, you just have to manually adjust the settings on EVERY indoor shot. The 5500 still produces the best quality videos too.

[NBAJ2K]

a bunch of apps don't work on the 4050, along with having the 35k web cache limit which really sucks. Id like to be able to have a louder speakerphone also. it really sucks because i love the design and layout of all the menus on the 4050, just wish it was louder and supported more. since ill be working at mosaic selling phones at best buy, id get the employee plan with readylink and everything built in, and the 4050 doesn't have that for the few friends that i know that id be able to talk to.

Between the 4050, 8200, and 5500, which would u pick?

~J

[Tony E!]

Originally Posted by NBAJ2K

a bunch of apps don't work on the 4050, along with having the 35k web cache limit which really sucks. Id like to be able to have a louder speakerphone also. it really sucks because i love the design and layout of all the menus on the 4050, just wish it was louder and supported more. since ill be working at mosaic selling phones at best buy, id get the employee plan with readylink and everything built in, and the 4050 doesn't have that for the few friends that i know that id be able to talk to.

Between the 4050, 8200, and 5500, which would u pick?

~J

The 5500, no question about it....

[mtnmedic]

I have a 5500 and I'm pretty happy with it. Don't know much about the 8200 other than it looks like a nice little phone. The MAIN gripe I have about the 5500 is its indoor/low light picture quality. That issue goes hand-in-hand with the wimpy-butt so-called "flash". There's no flash...it's just a momentary steady light. And more phones are coming out with the same thing. What's up with THAT? Now, the Sanyo 5300.....THAT'S what I call a brilliant flash capable of good indoor/low-light pics. Wake up, Sanyo!

Okay, I'm getting down from my soap box. In all, the 5500 is a great phone with lots of cool features. The video is great and the Ready Link capability is something thay may come in handy some day. The speakerphone is quite good.

I just wish the 5500 would have come out with the big screen the 5300 and some other Sanyo models did. They have a new model that's ruggedised (with rubber edgings), which is really cool. I haven't drop-kicked one, yet, but it sure tempts me to, just to see how it survives!

My only other gripes about this phone are:

1) The number pad buttons are, well, a little bit on the small side.

2) The easy-access buttons (on the side of the case) for camera and voice dialing are also very small and not easy to locate just by feel (not like that BIG. textured RL button which seems to be nothing more than an ornament at the moment....why couldn't THAT be user-defined for a function?).

Those nit-pics are small potatoes, really, as I'm sure Sanyo is thinking of ways to improve on this particular model's design. It's a good looking phone and is pretty durable. I would recommend it to anyone.