Oh yeah, I remember a few of those. The SCP-4500, the predecessor to the 4900 was one of the best reception phones out there! The only real difference between the 2 was the color screen. The Samsung Uproar was the worlds first MP3 phone. I don't recall how much storage it had, but a quick google search says it can hold "up to an hour of music." So what is that, roughly 64MB probably? As for the rest, blah! Also, I gotta laugh at the "Wireless Web" logo. Blazing fast IS-95 data baby! Was not even 1x back then.
Yep those were very good phones. But I still think those phones were thought to have the best reception partly due to the fact that the signal meters were over-inflated. I bet the 4900 would have shown full bars even on the moon! Sanyo later adjusted the signal meter to be more realistic starting with the 8100 series.
I think I used to use a Sanyo 4500. I gave it to a friend when Sprint let me out of my contract before I went to Ethiopia for 3 months.
Oh yeah, that thing would show 4 bars when it had a -110 signal, but the thing was, it always held the call. There were places where that 4900 could make and hold a call where even Verizon users on 850mhz couldnt. Hell, A few times I made roaming calls IN THE SUBWAY on verizons 1900 signal in NYC. Try that on a modern phone.
Didn't they release a new era StarTac around 2004/2005 that cost like $1,000? It was priced way too high and I doubt they sold many.
My husband had the StarTac since he was on Sprint. Back then I didn't really covet other phones. I don't much now either - just agonize over the choice...
I don't remember any of those, but I was with Verizon back then. The StarTAC is still the best cell "phone" have ever used still to this day. The 4900 was my first Sprint phone. I remember holding on to calls with no bars showing.
Funny you should say that about the StarTAC. I thought the CDMA (Sprint) version was horrible, but that was in comparison to the Sanyos, so perhaps that is unfair. I used the TDMA StarTAC with USCellular part of the time when I lived in Gainesville and I loved it. It was why I wanted the Sprint StarTAC. That was a mistake, lol.
I had the TDMA StarTac on CellularONE I absolutely loved it. It died right after the StarTac was discontinued, and the V60 came out. I was sad to see my StarTac go.
I agree. Worst performing phone I have ever used on Sprint. I attributed it at the time to the speculation that the Motorola CDMA chip (which was different than the more widely used Qualcomm chip) was inferior. Also the Sprint logo was a sticker instead of being painted on like most phones. It was loose from day one and slid off my phone within 2 months of use. I don't think so but they are still selling them on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Motorol...ZViewItemQQptZCell_Phones?hash=item335ae22391
Yeah I don't know why these sellers are listing these phones when they cannot be activated. They are essentially paper weights unless someone still has one active from the old days and needs parts.
I would hope there's enough collectors out there to rescue some of them, but I'm sure many of these sellers are unaware that these phones can no longer be activated.
I remember that teeny LG flip phone in that picture and that Sanyo on the far left... I never owned the phones, though. I remember Verizon had that Sanyo as well (probably before Sanyo went Sprint only).
I can remember the truly crappy Audiovox TracPhone that my mom used to have. Probably made those Sanyos look good.
