Samsung N200 - best CDMA phone for under $200
Written: Dec 24 '01
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Pros: Joystick makes going through menus a blast. Has meny PDA features.
Cons: Doesn't measure signal very well, T-9 "word guessing" software is annoying.
The Bottom Line: Great phone with some capabilities of a PDA.
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| mike_chimirev's Full Review: Samsung SPH-N200 Silver |
I've had my Qualcom 2700 for about a year and a half now, and it took tons of falling, kicking, and smashing against the walls. But just when i thought the phone was indistructable and left it on the gym floor, somebody successfully landed a dumbell on it, breaking the monitor and barrying 150 numbers inside this digital wonder.
I've had my eyes on Samsung N200 for quite a while now, so whout much thinking, I went to the Sprint PCS store, and laid out $170 for my new digital friend.
Overall, the phone is great. It's loaded with features, and with the joystick going through those features and menus is as natural as using a computer mouse. Never the less, I'm going to start with a few annoying things that I don't like about the phone, so those things don't catch you by surprise if you decide to buy it.
It doesn't measure signal very well
I have a very bad reception in my house, especially on the first floor (where I'm sitting right now), and I know that if someone calls me right now the chances of the phone ringing are about 50/50, and if I pick up the phone, I’ll be lucky to get 10 seconds of “broken-up” conversation. However the phone is showing 2 bars (out of 4). My old phone used to “not lie” about the signal and show zero bars in situations like this.
Delays
Here are a few examples:
(1) To get phone book alphabetic listing you can just click the joystick down from initial state. Very convenient, but it does take about 2 seconds to bring up the listing. While the listing is being brought up you cannot start typing the name (no keyboard buffer, I guess). Same thing happens when you’re saving to-do list items, or calendar events. The phone shows “storing” sign for about 2 seconds. I’m almost used to having to wait a little by now, but in the beginning it was very annoying; my old phone also had some delays, but I was able to press keys, and commands would go into the keyboard buffer.
”T-9” software
By now almost all phones have some kind of software that guesses what you type as you go along. Seems like a great idea, but for people who’ve learned to use the regular “alpha” mode – (ex. Press 2 twice for “C”, or press 3 once for “A”), T-9 is just annoying.
Here’s how it works on this phone: when you’re in the phone book, default mode is alpha, but for calendar, to-do list, countdown, etc… default mode is T-9, which means every time you enter a new to-do item or calendar event, you have to press -menu- -joystick-down- -joystick-ok- to enable alpha mode.
Despite for the 3 things that I mentioned above, the phone is great, and I would not trade it for any other phone that Sprint PCS has to offer. Here’s why:
Joystick
If you look at your fingers when you’re going through menus on the regular phone, you’ll notice that you spend most of the time moving your fingers from key to key, and very little time actually pressing the keys. With joystick your thumb stays in one place while pressing -up- -down- -left- -right and -OK-. This makes going through the menus about 3 times faster then on phones which have -up- and -down- on the side of the phone and -OK- somewhere in the front below the LCD.
Calendar tools
The phone has a calendar with a monthly and daily view, to-do list with priorities and dates, countdown, and alarm clock with 3 different alarms. It’s not as convenient to use this Also there is a calculator with +,-,/,* operations, comes in very useful.
Ring tones
This phone has tons of ring tones, and you can assign different tones to regular, roaming, with/without caller id calls, voicemail/wireless web notifications, and even assign different rings to different people on your phone book.
Design
The phone sits comfortable in your hand, or you can press it between the ear and shoulder when driving (now days illegal in New York state). The key guard lid can be easily pushed up with the thumb (with some flip-phones that’s a problem). Buttons are nicely lit up, and spread out enough not to click the wrong one by mistake.
Battery Life
Honestly - I haven't skipped a night without charging yet, but through a day the most I lost was half the charge (if the indicator is accurate, still to be tested).
Headset Jack
Headset jack is very conveniently located on the top and if you have a headset with a built-in button, you can use it to take calls, or use voice dialing.
Voice Dialing
In addition to SprintPCS voice dialing (that costs extra) this phone can memorize 10 names to dial. While driving, this could be a very convenient feature. Voice dialing doesn't work perfect - some names are more easier recognised then others. Also if you have a deep voice it won't work as good for you as people with higher tone voice.
Durability
So far I only managed to drop it about 4 times, so far no problem. Let's see if it'll live to see its hundredths drop. Oh, by the way, if you buy it from Sprint PCS store, they automatically register you for a Samsung 1 year warranty, no paperwork to fill out.
Dual Band
One more thing - this phone is a dual-band, which means that if you're ever outside the SprintPCS network, you can make roaming calls on thousands of cellular networks around the country. Comes in very very useful.
The Verdict
Dispite of the few things that I didn't like about the phone, I can't think of a better phone for under $200.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 170
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Epinions.com ID:
mike_chimirev
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Member: Mike Chimirev
Location: Staten Island, New York, USA
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 2 members
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