Samsung SPH-A500
Average Ratings
Great looking phone but sucks
I must admit, the phone does look great and I love the features it comes with BUT, I wish it worked as well as it looks. I bought this phone and replaced my old Samsung SCH-8500. I also owned an A460, which worked even better than the A500. The phone drops calls, constantly looses signal and often has to be reset in order to work properly. I have the replacement program, which I must have used at least 4 times already. If you like a nice unreliable looking phone, then the A500 is right for YOU.
Word to the wise...
I am a former employee of sprint pcs, the csr you see when you walk into a sprint store who told you what was wrong with your phone and why it wouldnt work... This phone was horrible. We would recommed other models to customers just because of the problems this phone created. We had plenty of people come into our store trying to get this phone just because of the way it looked. The clamshell design is nice, but the overall phone design is horrible. The charging pin is VERY prone to breaking off, and since there is no way to secure it, its only a matter of time before it breaks off. The phone itself has a problem with freezing up to the point that it will no longer work properly, and more often than not, those 200 phone numbers you can store? The phone has a nasty and vicious habit of erasing them with a low battery...not every time it got low, mind you, but thats when it seemed to happen the most. Then there is the problem of getting that information back... You couldnt. We lost many a customer who could not get that all too important phone book back, and who didnt feel like paying an extra 5 dollars for the ability to use the voice command feature where you could store numbers outside of the phone. And they are right, convenience is the reason consumers purchase cellular phones. This is a bad buy, and I would avoid it at all costs. Try to get a sanyo phone, prefferably the 4900.
Looks Great, YEAH!! Works Great, NO!!
The only reason I gave this phone a 2 is because of it's stylish design. That's it, people!! If you want a good-looking phone that doesn't work worth a flip, then please buy this piece of garbage! I mean I couldn't use the phone in my neighborhood, later for not getting a signal in my house. I could have lived with that, a little. No service on the highway. I could predict where I was going to drop my calls. I paid $300 for this when I could have purchased a DVD changer and would have been a lot happier. Not to mention, Sprint PCS service is among the worst among cellular services. They'd been better off sticking with analog technology. It would have save them billions! Okay, so they gave me a free extended life battery. They should have thrown in some Tylenol and an four-foot antenna to relieve the pain of watching such an expensive investment flop right in front of your eyes. Now, you have to ask yourself, do I hate this phone or what? Last piece of advice....DO NOT BUY THIS CHEAP IMITATION ON A CELL PHONE! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GOOD A500!! IT DOES NOT EXIST!!
PLease Please Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
anybody out there have a extra phone they don't want like a samsung a 500, because i had one with no insurance, i bought it the 3rd day it came out and it was $300, and you all kno w what happened i lost it on a motor scooter, it was like throwing $400 away because i had bought the extra camera that goes wit the phone. they could'nt mail me a new one, but if there's anybody out there that want to give there phone away or sell it hit me up thanx,
bmy328ic@aol.com
PS i really need it
Its the best!!
Hey I have sold cell phones for about a year now and have owned this one for 9 months. It has surpased my expectations greatly.
Pros:
Data Capable- The fact that I can hook a data cable to this phone and my laptop then download mp3s at 11-15k dropped my jaw the first time I used it. Just make sure you have unlimited MBs of download
Ringers-I was also able to make my own melodic ringers using true audio clips of my favorite bands. www. a500hacking . com will teach you more. You can also make LOUD decible ringers for people who can't hear.
Wallpaper-I also learned how to create my own wallpaper which makes my phone even more of a individual
Design-the shape is sleek and aerodynamic
Weight-It feels like a actual phone in your hand not just a plastic toy
Battery-On the extended life I can get 6 hours of talking easy
Reception-I owned a LG before this and where my LG used to get no signal this phone pulled it in fine.
Cons:
Custom-It would be great if you could buy this phone in different colors
hope this helps
jared
Another one that sucks!!!
Being that I used to work on these phones. And I have used this phone, all I ever get is dropped calls. I would not recommend any Sprint PCS Samsung phones!!!! But hint, it may not be the phone since almost every phone with Sprint drops calls. I used to swear by this company, but within the last 2 years, it's been pretty bad. They should put their money into putting more towers up.
Cool looking, poor reception.
This phone is the best looking cell phone I have ever seen. Easy to use, fun to show off, all that good stuff. The only problem with it, like everybody else has said, is the fact that if you set it right next to a sanyo 8100, it gets 2 full bars less reception. Another cool feature about this phone is it's customability. I mean, I have a playboy bunny as my screen saver with the Beverly hills cop theme as my ringer. The odd thing is, even if you have a data cable, you cannot transfer pictures and ringers to your phone, however there are some websites that you can goto to get everything from a new ringer to a new game (3gupload.com). I'm sure there are others out there, this just happens to be the one I use (because it happens to be free). And even if you don't have unlimited vision (because you have to use the phone's browser to download the stuff) it literally costs pennies to get. All in all, a good phone, but I think I'm going to switch to verizon because I don't get any reception at my school (I have to hang my head out of my window to get one bar). And the signal should not be that bad 5 minutes off of 495, a major highway outside of DC.
Great phone
I give this phone a solid 4. I have used 3 Samsung phones before this one. And I used my phone as the only way of communicating. No land lines, just my cell phone.
First, signal is just fine anywhere I go. But even when signal isn't great (none or 1 bars) I still keep my calls and they are clear.
Battery life isn't great. But I turn off the location function and that help... not to mention it really isn't working quite.
The screen is bright and colorful. Menus work like other Samsung phones.
I don't like the browser. It looks right and works, but on occasion I will receive an error and power cycling the phone is how to fix that.
I've had this phone for a year. I live in Chicago and travel all over the US. It has been a great phone to me. No real complaints. I think it's a good choice. I have upgraded to the A600... you'll be hearing about that phone in a few months.
If you enjoy crap...get this phone!
Ok, where should I even begin. Well for starters, I switched over from Verizon just because of this phone. At first I loved my A500, however the service was terrible, which I thought was because of Sprint in general. Later on, I decided to take my phone in for service. The problem wasn't sprint's signal but the phone its self...it was broken all along. I got a new one and that one was broken. Long story short and 3 phones later...I finally was able to upgrade to the Sanyo 8100 and anticipating its arrival today. We'll see how this turns out. Bottom line, there are plenty of better phones out there for this price. Don't go with Samsung.
A500 Great Phone
Sure this phone has some glitches, but by going to Sprint you can get software updates that will solve all known problems that I have had to date. For all you folks out there who say you can't charge their battery w/o the phone plugged in then go to samsung website and order their stand alone charger for about 20 bucks or so. Thought my LG5350 was a great phone but the A500 beats it up pretty well. NO one has a screen as sharp or as bright as the A500. Lots of free ringers and screen savers available from various web sites. Try it you'll like it.
