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UTStarcom CDM-8945 / PN-230

 

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Phones should sound good. This one does!

 

Dec 18, 2006 by Fat Cat

It is too bad that this phone isn't getting the recognition that it deserves. This phone is the best sounding phone on the market right now. It makes great clear sounding calls (on your side and the other side) and gets great reception.

I have been looking for a replacement phone for many months now, because I couldn't find a phone that sounded good enough. I finally found it with the 8945.

When calling to Asia, many times the level is very low. So I need a phone with a lot of volume. But, I also need it to have a lot of volume range, so I won't be blasted by loud callers in the U.S. Also, because I am a heavy user, I use a plug in headset 95% of the time. This phone handles these 3 things in headset mode incredibly well. It can get very loud and very soft and it is very clear (especially not muffled sounding). It is the only phone to do so.

The LG LX-350 (Sprint phone) and other LG phones are clear also, but they don't get loud enough. Too bad for me, I would have loved to have kept the same charging plug, by staying with Sprint.

The handset is great. The speakerphone is very good too. Volume level for speakerphone is OK.

As an audiophile and a fanatical audio engineer, my conclusion that this is the best phone came from hours of testing every model that Sprint and Verizon offers at their stores. Unfortunately, it seems that this phone is the only one that has an audio fanatic designing its sound quality. I wish all cell phone makers cared more about the sound quality of their phones.

You may have seen poor reviews of this phone. But, I guarantee it is only quibbling about features. These persons are missing the point of this phone, which is its great sound quality. Complaining about lack of features on this phone, is like complaining about a Ferrari getting bad gas mileage. The reviewer is just missing the point.

If you make a lot of calls, and you care about call quality (not every extra frill), then this is the phone for you.


CDM 8945 vs. CDM 8940

 

Feb 4, 2006 by chai1000

I originally wanted the CDM 8940 because of the graphics and so forth, but this phone was taken off the the shelf just as I was ordering it, so I thought the 8945 was the closest thing. However they are different phones in many ways.

things I liked:
Clear high resolution screen(downloaded a van gogh wallpaper that looks great.)
Clear voice quality during calls
Easy menus, easy texting, and access to contacts
Very pretty phone
Good speaker phone quality

things i don't like
Camera quality is grainy(but actual pictures are not as clear as those taken by the cdm 8940 camera.) A big bummer for me actually.

Processor seems slower than the cdm 8940, so the little screensavers and video move jerkily.

You cannot choose an image on front lcd screen, as you can with other phones, has to have the verizon logo- this thing really bothers me, as there are some really nice downloadable pictures that would look beautiful on the outside of the phone and instead I have to look at the verizon logo.

thought the cdm 8945 would have the same interface as the 8940, but it didn't, so i was disappointed, I would have waited to see, but my 15 verizon days were up. :(

No Bluetooth

Software not mac compatible, including itune music

Memory card-will not play music taken off it according to the manual.

Glitches or bad design:
so far the most obvious is that the screensaver kicks in too soon-I mean verging on error too soon, for example right when you are writing a text message, and stop for a second to think, your text is replaced by a screensaver, and there is no way to set the sceensaver time on longer.

Power on "tune" has a digital error, so it skips. I think that some of these basic things should not exist-like power on tones/tunes at the least should not have an error.

Conclusion,
some definite plusses, some definite minuses, I don't think Verizon or any other cell service should limit use of a phone's feature so that you will use their downloadable functions.


Sleek, good quality

 

Jan 31, 2006 by aerokc

I wasn't too sure about this one. I don't get the greatest signal at my house and have had the LG vx9800, the Samsung a950, the Moto E815 and the HTC Apache before this one. I had signal problems with everything but the 815 at my house but this one is also receives a good signal.

The black isn't that fingerprinty. The ringers are LOUD and the vibrate is decent. Camera is so-so but ok for a VGA. I haven't used the MP3 player and VCast is pretty sloooow compared to the a950. Sound quality is good. I can hear callers very loud and clear and they can hear me and say I sound like me.

The only con I can find so far is that when it's plugged in and charging, it doesn't say charging, the battery meter doesn't move, and the screen doesn't stay lit. If you keep your eye on it, the battery meter will gain a notch.

Recommended!


kinda cool

 

Sep 6, 2009 by narn3049

The reason this phone is kind of cool is because it was compact and had video. It was from 2006 and most phones (on the verizon network at that time had more expensive phones that had video) and online this was for free.

It was dropped a lot and survived but we upgraded. My lg 3450 stopped producing sound when we were about to go on vacation, and I switched to this, the phone was good for videos and pictures. However when my grandfather wanted to join the grandmother's plan, it had a bad esn or something with the antennae motor and lost reception everywhere was switched out and he got the Samsung U340.

The ringtones were cool and at college campus was great to vibrate dance & amuse people.


Out of 5 i give it a 41/2

 

Jul 10, 2008 by urock111

This phone was a pretty good phone,i give it a 41/2.

pros:
-stylish
-good camera
-Flash
-Color LCD
-V-cast music &T.V
-Average sized buttons

Cons:
-after a week it wouldnt let me access all pics or videos
-after a week music stopped working
-flash didnt always work

overall i was a pretty good phone,i enjoyed having it. (most of the time)


Great Phone for the price

 

Mar 20, 2008 by rs4004

Overall, this was an awesome free phone. I've used it for over a year and have been very pleased with it. I was able to get it free by ordering it as a new activation on verizon's website.

PROs
-Excellent call quality, never let me down
-Expandable memory. With the right software, I had movies (2 hour full movies) on this phone)
-Very loud speaker for playing music
-Non proprietary headphone jack
-Solid Build, I dropped it a few times and only minor scratches
-Large keys
-Decent camera quality, can even record video!
-Small enough to pocket
-Never once locked up on me

CONs
-Difficult to learn/use music organization, I've seen easier
-Cannot control music from outside of phone
-Only method of fastforward movies is repeated tapping the button
-Battery indicator frequently lies
-Battery also is drained by watching movies (good for about 10 days normal use though!)
-Cannot use MIDIs as ringtones

Overall this is an excellent FREE phone. If you're getting this one, it's because you don't want to spend more on a phone. It has several features on it that normally you don't find on a phone in this price range. I give it a 4.5 only because of the little glitches in the CONs section that were occasionally annoying. Without those, this would have been a 5.


Good basic phone

 

Sep 7, 2007 by ralph0722

I got this phone because I'm struggling with signal inside my house with other companies. Verizon is no better than the others inside my house. But anyways...i got the UTStarcom because was free. First thing i noticed is that this phone is very similar to Samsung and LG phones...almost same chargers, icons, keys and sounds. Maybe the same company build the phones for several brands. The CDM8945 is good for a free phone. Is very bulky. Menus are basic and simple. Phone feels heavy and well built. Volume is excellent. Ringers suck big time. Only 4 ugly wallpapers. Camera is prehistoric at best. I just came from a $300 cell phone...so of course the 8945 is gonna be a huge difference. But at this point I'm desperate. I need signal inside my house. So for now... i got 30 days to test it...lets see what happens.

 
 
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