pondering a new phone

been looking over , reading comments, checking reviews and still pondering.
between
Katana
or
MOTORAZR V3m

leaning toward the katana because of the LARGER display.

anyone have any MAJOR problems, grips, concerns about either.

would appreciate sharing the info.

the phones would be within about $20 cost for upgrading 3 phones.



[email protected]

---

› See More: pondering a new phone

"mikeyhsd" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> been looking over , reading comments, checking reviews and still
> pondering. between
> Katana
> or
> MOTORAZR V3m
>
> leaning toward the katana because of the LARGER display.
>
> anyone have any MAJOR problems, grips, concerns about either.
>
> would appreciate sharing the info.
>
> the phones would be within about $20 cost for upgrading 3 phones.
>
>
>
> [email protected]


I have the Katana. I love the phone for what it has, and what it doesn't.
Since I don't need music in my ears all the time, I have the Katana. I
don't need a mega-pixel camera because I already have a 4 megapixel digital
camera. The Katana also does *not* have Powervision capability. It's
plain old Vision. This is fine for me because I live in an area that
powervision doesn't cover, but the vision works great.

The main screen is large and is very brightly lit. (when you choose to have
it that way) You can, of course, dim it down to save your battery. One
MAJOR advantage to the Katana is the battery life. Since it doesn't have
MP3 capabilities or powervision, my battery will last 6 days before needing
recharged. The colors it produces are very good and easily readable thanks
to a higher resolution screen and a larger font size that you can choose.
The main screen is a 240X320 pixel, BUT...finding a good wallpaper for this
new resolution that will fill the screen can be difficult. Most of the
JAVA games out there won't fill the screen fully, so you have to look at
text or graphics that are too small. But give it time...higher resolution
pics,games,apps and such are coming around.

Overall, I give the Katana 4.5 out of 5

Good review by "Me!" The RAZR is definitely a better phone for the
features it has. I work at RadioShack and I have a customer switching
from her Katana to a RAZR because of its simplicity, especially in
trying to use a Bluetooth headset. It generally takes fewer steps to
use the Voice Services and Bluetooth technology on the RAZR. It has 4
times the picture quality (1.3MP vs 0.3 MP) and way more data speed in
certain areas. I would start by getting the RAZR, then if you think you
think you can live without it (within your 30 day trial period), trade
it in for a Katana.

Mellow Mike
http://savemyphone.blogspot.com


mikeyhsd wrote:
> been looking over , reading comments, checking reviews and still pondering.
> between
> Katana
> or
> MOTORAZR V3m
>
> leaning toward the katana because of the LARGER display.
>
> anyone have any MAJOR problems, grips, concerns about either.
>
> would appreciate sharing the info.
>
> the phones would be within about $20 cost for upgrading 3 phones.
>
>
>
> [email protected]
>
>
>

"mikeyhsd" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> been looking over , reading comments, checking reviews and still
> pondering. between
> Katana
> or
> MOTORAZR V3m
>
> leaning toward the katana because of the LARGER display.
>
> anyone have any MAJOR problems, grips, concerns about either.
>
> would appreciate sharing the info.
>
> the phones would be within about $20 cost for upgrading 3 phones.
>
>

My wife and I have had a pair of Katana phones for about three months. We
have both been very happy with the phones. I like the size and visibility
of the display. I like the way it sounds and operates.

There are some things that some people do not like about the Katana but
they are not issues for me.

- No MP3 playback
- Ringtones are Midi or QCP
These are not issues for me. I do not use my phone to listen to music
and I hate ringtones that are songs. The basic ringers are fine for me.
I keep mine set to low and vibrate most of the time anyway.

- Not Power Vision capable.
Not much of an issue for me. I do not want to do multimedia on my phone.
I do use the Gmail app and Opera Mini to surf the web quite a bit. Every
once in a while I wish phone suported EV-DO for the faster data rate but
that is a minor issue to me.

Things that I really like:
- The phone is small and thin enough to be comfortable in my procket all
the time. I bought our phones before the V3m was available but now that
I have seen one... I still like the design of the Katana better.
- Even though the phone is small the screen and keypad are reasonable.
- AMPS support: Every once in a while I find myself in areas where there
is no Sprint or other CDMA coverage. I like that I can roam analog if I
have to. I am on a plan where roaming is free so this is a plus for me.

I got Katana for my wife and son for christmas. They love the phone, I have
always liked Sanyo phones for Sprint and have always owned Sanyo until I
bought Treo last year. I have few friends who have Razr with Sprint and
Cingular and they told me that they do not like it, so I went with Katana.

As others have said, this is a very good phone, but it is NOT a multimedia
phone.


While stranded on information super highway mikeyhsd wrote:
> been looking over , reading comments, checking reviews and still pondering.
> between
> Katana
> or
> MOTORAZR V3m
>
> leaning toward the katana because of the LARGER display.
>
> anyone have any MAJOR problems, grips, concerns about either.
>
> would appreciate sharing the info.
>
> the phones would be within about $20 cost for upgrading 3 phones.
>
>
>
> [email protected]
>
>
>

--
Hemant Shah /"\ ASCII ribbon campaign
E-mail: [email protected] \ / ---------------------
X against HTML mail
TO REPLY, REMOVE NoJunkMail / \ and postings
FROM MY E-MAIL ADDRESS.
-----------------[DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED BULK E-MAIL]------------------
I haven't lost my mind, Above opinions are mine only.
it's backed up on tape somewhere. Others can have their own.

thanx for all the input.
much appreciated.

do not plan on using the data ability.
no need for music player.
one of the phones is for a senior senior with poor eye site and less sensitive fingers.

so will probably go with the katana and see what happens.




[email protected]



"mikeyhsd" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
been looking over , reading comments, checking reviews and still pondering.
between
Katana
or
MOTORAZR V3m

leaning toward the katana because of the LARGER display.

anyone have any MAJOR problems, grips, concerns about either.

would appreciate sharing the info.

the phones would be within about $20 cost for upgrading 3 phones.



[email protected]

of corse you would steer her towards the razor mike you work for radio shack
and you get a free account with the provider of youer choise.
and get paied a nice commission to sell the phones and service . the one
reason i will never buy a phone from radio shack.
i got a way better deal with sprint at the sprint store and saved the fees
radio shack charges for accepting payments ect.
radio shack is just like sears takeing branded and non branded stuff and
selling it under the radio shack name for more than it goes for directly
from the maker it self.
and the katana has a BETTER battery life than the razor at 3 hours what a
joke the razor is a nice looking phone but the key pad is a poor lay out and
a joke.
iam a katana man for life or untill i change to the sanyo M1 a better
version of the katana and has more features than the razor

--
AL'S COMPUTERS
"Mellow Mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Good review by "Me!" The RAZR is definitely a better phone for the
> features it has. I work at RadioShack and I have a customer switching
> from her Katana to a RAZR because of its simplicity, especially in
> trying to use a Bluetooth headset. It generally takes fewer steps to
> use the Voice Services and Bluetooth technology on the RAZR. It has 4
> times the picture quality (1.3MP vs 0.3 MP) and way more data speed in
> certain areas. I would start by getting the RAZR, then if you think you
> think you can live without it (within your 30 day trial period), trade
> it in for a Katana.
>
> Mellow Mike
> http://savemyphone.blogspot.com
>
>
> mikeyhsd wrote:
>> been looking over , reading comments, checking reviews and still
>> pondering.
>> between
>> Katana
>> or
>> MOTORAZR V3m
>>
>> leaning toward the katana because of the LARGER display.
>>
>> anyone have any MAJOR problems, grips, concerns about either.
>>
>> would appreciate sharing the info.
>>
>> the phones would be within about $20 cost for upgrading 3 phones.
>>
>>
>>
>> [email protected]
>>
>>
>>
>

If you need advanced voice dialing then go for the Razr. The Katana does not
have advanced voice dialing. I need the ability to enter several hundred
business contacts and have each of them availalbe so that I can call them by
pressing a button on my Bluetooth Headset and say "call name". The Sanyo
does not have this capability.


"Andy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> of corse you would steer her towards the razor mike you work for radio
> shack and you get a free account with the provider of youer choise.
> and get paied a nice commission to sell the phones and service . the one
> reason i will never buy a phone from radio shack.
> i got a way better deal with sprint at the sprint store and saved the fees
> radio shack charges for accepting payments ect.
> radio shack is just like sears takeing branded and non branded stuff and
> selling it under the radio shack name for more than it goes for directly
> from the maker it self.
> and the katana has a BETTER battery life than the razor at 3 hours what a
> joke the razor is a nice looking phone but the key pad is a poor lay out
> and a joke.
> iam a katana man for life or untill i change to the sanyo M1 a better
> version of the katana and has more features than the razor
>
> --
> AL'S COMPUTERS
> "Mellow Mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Good review by "Me!" The RAZR is definitely a better phone for the
>> features it has. I work at RadioShack and I have a customer switching
>> from her Katana to a RAZR because of its simplicity, especially in
>> trying to use a Bluetooth headset. It generally takes fewer steps to
>> use the Voice Services and Bluetooth technology on the RAZR. It has 4
>> times the picture quality (1.3MP vs 0.3 MP) and way more data speed in
>> certain areas. I would start by getting the RAZR, then if you think you
>> think you can live without it (within your 30 day trial period), trade
>> it in for a Katana.
>>
>> Mellow Mike
>> http://savemyphone.blogspot.com
>>
>>
>> mikeyhsd wrote:
>>> been looking over , reading comments, checking reviews and still
>>> pondering.
>>> between
>>> Katana
>>> or
>>> MOTORAZR V3m
>>>
>>> leaning toward the katana because of the LARGER display.
>>>
>>> anyone have any MAJOR problems, grips, concerns about either.
>>>
>>> would appreciate sharing the info.
>>>
>>> the phones would be within about $20 cost for upgrading 3 phones.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> [email protected]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

In article <[email protected]>, Mij Adyaw wrote:
> If you need advanced voice dialing then go for the Razr. The Katana does not
> have advanced voice dialing. I need the ability to enter several hundred
> business contacts and have each of them availalbe so that I can call them by
> pressing a button on my Bluetooth Headset and say "call name". The Sanyo
> does not have this capability.

I concur. Motorola phones use VoiceSignal voice dial software. It's
*wonderful.* I even emailed VoiceSignal once, thanking them for
providing the software

The first phones I used that had it were the Samsung A660 and A620 I
used on Sprint. I can't live without it. I actually make purchase
decisions now based on which phones have the feature.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED

It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.

Steve,

I completely agree with you and find the voice signal software to be very
user friendly and accurate in its voice recognition. I have also decided to
make the Voice Signal software a major criteria when purchasing a new phone.
Sanyo had advanced voice dialing in the mm7400 (a two year old phone) and
they removed it in the Katana and the mm8400. Can you say LAME?...


"Steven J. Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, Mij Adyaw wrote:
>> If you need advanced voice dialing then go for the Razr. The Katana does
>> not
>> have advanced voice dialing. I need the ability to enter several hundred
>> business contacts and have each of them availalbe so that I can call them
>> by
>> pressing a button on my Bluetooth Headset and say "call name". The Sanyo
>> does not have this capability.
>
> I concur. Motorola phones use VoiceSignal voice dial software. It's
> *wonderful.* I even emailed VoiceSignal once, thanking them for
> providing the software
>
> The first phones I used that had it were the Samsung A660 and A620 I
> used on Sprint. I can't live without it. I actually make purchase
> decisions now based on which phones have the feature.
>
> --
> Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl **
> Linux/*BSD/Windows
> Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
>
> It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.

"mikeyhsd" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> thanx for all the input.
> much appreciated.
>
> do not plan on using the data ability.
> no need for music player.
> one of the phones is for a senior senior with poor eye site and less
> sensitive fingers.
>
> so will probably go with the katana and see what happens.
>
>

I mentioned before that my wife and I each got a Katana about 3 months
ago. Over the Christmas break her parents also wanted to get phones. We
got them Katana phones for the reasons that you mentioned. They will not
be doing any data at all. In fact, I went into the security settings and
locked out the Vision and Camera. They liked the large display for
reading phone numbers and contact names. They also liked the larger
keypad. It has been a few weeks and they love the Katana.

thanx.
went to the local sprint store yesterday and the katana was the favored one.



[email protected]



"Mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
"mikeyhsd" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> thanx for all the input.
> much appreciated.
>
> do not plan on using the data ability.
> no need for music player.
> one of the phones is for a senior senior with poor eye site and less
> sensitive fingers.
>
> so will probably go with the katana and see what happens.
>
>

I mentioned before that my wife and I each got a Katana about 3 months
ago. Over the Christmas break her parents also wanted to get phones. We
got them Katana phones for the reasons that you mentioned. They will not
be doing any data at all. In fact, I went into the security settings and
locked out the Vision and Camera. They liked the large display for
reading phone numbers and contact names. They also liked the larger
keypad. It has been a few weeks and they love the Katana.

In article <[email protected]>, Mij Adyaw wrote:
> Steve,
>
> I completely agree with you and find the voice signal software to be very
> user friendly and accurate in its voice recognition. I have also decided to
> make the Voice Signal software a major criteria when purchasing a new phone.
> Sanyo had advanced voice dialing in the mm7400 (a two year old phone) and
> they removed it in the Katana and the mm8400. Can you say LAME?...

Yeah, but Samsung has a bunch of phones that have it, and the Sprint
Samsung phones always seemed decent to me. I liked the two that I owned.

voicesignal.com has a list of Sprint phones equiped with their
software:

http://www.voicesignal.com/products/...carrier=Sprint

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED

It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.

its one of the highest rated phones out for the non geeks aka the ones who need mp3 players and tv ect its a powerfull phone.


--
AL'S COMPUTERS
"mikeyhsd" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
thanx.
went to the local sprint store yesterday and the katana was the favored one.



[email protected]



"Mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
"mikeyhsd" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> thanx for all the input.
> much appreciated.
>
> do not plan on using the data ability.
> no need for music player.
> one of the phones is for a senior senior with poor eye site and less
> sensitive fingers.
>
> so will probably go with the katana and see what happens.
>
>

I mentioned before that my wife and I each got a Katana about 3 months
ago. Over the Christmas break her parents also wanted to get phones. We
got them Katana phones for the reasons that you mentioned. They will not
be doing any data at all. In fact, I went into the security settings and
locked out the Vision and Camera. They liked the large display for
reading phone numbers and contact names. They also liked the larger
keypad. It has been a few weeks and they love the Katana.