Customer Reviews

Audiovox CDM8910 Phone (Verizon Wireless)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

I like this phone, but there is one thing you must know before you buy it...the data cable and software that you can buy for it do NOT allow you to synch your address book with the phone's address book. This means that you have to manually enter all your phone book entries, or find another workaround. I discovered this after it was too late, and hopefully they'll update the software so that it's compatible with this phone, but currently you just get a nice clean installation (from the Audiovox proprietary software) and then it tells you that it sees your Audiovox CDM 8910, but it is not compatible with it.

Otherwise, this phone is great, it's e-911 ready, and has GPS built in so you can be tracked if you ever call 911 and they need to locate you. Just be aware that currently there is no phone book software for this model.

I did a lot of research before getting this phone and it seems to have gotten a lot of mixed reviews. However, I've been extremely pleased with it. Here's what I've found:

Pros:
- The menu is easy to use and aesthetically very nice.
- Lots of convenient short cut keys.
- The camera quality is pretty good for a cell phone and has adjustable quality levels (Even on low quality, the picture is pretty good if you're keeping it on the cell phone as a background or something).
- Battery life is pretty good- I can go several days without recharging it.
- The reception seems to be pretty good, too.
- I've seen a few reviews of complaints that they kept taking pictures of their pockets accidentally, but there is a key lock, and even without that on, my phone won't take pictures while it's closed. Perhaps they've changed the way the camera button works since then?


Cons:
- It did take a little reading of the manual to find out how to use all of the features (speakerphone and key lock, for example) but once you figure it out, it's quite easy.
- The screen is a little hard to see in bright sunlight, but it's not really a problem unless you're trying to take pictures as it can be hard to see what details are in the shot.
- The built-in ringtones aren't great, but the ringer has good sound, so you can download something better for it.
- The external display alternates between "Verizon Wireless" and the time, which can be annoying when you want to know what time it is and have to wait 5 seconds before the clock comes back.
- No games.

This phone has a lot of attractive features that make it worth buying, but there are also seveal caveats.

The Good:
- The dual display is very nice, allowing the external LCD to display either an analog or digital clock (the analog clock looks really sharp). The main screen is full-color, which is nice, though becoming standard on cellphones.
- The battery life is long. I can go two days without charging my phone and be fine. There's also an extended-life battery available, though I can't imagine needing it.
- The camera is OK by cellphone standards, but having a flash really helps. Also, the phone has overlay "frames" that allow you to take fun pictures. Another nice feature is the ability to take self-portraits with the external LCD.
- The MP3 ringtones are nice. Instead of a MIDI re-creation of your favorite songs, the real songs themselves play on your phone. There are free services on the web for making your own ringtones, but Verizon likes to combat them.

The Bad:
- The included belt clip doesn't allow the phone to open while holstered, so you have to unclip it to use any functions.
- Sometimes you'll take a picture of the inside of your pocket because the camera button gets pushed.
- The external LCD is black-and-white, unlike newer models with color displays.
- The phone takes a long time to turn on/off when compared to other phones.

Pros: (1) First tri-mode phone that would work inside my house. Don't know if that's due to upgrades in Verizon's network since the last time I tried to switch to a tri-mode or if it's that this phone has more range. I tried many tri-mode phones that didn't work and had to keep going back to my trusty Audiovox 4000 dual-mode phone for its better range.

(2) Good display for older eyes, except very difficult to see in a quick glance who the caller is when a call comes in on call waiting while you are talking to someone else. With my old phone, I could see the incoming caller's number in a split second and get the phone back up to my ear so I didn't miss much of the conversation I was in. On this one, the number of the person you are talking to is clear but it's hard for the eye to find and read the number of the person on call waiting, especially in high ambient light.

Cons: (1) Short battery life. Short car cord. Once the battery is dead, I try to keep talking by plugging in the car cord and hunching over close to the cigarrette lighter so the short springy cord doesn't pull the plug out, but after a minute or so, the phone shuts down even with power from the cigarette lighter if the battery is dead. Maybe my charger or battery is defective.

(2) Camera -- no way to get pictures out except by sending them to yourself over the internet, which costs money. But that's okay, because the picture quality is poor so why would you want them? No way to lock buttons, so you are constantly taking pictures of the inside of your pockets and especially of your shoulder as you answer calls and accidentally hit the shutter button.

All-in-all, a step down from my trusty, clunky old Audiovox 4000 which I used for years. I would still be using the 4000, except Verizon insists they will charge me $150/month for 2000 minutes with the 4000, plus charge for long distance, whereas with a tri-mode it's $99 and free long distance. Waaaa!

So now it's off to the Verizon store to return this phone and try another.

I bought this phone along with a different brand for my wife mainly because of the design and ignored some of the warnings from various reviewers.

My pros are:
- Nice Exterior.
- Simple to use.
- Decent Picture Quality

The Cons:
- They thought at Audiovox to put a button on the outside of the camera to take sublight pictures. VERY BAD IDEA. This goes on all the time and drains the battery without my knowledge.
- The phone heats up after about 5 mn conversation.
- Unstable Signal strength (I know it is not the carrier because my wife has an LGE with the same carrier and does not have the same problem).
- No Free Games (not even) Snake??? (I know they want us to pay for it but we should at least have some).

I liked the phone with all the features. Even though I knew there was no game come with it, I still got it, and was impressed with the rich features.

However, the most significant problem is reliability. And I have had Verizon Wireless replace 4 times for me in the past 3 months. Yes, FOUR TIMES!

The first time, I noticed that when I listened to the ear piece, the volume was not consistent. It went very loud and then almost silent, even the caller was using a wired phone. VZW replaced a brand new one without question. I was happy.

One and half month later, one day the photo button at the side was pressed in and would not come out. It sticked a couple times before but came out with the aid of some paper clip. Not this time. I brought it back to VZW, and they got me another new one. They even transferred the phone book. A positive point to VZW.

Another one month later, the phone simply would not turn on after the keypad was locked. The charge light was green, but there was no images at all for both front and inside LCDs. VZW replaced it, but could not transferred the phone book -- with about 200 entries!!!! At this point I was frustrated. I asked if I could get another phone made by another brand, even at a lower sticker price. Sorry, no way. So I had to stick with this phone.

Then, in 2 weeks. This time, I did not do anything and all of sudden it shut itself down and would not turn on. The protecting sticker over the main LCD had not been peeled off yet, so you know it's completely new. The VZW store asked me to leave the phone overnight. I just called them, and they said it's replaced. I haven't gone there to pick it up yet, but I have my fingers crossed.

All the 4 phones had the same volume problem. I asked several friends who have/had the same phone, and they all said they were bothered by the inconsistent level of volume. The only possible fix is to use a good ear phone. That seems to be more consistent.

Now I am worried because I signed a 2 years contract, and the factory warranty is only for 1 year. I have cell phones for more than 10 years, and had no problem with the other 6 phones I had before with other carriers. Even another Nokia 3589i with VZW was much better in sound quality and reliability. VZW will not switch another different phone for me, so I am stuck with this Audio 8910 for a while and it is not a good feeling. Now I am paying additional $2.99 each month for the extended warranty, but after 1 year, what they do will be replacing dead phone with reburbished ones. So next time I will try to sign 1 year contract, instead of 2 years.

For all others who had better luck than me, great, I know you enjoyed your phones. However, it simply does not work well for me. And to prevent the phone book loss, VZW recommended I used their service to put my phone book onto their server, and that's another $15 charge. I don't know if it cost $ to download it back to another phone but very likely it will.

Hopefully this newly replaced one can last a little longer.

I have done a lot of review checking on other phone manufacturers and this one had the best ratings with alot of nice features. I wanted to upgrade from my Nokia 3390 mainly because I was always hitting the keypad and dialing out. Otherwise it was a great phone with excellant service and reception. I hope this Audiovox won't let me down. The screen its great and easy to view along with the ease of accessing the menu. They list it as not having voice dialing, but it does. I had found this out from a friend before ordering it. The quality of the camera is not the best, but typical for a camera phone. The location of the camera button on the side is the only real complaint I have about the phone. It is too easily hit while talking on the phone. The reception is great and I'm hoping the service is too. I liked T-Mobile and hated to switch. If you're looking for a nice flip phone, this is it!

I've owned this phone for almost a year now and use it extensively. I use this as my primary phone and so I average about 1200-1500 minutes every month. My overall impression - it's a decent phone with strengths but like a lot of companies that are not on the "A" list, it does have its notable drawbacks.

In the 10.5 months I've owned it, I've had to turn it back to Verizon because it had stopped charging. Apparently it had developped a bad connection with the charger. (I've never dropped it or even put it in the same pocket w/ my keys) And since it has a one-year warranty, I had it replaced for free at the local Verizon store. The replacement wasn't all that much better (see the cons below) but I was more or less content.

PROs:
- vibrant color display
- camera can be much clearer than my other friends' phones
- battery life is decently sufficient for talking and standby
- has a dimming backlight function while you talk on the phone
- cute animations for alarm clock, incoming calls, missed calls, etc
- nice big outside display
- easy to use menus
- can lock the use of internet access so you dont accidentally turn it on and incur unwanted charges
- alphabetical order phonebook
- 20 speed dial entries
- txt msg friendly
- not too bulky

CONs:
- data cables not compatible with macs (i have an ibook), but then again, that's not nec audiovox's fault.
- flash is almost completely useless
- phone is soft in sound... both its ring and people on the other line. i've had friends complain they cant hear me as well as on other phones like samsung (my sister's phone)
- phone *creaks* when up against my face a lot (the hinge bends backwards). I press it up against my face when I can't hear the other person as well as I want.
- plastic integrity is not as solid as i want it to be (not that it falls apart or anything... and though all the plastic does fit together neatly)

Overall, it's a decent phone. keeps up with me when i take care of it. if i had to choose again, I think I would have gone with a bigger name like LG or Samsung. I wish Nokia made one for Verizon. verizon doesnt seem to have much of a non-flip phone selection.

This phone was a pain at first. From the start it was hard to determine what functions the phone offered and how to enable them. Soon I had to open the manual to locate and enable the many useful functions that this phone had hidden. However, next I had trouble with the sound and the speaker. It seemed like the phone is not capable of reaching the volumes I need; yet I am often in a loud setting. The biggest turn on about this phone is that it is very tough, mine has been left outside in the snow twice (once for three days), forgotten in the rain, and been chewed by my dog. Yet it still works with full function of every capability it had from the start.

I got this phone about six months ago, and it's been a disappointment since day one.

The ringer is very quiet- I can almost never hear it ring! Not only is the ringer quiet... the whole phone is quiet. I often have difficulty hearing the person on the other end, even with the volume turned up as loud as it can go.

The flash doesn't do anything for the phone, so don't buy it just because there's a flash.

The thing that really bothers me about this phone, though, is the battery. I can charge it for well over 24 hours, and the battery dies after an hour of conversation.

My sister also has this phone, and she shares my dislike for it. She had her phone replaced within a few months of buying it because the phone wouldn't hold a charge. Just recently, her replacement phone started doing the same thing. She recieved yet another replacement phone last week... we'll see how well that works out for her.