Rating: 
Summary: Review of the Sanyo 8100
Review: I've been on Sprint for about 5 yr. now. I was using the Samsung 3500 and had issues with reception. A friend told me to go with the Sanyo 8100. I have had the phone for a week now and it has some great features, but in my opion the audio sounds pretty bad.
The earpiece is very muffled and the calls I make, sound like they are under water or phase shifting. My old Samsung sounded much better.
The problem with Samsung is reception. Why can't these guys get together? The pics from the 8100 are pretty fuzzy, but I don't
care about that, I won't be using that feature very much. I want good sounding audio and really good reception. I guess you can't get both in one phone. I was going to try the Samsung VGA1000 but many of the reviews I have seen talk about how "hot" the phone gets. Nothing kills electronics faster than heat. I have also heard it doesn't have that good of reception. I guess there are always going to be trade offs. BTW, the leather case for the 8100 will box your ears! It's stitched with very hard thread. Ouch! On the plus side the 8100 is a nice, easy to use phone. Voice recognition is great and reception seems good. Pysically, it's nice and small, but chubby. I guess they all have their +/-. If you find the perfect phone, let us all know! Good luck.
Rating: 
Summary: Sanyo Rocks!
Review: I've been using Nokia and Samsung phones over 2 years. One day my buddy who works for Sprint told me to dump my phone. I thought Sprint and its phone were bad, but now I realize that I was totally wrong. This phone kicks Samsung's ass! Great reception, good camera, unlimited internet access, and lots of cool apps. Most excellent thing is that you can watch TV(w/extra fees) Overall this is one of the greatest wireless phone out there.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the Price
Review: I've been very happy with this phone since I bought it. I've only had it for 2 weeks, but no complaints. Yes, the camera resolution could be better. But are you buying a phone to talk or to take pictures? I bought it to talk.
Rating: 
Summary: Not all its cracked up to be--very misleading
Review: I've had my phone for over 6 months. Reception is generally good, with few dropped calls. Coverage is mediocre at best (doesnt matter which provider).
Disadvantages are: 1) handset gets really hot after phone conversations longer than 2 minutes
2) Ringing volume (meaning from incoming calls) extremely LOW even at highest volume setting. I mean you can hear the person you're speaking with loud and clear, but that's only IF you can hear the phone ring in order to answer it. I have missed so many calls because I can't hear the phone ringing!!!
3) Downloaded games don't work: I don't know if this is the service providers fault, or the phones, but I downloaded 2 games, and was able to play them only once!
4) Backlighting of keys extremely poor, so that you have difficulty in dialling numbers in poorly lit conditions.
Rating:
Summary: great phone
Review: I've had my Sanyo for about a month now. Based on the performance thus far I would definitely recommend it. The large, well lit color display is a big plus. Scrolling through text articles on the web is not a hastle at all, as it can handle several lines of text at a time. The secondary display on the front of the phone (which tells you the time, signal and battery strength, caller ID, etc.) is a good size as well. No complaints about the camera either. It is easy to use, and plenty of photos can be stored in the memory and scrolled through easily. As another reviewer mentioned, it is cool to have the person's picture pop up when they call. You can also choose from a variety of rings, with different rings for different callers. I have not tried sending any photos yet, so I can't comment on that aspect. The battery also lasts longer than I'm used to from my prior cell phones. The charger is very small, although that seems to be becoming standard these days. Given all its features, it is quite small and lightweight. On the negative side, it does seem that (even compared to other cell phones) your ability to hear drops off rapidly if your ear is off to the side of the receiver even slightly. It is definitely not a volume problem though. With the volume on high you can easily have a conversation just holding the phone a couple feet in front of you (even resting in your lap works). Recommended.
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Summary: Could it be ever better!
Review: Not for a single moment do I regret buying this phone. It is just AWESOME! The camera is cool, even with a bit little resolution. The menues are just perfect, incredible inside and outside display. Java, games, internet...oh my gosh, this phone really rocks! I am on Sprint now and regret the service a bit for its high prices but the phone definitely worths it. I am waiting for my rebate to come so it will be even sweater - FREE!
Rating: 
Summary: ...It depends on how bad you want it...
Review: Now, in all fairness, this website does an excellent job of showing off this handy little gadget wanted by every teenager in the country. However, what they don't tell you when you buy this trouble maker is that after you've spent $229.00 (not including tax), you have to pay for everything that you thought you had already invested in. Make sense? You see, the phone is a cute little gift for Christmas and everyone rushes out to get it. What they don't realize is that everything you want must be downloaded. For example, all the hot new songs that teens want as their ringers cost extra money to download. Getting a connection to the web costs extra money. Text messaging your friends cost extra money. Sending pictures (which the phone takes for "free") to your friends costs extra money. SO what exactly is it that you're paying for? The style of course. If you don't mind not having the hippest ringers or keeping all your pictures to yourself or not being able to check the weather on the web via your phone, then this is the phone for you. Oh, and not to mention, if you want to protect this expensive beauty, you'll have to invest in the $30.00 case that fits it. Worth it? It depends on how bad you want it.
Rating:
Summary: Decent phone
Review: On a whole, this is a good cell phone. I've had this phone since 8/2003 and haven't had too many problems. The camera is a nice toy, but the resolution is bad - the novelty of having a camera phone has worn off a long time ago for me. Reception and call clarity are for the most part good. The phone is a bit bulky - can't really put it in your jeans' pockets or in a small clutch/purse. I usually don't have problems with calls until last night when my calls kept getting dropped - even though I had 4-5 signal bars. According to Sprint, it might because they're doing software updates. If this continues, I'm just changing carriers because my contract just ended about 3 days ago and they won't entice me into staying by giving me more minutes for the same price.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst phone ever, well maybe not quite that bad, but almost.
Review: Sure this phone is attractive, packed with great features, easy to use, has great battery life, is compact, and is basically everything you would want in a cell phone. So what is the problem? Quite simply, who cares what the phone can do for you if it is unusable as a phone? The speaker volume is so loud that the speaker vibrates inside the case making carrying on a conversation with another person next to impossible. All you can hear when someone is trying to talk with you, is the buzzing sound of the speaker rattling against the case. This is with the speaker volume turned all the way down mind you. I bought this phone, found it unusable, returned it for a replacement, and found the replacement just as bad. Very soon I am going to throw this phone away and get a new one. Will I get another Sanyo? I doubt it.
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Summary: VM4500 is here!!!
Review: The 8100 is still a great little phone but it's been out for over a year here in the States. Sprint just rolled out the newer VM4500 (aka, Sanyo 5500) super-phone, with video recording, VGA-resolution (640x480) digital camera, nation-wide walkie-talkie (!!!), and speakerphone, plus all the other bells and whistles. Check it out. If you want a free Sprint PCS phone, get the SCP-8100. If you are willing to spend money, get the VM4500. BTW, to address the customer service complaint, I've been a Verizon Wireless customer for 6 years, a Sprint PCS customer for almost 4 years, and have also used T-Mobile/Voicestream and AT&T and Cingular, and let me tell you Sprint has the best service by far. Only one slight billing error in 4 years, and they corrected it right away after I called. Verizon over-bills me almost every six months and takes forever to credit me back. T-Mobile's coverage and service are complete jokes; their only "virtue" is payback-after-rebate dirt-cheap phones. Sprint PCS also has the best voice clarity by far; Verizon is the worst even though they do have the widest CDMA coverage.
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