Camera Phone Madness

For those of you who don't know, I'm a tech gadget junkie. I love anything related to tech and a waste of money. Cell phones, computers, pda's, game systems. You name it; I love to waste money on them.

One of the things that I've wasted quite a few bucks on is cell phones. I've had five different cell phones with three different providers in the last year and a half. In fact, I've just recently switched from a Treo600 to the new Sanyo PM-8200.

And the thing is, I don't really talk on the phone that much, I just like the wow factor of a phone and its handiness. The ratio of play to actual talk time is about 8:1 in favor of the former.

Here's a list of cell phones I've had over the last year and a half:

Nokia 8290 /w Cingular -- The best simple cell phone, ever!
Ericson t68 /w Cingular -- Which was decent until I fell on it and the screen cracked.
Sony-Ericson /w Cingular -- The replacement for the above phone.
Motorola v60 /w Cingular -- It was cheap and matched my PowerBook
LG VX6000 /w Verizon -- The first provider switch, had to get a camera phone with unlimited messaging.
Treo600 /w Sprint -- Was only $300 with rebate, so I just had to have it.
Sanyo PM-8200 /Sprint -- To replace the above Treo600. Perhaps the best phone I've ever owned.

There a lot more that I'm missing out on, I've had numerous Nokia's. The 5190, 8890, the big clunky camera phone one and one more that I can't remember.

This brings us to the last phone on the list, the Sanyo PM-8200. Click more to read the full review.

I recently switched from Verizon to Sprint for the sole reason of using the Treo600. I was lusting over the Treo since it was first released. After using it for about three months, the bulkiness of the unit and the awkward touch screen, I decided to switch to a regular flip-phone. After searching around Sprint's website and reading some reviews, I settled on the Sanyo PM-8200. I liked its picture quality the most, I've compared it to Sanyo's video phone and the picture quality is a lot better.

I'll be rating the phone in five categories and giving each one a rating of one through five.

Design
The design is very similar to my old LG VX6000. The placement of the camera is in the same spot. The external LCD is very crisp and clear and the placement of it is perfect. It feels very sturdy and secure when it is open. All though, when closed it feels as if the top of the phone wiggles left and right a little too much. 4 out of 5

Screen
The screen is clear and sharp, all though not the sharpest on the market it's fairly clear and a lot less blurry then my Treo600. The external LCD is surprisingly sharp. No pixilation. Overall, the screens are fair, crisp and clear, though not perfect. 4 out of 5

Sound
The earpiece is average, I have very sensitive hearing so I always leave it on the lowest volume setting, and unless I'm talking to my mom then it's up a couple levels. There's no distortion on the earpiece and it sounds decent in loud places. Speakerphone is decent and ringtones are nice and loud. 4 out of 5

ReadyLink
ReadyLink is more or less a novelty than anything else. It's cool to 'walkie-talkie' and act like truckers. But other then that, it's kind of pointless. It's also kind of a bother to make a RL call. You have to open the phone, choose who you're going to call, push talk, wait to connect, close the lid and then start talking. It would be much more convenient if you could push the button, a list would pop up on the external LCD then you could choose who to talk to. 3 out 5

Camera
This is where this phone really shines, aside from those mega-pixel camera phones in Japan; this thing has one of the best cameras I've seen on a phone in a long time. The color reproduction is phenomenal. Unlike the LG, which produced all the pictures with a slight brownish tone and the Treo which didn't work unless you were outside, the camera works under numerous lighting conditions and works great in dark settings, it's what really sold me on the phone. The only downside is the split second delay after clicking the shutter, it's really weird. You push the button, the shutter fires, it pauses for a fraction of a second and you end up with a picture, but not exactly when you pushed the button. It's odd and difficult to explain, if you've ever used the Nokia camera phone (With the rotary style keypad) you'll know what I'm talking about. 4 out of 5

Overall
Overall, I'd say this is a phone that's well worth the money, practical and useful. Camera, cell phone, walker talkie, it has everything you could possibly need from a phone. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to purchase a new phone. In fact, Mitch bought the exact same phone. It gets my stamp of approval, and it gets my overall rating of 5 out of 5