A great phone at a good price
Written: Jun 15 '01
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Pros: Light weight, durable casing, easy to use and most of all reception
Cons: perhaps the tiny keys but not a real issue for me.
The Bottom Line: If you need a rugged tri-mode phone, the EB-TX220 is hard to beat especially at $70. A premium phone at a non-premium price.
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| shstrang's Full Review: Panasonic DuraMax EB-TX220 |
My little Nokia was about 2 years old and ready for user-assisted suicide. I called up AT&T wireless and was offered the Duramax phone for $120 and a $50 credit to my account on top of that. The only catch was renewing my service for a year; big deal!
After going to the local AT&T wireless store and seeing how little the phone was I decided that I had to have it. The guy at the local store couldn't match the toll free number price and he suggested taking advantage of the good price from the customer service number.
The options on the phone are nice such as being able to make multiple entries under a person's name in the electronic phone book. It includes a place for work, home, mobile and office numbers as well as an email address slot.
It has the ability to vibrate without a vibrating battery although it probably devours the battery while in that mode.
It can also do 2 way text messaging and email. I seriously doubt I'll ever use those features since my wife's phone doesn't support that feature and none of my friend's phones do either. The best part of this phone is the reception with it's little rubber antenna that appears to be very stout. The reception for AT&T wireless has always sucked at my house but this phone's reception is so good that I can actually use the phone at my house. That's a real plus when I've got the land line tied up with my computer. It also has a built in "speaker phone" feature that basically makes the earpiece so loud and the mic so sensitive that the phone can lay on a surface near you (about a foot away)and function perfectly well. What I like is the ability to use it like a Star Trek communicator when one doesn't hold it up to the ear but simply holds it in the hand and talks to it rather than into it. Other people may think you're crazy but who cares; it's very cool. And believe it or not, the phone is made in Japan instead of Outer Mongolia or China, whatever.
I like the little touches like the changeable color of the LCD display background from green to amber.
The Promax version of this phone doesn't have the rubber case but it's also smaller, lighter and about $30 less. Since I tend to be destructive to cellular phones, the Duramax rubber case was a must for me.
If the phone starts to suck after a while, I'll come back here and state why. But for now I recommend the phone. But if you're an AT&T customer be sure to call their customer service number 800-888-7600 and ask for this phone at this price. All they can do is say "no" but probably won't since there is likely much competition in your market for your cellular dollar.
And now, it's time to help my old Nokia croak. All I need is to throw it against the brick wall of my house.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 70.00
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Epinions.com ID:
shstrang
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Member: Scott Strang
Location: West Monroe, LA
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
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