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| Verizon XV-6800 Smartphone (Verizon Wireless) | 
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| Brand: HTC
Category: Wireless
Buy New: $299.99
New (2) from $299.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 9949
Color: Blue
Media: Wireless Phone
Battery Type: Lithium Ion
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0
Dimensions (in): 0 x 0 x 0
Model: XV-6800
UPC: 044476802386
EAN: 0044476802386
ASIN: B0011FQR96
Release Date: December 18, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Promotion: Data not available Terms and Conditions
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 11-13 of 13 | | « PREV | | |
 Disappointed transition from Palm OS to Windows Mobile January 17, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I have to agree with the previous 2 reviews. After waiting months/year for this to be released, I finally decided to give up my Palm Treo 650. The learning curve has been steep.
1) The treo is a usable phone and pda, the XV6800 is mainly a pda and a barely usable phone.
2) Phone problems
a) Difficulty finding contacts/phone numbers
b) Difficulty pulling up the keyboard to press additional digits if needed
c) Inconsistant buttons to get the speakerphone
d) Voice dialing is useless, useless, useless
e) Bluetooth is painful to work with, since half the time it doesn't work. Never a problem with my Palm Treo 650.
f) Very difficult to access speed dialing with one hand.
g) NO Standard microphone jack OR headset jack. Must plug in a mini-usb converter first to get your microphone jack (along with a replicated mini-usb port so you can still recharge if needed while driving).
3) pda problems
a) After a hard reset, no easy option to 'restore' from active sync. Sure, you get your contacts/calendar back from Outlook. But you loose all your settings, previously installed software has to be re-installed (and options re-enabled), you loose your icons (from Pocket Informant for example), and so on. What happened to a simple backup everytime you activesync?
b) Camera is 2MB but my Treo 650 took sharper, less 'blurry' photo's in the same lighting conditions. Even with the built-in light, images were easily blurred or washed out.
c) Like palm a very limited calendar
d) Very poor sms capability (Palm's been threaded for years, why is this so difficult?)
*After a hard reset (my phone was stuck in an endless rebooting cycle for some reason after a activesync) Verizon XV6800's users have been forced to call verizon, stay on hold, then work with an agent getting the phone 're-authorized.' Took me almost an hour on the phone, and after I searched the net finally told the agent what I needed to get it to work again. Over-the-air programming doesn't work for a lot of users after a hard reset... Hope this is fixed soon!
 Could have been great January 17, 2008
22 out of 35 found this review helpful
I waited a long time for this phone, as I wanted a phone with Wifi capability in order to check email, and occasionally browse the Internet. My needs were simple. I wanted to sync up with Outlook. I use Task List daily and wanted it at my fingertips. I'm not overly impressed with Outlooks task list, but it was what I had on my home computer. I also use Calendar, and Contacts on a near daily basis. On to my review.
Phone: As a phone I rate it 3 stars. It is average at best. The touch screen was cool, but I found it didn't work well. Given the screen is huge, one must still constantly work one's way through the menus. FOr example, after dialing, if you need the keypad you must press a small icon to bring it up again. Those of us who regularly need to wind our way though automated attendants will find this frustrating. Pulling up a phone number was not easy as it was with all my other phones. I can live with that. I though that perhaps I could get voice dialing working with a blue tooth head set to mitigate the hassle pulling this large phone out of my pocket. I found the bluetooth would pair up nicely but it never worked right. I'd hit the ear-piece to accept a call and find it dropped--it was suppose to auto answer--so perhaps this was a setting that could be adjusted. I paid $200 for the phone new via corporate discount, and didn't think it was worth half that amount.
PDA Functions: 1 star It took multiple phone calls to Verizon to get this function working. I found my data charges changed from monthly to per use and was billed an astronomical amount for data, when all I did was run some broad band speed test as directed my Verizon. If they don't reverse these charges, I will be switching to AT&T next month. More I how I have learned to hate Verizon later. The bottom line. Making this work with older versions of Outlook--like Outlook 2000, and Outlook 2003 may be painful to work through. I hate Outlook 2007. So for me, the next option it a Palm type PDA--those PDA's are designed to be both fast and useful.
Operating System: 1 star I prefer the Palm interface. MS's OS is slow to boot up. I found the PDA shutting itself off for no apparent reason and rebooted itself often.
Controls and Buttons: 3 stars My XV6800 would turn on the Internet function often. There is a dedicated button at the top right for this, and it seems to activate in my pocket. This can be reprogrammed, but I decided to return the device instead. The wheel on the side works well--I'm right handed. I found the combination of buttons and the wheel worked well. I wish I had more time using these as I would probably have liked the device better if I had been less reliant on the stylus.
Keyboard: 4 stars. The keyboard slid out easily and worked well. The function keys and shift key were a bit of a pain, but I'm sure that was operator error (me) and suspect there is a way to lock these. To punch in a number for contacts mean punching the function before every numerical button press--i.e. a ten digit phone number required 20 keystrokes. Someone please tell me there is a way around this! Loading a contact manually was a MAJOR hassle. I didn't like the way the fields were laid out and it was not fun. I hated it. I found I needed the stylus when using the keyboard, as the wheel was in an inconvenient location--unless you are left handed when the keyboard is open. So if I needed to use a stylus, why have a keyboard--I'd rather have a smaller device with a good virtual keyboard like the iTouch.
Virtual Keyboard: 1 star This was a joke. The Return, space, and Punctuation keys were with the numbers! That means the typing anything length must be done using the big keyboard--otherwise, one my switch between the numeric virtual keyboard and qwerty keyboard--back and forth every time you need to use the space bar--insanity! What were they thinking? They must have been on drugs when they developed this device! Why didn't they use the Palm style virtual keyboard? The XV6800 keyboard is was ridiculous to the point it was useless. Why have it then? It made no sense to me.
Wifi: 1 star. I never got this working. This device is programmed to go to Verizon's network. Verizon told me that I had to pay them for Wifi access that they did not provide. I tried to disable the dialing sequence for the Verizon network, and it reprogrammed itself to come back on. There was no way to disable Verizon's network and use the Wifi. This is a lawsuit ready to happen, and the main reason I returned the device. Verizon had a great network, but they continue to screw up what could be great phones, in their quest to screw their customers. I am now using an iTouch for small device Web browsing. The virtual keyboard is laid out well, you can resize with your fingers, and stop page loading if you hit a link by accident
Verzons's Data Network: 1 star. I found it slow loading web pages. It was so slow that it is maddening. You will go out of your mind waiting, and if a page partially loads and you scroll down--guess what happens the page finishes loading? It sends you back to the top--so you must wind your way down again to find your place. This can happen multiple times it your fruitless attempt to read a web page as it slowly loads. Often I found myself directed to another page when I was simply trying to scroll down farther. The size of the display is horrible. Their network is so slow that I talked to their customer support about it and found that their was nothing wrong with my XV6800--this slow speed is what I was stuck with. By the way, I get a 21% discount for unlimited data. My cost was $35/month. Even at this reduced rate I did not feel Verizon's slow speed was worth anything. If you want to add stress to your life, and go crazy, get Verizon's data service.
Camera: 4 stars. It was a little hard to operate. I was never sure if my pictures were saved. In some cases they were and in others they were not. It is not an easy camera to operate and I did not study the manual on it, but it did take better pictures than any other phone I've ever used. I think that once an operator learns how to use this cumbersome camera, he or she will like it. But don't expect it to me layed out in a way that makes sense--it is nothing like any other camera you have ever used. There is nothing intuitive about it. Still I gave it 4 stars for the picture quality which was quite good.
MPEG Player: 1 star This requires an adapter cord that I was not willing to carry around with me. The adapter plus into the USB port and provdes for another USB port so that it can be used when playing music to charge--which is something you will need to do. Still I wish there was a plug in the phone for ear phones. This is some sense to this though. Read on.
Stereo Bluetooth: Not tested. This might make the MPEG Player into 5 stars, but I doubt the battery would last two hours in this mode. So the idea is to plug it into your car charger while using it. Don't plan to use these walking around unless you are close to a charger!
Basic Functions: 1 star On/off. I was never sure if it was on or off. I found it turned itself off often.
Battery Life: 1 star. Battery life is the worst I've ever seen. I tried turning off every function I could think of like automatically checking email, active sync, and Wifi while setting the display brightness as low as possible. I made a point to turn off the screen when I was not using it. Still my battery life was at most 1/2 a day. The back of the device is so flimsy, it did not seem reasonable to buy another battery and be constantly changing batteries. I would have chosen that option, if the back and battery were one easy to slip on part (remember the old style cell phone batteries?), and if it came with an external charger. On the plus side the XV6800 does charge with a mini-USB. This should be the standard for all cell phones--so that you can charge with any computer, wall charger, or car chargers.
The bottom line is I went back to my old phone. If you want Wifi, I urge you to get an iTouch. I love mine. I use it at home while watching TV, at the Yacht Club, and while traveling--most of my friends have Wifi. For a PDA, I'm now considering getting a Palm Treo 755p. The Palm interface is far superior to the Microsoft OS. If you need Web Browsing, get a small computer with a full sized keyboard and chose Sprint if you need a fast internet connection.
Finally, if you think Verizon has a good network, think again. A good network does not make up for selling crappy, crippled phones. The XV6800 was a good idea, but at it's best it has serious limitations, when you subtract the features that Verizon has crippled in it, it is not worth even a look. I recommend anyone thinking of Verizon as a provided to going for an iPhone with AT&T--the cost may be greater, but the iPhone is pretty good and getting better. AT&T's network is continually getting better, more so since they have integrated with Cingular. I'm stuck with Verizon for another two years. After that I'll be looking elsewhere.
 Great if you want a PDA phone. December 30, 2007
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
It's been about a month since I got this phone and overall so far-so good. This is a PDA first, and a phone second. This isn't for the average person and requires some technical knowledge to operate, otherwise you will become completely frustrated.
The bad.....The Mobile 6 OS is designed for right handed people and as of now there is no way to move the scroll bar to the left of the screen. Keep that in mind if you plan on using the stylus with your left hand that your hand will cover the screen when you use the scroll bar. Next, the memory should have been a bit higher than 64mb because there is some lag when changing the view to panoramic, and running multiple programs. I did add a 2GB micro sd card for storage which I'd recommend. The "speaker phone" is also a issue for me. I wish it was louder because it's very hard to hear if there is any background noise(like while riding in a car). The voice dialing is also pretty useless because the phone seems to always misunderstand the names you announce to dial and you have to hurry and hit the end button otherwise the phone will automatically dial the wrong person. My LG9800 was much better at voice dialing and you didn't have to manually speak and save every persons name in your phonebook! The LG was automatic(it had a text to speech function). The Bluetooth has to be refreshed quite often and doesn't connect automatically, you must turn on the bluetooth on your phone first. Even after you set it up, it seems to randomly disconnect the settings a couple of times a week. The camera(2.0 megapixel) seems to take washed out photos. Maybe I need to play with the settings a bit more but my old LG (1.3mp) definitely took better photos. The camera is also slow to take photos. Also, no lens cover for the lens filter.
The good.....The phone is clear, and I seem to get better reception than I did with my old LG. Windows6 has been totally stable for me and hasn't crashed yet. Active Sync is awesome to transfer stuff back and forth between this and your PC. Nice touch screen that works very well(make sure you apply the included screen protector). The WiFi works awesome and it's great for both internet and email. The full Querty keyboard is a must for people who like to text. The keyboard also lights up. I like the fact that this phone does not use Get it Now, V-Cast, or any of those other "V" programs as I found that software unreliable as I had quite a few issues with the music player. The Data network (if used on this phone) is much faster than the Get it Now network. It doesn't freeze up on me like the Get it Now network did. The indicator lights are useful and let you know if the phone, bluetooth, or data network is connected. Turning off the Blue Tooth and/or wifi saves battery life when not in use. There is also a message indicator light to let you know if you have a message. Also, there are a ton of apps out there that you can download so you can really customize this phone. The camera has multiple settings and hopefully with a bit of tweaking, I can take better photos. The flash also acts as a flashlight, and this has come in handy multiple times already. The phone also comes with google maps, and there are a few free themes/ringtones/etc to download from the microsoft mobile site. So far the battery life seems great, but isn't it always great when you get a *new* phone? I suspect with all these bells and whistles the battery will eventually wear down and I'll probably have to buy a spare. We'll see.... For now, it's charged every couple of days, and only comes with a AC charger, not a car charger.
Overall, the good outweighs the bad(for me). Before you buy this phone, I'd seriously look into understanding Windows Mobile first. This phone has a lot of bells and whistles, but is probably difficult to work for the average cell phone user. I really wanted the AT&T Tilt which has better features (and cost less) than this phone(also HTC), but in terms of cellular service.... Verizon has been *a lot* more reliable for me(Northeast). I guess you can't have it all.....
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