Samsung T401g Review Part 3

Part 3 of my Samsung T401g review is here. There’s a lot to talk about with this model, so this review is long even by my standards. For those of you that just want the overview, I’ll be back with a summary next week, so feel free to skip this one. If you’re seriously interested in this phone, though, take a read through – I’ll think you’ll find some things that interest you.

Also, note that all of the info related to this phone will be posted here on my Samsung T401g Review Index Page.

Camera

Without a doubt, this is the most capable camera I’ve tried yet for Trac/Net10. It takes photos at settings up to 1.3 megapixels (1280×1024), as well as lower resolutions if you choose. As I’ve said previously on this blog, the 1.3 mp resolution should provide enough detail for some 4×6 or maybe 5×7 prints (photog enthusiasts, please correct me if I’m wrong!). However, like most camera phones, this one lacks a flash, so any photos will end up looking muddy if there isn’t adequate lighting. Here are a couple of pics I took with the T401g on the highest resolution; first an outdoor shot, then a pic in standard indoor lighting situation:

Photo taken using the Samsung T401g

Picture Taken with Samsung T401g

The T401g camera also offers the following options

• timer (3, 5, or 10 second delay)

• single, multi, and mosaic shot

• white balance including settings of automatic, daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, and cloudy

• special effects such as black and white, negative, sepia, emboss, sketch, antique, moonlight, and fog

Once a photo is taken, you can attach a voice note, which is an interesting option. There are also a few editing options you can add after a photo is taken. These include: black and white, sepia, negative, blur, sharpen, sketch, posterise, and solarise. You can adjust the brightness, color, and contrast; rotate or flip the image; or add a frame, emoticon, or clipart.

And of course there’s the camcorder option on the T401g, a first for Net10 phones. It is definitely fun to have the option there, but the resolution is just 176×144. I recorded a couple of test videos, and they looked somewhat blurry or pixelated even on the phone’s screen. Of course, displaying the video on a larger screen only aggravate the problem. So you probably wouldn’t want to rely too much on this camcorder, but if you’ve got nothing else it is a nifty little feature to have. Here’s an example video I recorded using the T401g.

One great thing about the Samsung T401g is the variety of options for getting pictures off the phone:

1. Email: Of course, there’s the old standard of emailing the photo to yourself, using up your airtime in the process. One picture that I sent cost a total of 3.5 units to send, and the file was resized from 330k to around 90k in order to fit in the message.

2. Bluetooth: If your computer has bluetooth, that’s an easy way to upload pictures from the T401g. While viewing a photo, select “send via blutooth” and it will be sent to your computer.

3. Memory card: If you have a microSD memory card installed (and they’re pretty inexpensive, so it makes sense to have some extra memory), you can manually move any photo to the memory card, then remove the memory card and use your computer to copy the image off the memory card.

4. USB – For some reason, this only works if you have a memory card installed – the USB cable I have could read only the memory card, not the phone’s internal memory. But it was still an easy process then to copy files from the memory card to my computer – just drag and drop.

5. I haven’t tried this personally, but when viewing any photo on your phone, there’s an option to “print via bluetooth.” My assumption is that if you have a Bluetooth-enabled printer, you could print directly that way.

Mp3 player

The Motorola EM326g attracted a lot of attention earlier this summer for its mp3 player. Well, the Samsung T401g actually does a better job of it, in my opinion. In my review of the EM326g, I noted that the audio quality wasn’t the best. That is not the case with this model.

The Samsung T401g mp3 player produced very nice sound quality. I compared the audio output to my PC using windows media player. I listened to the same song, using the same headphones, and to my ears they sound very similar – rich, full sound as compared to the flat sound I noticed on the EM326g.

The setting options within the player are fairly limited. There is no equalizer function to adjust the sound, but there are ten playlists of 50 entries each that can be customized by adding songs manually.

I was also happy with the wide volume range. On the Motorola, the volume moved up or down too much with each click on the volume adjustment. As a result, I was sometimes stuck on a volume that was too loud, yet if I adjusted it down it became too quiet. So basically, my ideal volume was often somewhere in the middle of two settings on the Motorola dial. The Samsung allowed for much finer volume adjustment.

The built-in speaker actually played the music at a respectable quality, and good volume. I would compare it maybe to an old AM radio – not great, but not terrible. If you’re listening to much music, though, you’ll want to listen through a different set of headphones or speakers. Unfortunately, that brings me to something I didn’t like.

The audio output jack is a Samsung proprietary connector, which means that listening to this device through headphones is not as simple as plugging in the headphones you already own. Instead, you’ll need to either get separate Samsung-branded headphones, or find an adapter to convert from the Samsung jack to a standard 3.5mm jack. I got this one for about $6, and it works pretty well: http://bit.ly/LgABp. It seemed like the fit wasn’t quite right when I first plugged it in to the phone, but I haven’t had any problems with it coming out.

Another issue that I had with this particular adapter is that on my headset with a built-in mic, the mic didn’t work through the adapter. So you might want to look for something different if you want to use the same headset for listening to music and talking on the phone.

And, as I mentioned in a previous segment of this review, there is the option of using bluetooth for audio playback. As far as I can tell, and bluetooth stereo headset should work with this model.

Anyway, aside from needing to buy the adapter, I was very happy with the mp3 player.

Extras

The next thing people ask about when I review new phones is the quality of the browser. It’s probably no surprise here, but once again the browser is limited to Trac/Net10’s version of the web containing ringtone downloads, headlines, sports, and weather, and not much else. The browser seemed pretty slow when I tried it, similar to any of the previous Net10 phones.

The organizer functions are also pretty standard, offering the exact same options as the Samsung T-series models that were released last spring. Here’s what I wrote about those:

The organizational tools are pretty standard among modern phones. The tools menu offers the following:

• Alarms – St up to 3 different alarms, with the option of making it repeat for any combination of days you choose. You also have the option of changing the tone from 5 pre-loaded tones (but not custom tones), and unlike the “calendar” function, you do have the option of settingup a snooze.

• Calendar – This function offers quite a few features, with the ability to enter an appointment, anniversary (meaning a repeating event, I guess), task, or miscellaneous items. The calendar can then be viewed by day, week, month, or item type. The calendar can store up to 100 items, and repeating events (i.e. the same item occurs every day at the same time) take only one memory slot regardless of how many times it repeats. I did have a couple of minor gripes with this function, but they may not be of great importance to you: 1) I couldn’t find a way to set the default entry mode in the calendar subjects to be T9 entry. Every time I set a new calendar event, I had to switch to T9 before proceeding, and 2) I could not find a way to set a “snooze” function on the calendar events.

• Calculator – This calculator is the easiest to use of any cell phone calculator I’ve ever used, mainly because each function is assigned to a specific key, and the map to those keys is displayed on the screen at all times. Also, the calculator allows for parentheses to be used, which means you can do some basic algebra on here if you really want to.

• Tip Calculator – Enter the total cost of your meal, enter the tip percentage you want applied, and then enter the number of people splitting the bill (if applicable). The calculator then will determine the amount to be paid by each party.

• Converter – Another very handy feature. Convert between different units of Currency (although I’m not sure how the phone determines conversion rates on this one), length, weight, volume, area, and temperature.

• Timer – Enter a time and the timer will count down, alerting you when the time as elapsed.

• Stopwatch – Count-up type timer, with up to 30 splits possible.

• World time – Find out what time it is around the world.

• SIM app. – I haven’t played around with this yet because I didn’t want to risk disabling my phone, but this appears to be the function that can unlock the phone for use on other services. With TracFone or Net10, though, it’s important to note that if this feature is indeed functional, there will be no going back to TracFone/Net10 if you do unlock it. Anyway, I suspect that the phone cannot really be unlocked, as has been the case with all phones released by TracFone or Net10 in the last two or three years.

Another feature that’s going to be important to some people are the ringtones. While this phone comes with a selection of ringtones, it’s also possible to download mp3 tones from Net10 (at a price). But more importantly, users can play their own mp3 files for ringtones. However, in that case the file must be under 300k for it to work.

There are a number of websites that offer free ringtone downloads. If you do this, I recommend downloading the file to your computer, then transferring to the phone by bluetooth, USB, or memory card.

One extra that is still missing, and something that I’ll continue to complain about until it’s available on all new phones, is voice dialing. The new LG CDMA phones that just came out have it, and in my opinion it’s a big safety feature as well as a convenience.

Well, if you’ve read this far, thank you! This might be my longest post ever. I’ll be back next week to summarize everything and go over anything else that I think of between now and then. If you have any suggestions of anything else you’d like me to cover, please make note of it in the comments section below this post and I’ll do my best to get to it. I’ll also try to get my pictures of this model posted over the weekend.

If you’re looking for more of my info about this phone, check out the Samsung T401g Review Index Page.

Samsung T401g Review part 2

Below is part 2 of my in-depth Samsung T401g review. If you haven’t already done so, read part 1 of the review series here. Or take a look at the Samsung T401g review index for all my info related to this model.

Internal display/keypad/menus

I really like the display on the T401g – it’s as big as the screen on the T301g, and bigger than any other Trac/Net10 model I’ve tried (though I’ve yet to try the LG 290c or the Samsung r451c as of this writing). Further, the t401g’s screen is bright, clear, and vibrant. I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up.

I’m frequently asked how a display functions in direct sunlight. I thought that sun wouldn’t be a problem on this model since the screen is so bright, but I overlooked the extremely glossy finish on the display. In my testing, the actual light output from the display was adequate to overcome direct sunlight, but I had to be careful what angle I held the phone at to keep from reflecting the sun directly into my eyes. So I guess it’s a toss-up there – the screen is bright enough for outdoor use, but caution must be used in direct sun.

Samsung T401g QWERTY Keyboard

The screen does give the same distortion I’ve noted with all other phones when viewed from the side. The T401g does seem to be  better than most other models, though – even when angling the screen as much as 45 degrees or more to the either side, the text is readable, if not visually appealing.

The numeric keypad feels nice to use, especially for one-handed texting or dialing. As I believe I mentioned in an earlier post, the keypad itself reminds me of the Nokia 1100, which I loved. The keypad is one continuous piece of rubbery plastic, as opposed to the distinct, harder plastic keys on many other recent models. The rubber feeling to the keys makes it easier, in my opinion, to dial, as the keys feel better under my fingers. The keys also provide a solid “click” when pressed, so you don’t need to guess whether you’ve actually pushed the key.

The external keyboard sports eight shortcut keys in total – up, down, left, right, left soft, right soft, and two raised keys directly below the soft keys. The four directional keys can each be programmed to the shortcut of your choice.

The left and right soft keys are hard-coded to the menu and browser (I know many people won’t like this), respectively, from the home screen, and cannot be changed. The left raised key is dedicated to text messaging, which seems to make sense for a phone with a QWERTY keyboard, and the right raised key is hard-coded to “clear,” which functions to cancel a menu selection or to delete a character when texting. This also makes sense to me.

Getting back to the browser shortcut key – on the down side, if you accidentally push it, it is very quick to load the browser and beginning deducting airtime (one full minute right off the bat in the case of Net10). This is a major disadvantage for me. On the other hand, it is nearly offset by the design of the keyboard – the soft keys are considerably smaller than on other web-enabled models from Trac/Net10. Further, the soft keys are somewhat “protected” by the raised keys immediately below them. The combination of these two factors, in my experience, makes it much less likely that you will accidentally press either of the soft keys. I have not once unintentionally activated the browser in my extensive testing of the model – something I cannot say for ANY other phone.

The QWERTY keyboard on the T401g is about 1.25” tall, and the keys are lined up in three rows (as compared to the new Samsung r451c for Net10 and Straight Talk, which has four rows of keys). The keys don’t feel too cramped – they each have a distinct button, to reduce the likelihood of accidentally hitting the wrong key. The keys themselves are made of the same rubbery material as the main keyboard.

I like the layout and spacing; though the keys are small, I don’t see any way the layout could be improved without making the phone bigger. I did prefer to use my thumbnails as opposed to the pads of my thumbs for typing on the QWERTY, as I felt that gave me more precision.

My only possible complaint about the QWERTY keyboard is that it takes a little more force to press the keys than I would like. However, when I compared it to a Kyocera Wildcard from Virgin Mobile, I found that the Wildcard keys were even stiffer than the Samsung. I definitely preferred the Samsung T401g.

Moving on to the menus – I don’t know exactly what it is about the menus on these Samsungs, but they just don’t seem to make quite as much sense to me as those of the LG and Motorola models. That being said, I’ve adapted fairly quickly to the Samsung navigation. I used the T301g as my main phone for for several months over the summer, and can now use the menus just fine. I’m sure that anyone interested in this type of phone (i.e. with lots of advanced features) will be able to learn the menu layout without a problem.

Which brings me around to the text messaging – perhaps the most important feature on a phone with a QWERTY keyboard. I wasn’t sure I would make use of the QWERTY keyboard all that much, but I’ve found it feels pretty natural to slide the keyboard out for use with texting. As soon as you slide the phone open, the screen automatically rotates to accommodate the new position of the phone in your hands. Also, shortcuts associated with the directional keys rotate 90 degrees.

There is one shortcut that is lacking, in my opinion. I would really like to have the option to make the phone automatically open a new text message if you open the slider. I would assume that most people, when they open the slider, plan to write a text message, so a shortcut like this would make sense to me.

Connectivity

The Samsung T401g can easily be connected to a computer using a standard Samsung USB data cable (such as these on Amazon). When connecting by USB cable, make sure that your phone is set to “USB Mass Storage” mode in the menu settings>3. Phone Settings>7. USB Mode. I was also able to connect to my PC as well as to other phones using bluetooth. Using either a USB cable or bluetooth, I was able to transfer files from my T401g to my computer, and bluetooth worked for the exchange of files between phones, too.

The bluetooth worked fine for audio using my very cheap, generic BT headset, so I suspect it should work fine with most bluetooth audio devices. I am frequently asked whether BT phones can use the phonebook capabilities of certain in-vehicle navigation systems and stand-alone GPS systems, but since I have neither of those I can’t answer that question.

I also cannot tell how well the T401g works with stereo bluetooth devices for audio playback, although the device does support these functions.

Well, that’s all for this installment of the review; I’ll be back later this week with yet another segment in which I’ll cover the fun stuff like camera, mp3 player, games, memory card slot, and other tools.

Samsung T401g Review – Part 1

General Overview

The Samsung T401g debuted last week for Net10, showing up in a seemingly limited selection of Kmart stores at a retail price of $79.99. At the time of this writing (October 19^th), the phone is not available for purchase from Net10’s website. However I expect that by the end of the month it will be, if the rollout timeline of previous models is any indication. When it does show up for sale on Net10’s site, customers will be able to save $8 using the Net10 promotional code discounts found here.

I would expect that it will begin showing up soon in other stores as well. For now, though, the T401g has been very hard to find – appearing in some, but not all, Kmart stores. It seems likely that Net10 will want this model more widely available as we get deeper into the Holiday shopping season, however.

Samsung T401g

There’s also not any concrete indication at this point that the model will be available to TracFone users. Of course, if a TracFone Samsung T401g does show up, I’ll let you know about it with a post to this blog.

Now let’s get to the phone itself: It’s a GSM phone, and has a side-slider with a qwerty keyboard on the slide-out portion. The front of the phone also includes a standard numeric keypad.

The phone weighs in at a fairly heavy 4.4 ounces, and measures 4.4″ long, 2.0″ wide and 0.7” thick. This is rather bulky compared to any new phones released in recent years.

But when it comes to features, the T401g has most of the things we have been hoping for:

• qwerty keyboard
• unrestricted bluetooth – transfer files between compatible devices and play stereo music from the mp3 player, as well as for voice calls
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• video camera (no, that’s not a typo – it actually has the capacity to record video)
• mp3 player
• expansion memory slot – microSD for storing pics, videos and mp3s
• and something that’s big for Net10 users – text messaging costs just .3 units per message, instead of the usual .5 units for Net10 phones. (At least, that’s what the packaging advertises. In my actual experience, I was charged .5 units per message. I’ve inquired with Elston in the tech support department to see what the problem is.)
• hands-free speaker phone
• web browser (though still limited to Trac/Net10’s mobile web – so it’s not everything we’ve been asking for)
• voice recorder

External/Appearance

The appearance is a little blocky or chunky compared with the other phones we’ve seen for Trac/Net10 lately, but then it has a full qwerty keyboard to pack on as well as the hardware for video capture, so I guess that’s understandable.

On the plus side, there is no Net10 labeling whatsoever – just ‘Samsung’ imprinted on the front, below the screen, and on the back. The home screen, of course, can be customized to remove the mention of units and days remaining, so without exploring the menus an observer would have no way of knowing this is a prepaid phone.

All of the surfaces on the T401g are dark and glossy and the device feels sleek in my hand. As stated above, the phone is rather heavy, but an advantage of that is that it feels solid and durable. Only time will tell, of course, how it’s going to stand up, but it seems like it will have a good useful life.

The phone is a little larger than what I’m accustomed to, as I ported my number to the T401g from my LG 600g, which is one of the lightest, smallest TracFones ever made. So it has taken some getting used to as I carry the Samsung in my pants pocket. I was definitely aware of its presence at first. Though I have gotten used to it over the last several days, I’d imagine it would be hard to lose even in a purse or deep coat pocket. If you like tiny, lightweight phones, though, you’ll likely be disappointed with this one.

General Phone Function

The general phone function on this model is above average. An interesting thing I’ve noticed is that the T401g seems to be able to make calls just about anywhere. It compares favorably to the EM326g, where several times I’ve had the problem of attempting to make a call with 1 or 2 bars, only to receive the message “call failed” and see the signal meter reset to zero. I guess it’s kind of a game that some manufacturers play – sometimes a phone will show 1-2 bars of reception, yet not be able to connect a call.

The Samsung T401g is just the opposite – I found a couple of areas, such as in the bottom level of a parking ramp, where the phone showed no signal. However, I was able to connect a call and it sounded just fine. Compare this to the EM326g,

The voice quality is similar to the earlier Samsung T301g or the LG 600g – good, but not great. It definitely does not sound as clear to me as the recent Motorola devices for TracFone and Net10, which are the best-sounding phones I’ve ever used.

The volume was good through the standard ear piece, as well as through the speaker phone setting. However, while using the speaker phone I did notice some distortion – while the other party was still understandable, it was somewhat garbled. This could pose a problem in noisy situations or for those with hearing impairments. That being said, I personally did not have a problem using the phone while riding in a car at highway speeds.

One of the biggest surprises for me so far has been the battery life – it’s been great for a device with so many features. I bought the phone on a Tuesday night and the battery was partially charged when I opened the package. I then charged it fully on Wednesday afternoon as I began to test it out.

During the following days, I used up 15 minutes of talk time and sent and received maybe a dozen text messages. I also had the bluetooth (inadvertently) turned on for at least 24 hours, and spent time taking pictures and video as well as navigating the menus and playing games. The phone did not run out of battery until a full five days later. This compares favorably to the Motorola EM326g and w376g as well as the LG 600g, all of which have shorter battery lives.

Admittedly, I have not yet used the mp3 player to any great extent, other than to make sure it works. When I do test that function, I’ll report on it’s effects on battery life.

I’ll also be reporting on a lot more in future installments of this review. I’ll have the next segment up on Wednesday at the latest, and hopefully complete the review by the end of the week.

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New Phones for sale from TracFone, Net10, and Straight Talk – LG 290c, 220c, and 100c, Samsung T401g and Samsung r451c

The news just keeps coming…

A few days ago I speculated that all of the new LG CDMA handsets might eventually be available for both Net10 and TracFone. That speculation was validated much sooner than I expected, and all three of the models are now available for sale from both the Net10 and TracFone websites. In addition, they are also available on the new Straight Talk brand, marking the first time that any Straight Talk handsets have been available nation-wide.

TracFone LG 220c, one of the new CDMA phones

These models will provide the same network coverage as the following phones: Kyocera 126c; Nokia 5180, 2126 and 2126i; Motorola C343, v60i and 120; and LG 3280 and 200c. If you have one of those models and have been waiting for a good opportunity to upgrade but want or need to stick with a CDMA model, one of these phones might fit the bill for you. Below is a very brief summary of each of the phones, along with pricing info.

Keep in mind that if you’re looking for these phones on either the TracFone or Net10 site, you’ll only see them if you enter a zip code that’s in a CDMA territory. To do this, you’ll want to enter a ZIP code that you are certain has no GSM coverage, such as 54747, 57429, or 66503, to name a few.

LG 100c – a candy-bar style phone with bluetooth, voice dialing, and speaker phone.

$14.99 for TracFone, $29.99 for Net10, $29.99 for Straight Talk.

LG 220c – very similar to the 100c, except in a flip-phone or clamshell style. Also includes bluetooth, voice dialing, and speaker phone, as well as an external display.

$19.99 for TracFone, $39.99 for Net10, $39.99 for Straight Talk.

LG 290c – Slider phone with VGA camera. Also includes bluetooth, voice dialing, and speaker phone. $49.99 for TracFone, $59.99 for Net10, $79.99 for Straight Talk.

In addition to these models, Straight Talk has released the Samsung r451c, a CDMA model with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 1.3 megapixel camera, mp3 player, voice dialing, speaker phone, and bluetooth. It is currently offered for $99.99 from Straight Talk’s site. There’s been some hopeful speculation that the r451c might be available for TracFone and/or Net10, but so far I haven’t seen any evidence of that.

Keep in mind all the Net10 versions will come with the automatic 300 free minutes and 60 days of service on activation, while the TracFone models include 20 minutes and 60 days.

Also, don’t forget to use discount promotional codes to receive $8 off a Net10 order, or $3 off a TracFone order, and a free accessory kit with either service.

Here’s a link to my recent post about the TracFone promotional codes.

And here’s a page about  promotional codes for Net10.

The news just keeps coming…

A few days ago I speculated that all of the new LG CDMA handsets might eventually be available for both Net10 and TracFone. That speculation was validated much sooner than I expected, and all three of the models are now available for sale from both the Net10 and TracFone websites. In addition, they are also available on the new Straight Talk brand, marking the first time that any Straight Talk handsets have been available nation-wide.

These models will provide the same network coverage as the following phones: Kyocera 126c; Nokia 5180, 2126 and 2126i; Motorola C343, v60i and 120; and LG 3280 and 200c. If you have one of those models and have been waiting for a good opportunity to upgrade but want or need to stick with a CDMA model, one of these phones might fit the bill for you. Below is a very brief summary of each of the phones, along with pricing info.

Keep in mind that if you’re looking for these phones on either the TracFone or Net10 site, you’ll only see them if you enter a zip code that’s in a CDMA territory. To do this, you’ll want to enter a ZIP code that you are certain has no GSM coverage, such as 54747, 57429, or 66503, to name a few.

LG 100c – a candy-bar style phone with bluetooth, voice dialing, and speaker phone.

$14.99 for TracFone, $29.99 for Net10, $29.99 for Straight Talk.

LG 220c – very similar to the 100c, except in a flip-phone or clamshell style. Also includes bluetooth, voice dialing, and speaker phone, as well as an external display.

$19.99 for TracFone, $39.99 for Net10, $39.99 for Straight Talk.

LG 290c – Slider phone with VGA camera. Also includes bluetooth, voice dialing, and speaker phone. $49.99 for TracFone, $59.99 for Net10, $79.99 for Straight Talk.

In addition to these models, Straight Talk has released the Samsung r451c, a CDMA model with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 1.3 megapixel camera, mp3 player, voice dialing, speaker phone, and bluetooth. It is currently offered for $99.99 from Straight Talk’s site.

Keep in mind all the Net10 versions will come with the automatic 300 free minutes and 60 days of service on activation, while the TracFone models include 20 minutes and 60 days.

Also, don’t forget to use discount promotional codes to receive $8 off a Net10 order, or $3 off a TracFone order, and a free accessory kit with either service.

Here’s a link to my recent post about the TracFone promotional codes.

And here’s a page about the promotional codes for Net10.

Samsung T401g Review – First Thoughts

I got the Net10 Samsung T401g Tuesday night and tore it open Wednesday, eager to test it out. I’m making this my “main” phone for now, and that requires me to port my main number from TracFone to Net10 (don’t worry, I’ll still have several different TracFones active for myself and family members, so I’m definitely not giving up on TracFone news either). I’m still waiting for the port to be completed so I can actually make and receive calls, but I do have some initial impressions that I’d like to share with you. It’s a little less polished than what I usually like to publish, but that was done in the name of expediency. I hope you’ll not hold it against me. Now, here’s the review:

Picture of the new Samsung T401g for Net10

Perhaps the biggest news about this phone is the text messaging costs – all SMS messages, incoming and outgoing, cost just $.03, compared to the rate of $.05 for all previous Net10 phones. This brings the cost of texting more in line with TracFone and, in combination with the QWERTY keyboard, will increase the appeal of the T401g to people who text a lot.

The next thing I noticed is that this phone is HEAVY. I guess it needs to accomodate all the hardware inside to allow for bluetooth, a robust camera, camcorder, mp3 player, and of course a slide-out qwerty keyboard. It is noticeably heavier in my hand than my previous phone, the LG 600g. I actually weighed these two phones, as well as some other models, and determined that the new T401g, with battery installed, is 50% heavier than the 600g. The T401g weighs in at 4.4 oz, while the 600g is just 2.9. It’s also longer, wider, and thicker than the LG 600g, so the T401g which will take some getting used to as I carry it around on a daily basis.

The phone is glossy everywhere and will attract fingerprints and smudges easily. If you are the type that can’t stand these little cosmetic imperfections, you’ll either be wiping your phone constantly, or you’ll want invest in some sort of case or skin for it.

The numeric keypad feels solid – the keys feel somewhat “rubbery,” which I like as it helps me navigate the keyboard for one-handed dialing. The keypad actually feels a little like the Nokia 1100, which I used for a long time and liked a lot.

The keys on the internal qwerty keyboard take moderate effort to depress – I don’t know if this will change over time as I break it in, but for now I’m not sure I’d want to type long messages on this model. Then again, I’d imagine I’ll get used to it after more use.

The T401g has the same charger, but not the same battery, as the other Samsung T-series phones that came out this spring, so if you have any accessories for any of those, you’ll be able to use them with this model as well.

The T401g has an external slot for a microSD card, so there is no need to remove the battery cover to access the memory card as is the case with the EM326g.

I just played around with the camera a little, and tested it enough to see that the highest resolution is 1280×1024, yielding the 1.3 megapixel quality advertised. There are a variety of other options for resolution, for example if you wanted to send the picture in an MMS message and wanted to save space. The 1.3 mp quality is the same resolution as the max available on the EM326g, and should capture enough detail to produce decent 4 x 6 prints, possibly even a little larger. The phone does lack a flash, though, so you’ll have to make sure there’s adequate lighting wherever you’re shooting pictures.

Another nice touch here is a little circular mirror right next to the camera lens, which allows users to see where the camera is pointing if they want to take a self-portrait.

The camcorder records at 176 x 144, which is going to be pretty grainy video. Even on the tiny phone screen, it looked a little pixelated, so I’m sure that would be even worse on a larger monitor. I did a 7 second test video and it was 76 kb, so there should be plenty of space to save your videos. Audio recording worked fine at close range and played back through the phone’s speaker when I replayed a video I had just shot.

I haven’t yet had time to mess with getting it connected to a computer either via bluetooth or USB cable, but I’ll definitely work on that for my more in-depth review. I’ll have that detailed review out soon, and when I do I’ll put it up as a new post and put a link to it on my T401g Review Index Page.

I guess I’ll wrap it up here, for now. Stay tuned for a much more detailed review soon.

I got the Net10 Samsung T401g Tuesday night and tore it open Wednesday, eager to test it out. I’m making this my “main” phone for now, and that requires me to port my main number from TracFone to Net10 (don’t worry, I’ll still have several different TracFones active for myself and family members, so I’m definitely not giving up on TracFone news either). Anyway, I’m still waiting for the port to be completed so I can actually make and receive calls, but I do have some initial impressions that I’d like to share with you:

Perhaps the biggest news about this phone is the text messaging costs – all SMS messages, incoming and outgoing, cost just $.03, compared to the rate of $.05 for all previous Net10 phones. This brings the cost of texting more in line with TracFone and, in combination with the QWERTY keyboard, will increase the appeal of the T401g to people who text a lot.

The next thing I noticed is that this phone is HEAVY. I guess it needs to accomodate all the hardware inside to allow for bluetooth, a robust camera, camcorder, mp3 player, and of course a slide-out qwerty keyboard. It is noticeably heavier in my hand than my previous phone, the LG 600g. I actually weighed these two phones, as well as some other models, and determined that the new T401g, with battery installed, is 50% heavier than the 600g. The T401g weighs in at 4.4 oz, while the 600g is just 2.9. It’s also longer, wider, and thicker than the LG 600g, so the T401g which will take some getting used to as I carry it around on a daily basis.

The phone is glossy everywhere and will attract fingerprints and smudges easily. If you are the type that can stand these little cosmetic imperfections, you’ll either be wiping your phone constantly, or you’ll want invest in some sort of case or skin for it.

The numeric keypad feels solid – the keys feel somewhat “rubbery,” which I like as it helps me navigate the keyboard for one-handed dialing. The keypad actually feels a little like the Nokia 1100, which I used for a long time and liked a lot.

The keys on the internal qwerty keyboard take moderate effort to depress – I don’t know if this will change over time as I break it in, but for now I’m not sure I’d want to type long messages on this model. Then again, I’d imagine I’ll get used to it after more use.

This model has the same charger, but not the same battery as the other Samsungs that came out this spring, so if you have any accessories for any of those, you’ll be able to use them with this model.

The T401g has an external slot for a microSD card, so there is no need to remove the battery to access the memory card as is the case with the EM326g.

I just played around with the camera a little, and tested it enough to see that the highest resolution is 1280×1024, yielding the 1.3 megapixel quality advertised. There are a variety of other options for resolution, for example if you wanted to send the picture in an MMS message and wanted to save space. The 1.3 mp quality is the same resolution as the max available on the EM326g, and should capture enough detail to produce decent 4 x 6 prints, possibly even a little larger. The phone does lack a flash, though, so you’ll have to make sure there’s adequate lighting wherever you’re shooting pictures.

Another nice touch here is a little circular mirror right next to the camera lens, which allows users to see where the camera is pointing if they want to take a self-portrait.

The camcorder records at 176 x 144, which is going to be pretty grainy video. Even on the tiny phone screen, it looked a little pixelated, so I’m sure that would be even worse on a larger monitor. I did a 7 second test video and it was 76 kb, so there should be plenty of space to save your videos. Audio recording worked fine at close range and played back through the phone’s speaker when I replayed a video I had just shot.

I haven’t yet had time to mess with getting it connected to a computer either via bluetooth or USB cable, but I’ll definitely work on that for my more in-depth review.

I guess I’ll wrap it up here, for now. Stay tuned for a much more detailed review soon.

New Phone News – LG 100c, LG 220c, LG 290c, and Samsung T401g reviews coming soon

As promised, I’m back again with more info on the newest TracFone and Net10 models.

I’ve been hearing reports of the various phone models becoming available at different locations, so I decided to go out hunting for them myself. I already picked up an LG 290c last week at a Dollar General store, so I first called there to see if they had any other models come in. They didn’t so my search continued.

At first I started calling around, but it ran into some trouble with getting people to understand what I’m actually looking for (e.g. “Yep, we have TracFones”). So, I had to do get in the car and do some driving. In total, I checked 6 stores – 2 Target stores, 2 Walmarts, a Sears and a Shopko. None of those stores had any new phones in stock, with one interesting exception I’ll get to a few paragraphs later. So that night I went home empty-handed.

Then yesterday, while I was researching my answer to a question someone asked in one of the comments, I happened to notice that the TracFone LG 290c is now available for sale from TracFone’s website. So I ordered that right away, and used the promotional codes I posted a few weeks ago to get $3 off and a free accessory kit. Two phones down (220c and 290c), two to go.

As luck would have it, I had plans last night to meet with my dad for dinner, and our plan was to meet in a nearby town where he was staying on a business trip. That town happened to be near a Kmart, which is the only Kmart in my area.

Since I had heard that Kmart was the only store where people had actually found the T401g for sale, I decided to stop in and take a look. I found the T401g right away, for $80. There were several more on the shelf after I left.

It just so happens that there’s a Walmart right across the street from this Kmart, so I decided to check out that store too. It must have been my lucky day, because they had the only phone that I needed to complete my “Fall 2009” collection (at least until the Samsung R451c is released).

I’m now trying to sort it all out and do a respectable job of reviewing all of these phones as quickly as I can, while still maintaining my personal standard of quality writing and honest, thoughtful reviews. I think I’ll start with the Samsung T401g review, since that has the most new features of the phones I have in my hand. I’ll try to go quickly, though, and get to the other phones in short order; I know many people are as eager to read about these phones as I was to buy and test them.

Oh, back to that one “exception” I posted about earlier. In the Walmart store nearest my house, I found an LG 100c. Other people had reported finding this model at their own Walmart stores, but my case was different. The phone I saw was a Net10 version. Everyone else had reported seeing TracFone versions. This gives me some hope that perhaps America Movil is returning to its tradition of offering the same phone models for both Net10 and TracFone, including the Samsung T401g for TracFone. That may be wishful thinking, but I think my little discovery makes it a little more plausible.

Alright, thanks for reading this far. I don’t have a great deal of info up yet, but I’ll try to get pictures posted this afternoon or early evening. I might even shoot a video using the camcorder function of the T401g. When I get those media posted to the web, I’ll put links on the following review index pages:

Samsung T401g Review Index (Net10)

LG 290c Review Index (TracFone)

LG 100c Review Index (TracFone)

TracFone LG 410g Review Summary

This phone, the LG 410g, is the GSM phone that came out for TracFone over the summer. It is not to be confused with the Samsung T401g, which debuted this week as a Net10 handset. Nor should you confuse it with any of the newest LG models, whose model numbers all end in “c” to denote that they are CDMA phones.

The complete TracFone LG 410g review can be found by clicking here. If you just want the summary, read below for the overview.

Once again, I apologize for posting so much over the next few weeks. I hope you’ll find all the info useful, though, and I’ll be back again tomorrow.

Picture of TracFone LG 410g

LG 410g Review Summary

The TracFone LG 410g is a solid little phone if you only need the basics. It skips the bluetooth, camera, and Double Minutes for Life that many TracFone users have come to expect.

As of this writing, it is priced at $19.99. With the Motorola w376g just $10 more and offering those things mentioned above, most notably DMFL, I can’t really recommend the 410g to very many people. The double minute feature of the w376g and LG 600g just offers so much value that those are both better choices for anyone who uses more than 30-40 minutes a month.

But the LG 410g also has some distinct advantages – audio quality and signal reception are good, and battery life is amazing. It also has an external display, which is a big deal for some people. Excellence in these basic functional areas, combined with simplicity, might make this a good choice for an “emergency only” user.

To find out where to buy the LG 410g, click here. Or, for the index of all of my info relating to this phone, click here.

New Review Info – Samsung T401g, LG 290c, LG 220c and LG 100c

The new phones I wrote about last month have been coming out fast and furious over the last week. The LG 100c, 220c, and 290c have all debuted for TracFone, while Net10 users now have the option of the Samsung T401g.

None of these phones are yet available from the TracFone or Net10 websites, but it appears major retailers are in the process of stocking them. So far I’ve only found the LG 220c, and had to drive 20 miles to the nearest Dollar General store in order to find it. But I’ve seen reports of all three LG phones available at Target and Walmart, and the Net10 Samsung has been spotted in KMart stores.

The availability of these phones seems to vary somewhat based on geography, so I guess the only way to find out for sure whether they’re available near you is to check out your local stores yourself. I expect that they’ll become more widely available soon, though, and of course I’ll post when they’re available on the web sites for people to take advantage of the discount Promotional Codes I posted last week.

TracFone LG 220c

For now, the only phone of these four that actually I have in my hands is the LG 220c. I’ve taken some pictures of the LG 220c and posted them online. Click on the link above to view the album. Also, for more info as I add to the review, check out my TracFone LG 220c review page.

I haven’t tested it very extensively yet, but so far it seems to be a nice upgrade from the previous CDMA phones for TracFone. I was never a fan of the Kyocera K126c, and both the LG 3280 and LG 200c were quality phones, but are 3-4 years old now.

The 220c offers bluetooth, voice dialing, speaker phone, and web access. Noticeably missing from this phone are a camera and standard Double Minutes for Life. Some, but NOT ALL, phones of this model include DMFL. If you end up deciding on this phone and you want DMFL, you’ll have to make sure to find one in special packaging that specifically identifies it as including DMFL.

Aside from those missing elements, this seems like a solid phone for the $15 I paid for it. I’ve been pleasantly surprised so far with the reception of the 220c – it seems to pull a signal better than other CDMA phones I’ve tried it with.

As I said, things are moving quickly in terms of phone news, so expect to be hearing from me a lot over the next week or two. I’ll get the information out to you as soon as I can.

And if you are looking for a new TracFone CDMA phone, keep in mind that we still don’t know when the Samsung R451c might come out, or what service it will be on when it is available for sale. But on the chance that it is available for Tracfone, you may want to hold off on purchasing one of these LG models until we get a look at the 451c.

Similarly, each of these phones is currently available only on one service. Lately each phone has been available ONLY for TracFone or ONLY for Net10. Going back a year or two, however there were some models available for both Net10 and TracFone. Perhaps that situation will repeat with some of these models. Stay tuned…

TracFone Promotional Code List Revised

I apologize for taking so long to get this updated. It seems a lot has changed during the time I was “away” from the bonus code list, as I had a whole slew of new codes to add to the list. Here are the newest TracFone Promotional Codes:

• 39713 for 30 bonus minutes on a 60 minute card
• 38105 for 40 bonus minutes on a 120 minute card

• 18488 for 30 bonus minutes on a 120 minute card
• 53137 for 30 bonus minutes on a 120 minute card
• 51069 for 20 bonus minutes on a 120 minute card

• 96945 for 50 bonus minutes on a 200 minute card
• 87440 for 50 bonus minutes on a 200 minute card
• 43256 for 50 bonus minutes on a 200 minute card
• 12462 for 50 bonus minutes on a 200 minute card
• 59752 for 50 bonus minutes on a 200 minute card
• 54630 for 20 bonus minutes on a 200 minute card

• 96724 for 80 bonus minutes on a 450 minute card
• 44688 for 80 bonus minutes on a 450 minute card

Also, a couple of codes that I had previously listed as “expired” seem to have found new life:

• 51578 for 200 bonus minutes on a One year, 400 minute card
• 54496 for 30 bonus minutes on a 60 minute card

All of the above codes are listed on the main database and put in bold type to indicate they are new additions. I also removed a few expired codes from the list. Any that have been reported as expired for at least 2 months were moved to the bottom of the list. Others that were recently expired remain in the main list, but are marked as expired.

For the current TracFone Promotional Code database, click here.
And, if for some reason you missed my post last week about the current Tracfone Promotional Code discount deals, check it out.

TracFone Discount Promotional Codes, Free Motorola w376g Back Again

It came to my attention earlier this week that the $3 discount code (23444) for online orders wasn’t working. I checked into it with one of my TracFone contacts, and discovered that the code was indeed marked as invalid earlier this week, but that was caused by an error in TracFone’s system. That error has now been corrected and, as of the time of this post, the code is working again and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

Further, I wanted to point out a few extra bargains currently available online. First, I don’t know how I missed this, but apparently there is a little-known code for a free accessory kit with ANY phone purchased through TracFone’s site. A free accessory kit had already been offered with the purchase of a new LG 600g for some time now, but this code applies to ANY phone.

The accessory kit you’ll receive from TracFone is pretty basic – car charger, carrying case with belt clip, and hands-free headset (wired, NOT bluetooth). But it’s something, and with this new code it’s free.

To get the free kit, click here to get to TracFone’s site. Add your preferred phone to your cart, then use code 88160 when you check out to get the free accessory kit added to your order. DO NOT add the $14.99 kit to your cart on your own. You can also use code 23444 for a $3 discount in conjunction with the free accessory kit code – just enter one code in the discount box, click submit, then enter the next code, click submit again, then proceed with your checkout.

Here’s a picture of what your cart will look like after you’ve successfully used both codes:

TracFone Promotional Code entry details - Screenshot

The other deal I mentioned is the reappearance of the bundled Motorola w376g refurbished phone with a 60-minute card for $19.99, making the phone essentially free. Use the above codes for a free accessory kit and $3 off, and you’re getting a ton of value for just $16.99 plus tax. (Free shipping is still being offered on all phone packages of $19.99 or more based on the pre-discount price.)

If you need a backup phone, a starter phone for a friend, or are doing a little early Holiday shopping, this is a great way to go. If you’re interested, click here to get to TracFone’s site.

Finally, I know that I’ve been delinquent in updating the list of bonus minute promotional codes. I’m working on that, and I’ll get them updated over the weekend, if not sometime today.

Have a great weekend.