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Virgin Slice Phone
Amazon.com Price: $40.99 (as of 2010-07-30 16:54:48 GMT) Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Product Description
Design
The Slice features a large 128 x 128 pixel full-color screen with support for over 65,000 colors. A charging port is positioned on the bottom of the unit, while most of the phone's features and on-screen menus are controlled by a five-way center button on the handset's control pad. Lastly, the internal antenna is safely tucked away, keeping the phone's design slim and portable.
Calling Features
The Slice's built-in address book can store up to 500 entries for quick and easy management of your contacts. The phone comes with built-in polyphonic ringtones plus a vibrating alert. Ringtones can be assigned to specific callers so you don't have to look at the phone to know who's calling.
Messaging and Internet
The Slice covers the messaging basics with support for sending and receiving text messages easily and quickly (Virgin Mobile text messaging charges apply). T9 text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit--a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.
The phone fully supports Virgin Mobile's wireless content service, VirginXtras. Use the pay-per-use service to download ringtones, get content and vote in TV-based polls via the MTV area of your phone, or get jokes and updates from Comedy Central. Pick a celebrity voice to answer your voicemail, or get a Sponge Bob thought of the day. Need to jog your memory? Use Virgin's wacky song ID service. Press the Song ID command, point your Slice towards a song that's playing in the room, and within minutes a text message appears identifying the song's title.
The Slice ships with a number of handy tools including a calendar, a calculator with a tip calculator, and an alarm clock.
Imaging and Entertainment
The phone features custom Virgin Mobile graphics--screen savers, wallpaper and menu icons--that let you dress up your phone to suit your personality. For gamers, the Slice comes pre-loaded with three games and more are available via the VirginXtras service.
Vital Statistics
The Starcom Slice weighs 2.30 ounces and measures 4.30 x 1.80 x 0.40 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 3.83 hours of digital talk time, and up to 270 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the CDMA 1900 frequency. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.
Product Details
Video Reviews
Customer Reviews
Once you get over the industrial strength plastic clamshell monster it comes in, it's a good ride. The phone resembles a small remote control. It's sleek and unassuming. Turn it on and things get a bit zany with the animations on the color screen, but it's a pleasant experience. The sound quality is good on both ends of the conversation.
It's attractive. It works. It seems a real no-brainer given the other choices for the Virgin Mobile service. You can have fun with it or just ignore the fun stuff--but you'll have to get used to the funny graphics.
The UI is totally intuitive. You interact with the menus on the screen and the few keys below it as if you've been doing it a while after only setting up your preferences.
One thing: this whole service and the software on this phone are marketed to a younger demographic than mine (thirties). While it's a good basic cell phone and the plan is appealing (pay as you go--for me 18c/min), there's a ton of stuff to play with if your train gets stuck in a tunnel. I have Lily Tomlin's operator character answering my voicemail and found a wallpaper with my first name spelled out in diamonds; and if I should ever receive a text message, among my canned response options (that come standard with the phone) are "Hell no," "Can't talk," and "Leave me alone."
My friend has had one for a few months and loves his. He makes a good bit more money than I and sports some fancy handheld devices, so it's not just that it's so cheap and cool.
First $20 phone card lasted me little bit over 2 months (one has to recharge account once every three months to keep the account active) despite a fact that I even made couple overseas calls that were very reasonably priced 30c/min to Eastern Europe. I used the phone on my business trip to call home. The reception was excellent in all 7 states I used the phone so far. The Virgin web site is excellent. The account is easy to recharge. They also have planty of ring tones and graphic options
for downloading (mostly priced about $2 per download).
The phone is nice looking and has all fancy stuff except a camera.
However the memory is really small for more serious web browsing but one would not expect more for $19. I am surprised to hear that other people complained about the battery life. My phone holds charge about 3-4 days on stand by.
The only bad thing I discovered so far is that after the switching off the phone (for example during the flight) I had to reconnect phone to charger in order to activate it again.
I would sincerely recommend the phone and the Virgin pay as you go plan to mature users.
Pros:
-Nice, full color screen
-Thin and compact
-Clear call quality
-Long-lasting battery
-Easy to read at night
-Speakerphone quality is good
Cons:
-Buttons are small, but you get used to it
All in all, I think this is a good quality, worth-while phone. I would reccomend it to anyone looking for affordability and good quality.
P.S You can set this phone to a ring and vib funtion at the same time (I think I saw in another review that you couldn't) and international texting to canada was only 5 cents recieving and sending. Its also cheaper to buy directly from virgins site (39.99)
Great phone and at $[...] (Black Friday), how can you go wrong!! 5 stars ^_^
Chris Jenkins
www.geocities.com/whoischrisjenkins
Let's start with the positives:
-Very compact design. This is probably the cheapest phone of its size/capabilities available anywhere. It is so thin that when I put it in the same pocket as my wallet, I sometimes forget it's there.
-For the cost, it is pretty decent in terms of features. 128x128 screen with fullscreen graphic support, 10 MB for downloads (32 total), speakerphone, web capability, comparable performance to most Nokia series 40 devices. Very long battery life, and fast charging. For those that have had trouble with the battery I suggest you try turning off the backlight. It might have... interesting... effects.
-Uses the Sprint network. I've found this to be very reliable in my area, and signal quality is excellent both in and outdoors.
-Call quality is good. Comparable to the 8610 as far as I can tell, which was also good (my old Kyocera, on the other hand, was garbage).
-UI has a solid, standard design. Predictive text included for messaging. The phone's graphics are a bit odd, but not necessarily in a bad ways.
-Durable. UTStarcom knows how to build to last. This handset is no exception.
-Good library of games, ringtones, and graphics available. Now I actually have something to spend all that balance on...
-Virgin is a very low cost provider. It's no good if you want video on demand, 3G, or whatnot. But for just making calls/texting now and then, you simply can't beat $20/3 months. No annual contract as well, which is a huge plus (as many who've had one know all too well).
On the downside:
-Keys are a bit small. This is typical of ultra-thin handsets. They are a bit stiff as well, which is good and bad (good because you won't accidentally press them as easily, bad because typing is more of a pain).
-Virgin's web browser is lame. Their web service costs extra, and it has problems viewing many page formats (says 'network gremlins' when you try... cute). You can browse basic html, and that's about it- good luck reading e-mail with it.
-No bluetooth built-in, though this is to be expected.
-No camera either, also to be expected. This can actually be a good thing, since camera phones are off-limits in more areas than you might expect.
Bottom line: this handset is great for the price. There are flaws with it, as with any phone, but the pluses outweigh the minuses. I've seen many reviewers complain about both Virgin and the phone, but in my professional opinion (and it is an expert opinion) these people need to realize that you get what you pay for. This isn't a $200 Samsung T519, and you're not paying $60 a month for service on a 2 year contract. Considering the costs, the Slice is an great handset with excellent service, and that is that.
Good points:
I got mine for "*free" with Reward Zone points at Best Buy.
Fits into a small purse or pocket easily.
Nice looking (someone mistook it for a "Chocolate" the other day).
Clear reception (long distance calls are just as crystal as local; not sure if this is an "area" thing, but apparently the service in and around Chicago's solid).
Pay-as-you-go option works well for someone who doesn't spend a lot of time on the phone.
My Slice holds a charge just fine (I've noticed other reviewers have said this is a problem, but so far, so good) and doesn't heat up, as someone else mentioned (maybe that reviewer's got a defective phone or battery?).
***ADDING A COMMENT on Jan. 11, 2009. I still have this phone and am still pretty satisfied with it. One thing, though, about the phone heating up. If a phone call goes on too long, it does grow hot. I mean hot! I don't normally use it for long calls, but the few times my conversations have lasted for more than a few minutes, the Slice feels like it's burning up in my hand. I wonder if it might burn the circuitry inside the phone one of these times.***
Not so good points:
It's so slim my husband has bet me I'll lose the phone within a couple of months (could be easy to misplace if you keep stacks of papers and books on your desk). ADDED COMMENT: Two years later and I still haven't lost it.
Someone else mentioned the odd graphics (hot dog dripping blue sauce, some sort of pipe looking cartoons with teeth. Seriously, I have no idea what those things might be), but I say it's workable if you have a sense of humor (:
Yes, the buttons are small. I have small hands, slender fingers, and I still manage to bump the "3" whenever I'm trying to shut off the phone.
Sometimes it's difficult to turn on (the button doesn't always respond when I push it, though could be I'm a wimp), but once it's on it's fine. I'm thinking this will get broken in with more use. ADDED COMMENT: The button did get broken in and now it's a breeze to turn on and off.
All in all, it's not a bad phone. Beautiful red. I find myself staring at it just to appreciate its beauty (phone confessions!).
I'm satisfied with mine. And since I haven't forked out hundreds of dollars--or any dollars, really--I won't feel too guilty when/if I do manage to lose it under a pile of paperwork!
I wrote the review below after two weeks with the phone, and now after three months am adding an update. First, I stand by all of the comments I made below, but change my rating from 4 to 5 stars. This phone works great. There are problems, but those come inherent with its best feature, the extremely compact size, i.e. small buttons and getting dropped a lot. Reception is great and sound is great. Mine has taken quite a beating while I got used to keeping hold of such a small phone, and still looks and works like new. I did put a screen protector over the screen, so that helps with keeping scratches away. After a couple months I have gotten used to the small buttons and mildly quirky interface and neither bother me at all anymore. I use it more than I had planned, but still have a long ways to go before an annual contract would be better. This phone is one decision that comes with no regrets.
2 week review:
I got this phone to use as a phone and am very happy with it. I have had it about two weeks now so this is the early review.
First, the qualifier. I have a nice canon camera and don't want to use my phone to take pictures. I don't want to use my phone to listen to music or surf the internet either, I just want it to make and receive calls and maybe a text here and there. If you are one of those people that has a different agenda for your phone, then this is probably not the phone for you.
The Good
Size is great. This phone is comparable to a Hershey bar in thickness and width, but shorter. It fits in my pants or shirt pocket without feeling bulky. It makes a razr feel thick, but I am guessing it is comparable to a slvr.
The Slice has good sound quality for such a small phone. It also has good reception. Sprints network is not the best in my area, but my slice has been able to connect wherever I am and maintains a strong connection even with 1 bar.
When I was in the car, the road noise got too loud to hear, but when I hit the speakerphone button I could hear fine, and keep my hands on the wheel.
Virgin is definitely the most affordable option if you are not planning to use the phone a lot. I expect to spend between $150 and $200 this first year, including the $50 up front for the phone. The cheapest monthly plan on the big carriers would cost me at least 500 over a the same period with local taxes and fees included. Although I haven't tried them, it looks like the monthly plans with Virgin are pretty reasonable too if I start getting into that kind of usage level.
Many of the other Virgin phones look like toys. Although this ones name sounds like a toy and people under 18 recognize it, it also looks like a real piece of equipment. As an older professional I am not embarrassed to plop this phone on the conference table in a meeting with the VP. (in vibrate mode of course) At the same time, my 12 year old is hoping I hate it and get another phone so he can have this one because it is so cool.
The UI is well designed and easy to navigate except for the ridiculous menu. What were they smoking when they decided to use a pig for "my account," a dragon for "messaging," etc. Other than that, the features are all where you would expect them to be and navigating the menus is quite intuitive.
Can't really comment on reliability on this phone after just two weeks, but it has already been dropped twice and still works fine.
The Bad
Perhaps because they are affordable in other ways, Virgin screws you on ringtones and background. The four ringtones included are unacceptable, and you are blocked from up or down loading your own. They do have a pretty big collection on their website you can get for $2.50 a pop, but none of them sound like a phone. The included wallpapers were chosen to be the most despicable choices possible too, so you are likely to fork out $2.00 for a wallpaper from their web site for that as well.
The buttons are a little too small. Most of the time I do fine, but every once in a while I hit two keys or the wrong key because they are so small. Of course once the numbers were all loaded into contacts and speed dials set I haven't run into that problem any more.
Battery life has not lived up to what I read, but that might be because of how I use it. If I charge it every night I am fine. I ordered an extra charger to keep in the office and one for the car as well just in case.
Summary
After two weeks I am happy with this phone and would recommend it to someone looking for a phone to use for making phone calls. It is not big on extras like a camera, but what it does it does well. Virgin uses Sprint's network, see if you can find out about their network in your area before you buy a Virgin phone. [...]
Having said that, this is a basic phone that is just that - a phone. It doesn't have a camera, but does have basic online connection to Virgin, allowing for software downloads. There are some useful tools included such as alarm clock, stop watch, calendar, etc. Few basic background pictures and ringtones are included as well.
Regardless of other reviews, the phone is NOT flimsy (although may feel like it at first), the keypad is easy to use (even with big hands like mine), the reception is good (not great, but competes with most other phones), and the volume/tone (incoming and outgoing) is excellent. The volume/tone may take some getting used to as it transmits more midrange frequency than most phones, this in turn makes the speach sound more realistic, but may take a minute to get used to.
It is fairly easy to use, but I would recommend glancing at the manual for some useful functions and shortcuts. The Virgin customer service is easy, readily available, and personnel are informed and helpful.
The downside to the phone is that it does feel on the flimsy side at first, but the phone can take a beating without even a scratch. The menu is somewhat different from most other cell phones, but is easy to get used to.
In closing, this is a $50 phone, not a $300 Blackberry, so don't expect a Porche for the price of a Geo. But if you want a slim, comfortable, and a simple phone, $50 is nothing. I think it is geat - cheap, slim, reliable.
Tags: phone • slice • virgin