Verizon Wireless XV6600 Review
About 10 months, and one hurricane Katrina ago, I purchased the XV6600
I can remember the day I first set eyes on it. I was in the new Verizon Wireless store in Metairie, Louisiana (which was built on the property where the movie “Waiting” was filmed - true story!) and noticed that there was a working model of the XV6600 on display. I had heard fables of the new EV-DO service, and quickly put the display model to the test. I was able to stream decent-quality video, which is something I would have never dreamed of with my T-mobile
I took it home, and played with it all day. The sliding keyboard was great… having another option than pecking with the stylus was a huge plus for me. The internet screamed through sites like Ebay, which would have never loaded on my T-mobile pocket pc. I soon found out about a program called orb, which let me stream tv as well as audio and video from my home computer, so I was able to watch TV on the go. The EV-DO was plenty fast enough for that, too. The stereo mic/headphones that came with the phone were quite awful. I had extreme pain when they were in my ear AND they somehow seemed to slip out all of the time. The phone’s 400mhz processor handled all of my applications with ease. There were no issues in that department whatsoever. The only real problem I have had with this phone is the pathetic battery life. I get maybe 1.5 hours of use with this thing until it is dead. There are some extended batteries you can buy for it, for a good bit of money, but with over $550 dollars invested in this phone, I found it hard to justify spending that much more. I have decided to wait for the Verizon XV6700 instead of buying an extended battery
During my two-month evacuation/hell from hurricane Katrina, I was able to use the XV6600 as a wireless modem for my laptop. This was an absolute godsend! I used it to work, play poker online, and surf for news about New Orleans and the destruction that occurred.
The ring volume is poor, which is strange because playing mp3s and streaming radio came in quite loud. You simply cannot use the default ringtone. Its obscenely low. I use the “old phone” ringtone which is audible unless I’m in a loud party environment.
Overall, this is a great phone with some very unfortunate drawbacks which hold it back from being perfect.
edit: I found a good deal on ebay on a 2400 mAh extended battery. I decided to buy it and received it yesterday. I paid about $35 shipped, which is a pretty good price compared to what I’ve seen. The battery makes the phone considerably heavier, but I am getting at least twice the battery life. I may keep this phone for a while after all!
Pros: Keyboard, Price (now $399 here), EV-DO, Speedy Processor, Bluetooth
Cons: Battery Life, Strange yellowish tint to screen (not noticeable after a while), Camera, Did I mention battery life?
clickclickPOP! Rating: 77 out of 100
November 30th, 2005 at 6:08 pm
How much is the extended battery?
December 1st, 2005 at 12:33 pm
Where can I get an extended battery.
December 1st, 2005 at 1:12 pm
I saw some extended batteries at amazon. Here is the LINK
December 2nd, 2005 at 4:20 pm
Hi… I couldn’t agree more. I had a Palm Treo & a Blackberry. Both were poor, Palm super slow, Blackberry very old technology. I love this PDA… I don’t think there is anything worth while, in current technology, that this phone does not do and it does it superrbly. Verison VCast, ahead of it’s time. The only thing I could imagine that would be better is to have 2 of them. LOL
December 4th, 2005 at 8:47 am
I HAVE THE PPC 6600 SPRINT. AND YES THE MODEM ASPECT WORKS WELL ( AND TWEAKED U CAN GET HIGH SPEED) . i HAVE HAD MINE REPLACED 3 TIMES. I WISH THEY WOULD MAKE A HARD CASE FOR IT MINE KEEPS DIALING EVERYONE ON ITS OWN. I AM NOW SEEKING A GPS ADD ON FOR IT.
BATTERYLIFE WAS AND NEVER IS ANY GOOD ON ANY PDA- I HAD HITACHI AND THAT WAS WORSE. AND AS BATTERY GETS OLDER IT STARTS TO FAIL.
December 8th, 2005 at 7:12 pm
Can you confirm if you are having problems with turning the power off to the VX6600. One of the salesman claim that the VX6600 does not turn off all of the times.
December 8th, 2005 at 8:30 pm
No, I have had no problems with turning the phone off. More than likely the sales rep is an idiot and doesn’t realize that the only way to really shut any pocket pc phone down is by taking out the battery. Buy it.
December 29th, 2005 at 11:18 pm
Have you found a way to keep the unit from soft resetting at 25%? (short of putting on the charger at 35%)? It’s become rather frustrating and I don’t remember it happening before. Wondering if it’s some program that I’ve added over the past few months that is causing it. Feel free to email me at the email address listed. Thanks!
December 30th, 2005 at 1:31 am
yeah I bought a 2500mAh battery on ebay for about $30. Problem Solved. It’s a battery issue, I presume.
January 11th, 2006 at 11:50 am
I’ve had only one issue with my phone and being a late adopter, I bought it in November 2005 may be why. My one complaint, no real way to lock the keys. Yeah, it locks when I push the ‘power’ button on the top of it. But as soon as it rings or an alarm goes off the lock comes off. Then whoever is the poor sucker I last called gets a dozen or more calls from my phone.
So far I’ve tried one screen lock program which worked ok, but it was prone to locking up and not unlocking. Which required removing the battery to get things working again. About half the time I removed the battery to force a reboot the phone reverted to new. There is a setting in ActiveSync to backup the phone every time it’s docked, turn that setting on and dock it daily at a minimum.
So I’m still on the hunt for a STABLE keypad locking program. It’s pretty disapointing the phone on this thing has less features than my GTE Tele-Go did. I’m talking about a phone I bought in 1994!!! When they say on the PDA phone combos you get a great PDA and a lousy phone they aren’t kidding. It’s crazy I’ve never had a phone dial someone unintentionally, none of my Nokias (all but one was the cheap free phone offered by a wireless company), or Motorolas (Star Tac and Micro Tac flips). Not having properly locking keys is like a car without windshield wipers and a heater. These companies need to start getting the point, adequate just isn’t good enough. And at the very least meet the standards of the cheapest phone on the market.
As far as the PDA part it’s fantastic.
January 21st, 2006 at 3:00 pm
XV6600 Is there software available to be able to voice dial on the Audiovox XV6600?
March 18th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
have you picked up the new 6700 yet?
March 28th, 2006 at 7:40 pm
Hey, cool review. I just got this phone and everyone thinks its weird to see such a cute little girly girl with a phone like this. Little do they know, little girls like big things LOL! Anyways, your review helped me make my decision, so thanks!
love-
Tammi
December 5th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Can you connect to the internet for free under the wifi feature say at home/work/school or do you need a verizon data plan?
March 15th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
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