What An Incredible Phone For My Blind Mom!!!, September 8, 2008
This phone is truly amazing. I got one for my 86 year old blind, arthritic mother who is in a nursing home, and liked it so much (I'm 61) that I upgraded my old Sony Ericsson to a Pantech Breeze. I ordered hers with voice dial and all she has to do is open the phone, press *8 and the phone asks her what she wants to do. She says who she wants...read full review
This phone is truly amazing. I got one for my 86 year old blind, arthritic mother who is in a nursing home, and liked it so much (I'm 61) that I upgraded my old Sony Ericsson to a Pantech Breeze. I ordered hers with voice dial and all she has to do is open the phone, press *8 and the phone asks her what she wants to do. She says who she wants to call and it dials the number for her. When she is done, all she has to do is just close it. I couldn't figure out how she could use a Bluetooth headset with voice dial. That is due to Bluetooth controls, not the phone.
The keypad is close to as large as a regular phone, with keys that are slightly raised in the center. I measured the size of the numbers on the display screen, and they are a full 1/2 inch tall! The size can be adjusted.
For the most part, I was able to start using it without really reading the user's manual. I had never used Bluetooth before, so that took more time. I took it to my local AT&T store and they transfered all of the contents of my address book. For my Mom's phone, I put her address book in via the internet. She lives in California and I live in Illinois, so being able to manage it at a distance is a real plus.
The phone has great clarity and although it is considered a entry level phone, it beats my old phone hands down. Some people call it the "little old lady phone", but to me, it is more of a cradle to grave phone.
The only thing I wish they had done differently is the cover for connecting the charger and wired headset. My Mom, even if she could see, would not be able to recharge the phone without assistance. I even have a hard time gaining access to the connection slot.
AT&T states that the talk time battery life is at least three hours. Well, I got almost 10 hours which is partially due to the fact that both of us have a very strong signal and I don't send graphics, read email, surf the net or take pictures.
Some people have complained that it only comes in white, but I could care less. Clarity of sound and ease of use are of higher priority.
All in all, this phone does everything it claims to, and then some.
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It's *loud*!, October 11, 2008
Okay, I've had this phone for a couple of weeks, and I like it quite a lot. It's slick-looking, thin and pearly white, lightweight, and fits nicely in the back pocket of my jeans.
As others may have said, the battery seems to hold a charge for a good long time, and the big buttons are nice. I haven't had the opportunity (?) to test...read full review
Okay, I've had this phone for a couple of weeks, and I like it quite a lot. It's slick-looking, thin and pearly white, lightweight, and fits nicely in the back pocket of my jeans.
As others may have said, the battery seems to hold a charge for a good long time, and the big buttons are nice. I haven't had the opportunity (?) to test out the sturdiness of it yet, but I'm sure that will happen sooner or later.
The thing I like best about this phone, though, is that it's LOUD. I do concert photography, so I spend a lot of time in noisy bars and at outdoor music festivals, and I can actually hear this phone when it rings, even when it's in my back pocket. I had to turn down the receiver volume from the factory default setting, because it was uncomfortably loud. How great is that?
I changed the menu setting from the EZ setting to the advanced setting, in order to have more options and control, so I can't honestly say I've noticed the menus being any easier to navigate than any other phone I've ever had. And it may just be because I haven't gotten used to it yet, but entering text -- phone numbers and text messages -- seems more awkward than with other phones. The button that I instinctively expect to use to delete characters, instead throws me out of text-writing mode and the phone asks me if I want to save what I've entered as a draft or not, without giving me the option of saying, "Oops!" and going back to continue entering text. I don't like that. I've abandoned more than one text message from frustration and not having time to try again, that way.
So: I like the phone. I think I'll get used to the texting weirdness, and it's all worth it for the YAY!VOLUME! and -- if it turns out to be true -- the tough, takes-a-lickin'-and-keeps-on-tickin' survivability of the thing. minimize
EZ Phone, September 26, 2008
I've had this phone for 3 months and it is for EVERYONE! Large buttons.. bright screen.. Bluetooth.. my own mp3 rings assignable to whoever calls (My wife's call says I LOVE YOU).. easy to use in both the EZ mode and advanced mode, etc. The only thing wrong is that it has low signal strength when on the fringes. Other phones have 2 bars when this...read full review
I've had this phone for 3 months and it is for EVERYONE! Large buttons.. bright screen.. Bluetooth.. my own mp3 rings assignable to whoever calls (My wife's call says I LOVE YOU).. easy to use in both the EZ mode and advanced mode, etc. The only thing wrong is that it has low signal strength when on the fringes. Other phones have 2 bars when this one has none. But if you mainly are within a good cell signal, look at this phone seriously! You'll like it! minimize
Pathetic attempt at user-friendliness, April 20, 2009
While the thought behind the phone (including the simpler "breeze" mode) is nice, the implementation is often disappointing.
For example, there's a long list of various service numbers (musicID, 411, voiceCall, etc) hard-coded into the phone's contact book and cannot be deleted. Why not allow the consumer to pick and choose which...read full review
While the thought behind the phone (including the simpler "breeze" mode) is nice, the implementation is often disappointing.
For example, there's a long list of various service numbers (musicID, 411, voiceCall, etc) hard-coded into the phone's contact book and cannot be deleted. Why not allow the consumer to pick and choose which numbers to keep in her own phone book is a mystery to me.
While the phone is touted as particularly usable for elderly people, the power plug is finicky and requires a lot of coordination to use correctly. In various parts of the interface, large font becomes tiny and hard to read.
It's clear that Pantech is headed in the right direction, but they still have a way to go. minimize
This could be The Jitterbug's best endorsement yet., October 12, 2008
[The only good thing I can say about this phone is that, unlike several that preceded it, I haven't lost it. On the other hand, the phone performed so poorly that I had little occasion or reason to take it places. But I'm about to "lose" it--deliberately. The garbage pick-up is tomorrow (I'm not about to give it to someone, thereby inflicting...read full review
[The only good thing I can say about this phone is that, unlike several that preceded it, I haven't lost it. On the other hand, the phone performed so poorly that I had little occasion or reason to take it places. But I'm about to "lose" it--deliberately. The garbage pick-up is tomorrow (I'm not about to give it to someone, thereby inflicting upon them the pain and sheer exasperation it has caused me).]
I'm frankly mortified that, upon a hasty first impression, I gave this phone a rave review that led to some readers purchasing it. It's a seductive-looking phone which, moreover, appears to offer the same simplicity and convenience of the Jitterbug without the dumbed-down factor. Within the first 3 months, it frequently refused to dial even the 3 large-button numbers, requiring that I go through 2-3 separate maneuvers, such as depressing a miniature panel adjacent to and indistinguishable from an identically-appearing panel. At times it asked me, upon depression of one of the three numbers, to hit "Send"; at other times, it said, hit "O.K"; at other times it rerouted me through a complicated menu system with 8 or more choices, then more choices (at least 3) concerning the item that had just been selected. And there were times when pushing one of the 3 big buttons brought forth the message: "For Emergency Use Only"(!?). The darn thing kept ringing (silly songs) with unwelcome offers from ATT--for MP3 songs or "art" decor--or simply because the battery was low. It periodically racked up charges for items it apparently "thought" I had ordered when I was trying to turn it off or silence it. The instruction manual, I finally determined, is incomplete, inconsistent, and misleading--written by someone unfamiliar with English, then proofed by someone who "fixed" the grammar but not the meaning. Even some gadget-proficient youngsters to whom I turned for help were perplexed by what turned out to be the most disastrous phone of my life. Apparently AT&T has dropped it from its offerings, or is about to: I can easily understand why.
From here, it's unclear where to turn. Anything would be preferable to this throwaway piece of junk. I'm joining A.A.R.P. and looking into the Jitterbug phone--not the 3-button, no-number model but the slightly more sophisticated model in black. The Pantech has apparently been changed from "elderly white" to more understated black, but the device needs help beyond any mere color change: heroic measures are in order. But you would do better not to put yourself in a position to require them. Not only is the Breeze far from a breeze, but the included camera, mp3 player, movies, etc. would befuddle anyone over 60 even if they felt like using them: this thing can't even make a simple call! Although the Jitterbug has received its share of complaints, one of them is not the inability to locate your own cellular number (which is buried deep in the menu system of the Pantech Breeze). Time to bury this phone. minimize
