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View Best Sellers   Release Date: Q4 2005 Released For: Verizon Wireless - Discontinued Released for Verizon Wireless, the Samsung SCH-A950 is equipped with an MP3 player. Music lovers can use the SCH-A950's sleek jog dial to scroll through their playlists, while the keys on the phone's exterior allow customers to stop, start and skip around to find the tune to fit their mood. Additionally, the SCH-A950 brings imaging to the multimedia mix with its 1.3-megapixel digital camera and camcorder, allowing snap happy customers to capture still images or video clips to send and share with family and friends... [Continue reading Samsung A950 Review]

• Innovative scroll wheel for fast navigation through playlists
• Dual high-resolution color LCDs
• Dual speakers for MP3 stereo sound and full-duplex speakerphone functionality
• Built-in 1.3-megapixel camera with 2x zoom, flash, customizable color effects, self-timer, and video clip capture and playback capabilities
• VCAST service to stream and download video clips with high-speed EV-DO connection
• BREW support for application, ringer, wallpaper, graphic and game downloads including 3D gaming
• Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free connectivity with headset profiles
• TransFlash external memory port to store pictures, videos, sounds and music

Technical Specifications
Network:	CDMA 800 / 1900
Form Factor:	Clamshell
Dimensions:	91 x 48 x 24 mm
Weight:	129 g
Antenna:	Internal
Navigation:	Scroll Wheel / 5-Way Keypad
Battery Type:	1000 mAh Li-Ion
Talk Time:	3.27
Standby Time:	200
Memory:	24.5 MB
Expandable Memory:	microSD / TransFlash
Imaging
Main Screen:	262000 colors (TFT) 176 x 220 px
External Screen:	65000 colors (TFT) 128 x 96 px
Camera:	1.3 MP / 1280 x 960 px / 2X Zoom / Flash / Self-Timer / Video Recorder
Audio
MP3 Player:
FM Radio:
Speakerphone:
Push-To-Talk:
Multimedia
Wallpapers:	176 x 220 px
Screen Savers:	176 x 220 px
Ring Tones:	64 chord
Themes:
Games:	BREW / 3D Gaming
Streaming Multimedia:	VCAST
Messaging
SMS:
EMS:
MMS:
Email:
Chat:	AOL / MSN / Yahoo
Predictive Text:	T9
Applications
Phonebook Capacity:	500
Calendar:
To-Do List:
WAP:	2.0 / Openwave 6.2.3
Voice Commands:
Calculator:
Connectivity
Bluetooth:
Infrared Port:
High-Speed Data:	cdma2000 1xEV-DO
Wi-Fi:
GPS:
PC Sync:
More Information
Website:	Samsung A950 Website
Discussion:	Samsung Forum

* Compare with other phones side-by-side, or Search by features. We always try to make sure our specs are accurate and complete; however there may be times when information is not known. If you come across any missing details or mistakes, please contact us so we can help other consumers.

Sony Ericsson Z750a	LG enV2 (VX9100)	Samsung Gleam (U700)	Nokia 5310 XpressMusic	LG Chocolate 3
AT&T	Verizon Wireless	Verizon Wireless	T-Mobile	Verizon Wireless
Free!	Free!	Free!	Free!	Free!

Useful information about the Samsung a950

I bought this phone about a month ago. I do like the features that come on the phone. I'm putting the good in with the bad. It's all relative anyway. The main reason I wanted to post was for #3. I do not have VCast in my area, so I will not comment on it.

1. The camera is great. Better than any I've seen on a phone. So many things to play with and tweek on it. Although taking pictures in the day is rather difficult due to glare on the screen.

2. Darn Verizon for taking all the ringtones off.. but I guess they'd like to make money as much as the rest of humanity. It does come with a whopping 6, but downloading more is quite easy, pricy, but easy. I've found hundreds and hundreds of ringtones, wallpapers, and games on Get it Now. With the screen resolution, everything looks wonderful.

3.Ok, now on to the Mp3 player that isn't a Mp3 player at all. I was extremely worried because any review I read basically says that I HAD to get the USB cable and program from Verizon. Just for anyone wondering.. NO YOU DON'T! As long as the songs are in .wma format then you can just put them right on the transflash card. I did have to get a SD card reader.. but hey, what's $10 to around $35??

4. The phone does have low memory storage. So I looked and looked for a 1GB transflash/micro memory card (just can't have less than that). Well they finally developed one, and I got one off of eBay for $45, with a SD adapter. So don't go to the Verizon store before you check out eBay or even Amazon. com.

5. I'm not so sure about the menus and folders as everything seems to be in the dumbest places. But with some patience and free time it's easy to learn.

6. My reception isn't bad. It isn't great, but not bad. I do live in a smaller town.. which I'm sure makes a huge difference. Not much anyone can do about that other than try it out. I personally love the internal antenae.

7. The speakers work great. Whether it's playing music or speakerphone it's clear. And quite loud in a quite room or car.

8. You cannot leave the phone on lock mode. If you lock it, close it, do some stuff, open it, unlock it... then you have to go through the menus and lock it again before you close it. I don't like that just because the picture button is on the side of the phone. Perfect place to take pictures of the inside of my pocket.

9. I know exactly why Verizon did it, but I hate the fact that the bluetooth is only good for an earbud. I'd like to connect to it to download and upload pics, music, etc. You can send the pics to a special PIX place.. unless you take them at full resolution. Then they are too big. Which isn't horrible now with the SD card reader.

10. I use mine quite often. I do charge it every night, but I haven't noticed that it drains battery life quickly.

I have to say this is a great improvement in phones. I like the phone very much, but I'll admit I can not wait until my two years is up. I'd like to see the phones that replace this one and others. Technology is advancing so quickly who knows what will be next.

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Samsung ACH-a950

I've had this phone for just over a week now. For the most part, I love it.

Connection/Reception: no problems, no dropped calls

Sound: excellent, very clear; main gripe is that I can't get it down low enough to keep it from hurting my ears with eaphones on

Screen resolution: Wow! V-Cast (see below) (which comes free first month) looks as clear as my t.v. screen; colors are bright and it's a big screen; makes my son's LG5200 look pallid by comparison; the outer LCD turns off right away, which is a bit annoying as you have to push an outside button to get it back on or activate Bluetooth, but this does help save the battery

Mp3 playback: very nice! with and without earphones; the outside navigation buttons are a great asset, you don't have to open the unit to turn on the music, but you do have to open it if you want to create a specific playlist; my one complaint would be that you can't save a particular playlist, so if you have a mix of stuff to listen to, you have to go through and pick the ones you want to listen to each time; also, if you pause playback you have to open the case to turn it off completely, can't do that from the outside

Memory: bought a 256m transflash with SD card adapter at Best Buy, easy to load with card reader, a little tricky figuring out how to get that tiny card into the card slot at first until I realized that I had to do the illogical thing and load it upside down; long thumbnail highly recommended for popping it in and out of the slot; so far a 512m card is not in production so you'll have to settle for the limits of 256m

Camera: good pictures,I think I will get better ones when I figure out how to play with the settings better (I'm not a real camera buff, so this will take practice); re. the zoom feature, it does not work on the highest resolution

Battery life: I'm not a heavy user, except if playing music or using the browser or camera; otherwise, I don't notice it using up power any faster than my old LG4400; the transflash card doesn't appear to create a battery drain, either

Voice Recognition and Bluetooth: my first experience with this; seems to work fine, no problems with basic functions; however, (and this should probably be under 'Verizon problems") it will only function for making calls, navigating the phone book and doinng system checks, and opening the browser (if the unit is open); I would like to be able to open the Mp3 function and control playback with the unit closed

Some things I see as negatives: As a woman with fairly small hands, this unit, especially with a leather cover on it, is not as comfortable to hold onto as my previous LGs; it's just a bit too wide, also a bit weightier; I would like to be able to lock it and/or mute it with just holding down one key, like I could with the LG4400; I would like to be able to soften the sound volume and quality for calls, especially with earphones on; this phone is manufactured with 64 ringtones but Verizon disabled all but 6, which is pretty annoying, plus, being such a new model, no wallpapers are available through Get It Now, games are also limited; finally, the volume toggle button on the outside is located just where I usually put my thumb and I'm constantly messing with my volume settings, this would be less of an issue if the toggle didn't move so easily.

V-Cast is fun, though I don't think it's worth $15 per month, too few offerings, also playback audio is not well synchronized with the video; I will probably just have the Web enabled, if at all. That's not really the phone's fault, anyway.

Altogether, this is a nice phone with lots of fun toys, very functional and with good performance. I probably would not have bought it if I hadn't gotten a new-every-two $100 credit plus a $100 rebate (so I only paid $49.95 for it in the end), but now that I have compared it with lower-end phones I'm hooked on the screen and sound quality and the potential uses of the transflash card, so it was a good choice!

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SCH-A950 Review

After reading all the bad posts about this phone, I had to recheck and make sure I have the same phone they are talking about.

I mean let's not forget it's not a $200 Camera or a $300 MP3 player. It's a cell phone WITH A CAMERA AND MP3 PLAYER.

My a950 has playlists. If you are expecting a fully functional MP3 player that is capable of everything you can do with an iPod then it will cost about the same as a phone + an MP3 player.

I dropped $30 bucks on the software on CD, the data cable, and a great set of headphones bundled together at a Verizon store. The data cable allows you to move songs to AND from the phone and your PC without buying songs...you can just upload songs from CD.

I got the 128 meg card for $30 from SanDisk, which holds around 80 songs in compact WMA format. I was too cheap to spring for the card reader for my PC, so I don't take my transflash card out of my phone much.

The camera works VERY well. It takes good pics and even lets you save them to ID incoming/outgoing callers, which is cool. Like the other reviewers, I wish I could get the pics out of my phone without sending them as a message or storing them to the card and using a card reader to get them into my PC. Samsung and Verizon thought want you to buy accessories or pay for Pix messages in a crazy attempt to make a profit.

The reception is good, not great, and not terrible. However, the sound quality is EXCEPTIONAL. My songs and calls sound incredible with or without headphones. Someone mentioned no external volume control. It is on the outside next to the headphone jack and if there is any complaint to be made, it's that it won't go low enough.

My last beef about the other posts is the BlueTooth issue. It is set up only for use with a headset as best I can tell, too. Don't get me wrong, I wish I could sync my phone calendar with my Outlook calendar and move files to and from these devices using BlueTooth, but I can't. This is because I didn't buy a $400 Treo that uses a Windows OS that WILL do everything people are complaining that the a950 won't do.

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183 out of 196 people found this review helpful

A-950 is a better than average phone

I've had the Samsung SCH A-950 for about a month now. I have tried out every feature available, trying to get a good feel of the phone before I post a review.

OVERALL I give it a 7 out of 10

The GOOD

Camera is very good quality for a phone, with a ton of photo add-ons like sketch emails, burst shots, and a handy flash. The camera can be turned on using a side button even with the phone closed. So taking a picture of you and your girlfriend/wife is easy. Camcorder is also excellent, with sound, so for those of us with kids, you'll never miss anything.

Overall phone operation is very nice, with almost every feature available in a phone. Great menu setup and I've figured out everything without reading the manual (its a guy thing)

The BAD

The reception for this phone is ok at best. This could be Verizon thing but the phone drops too many calls. Speakerphone is load but can be choppy listening to someone talk. VCAST is fun, with many comedy clips, previews for tv shows etc, but @ $15 a month, its a bit of a stretch to get me to subscribe longer than my free month. I'd rather go XM radio for that money.
You can't use the USB cabel (optional @ 29.99) to backup phone books, calendar or settings. I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS IS EVEN POSSIBLE WITH VERIZON. If anyone knows how this is done, please let me know.Also photos cannot be sync'd to your computer, this has to be done by removing your card and plugging in into a card reader (very tiring) Verizon puts a stop to BLUETOOTH transmitting as well and the only thing BLUETOOTH for this phone is a headset, file transfer is not allowed and blocked by Verizon.

The UGLY

Okay there is a whole lot about Verizon I love, but they continually find ways to take something good and rip it up. This phone is capable of playing MP3's but only when you buys their MUSIC software. i waited for two weeks for my USB and software to arrive, and during this time I used a card reader but nothing seeked to work. I have about 200 songs that i've downloaded LEGALLY thru various sites like Walmart, Yahoo, etc. They are all converted using the software but when i go to play the song in the phone I'm getting cannot acquire license messages. It is very frustrating to say the least. Can't download ringtones without going through VERIZON. I've called Verizon support, and every instuctions i'm given works with half the songs. I'm able to download alot of my music but overal it is very frustrating process (if you buy the phone, you must buy the USB and software to download properly)Overall, after you purchase the phone from Verizon, you will need these things that will need to be purchased separately. 1)a transflash card (256/512 MB recommended) $39.99-100.00 2)MUSIC ESSENTIALS KIT #29.99
3)a case or holder of some sort (phone does not come with a belt clip or case) $20 4)card reader to get your photos off your phone 5) a car charger $20. So total you'll throw out around $150 dollars to get the most out of your phone. Oh and if you want a BLUETOOTH headset, that'll cost you another $50-100.

OVERALL

I love my phone after the initial frustrations. Verizon is the cause of most of this as the phone is designed very well. It is a multimedia machine, and if anyone reading this know a way to unlock the phone from the evIl Verizon lock, please let me know. The phone is capable of alot more, if it's Balz were not cutoff by Verizon's greedy establishment.

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SCH-A950 Review

Samsung SCH-A950 Review by Matt Hoffman (matthoff@cox.net)
The Samsung SCH-A950 is one of the worst implemented pieces of technology I have seen in recent years. The hardware has a whole list of nice features including stereo speakers, 1.5 megapixel camera, and bluetooth, but the software has been hobbled and poorly implemented by Verizon and Samsung.


User Interface
The user interface is very minimal with pull down menus instead of a graphical user interface. Many of the menu items are not in logical places. For instance, the menu for playing mp3 files is buried two levels down under a menu called, for no logical reason, "Get It Now". The user must go to this illogically named menu then into a submenu called "Get Tones & Tunes" then into a sub sub menu called "My MP3s". Alternately, you can go into the main menus, then into "Settings and Tools" and then to "Tools" and then to "MP3 Player". The MP3 playing feature is essentially hidden from the user on a phone that Samsung calls the "MP3 Maestro". There is a button on the outside of the phone that can be held down for two seconds to play MP3 files, and it allows you to use the jog wheel to select and play a single song. A single song only, you can't pick multiple songs and the "MP3 Maestro" does not have play lists(more about this horrendous oversight later).


Bluetooth
Most of the inherent bluetooth features in this phone have been permanently disabled. You can use bluetooth to connect a mono-headset to the A950. That's it. There is no support for Modem Functionality, Serial Port Emulation, Phonebook Synching, Calendar Synching, or File Transfer for MP3 files (remember, this is the MP3 Maestro!), or imagery.

So if bluetooth can't be used for these basic functions, then surely you can just hook a USB cable to the A950 and transfer data.....nope, that is not supported either. Samsung does not sell USB cables or provide drivers for Verizon phones. Verizon has not provided them either. This leaves the owner without the ability to use any form of direct connectivity to move files or to synch the phone with a computer.


Memory Card
The A950 does support a Transflash/SDMicro card from SanDisk. You can put up to 512MB in the phone and a reader for the card can be purchased for your computer for under $30.00. This is the only method for moving MP3 files to the phone. You insert the card in the phone to initialize it, then remove it and put it in your computer, drag the mp3 files to the virtual disk volume, remove the card, and then insert the card back in the phone. The Transflash/SDMicro card is a tiny, fragile device about the size of the fingernail on your pinky finger. It is not intended for repeated removal and insertion. If you are like most people, you will want to change the tunes in your phone quite often --perhaps you want to listen to a daily podcast on the phone. This little card or the spring-loaded receptacle in the A950 is going to fail after a period of time.

From SanDisk's own web site describing their Transflash product:

"Semi-removable Memory Module...Due to the ultra small size of the Sandisk Transflash, it is not intended to be handled or removed on a frequent basis."

When the card fails due to excessive insertion and removal, the user is going to have to shell out $70 for another one. Sandisk wouldn't be obligated to replace it under warranty since, by definition, the card is being used improperly. If the receptacle in the A950 fails after the first year of repeated use, the user is going to have to pay for an expensive repair and be without a cell phone during the time the phone is repaired. Better sign up for an extended warranty.


MP3 Software
The SCH-A950, "Mp3 Maestro" does not have software for managing MP3 files! There is no way to create, manage, or store play lists, view songs based on artist or genre, or shuffle play. When you finally do discover the buried menu for playing MP3 files, you will be presented with a single list of file names, each of which has a checkbox next to it. You must scroll down this list to choose which song/s to play and then hit the play button. Also, since this selection function is only available from the inside screen, you can not use the jog wheel to scroll. You must hit the down button over and over and over.

Again, there is no way to store this list of songs. If a call comes in while your laboriously selected group of tunes is playing, MP3 playback ceases as one would expect. However, once the call ends, there is no way to continue playing your list of songs! You must go back into the buried menu, select the songs one by one all over again and then hit the play button.


Camera
The 1.5 megapixel camera does a nice job of taking pictures and video. There are a variety of comparisons that can be made between the A950's camera and those in other phones, but cameras in most cell phones are their for taking quick snaps, not for professional photography. The A950 makes very nice still photographs and Verizon's system of mailing these images to another phone or to an Internet address also works well. However, without direct computer connectivity, the user is still in the position of having to remove and insert the fragile Transflash/SDMicro card to move these files to his/her computer. The only alternative is to mail the


Conclusion

Overall the SCH-A950 is an attractive-looking phone with a list of nice features. The devil is in the details however, and this phone completely fails when the details are examined. For reasons known only to Verizon and Samsung, the A950's software has been poorly implemented and key features that the hardware is capable of providing are not implemented in the phone's software. No doubt that Verizon has a long list of reasons for hobbling the phone. They clearly want to force their customers to use the pay as you go system of video and still image file transfer instead of allowing direct connectivity. They have an obligation to game providers to prevent users from transferring games between phones, though this could be done without eliminating the transfer of MP3 files, address book synching, etc. Perhaps they have some sort of paranoia about cell phone viruses, though these are almost unheard of. In any case, there is no excuse for the poor MP3 software implementation. Samsung and Verizon should be embarrassed to call this phone the "MP3 Maestro".

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LG VX8100 wins over Samsung SCH-a950

We've had a Samsung for the past 5 years, and it was great! I would call across the US to family and they thought I was standing right next door. We recently decided to upgrate our phones. I did extensive research on the internet and it came down to two; the LG VX8100 and the Samsung SCH-a950. Even when we went into Verizon no one could really tell us which way to buy, so we bought one of each on the family share plan (2 lines).

Tried out both of their features and menus ---they are identical, both were great. We called our family across the US, and called some friends that were local. The LG VX8100 won both tests. The Samsung sounded like we were on a walkie-talkie, I couldn't hear the background noise at the various locations I was calling, so it wasn't like a true phone, plus after either myself or the other person would finish talking you could hear a slight echo. I believe the downfall of the Samsung is the integrated antenna.

I honestly wanted the Samsung to win, as I have many of their other brands of electronics and have found them A+++++, but not in this case. The LG VX8100 is the way to go when deciding on a cell phone, the quality is most like the Samsung I've had for years.

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43 out of 50 people found this review helpful

Samsung model: Sch a 950 Verizon Service

Overall I am happy with the phone. I bought a transflash card 512 MB, and a Mobile Mate SD plus reader writer.

The good:
no dropped calls (I live in Tampa Fl, a major city so that might have something to do with it. While traveling out of state and around the state the call clarity and no drops on calls was good compared to last phone.)

Easy to use menu. It is easy to pick from the features set on screen, and I spent only about 4 hours of one day, reading the manual and trying the features. It is now easy to use, the built in automatic voice dial is great, and works well.

The speaker phone is good too, however it took a while to get used to the fact you do have to position your ear in an exact spot to hear the calls clearly, but this is learned in time and becomes natural.

Pics are awesome and easy to send to other phones, emails etc. The quality is good and you can customize them.

The voice recorder for memo and recording your own ringtones is real good and clear.

The bad:
This is not an mp3 phone at all, and anyone who says they play mp3s on it, is not being honest or does not know what they are talking about. This phone plays WMA files only. I loaded the pre made folders that are created when you put the trans flash card in the phone up with mp3s and they simply were not recognized by the phone at all! I read up on the phone on line and most people say you needed the usb sync cable, this is not true, as I was able to conver the mp3s to wma files, and reinsert the transflash into the phone, and the phone then recognized the wma files. I was able to select my own ringtones from my files, and the built in player do sound great, only complaint is after you take a call, the phone player does not recontinue the music!

Overall I got a cheap phone case at radio shack and a the transflash card and reader writer were like 40 bucks.

I will need to puchase a stereo headphone set, that will cost about 30, but with the transhflash card, it will let me play plent of music.

Bottom line the phone works for me, but it is not an MP3 phone it is a WMA phone! You don't need the sync cable, but i would reccommend it, so you don't have to handle the fragile and tiny trans flash card.

overall 8 out of 10 for me.

Suggestion to Verizon and Samsung, include the cable to transfer our own music to the phone with out an additional purchase, and allow and mini 1/8th inch stereo headset to work with the phone, instead of forcing us to buy your headphones. What are you a record label?

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16 out of 20 people found this review helpful

Maybe I'm in the minority

I am obviously in the minority on this. I love this phone!!! I never get dropped calls, the phone clarity is great, the speakerphone works fabulously - much better than using an earpiece when I drive my car. The screen is very easy to read. The dial pad is very comfortable for a fat fingered vulgarian like myself. Is it perfect, no but then neither was my old LG 6000, my old motorola etc, etc, etc - show me the phone this... I really don't use the camera part, I always carry a real camera with me for work, I never use the MP3 - why bother when I usually have a far superior Ipod - so I cannot really comment on those parts. But you have to love being able to create your ringtones from your own MP3 files on your computer. The only thing I don't like is that Red band on the front, what is wrong with plain old silver or black.

Battery life is very good & is pretty indestructible, did I mention that I am clumsy. Pretty pleased with the phone. Also I am very glad that I did not hold out for the Razr, a friend of mine is cursing his new sleek but limp mobile

With regards to Verizon disabling the bluetooth - that is a whole other story.

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21 out of 27 people found this review helpful

Samsung A950

I do not know where to begin with this crappiest phone i have ever owned in my life even though it has not benn that long. in the past year n a half i have had 5 diffrent phones mutiple copies of all of them. this phone does have alot of cool features but... i have had to get 4 same replacements of it in 1 1/2 monts. i love the mp3 player but i hate almost every thing else about it. i have orderd the motorola razr and fell that it has most of the same features but no mp3. this phoe has horrible hearing reception. on all 4 models that i have had.the fact that it has an internal antenna SUCKS. also the battrie time is horrifingly bad. (i dont know if that is a real word). i have to charge it like all day even when i make no calls just listening to the mp3 player. also it has only like what 5 ring tones and one labled "Beep". and dont get excited and get this phone because it has the V cast thing. to even be able to go into it u have to pay like 15 bucks a month plus 2$ a song and they take up alot of memmory when u do download it. i do like the fact that u can set the video capture time to like what seemes like unlimited (if u have a extra memmory card) unlike all the other phones that only let u record for 15 sec. but whos gonna buy a phone to acturaly record important things on it. the camera is really good if u have it on a high resoloution. i took it to a car show and took almost 300 pics and they all look awesome. my friend went to and he has the LG 9800 aka the "V". and the camera on it was verry blury.my sister has the motorola E815 and it is ALOT better than this piece of crap that i have. i cannot wait for my razr to get here it should be here in two days. i have complainned to verizon and gotten so many new and diffrent phones that they practly know me by my first name. the mp3 looks tempting but the E815 has the some thing but no scroll wheel which i never use so it is no big deal go for some other phones like...LG 8100, motorola E815 (highly recomended), or the razr which is sure to be a wonderful phone since it is A MOTOROLA! GO MOTOROLA! BOOO SAMSUNG! HORRAY LG!

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40 out of 52 people found this review helpful

Samsung A950

i recently upgraded to my samsung sch-a950 because the kyocera kx2 just wasn't cutting it. and honestly, this phoone was worth ever $270= i dropped for it

pros

-no one can complain about the clamshell design, it's just so practical that no other design seems as naturel

-it was a smart move to put the speakers in the side where they fit, seeing as they had to be big enough to play stereo quality music

-although the half of the phone with keypad and batterey are slightly thick, the very slim screen half makes up for it and keeps the phone from being "fat" (like the bigger LG VX8100 counterpart)

-i absolutely love the mp3 functions on the front of the phone. the scroll wheel was a great idea, seeing as everyone is used to using a scroll wheel on their ipods and know how to use it. and i honestly find using the controls on the outside less confusing than trying to control the mp3 player with the phone opened

-haveing a front screen is a must, because everyone wants to be able to check the time at a quick glance without having to open their phone

-the internal antenna was ingenious and should have been though of sooner. i no longer have recuring bruises on my side from my antena hitting me while i have my phone on my waistbelt

-both screens are bright and beautifully colored. i've had no problem with either the front or internal screen whatsoever

-the camera is excelent. i've actually been using it more than my regular digital camer lately. and it's alot of fun to play around with the different color settings and shot modes the camera has to offer


cons

- after 5 seconds, the front screen automatically turns off (probably to save power). not really a big problem, but a slight annoyance, as you must push and hold down a side key to turn it on and view the clock

-when you take pics with the camera closed (so you can see yourself wile you take the shot), the camera automatically saves the pic when you open the phone, which i find annoying because about 90% of the time i dont want to keep the picture

Update

i wrote a review on this phone a while back, before a had used any of the music capibilities, and i was still completely in love with the phone (no phone is perfect, but hey, this one's closer than most). and now that i finally got the music kit, i have to say, i am part of tuxedobob's minority! how could you possibly complain about the playlists and wma fomat?! it's tyhe simplest thing i've ever done! if you folow all the directions in the music kit booklet, it's simple as cake. unles you're one of those hackers that made their own memory card and cable to save a buck. then you're screwed up as is and i'm not gonna help you. so in conclusion, this is an extremely nice phone and worth the money you have to drop for it. and to those of you reading these reviews and considering this phone as your next, i strongly advise it, but if i'm not enough to convince you then go to a local verizon store and try it out. if you really end up loving it or hating it, then it doesnt matter what we (the reviewers) put in our reviews.

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36 out of 47 people found this review helpful

Nice features, crappy phone.

I bought this phone about 2 1/2 weeks ago. It has amazing features and a lot of things I like. It was my first bluetooth phone and I am sold on that feature!

Things I like:

You can turn off the phone ringer, while leaving the alarm clock on. A great feature so calls won't disturb you during your sleep.

Voice recognition is good! Easy to use and convienent, especially with blue tooth.

Things I didn't like:

I bought the phone and within the first few days I had to go back in and get it serviced. The phone had locked itself someway to where whenever I would call a place that required me to key in digits, the digits pressed were not recognized. i.e., calling bank and having to put in account information, etc. The phone was reset and no problems with that.

I don't like how long you have to hold down one of the side buttons in order to check the time, etc. on the outer screen.

I utilized the AOL messenger on the phone, worked good for this. I still am not a fan of T9 input, so I single digit type everything.

My messenger got stuck on. I could not sign out of it. I tried for a couple of days. My last attempt to turn off the messenger/ sign out, I powered the phone off. As I powered it back on it kept searching for service. I traded the phone on a brand new one, same kind.

After using it for a few days, I experienced the same problems with messenger. This time, I am signed out of it, but still get messages. That's pretty annoying. I am trading it in probably on the motorola e815 or lgvx8100.

Lastly, reception. Sucks. I have one or two bars whereas my old LG's and Motorola's had full bars. People say I sound like I'm in a tunnel too often. Speaker phone is choppy sounding. I think a lot of the reception has to do with the internal antenna. Not a good idea.

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19 out of 26 people found this review helpful

Samsung A950

I pretty much agree with bits and pieces of everyone else's statements, so I'll just summarize my points

Pros:
- Camera takes fairly good shots and video. Lots of options on the camera too (white balance, exposure, etc).
- MP3 controls are nice...much better than the LG VX8100 counterpart. I really enjoy the scroll wheel.
- Crystal clear display!
- Overall attractive design.

Now...unfortunately the cons outweigh the pros.
Cons:
- Phone feels a little bulky (to me at least)
- Speakerphone is fairly lacking. You even have to strain a bit to hear some of the VCast videos.
- No external way to adjust the volume or switch to vibrate (you have to flip open the phone to do it)
- Bluetooth functionality is limited (as described in an earlier review).
- Transflash/MicroSD cards are somewhat less available than the MiniSD cards the LG VX8100 uses (and sometimes more expensive).
- Not as many menu options as the LG VX8100 counterpart (I miss my EZ Tip Calc from my old LG VX6000)
- And probably the biggest thing...CURRENTLY NO SUPPORT FROM VERIZON!!!

I had the misfortune of messing around in the settings, where I really shouldn't have been, and made the mistake of switching over to the NAM2 configuration. Which isn't a big deal except that it reboots the phone...and I had my phone set to lock on start. The problem with that is the phone reverts to whatever random NAM number is assigned to the NAM2 profile, and the last 4 digits of that is what I need for the unlock code.

I figure I could just run down to the local Verizon store, and have them plug it in to their diagnostic computer (or whatever it is you want to call it), and they could find the NAM2 number. Nope.... Currently NONE of the Verizon stores in and around Atlanta have neither the cable NOR the software from Samsung in order to service these phones.

Verizon tried to pass me off to Samsung, but the techs at Samsung said they couldn't do anything because the provider is the one that is supposed to have the unlock codes!

Verizon's solution is to have me pay $50 to get another phone...and then the obligitory $20 fee to transfer the service back over from my other phone (even though a tech support guy comp'd me for transferring service BACK to my VX6000).

My complaint... Why sell these phones if you don't have the necessary equipment to service them?! I know I'm the one that screwed up my phone, but I'm not going to configure and install a router for a customer without having a way to get back into the device if there is a problem!

So...in closing...please DON'T buy this phone. First off, it's counterpart that I kept mentioning, the LG VX8100, is much more intuitive and user friendly. Secondly, why get something that wouldn't even be able to be repaired in case something happens.

/rant

~Court

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37 out of 52 people found this review helpful

great phone

This is my second phone I have had it for three days, and I love it This phone is so much better than my vx6000 (run over by subway train) Luckily I was on my way to get this phone. It has a great mp3 player, the speakers are good, and the headfones work good with it. All thought it only works with these 40 dollar headphones from verizion. My motorola headseat works great with it, and I have had no problems. I like the buttons on the outside, and the camera and flix is great.
PROS:
-good mp3 player
-great for texting
-good v-cast
-camera take good pix
-speakers are good
Texting and e-mail works good to. This phone is good, and I hope it lasts me two years!

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52 out of 78 people found this review helpful

Samsung SCH A-950 review part 2

Back in February I posted a review of this phone. Well I've now had it for almost a year and I would like to post a followup review.

After 1 year of use, I've fallen for this phone. Like everyone else you alway look and drowl at other phones you want but are stuck in a service plan and cannot upgrade.

I must say that this is by far the best phone i've had. I've looked around for phones with comparable features and have found out that most phones do not offer what the 950 does. Bluetooth, MP3 player, camera, camcorder, voice recorder, phone. It is exception and one of the sturdiest phones around. I've dropped it several times, ZERO DAMAGE. One tough cookies.

Although this phone has been discontinued by verizon, EBAYERs reading this should buy with confidence when purchasing a new or used 950.

Great phone......

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4 out of 6 people found this review helpful

Samsung a950

I've had this phone for 4 days now and I absolutely LOVE it! I had a Motorola v276, and hated it to pieces, shipped it back to the original company I got it from and cancelled everything. Walked into a Verizon Wireless store and came out with the best phone I've ever had. It was worth the bother I had to go through to get it and here are some point I like/dislike about this phone.

Overall Reception/Sound:
The sound quality is incredible. I bought a USB kit and I can easily transfer files to my phone using Windows Media Player 10. I never even have to remove the transflash card (I also bought a 256mb card for $39.99 at the store as well) and it converts the file types automatically . A few minutes later, I have my phone loaded up with the music I want, without ever having to remove anything on the phone itself, except for the USB connection which goes right into the charger slot. The reception is great, although that could be in part of me being in a really good area with Verizon. The only gripe I have with the internal antenna is that it is on the top back of the phone, usually where your hand goes and there's a label on that part that states "Internal Antenna Area - For best performance, DO NOT touch this area when using your phone". Included in the USB kit I bought were headphones, which also double as a corded headset. I didn't realize this until I was using my mp3 player on it and I had received a call. Apparently the person on the other end can hear me incredibly clearly.

MP3 Player/Camera/Camcorder:

Like I had said, I bought a 256mb transflash card from the VZW store. It hold approximately 45 songs, however I do have a video I recorded and moved to the card, so I'm sure that's taking up the remainder of the space. The mp3 player can be launched without opening the phone, however I haven't figure out if the shuffle canbe done this way as well. Without looking much into the manual, the only way I have found I am able to enable shuffling is to open the phone itself where the menu is already there.
The camera is great! It's definitely better than your standard camera phone. The pictures come out incredibly clear, as is withthe camcorder. It records sound as well and picks up sound even when you're not standing near the microphone. The video comes out great and the only gripe I have withthis, is getting video that's not in MMS format and getting it onto my computer. There must be some way to shoot in normal mode and I'd like to shoot video longer than that and by using the quality mode instead of economy mode and upload to my PC. However, I haven't figured out a way to do this. There must be another way around this other than using Verizon's PIX Place, and if anyone knows how to do this, please message me or reply to this. The same goes for the camera. I'd like to use a larger resolution and just upload to my PC without going through Verizon. The capabilities are there, it's just transferring that's the issue. Verizon sets limits on video and pictures. It clearly takes larger videos and pics, but I don't know how to transfer anything via USB other than music.

Overall Menus/Performance/Navigation:

The menus are very easy to navigate as soon as you figure out how to do it. It does not however allow you to set the soft, left, right, up and down keys to what you would like to be there. The main menu is opened by hitting the right navigation key and then a menu is opened up that's folder-style where you can then hit the left and right keys to open the menu folder you'd like. The colors on the LCD screens are amazing. I would like to be able to upload pics to my phone for wallpaper usage, other than using 3gupload.com and having them send it to my phone as something I can download. I'm an avid Photoshop user and I like to make my own wallpapers. There must be some way to do this other than Verizon being greedy and making you use Pix Place to do any of this. Overall, I absolutely love this phone and would recommend it to anyone who's a gadget nut like myself. It is a little weighty and wide as someone said for a female to hold, however I've always been partial to Samsung phones and if it's that bad to hold, the speakerphone feature works lovely. The one other thing I don't like about this phone is there's no hole for a phone strap. The normal spot where there is one for a Samsung phone is closed off because on this model, that's where the internal antenna is. I suppose you can get one of those straps that the back sticks on and you can hook it on that way, however I really don't want to stick anything on this phone. The design of the phone is definitely different looking - but - when you get a cover for it, the red will be covered up. I take very good care of my phones, so I don't have a cover, just one of those phone purses. I don't abuse my phones, nor slap it in my pockets to get scratched up so I should be ok.

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13 out of 21 people found this review helpful

Crappiest Phone I Have Ever Owned

Hi guys,

I had this phone for 2 weeks and it sucked so bad it made me leave Verizon. However, here are some of the good things about this phone:

-Screen clarity on this phone is stunning.
-The camera is pretty clear, and I had no problem snapping shots in relatively low-light conditions.
-Speakerphone is loud and clear
-The pre-loaded voice recognition was really easy to use and really was quite amazing
-I had no problems getting my bluetooth headset to work with the phone

Now here's the main bad thing: As a phone (as in used for calling people rather than taking pictures and watching video), this is worse than anything I have ever encountered in my life--and I have owned at least 10 different phones.

Everyone I talked to sounded like they were on a walkie talkie, and if they were outdoors with cars passing by, I could barely hear anything they were saying.

People thought I was just being picky, so I let a few of my friends try out my phone. The unanimous consensus was: "My god, your phone sounds amazingly crappy!"

After a few days of misery and one incident of thinking that my boyfriend said he is going to buy a coat when he was asking me to dinner, I was convinced my phone must be defective. I went back to the Verizon store and exchanged my phone for another one (same model). The same thing happened with the new phone, and I was just so fed up that i cancelled my entire contract with Verizon within the 15-day limit and signed with Cingular.

I'm a student looking for a job, and I give out my cell phone number on my resume. When potential employers call for a phone interview, I can't afford to sound like a deaf idiot.

Before this phone, I owned a Samsumg e-815 with T-mobile, which I had owned for 2 years and dropped on the floor repeatedly...and it STILL worked better than my brand new a-950.

What is the point of having a phone that plays music, videos, takes pictures, does your taxes, etc., if you can't use it as a phone?

The mp3 function sucks because (and I know I'm repeating what others have already said) the songs you're listening to don't start up again when you end a phone call. Also, I found it sneaky and lame that you can't listen to a single mp3 on your "mp3 maestro" until you drop money on 1) a memory card, 2) stereo headphones and 3) the cable/card reader that connects the phone to your computer. I forget exactly how much each of these items cost, but added together the cost would easily be over $100.

The phone gets extremely hot when you are watching V-cast video on it.

I am now with Cingular, even though their coverage is not the best in the area I live in. I have an Ericcson w600i and I love it. I can actually hear what people are saying, and the phone came with stereo headphones and a usb cable to connect to my computer.

Bottom line, I don't know how Verizon could put such a horrible phone on the market. I would strongly advise against buying this phone.

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36 out of 71 people found this review helpful

agreeing with those who disagree with the sch-a950

I have also purchased one of these peices of garbage. I have always been a Motorola fan, but due to the "deal" verizon has with the sch-a950 I bought one. Well I didn't even think to check and see if it can connect to a computer. I thought this to be just a normal operation with any modern peice of technology. There is not a single "phone software" program out there that supports this phone. My last phone was a "flintstones" motorola phone that I got about 2-1/2 years ago. It didn't have any features of any sort, but I could connect it to a computer to deal with contact info.
I agree with any negative comment made about this phone. When it comes to pictures, I don't expect anything and that did not draw me in the slightest. I can draw clearer pictures by hand. I use a "real" digital camera for photos (which can hook up to my computer.) With regards to music. Well I bought the software, but haven't got around to it. I think that it might be swell to put music on it, except that I think that I will bring this abomination of a phone back tomorrow.
As other posts have said. If you want a real phone you just have to pay a couple of more dollars for it. I think that that is the way that I will go.
It will never be a samsung again. I will check and make sure that it can connect to a computer though.

My recommendation is - anything but the samsung sch-a950.

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11 out of 34 people found this review helpful