[michelle]

Alrighty I think it's time I shared my humble review of the Toshiba VM4050...

Folks, I have to give credit to steveccc for making this my most recent impulse buy . He messaged me with it and told me it was great. Hence, Curious Georgina wanted to see it in person and found herself dashing to the sprint store within a few hours...

-> The Screen
Yes, it does live up to the hype. That is the first thing I noticed and I just about fell over with bliss. It is amazing. I couldn't wait to download pics! Such a beautiful, sharp screen.

-> The Calls
Not only is the phone sexy but calls sound great too, as I'm sure others will agree. It sounds like a landline which is much appreciated, having tried the vi660's tinny earpiece. Call clarity is a big plus with this phone and volume is very good. If they added an extra notch to the max setting, that'd be cake but overall, calls are audible enough.

-> The Camera
Of course, this isn't the phone's greatest asset. The camera is mediocre at best, especially on the camcorder side. Please do not plan on being the next Stephen Speilberg with this phone; video quality is not great. Picture quality is average as well. I've seen slightly better pics with the a600 I had. Ultimately, pictures look better on the phone than on the computer. Regardless, a camera/camcorder is fun to have. Heck, I've been blogging more often now that I think of it. Uploading/sending pics is very easy.

-> The Design
A bit on the thick side but not something I'd complain about. I do like how the flip clicks into place. But I wish the camera button on the side was a bit lower or maybe even on the other side since I often find myself hitting it instead of the lower rocker button. I agree with some who say it is a bit rickety so that is a slight disappointment.

-> The Ringers
Woot woot for loud ringers on this phone, especially the normal ones. The vibe is also fairly good, although I don't need to use it since I can hear the phone a mile away. Sorta.

-> The Reception
No problems with dropped calls here. I don't want to go into the discussion about "oh but I only have 2 bars, etc. etc." That's been beaten to death too many times. The phone pulls in a signal well.

-> The Goodies
SMS is wonderful (when it works)!! I love scrolling through the phone book, picking out an entry and just sending a text right there. Good riddance to Shortmail. Granted that SMS has not been performing well, I'm sure that when the bugs get worked out, it'll be great.
Vision speed with the OpenWave Browser is FAST. I love the browsing experience on this phone and having a large screen is a bonus. I also like that once you disconnect, you don't have the "Goodbye" screen that took forever to end, which I remember on Samsungs. Once you disconnect, you can make a call right away. Well done.
This phone is so customizable. From the menus to the screenavers to the ringers (yes, you can make a voice memo a ringer!), this phone is awesome in that area. I love how you can customize the external screen too.
Speakerphone is good. I think I read that it's onlly half duplex but I don't really use it to conversate. It sure comes in handy when I'm on hold though.

-> The Baddies
I don't like the screen alert that appears when I get a text message, i.e. the "Operation" message. I wish it'd just show the message itself. I also don't like how the "Operation" notice doesn't go away when you close the phone; you have to exit out of the menu. Minor annoyance.

I think that's about it. I'm not really into playing games on the phone so I can't comment on that area. I mainly use it for web, sms and calls. So far so good.

Till next month,
Michelle