Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)For anyone considering the purchase of this (or another) Virgin Mobile phone, do not be influenced by the identical negative reviews posted for several Virgin Mobile phones by someone calling himself "lookout guy." I cannot comment on the month to month plans, having only been a pay-as-you-go by-the-minute guy since I got my Virgin Mobile phone over two years ago. I can tell you that lookout guy is totally WRONG in terms of any "hidden fee" in terms of the by-the-minute service offered by Virgin Mobile. There is NO $1.50/day fee; if there was, no one would choose this option because it would end up costing more than a monthly plan. (Duh.) I can confirm that you only pay for the minutes you use. If you don't use your phone for days (even weeks) at a time, you pay nothing. The ONLY charge for having access to a Virgin Mobile phone on the by-the-minute plan is the minimum top-up charge (supposedly $20 every three months but after you become a customer you can get it down to $15 every three months if you choose auto top-up with a credit card). So if you NEVER use your phone, that's what it costs. Of course, you would simply end up accruing money in your account to be debited when you do finally use your phone. As long as you use your phone minimally (for emergencies and for very brief, occasional conversations only), you'll pay only $5-$6.66/month. I oughta know -- my balance keeps growing and growing because I rarely use my phone; if I were being charged a $1.50/day "access charge" I would know it.
Only you can decide if a pay-as-you-go plan such as this is suitable for you, but here's the quick math: if you know you will use your phone at least five minutes per day almost every day, then this plan isn't for you as it would cost you $37.50/month for only 150 minutes of use based on 25 cents/minute. If, like me, you are likely to have many days where you don't use the phone at all and other days where you use only a few minutes (with rare days that you use over 10 minutes), then this plan will be a bargain. (I used to be a Sprint PCS customer and ended up paying, on average, $1/minute for my calls because of my minimal phone use -- in other words, over four times as much as my Virgin Mobile minutes cost at their highest rate.)
Edit on 5/12/06:
Now on to this phone, which I just purchased earlier this week: I definitely like this upgrade to my K7 Rave phone. The color screen is nice and the entire phone looks sharp. Swapping phones was easy, though I didn't get the text message from Virgin indicating that my new phone was active as the customer service rep indicated. Instead I just tried the phone out after a few hours and discovered that it had, in fact, been activated.
Reception seems pretty much the same as my other Virgin Mobile phone (good but not excellent).
I'm enjoying the Virgin Mobile X-Tras and have downloaded a few files for wallpapers/screensavers as well as some ringtones from my favorite Comedy Central shows. These downloads aren't cheap (10 cents per day just to access Virgin X-Tras and then typically $2-$3 per item downloaded), but I had so much money built up in my account that I figured I could splurge for a little while.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Audiovox 8915 Snapper Prepaid Phone (Virgin Mobile)
With support for Virgin Mobile's "VirginXL" wireless content services, a VGA camera with flash, dual displays and a speakerphone, the 8915 "Snapper" is a great mobile companion. Get the most out of your Virgin Mobile service with this powerful phone.
Design The phone features a traditional clamshell design with a 65,000-color display. Meanwhile, the rear of the flip-up cover houses a camera that can snap shots at 640 x 480 resolution, also known as VGA resolution. There's also a small secondary black and white LCD display on the back of the cover that displays incoming call information, network signal strength and more. Most camera features and on-screen menus are controlled by a five-way center button on the handset's control pad. Meanwhile, the top right side of the unit houses an extendable antenna while data and charging ports are housed on the unit's bottom edge.
Calling Features The Snapper has all the latest calling features folks have come to expect. The phone comes with built-in Virgin Mobile "superphonic" ringtones plus a vibrating alert. Superphonic ringtones feature real music tracks and more are available via Virgin Mobile's VirginXL service. Ringtones and pictures can be assigned to specific callers so you don't have to look at the phone to know who's calling. The built-in speakerphone makes it easy to talk without having the phone to your ear and voice activated dialing makes calling your friends, family and associates as easy as saying their names. There's also a built-in address book that can store up to 300 contacts for quick and easy management of phone numbers and email addresses.
Messaging, Internet, and Tools The Snapper covers the messaging basics with support for sending and receiving MMS-based text, picture, and sound messages. AOL instant messaging is also supported. 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 enhanced wireless content service, VirginXL. With this pay-per-use service you can surf the wireless web or download superphonic ringtones, animations and voices from MTV, Comedy Central and the hottest recording artists. Get content and vote in TV-based polls via the MTV area of your phone, or get jokes and updates from Comedy Central. With the Virgin Mobile Gopher service you'll be connected to real live operators who are ready to help you 24/7. Get driving directions, cross street info, movie times, concert info, sport scores and more. Need to jog your memory? Use Virgin's wacky song ID service. Press the Song ID command, point your Snapper towards a song that's playing in the room, and within minutes a text message appears identifying the song's title. There's even a "Rescue Rings" service to help get you out of sticky dating or other personal situations. The list of cool content features goes on and on.
The Snapper ships with a number of handy tools including a calendar, a calculator and an alarm clock. A voice memo feature lets you record clips up to 60 seconds in length.
Imaging and Entertainment The Snapper's VGA camera makes it easier than ever to snap good pictures and share them with friends via picture messaging. The camera features a built-in flash for getting great shots in low-light situations. The phone boasts custom Virgin Mobile graphics-- screen savers, wallpaper and menu icons-- that let you dress up your phone to suit your personality. More graphics, wallpapers and screensavers are available from the VirginXL service. Demo versions of Bejeweled and Tony Hawk's Underground are included with the phone, and a big selection of additional games can be downloaded from the VirginXL service.
Vital Statistics The Audiovox 8915 Snapper weighs 3.5 ounces and measures 3.5 x 1.9 x 0.9 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 3 hours of digital talk time, and up to 190 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the CDMA 850/1900 frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.
What's in the Box Audiovox 8915 Snapper handset, AC charger, lithium-ion battery, user's manual.
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