I have owned numerous cellular phones over the last few years, as I am sure most people have, and while none have been that amazing, some have absolutely been useless. The main problem I have ever had with my cellular phones has been with the battery. The cellular phone battery has either died or it just would not last long enough and I would need to buy and carry a replacement battery.

I do use my cell phone heaps, both for work and for personal use, so having a second battery is often worth it but having to replace a faulty or damaged battery is aggravating. My newest phone is working ok but I would like a replacement battery for those times when I am not in the office.

Cellular Phone Battery

These are the details of my latest phone (yes, I know it is a bit obsolete, I really should buy a new mobile phone):

Sanyo SCP-3100 (Pure Silver)

Positives:
The affordable Sanyo SCP-3100 is a solid Sprint clamshell that comes in several colors. It supports Sprint’s Ready Link walkie-talkie network, and it features a VGA camera, voice recording, analog roaming, and a speakerphone with great sound quality.
Negatives:
The Sanyo SCP-3100’s monochrome external display doesn’t show picture caller ID. Also, the colors on the internal display appear washed out.
Facts:
The Sanyo SCP-3100 has a solid feature set that belies its simple exterior. While it may not be the most attractive phone, the SCP-3100’s Ready Link support, VGA camera, voice recording, speakerphone, and great audio quality add up to a decent midtier mobile.

Note: This product is part of the Sanyo SCP-3100 series. .

The Sanyo SCP-3100 is yet another sign that push-to-talk (PTT) phones are gaining more mainstream appeal. This Sprint clamshell comes in not one, not two, but four different colors–Blue Energy, Always Pink, Espresso, and Pure Silver–which are definitely aimed at a wide audience. The SCP-3100 is also one of very few PTT phones that come with a camera, another sign that it’s geared toward more users than just industry professionals. The SCP-3100 is currently available for $199.99, though you can get it for $49.99 after a two-year service agreement with Sprint.

At first glance, the Sanyo SCP-3100 may remind you of a kid’s walkie-talkie, thanks to the plastic exterior and the large speaker grille; the phone looks a bit cheap as a result. Its size and heft (3.31 by 1.83 by 1.01 inches; 3.5 ounces) are good for smaller hands, but the clamshell too bulky to slip in a jeans pocket. Though it isn’t a big deal, opening the SCP-3100 takes some effort due to a springy hinge, but the phone cradles your ear comfortably. The SCP-3100 also has an extendable antenna.

The Sanyo SCP-3100 reminds us of a kid’s walkie-talkie.

Underneath the aforementioned speaker grille is the 1-inch-diagonal, 96×32-pixel monochrome display, which is backlit in bright orange when activated. It displays the time, the signal, battery strength, and caller ID but not photo caller ID. Below that is an LED indicator that flashes when the camera is activated, while at the bottom of the front flip are the camera lens and a self-portrait mirror. On the phone’s right spine are the headset jack, a Ready Link button that doubles as a voice-memo button when the phone is on standby, and the volume rocker. On the left spine is a dedicated camera button.

Open the Sanyo SCP-3100, and you’ll be presented with a rather lackluster 65,000-color, 128×160-pixel display measuring 1.75 inches diagonally. The clamshell’s screen seemed more washed out than that of other phones, and we weren’t impressed with the color scheme on the main menu. As for customization options, you can adjust the backlight timer for the main screen, the keypad, and the external display. You can also adjust the font size, the internal screen’s contrast, the sleep-mode timer, the greeting, and the menu style (grid or list view).

Below the internal display is the navigational array, which consists of two soft keys and a five-way toggle that provides shortcuts to messaging, the phone book, the My Content folder (a collection of games, ring tones, screensavers, and applications), the My Favorites folder (a list of shortcuts to frequently used applications), and the main menu. Farther down are the dedicated camera button, a dedicated speakerphone button, a Back button, the Talk and End/power keys, and the keypad. All buttons are well laid out and tactile, as well as easy to press and dial by feel, but we wish the Back button were directly under the toggle instead of the speakerphone key. The keypad has a green backlight when activated.

The Sanyo SCP-3100 comes with a slew of features that belie its simple appearance. The phone book holds only 300 entries, but each can accommodate 7 phone numbers, an e-mail address, a Web address, a personalized ring tone, and a picture. Of course, you’ll have to open the phone to see the picture caller ID, since the external monochrome screen can’t display images, as we noted earlier. There’s also a separate Ready Link contacts list with access to 200 personal contacts and 200 business contacts. There are 10 polyphonic (32-chord) ring tones to choose from, as well as 8 short tones for message or alarm alerts. Organizational features include an alarm clock, a calculator, a stopwatch, a world clock, and a calendar. In addition, you get text, multimedia, and instant messaging; e-mail; 18-second voice memos; voice dialing; a speakerphone; and a WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. There’s also a feature that utilizes GPS technology to detect your location.

The Sanyo SCP-3100 has a VGA camera and a self-portrait mirror.

While the Sanyo SCP-3100’s VGA camera is a bit disappointing, it has a good array of features, including Normal, Night/Dark, Beach/Snow, Scenery, and Soft Focus picture modes; a self-timer that can be turned off or set to 5- or 10-second intervals; Fun Tools (Orange, Blue, Green, Purple, Sepia, Black & White, Aqua Blue, and Normal color tones); a brightness setting; Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Manual white-balance settings; 640×480, 320×240, and 160×120 resolutions; Fine, Normal, and Economy quality settings; two shutter sounds, as well as a silent setting; and an option to view the picture in full-screen mode. Photos were predictably blurry but decent, considering the VGA camera’s limitations. The real letdown is the phone’s scant 1MB of memory, which is not enough to hold a reasonable number of photos. You can use your shots as wallpaper or send them to friends via Picture Mail.

The VGA camera took shots that were decent but still blurry.

The Sanyo SCP-3100 has a slew of personalization options. You can choose from a variety of wallpaper and graphics, as well as ring tones and short message-alert tones (as mentioned above). You can also download any of these items, plus games and applications, via Sprint’s PCS Vision network.

We tested the dual-band, trimode (CDMA 800/1900; AMPS 800) Sanyo SCP-3100 in San Francisco with the Sprint network. Callers sounded good to us and vice versa. The speakerphone audio quality was definitely impressive: loud and crystal clear. The PCS Vision browser was slow, taking a while to load between pages.

The Sanyo SCP-3100 has a rated talk time of 3.5 hours, but our tests bore out a measly 3 hours of talk time. According to FCC radiation tests, the Sanyo SCP-3100 has a digital SAR rating of 1.28 watts per kilogram.

So I suppose the true question is do I spend the money purchasing a new Sanyo SCP-3100 (Pure Silver) cell phone battery or do I just purchase a new phone with a long lasting battery? Replacement batteries are fairly low cost but a new phone would be nice. Always decisions need to be made.

I have bought numerous cell phones over the last few years, as I am sure everyone has, and while none have been especially outstanding, some have absolutely been rubbish. The only problem I have ever had with my cellular phones has been with the cell battery. The cellular phone battery has either died or it just would not last long enough and I would need to buy and carry a replacement battery.

I usually use my mobile phone regularly, both for my work and for private use, so having another battery is often a good idea but having to replace a faulty or damaged battery is aggravating. My latest phone is working fine but I would like a replacement battery for when I am on the road.

Cellular Phone Battery

These are the details of my most current phone (yeah, I know it is a bit obsolete, I really should get a new cell phone):

Sanyo SCP-3100 (Blue Energy)

Positives:
The affordable Sanyo SCP-3100 is a solid Sprint clamshell that comes in several colors. It supports Sprint’s Ready Link walkie-talkie network, and it features a VGA camera, voice recording, analog roaming, and a speakerphone with great sound quality.
Negatives:
The Sanyo SCP-3100’s monochrome external display doesn’t show picture caller ID. Also, the colors on the internal display appear washed out.
Facts:
The Sanyo SCP-3100 has a solid feature set that belies its simple exterior. While it may not be the most attractive phone, the SCP-3100’s Ready Link support, VGA camera, voice recording, speakerphone, and great audio quality add up to a decent midtier mobile.

Note: This product is part of the Sanyo SCP-3100 series. .

The Sanyo SCP-3100 is yet another sign that push-to-talk (PTT) phones are gaining more mainstream appeal. This Sprint clamshell comes in not one, not two, but four different colors–Blue Energy, Always Pink, Espresso, and Pure Silver–which are definitely aimed at a wide audience. The SCP-3100 is also one of very few PTT phones that come with a camera, another sign that it’s geared toward more users than just industry professionals. The SCP-3100 is currently available for $199.99, though you can get it for $49.99 after a two-year service agreement with Sprint.

At first glance, the Sanyo SCP-3100 may remind you of a kid’s walkie-talkie, thanks to the plastic exterior and the large speaker grille; the phone looks a bit cheap as a result. Its size and heft (3.31 by 1.83 by 1.01 inches; 3.5 ounces) are good for smaller hands, but the clamshell too bulky to slip in a jeans pocket. Though it isn’t a big deal, opening the SCP-3100 takes some effort due to a springy hinge, but the phone cradles your ear comfortably. The SCP-3100 also has an extendable antenna.

The Sanyo SCP-3100 reminds us of a kid’s walkie-talkie.

Underneath the aforementioned speaker grille is the 1-inch-diagonal, 96×32-pixel monochrome display, which is backlit in bright orange when activated. It displays the time, the signal, battery strength, and caller ID but not photo caller ID. Below that is an LED indicator that flashes when the camera is activated, while at the bottom of the front flip are the camera lens and a self-portrait mirror. On the phone’s right spine are the headset jack, a Ready Link button that doubles as a voice-memo button when the phone is on standby, and the volume rocker. On the left spine is a dedicated camera button.

Open the Sanyo SCP-3100, and you’ll be presented with a rather lackluster 65,000-color, 128×160-pixel display measuring 1.75 inches diagonally. The clamshell’s screen seemed more washed out than that of other phones, and we weren’t impressed with the color scheme on the main menu. As for customization options, you can adjust the backlight timer for the main screen, the keypad, and the external display. You can also adjust the font size, the internal screen’s contrast, the sleep-mode timer, the greeting, and the menu style (grid or list view).

Below the internal display is the navigational array, which consists of two soft keys and a five-way toggle that provides shortcuts to messaging, the phone book, the My Content folder (a collection of games, ring tones, screensavers, and applications), the My Favorites folder (a list of shortcuts to frequently used applications), and the main menu. Farther down are the dedicated camera button, a dedicated speakerphone button, a Back button, the Talk and End/power keys, and the keypad. All buttons are well laid out and tactile, as well as easy to press and dial by feel, but we wish the Back button were directly under the toggle instead of the speakerphone key. The keypad has a green backlight when activated.

The Sanyo SCP-3100 comes with a slew of features that belie its simple appearance. The phone book holds only 300 entries, but each can accommodate 7 phone numbers, an e-mail address, a Web address, a personalized ring tone, and a picture. Of course, you’ll have to open the phone to see the picture caller ID, since the external monochrome screen can’t display images, as we noted earlier. There’s also a separate Ready Link contacts list with access to 200 personal contacts and 200 business contacts. There are 10 polyphonic (32-chord) ring tones to choose from, as well as 8 short tones for message or alarm alerts. Organizational features include an alarm clock, a calculator, a stopwatch, a world clock, and a calendar. In addition, you get text, multimedia, and instant messaging; e-mail; 18-second voice memos; voice dialing; a speakerphone; and a WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. There’s also a feature that utilizes GPS technology to detect your location.

The Sanyo SCP-3100 has a VGA camera and a self-portrait mirror.

While the Sanyo SCP-3100’s VGA camera is a bit disappointing, it has a good array of features, including Normal, Night/Dark, Beach/Snow, Scenery, and Soft Focus picture modes; a self-timer that can be turned off or set to 5- or 10-second intervals; Fun Tools (Orange, Blue, Green, Purple, Sepia, Black & White, Aqua Blue, and Normal color tones); a brightness setting; Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Manual white-balance settings; 640×480, 320×240, and 160×120 resolutions; Fine, Normal, and Economy quality settings; two shutter sounds, as well as a silent setting; and an option to view the picture in full-screen mode. Photos were predictably blurry but decent, considering the VGA camera’s limitations. The real letdown is the phone’s scant 1MB of memory, which is not enough to hold a reasonable number of photos. You can use your shots as wallpaper or send them to friends via Picture Mail.

The VGA camera took shots that were decent but still blurry.

The Sanyo SCP-3100 has a slew of personalization options. You can choose from a variety of wallpaper and graphics, as well as ring tones and short message-alert tones (as mentioned above). You can also download any of these items, plus games and applications, via Sprint’s PCS Vision network.

We tested the dual-band, trimode (CDMA 800/1900; AMPS 800) Sanyo SCP-3100 in San Francisco with the Sprint network. Callers sounded good to us and vice versa. The speakerphone audio quality was definitely impressive: loud and crystal clear. The PCS Vision browser was slow, taking a while to load between pages.

The Sanyo SCP-3100 has a rated talk time of 3.5 hours, but our tests bore out a measly 3 hours of talk time. According to FCC radiation tests, the Sanyo SCP-3100 has a digital SAR rating of 1.28 watts per kilogram.

So for now the right question is do I spend the money getting a new Sanyo SCP-3100 (Blue Energy) mobile phone battery or do I just purchase a new phone with a better performing battery? Replacement batteries are reasonably low cost but a new phone would be fun. I must make a decision…

I have bought a number of mobile phones over recent years, as I am sure most people have, and while none have been that extraordinary, some have most definitely been rubbish. The most common problem I have ever had with my cellular phones has been with the cell battery. The battery has either broke or it just would not last long enough and I would need to buy and carry a replacement battery.

I do use my mobile phone a lot, both for my work and for personal use, so having a second battery is often a good idea but having to replace a faulty or damaged battery is annoying. My current phone is working well but I would like a replacement battery for those times when I am on the road.

Cell Phone Battery

These are the details of my latest phone (yes, I know it is a bit obsolete, I really should find a new cellular phone):

Palm Treo 680 (arctic)

Positives:
The Palm Treo 680 features a sleeker design; integrated Bluetooth with the ability to use it as a wireless modem; more user-accessible memory; and e-mail capabilities. It also offers a bright touch screen and productivity tools and is easy to use.
Negatives:
The smart phone doesn’t have integrated Wi-Fi nor does it support Palm’s Wi-Fi card or voice dialing. What’s more, the VGA camera is disappointing, the QWERTY keyboard is a bit cramped, and the speakerphone quality is a bit scratchy.
Facts:
With a user-friendly interface, decent performance, and an affordable price point, the Palm Treo 680 is a good smart phone for the first-time buyer or for mobile users looking to be more productive on the road; we just wish it had a better camera and Wi-Fi support.

Note: This product is part of the Palm Treo 680 series. .

Photo gallery: Palm Treo 680

So for now the right question is do I spend the money getting a new Palm Treo 680 (arctic) cellular phone battery or do I just get a new phone with a better battery? Replacement batteries are very low cost but a new phone would be fun. Always decisions need to be made.

I have had numerous cellular phones over the years, as I am sure everyone has, and while none have been that great, some have definitely been rubbish. The only problem I have ever had with my cellular phones has been with the battery. The cell phone battery has either stopped working or it just would not last long enough and I would need to buy and carry a replacement battery.

I usually use my cell phone heaps, both for work and for private use, so having another battery is often a good idea but having to replace a faulty or damaged battery is disappointing. My latest phone is working fine but I would like a replacement battery for those times when I am not in the office.

Cell Phone Battery

These are the details of my most current phone (yep, I know it is a bit outdated, I really should buy a new mobile phone):

HP iPAQ hw6510 Mobile Messenger

review

So I suppose the real question is do I spend the money getting a new HP iPAQ hw6510 Mobile Messenger cell phone battery or do I just get a new phone with a better performing battery? Replacement batteries are very inexpensive but a new phone would be nice. Always decisions need to be made.

I have had a number of cell phones over the years, as I am sure many people have, and while none have been especially extraordinary, some have absolutely been useless. The main problem I have ever had with my cellular phones has been with the cell battery. The cellular phone battery has either broke or it just would not last long enough and I would need to buy and carry a replacement battery.

I generally use my cellular phone a lot, both for my job and for home use, so having a backup battery is often a good idea but having to replace a faulty or damaged battery is annoying. My newest phone is working fine but I would like a replacement battery for when I am on the road.

Cell Phone Batteries

These are the details of my latest phone (yeah, I know it is a bit outdated, I really should purchase a new mobile phone):

E-Ten G500

Positives:
The E-Ten G500 does it all with a GPS receiver and a camera, as well as cell phone and PDA capabilities. The smart phone also boasts Bluetooth 2.0 and reasonably solid performance.
Negatives:
The E-Ten G500 is heavy and doesn’t include Wi-Fi or EDGE support. Also, it doesn’t come with navigation software, so you can’t use the GPS functionality out of the box.
Facts:
The E-Ten G500 can help you save time and space with its PDA, cell phone, GPS, and camera functions, but this jack-of-all-mobile-trades is heavy, lacks advanced wireless options, and doesn’t include the needed navigation software.

E-Ten isn’t a major name in the smart-phone market, not in the United States anyway, but that doesn’t mean it can’t play with the big boys. The E-Ten G500 is a mobile Swiss Army Knife of sorts, with blades for a phone, a GPS receiver, a digital camera, and a PDA. Like the competing and more businesscentric HP iPaq hw6515, the G500 packages all of this into one package that barely fills a jacket pocket. We like the overall design, applaud the engineering effort, and are impressed that the G500 does each task moderately well, but with its weight, as well as its lack of navigation software, Wi-Fi, and EDGE support, the G500 falls short. Without a U.S. carrier, you’ll also have to plunk down a good amount of change ($575) for an unlocked version of the G500.

The G500’s black-and-gray design is stylish and urbane, and its blue backlighting accents the perimeter and the controls for a streamlined look. But at 6.7 ounces and 4.7 by 2.4 by 0.9 inches, it’s a lot to carry around and hold up to your ear when making a call. It’s slightly larger and heavier than the Palm Treo 650 and nearly an ounce heavier and quite a bit thicker than the HP iPaq 6515 superphone. Otherwise, the iPaq hw6515 and the G500 match each other spec for spec, but the hw6515 has a larger screen and a thumb keyboard.

The G500’s 2.8-inch, 320×240-pixel screen is a mixed blessing. It’s too small for viewing maps while driving, but it’s great for phoning, with large dialing icons. We also like that E-Ten’s main screen has extra icons for battery status, missed calls, and other vital information. We should point out that the battery-level icon is duplicated, wasting some display real estate.

Below the screen, you have two shortcut buttons, the Talk and End keys, and a four-way navigation pad with a center selection button. There are two additional customizable quick-launch keys above the screen. All are easy to use and command, and again, the blue backlight makes for a cool effect. On the left spine, you’ll find a camera activation key, a volume rocker, a voice-record button, a reset button, and a 2.5mm headset jack, while a Mini SD expansion slot sits on the right side. The camera lens is located on the back, along with a small self-portrait mirror and the speakerphone.

The E-Ten G500 is equipped with a Mini SD expansion slot, but you’ll have to supply your own card, as one isn’t included in the box.

E-Ten packages the G500 with a healthy set of accessories, including an AC adapter, a car charger, a USB cable, a windshield mount, a wired headset, and a leather case, but it’s not as well stocked as other devices on the market. First, it lacks a Mini SD card, but even worse, you don’t get any of the needed navigation software for the GPS receiver, which could add another $100 to the device’s already expensive price tag. More to the point, the manual barely even mentions how to set up the GPS receiver and doesn’t suggest any software packages or give instructions on installation. E-Ten says the G500 will work with all Pocket PC mapping packages. For our tests, we tried Microsoft’s Streets and Trips 2003 and had no problem using the program and GPS capabilities once we figured out we had to connect via the COM 4 port.

The E-Ten G500 has M-Desk, a wonderful utility that features a tabbed interface, grouping all apps by function: Phone, PDA, Fun, and System. For example, under the Phone menu, you’ll find Speed Dial, SMS Sender, MMS Composer, and so forth. While we’re on the subject, other phone features include speed and voice dialing; a speakerphone; photo caller ID; and WAV, MP3, and MIDI ring-tone support. As a PDA, the G500 is adequately equipped. Powering the device is a top-speed 400MHz Samsung processor with 64MB of SDRAM and 128MB of flash ROM, 90MB of which is user accessible. The device runs the latest Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC Phone Edition, so you get the full Microsoft Office Mobile suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer) for on-the-go access to all your work documents plus e-mail and calendar synchronization.

Unfortunately, the G500 is hurting in the area of wireless connectivity. It lacks integrated Wi-Fi, and there’s no support for EDGE, so you’ll have to find other means, such as a Wi-Fi card, for connecting to the Web. The smart phone, however, has Bluetooth 2.0, which promises faster transmission speed and lower power consumption; it’s also backward compatible with Bluetooth 1.x.

The E-Ten G500’s 1.3-megapixel camera had some problems with pictures taken in darker environments.

For fun, there’s a 1.3-megapixel camera/camcorder. You can shoot images in 1,280×960, 640×480, 320×240, or 176×144 resolution, with options for white balance, fun frames, special effects, a self-timer, and 2X zoom. The G500 takes video in 3GP format, and you can choose from three quality settings (high, medium, and low) and sizes (320×240, 176×144, and 128×96). Image quality was subpar, lacking the sharpness and clarity of other camera phones we’ve tested. On the upside, E-Ten throws in extra apps for editing images. Other entertainment features include Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, Solitaire, and BrickBreaker.

We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; GPRS) E-Ten G500 in New York and Connecticut using Cingular’s network, and the phone delivered surprisingly crisp audio regardless of whether we were using the unit’s microphone, speakerphone, or wired headset. We also successfully paired the G500 with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset.

During our evaluation period, the G500 always responded quickly to commands, and it scored an impressive 392 on the Spb benchmark test, higher than the Sprint PPC-6700. In the battery-drain tests, where we looped a video clip with all wireless radios turned off, the G500 lasted for 6.7 hours. By comparison, the HP iPaq hw6515 petered out after 5.8 hours.

The GPS receiver is accurate and quick to respond, but the included windshield arm wobbles so badly while driving that you can’t read the G500’s maps on the fly. On road trips in and around Hartford, Greenwich, and New York City, the G500’s GPS receiver worked well and lost contact only a couple of times in dense urban areas. It took just more than a minute to lock onto the required satellites from a cold start, and once the device was established, data flowed smoothly. As mentioned earlier, the device’s GPS functionality isn’t explained well in the user manual, and you won’t find much help from the company’s Web site either. While there’s a good assortment of general FAQs, its download section is empty, and many support pages are poorly translated, making it impossible to understand. Plus, neither a U.S. support number or even a dedicated e-mail link is provided.

So I suppose the right question is do I spend the money buying a new E-Ten G500 cellular phone battery or do I just purchase a new phone with a long lasting battery? Replacement batteries are fairly inexpensive but a new phone would be great. Decisions, decisions…