Sprint’s PowerVision A900 packs a punch

I’ve always been a big fan of things that make you look cool. And believe me, I need lots of help to make me look cool.
But that’s fine, because Sprint’s new PowerVision Phone A900 does just that.
The phone made by Samsung, is only 3.9-inches, by 2-inches, by .06-inches, only slightly larger than Motorola’s Razr phone.
The sleek, ultra-thin design is small enough to fit easily into a shirt pocket but packs a punch with the content available.
The phone offers a great clear sound during phone calls, especially with the earbud-headset that comes with the phone.
From anywhere on the Sprint PCS Network you can download thousands of music tracks, videos and games to the phone.
Naturally I looked at the music options first and was pleased to see a vast library of U2, Jack Johnson and Jamie Cullum songs.
The built in speakers are good for content playback, but I recommend using the included headset for the best quality.
The songs download quickly to the 47mb hard drive on the phone and within moments you’re listening to your favorite songs on your phone.
Along with downloadable music, there are other music options including music videos and Sirius Radio channels.
The downside though, like most content, is that there is a charge. Most songs cost $2.50, but you can also download the song to your PC at Sprintpcs.com.
And there is a monthly access charge for subscription services like ABC News and ESPN Sports.
But I was definitely impressed when I saw the broad range of content on the phone.
My first night to have the phone I listened to The Squared Circle, a weekly talk show about professional wrestling and news stories from National Public Radio.
Finally two of my favorite things brought together at last.
The phone also features a 1.3-megapixel flash camera and video recorder, a much better quality than the Razr’s VGA camera.
It’s not quite the quality of your typical standalone digital cameras, but one of the best qualities I’ve seen on a cellphone so far. And with built in features, you can order prints of your photos straight from the camera or send the pictures directly to a PictBridge compatible printer.
The video camera will also record up to 30-seconds of audio and video to share with friends and family, and with Bluetooth technology or a USB adapter, the phone will easily transfer those pictures or videos to your home computer, for e-mailing or backup.
The battery life is decent and I’ve been told by several people that you can expect nearly three hours of talk-time between charges. The phone sat on standby for nearly four days before the battery indicator reached it’s last bar. But when using the media-rich content on the phone, I found it was best to leave the phone plugged in when possible.
I was however disappointed in the limited readability of files copied to the phone.
Apparently the phone will only play music files downloaded from Sprint’s Music Store, or video files recorded in the Mpeg-4 format.
I tried copying MP3 music files and WMA (Microsoft’s music file format) to the phone, but they were not playable on the phone. The music files downloaded from Sprint’s Music Store will also not play on any other devices, though you can backup the files on your computer for future use.
Overall, with the size, look and content available, this is one cool phone.
We can only hope it bumps my coolness level a few notches as well.