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4 Responses to “Casio G’zOne Brigade C741 Phone”

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  SamIAm says:

  May 12, 2010 at 5:48 am

  Pros: “Water Proof. Nice display & menus, Charging Cradle”

  Cons: “Lots of bugs, Power cycles. Price. Beeping keypad”

  First off, This phone has the same menu system as the Verizon Cosmos.

  This phone with the current initial firmware powers off and back on when sending a reply text message.

  The battery is HUGE but the batter life is just on par with other new phones? beats me too…

  Love the charging cradle.

  The lock button on outer dialing pad is annoying. The first hit just wakes up the phone then you have to unlock it then do your business. Theres more to it you will just have to see when you get it.

  The buttons on the outer dial pad beep all the time when in my pocket because they stick out. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can turn off key-pad volume and stop it from BEEPING, IT DON’T WORK. I turned off key-pad volume and still beeped …..

  Has a great speaker phone sound and is very loud. Better than most.

  Calls sound good when listening and talking per the other listener tells me.

  PHONE AUTOMATICALLY REBOOTS ITS SELF
  
  I sent my three Brigades back to Verizon after I had to replace one of them and all three were still Power-Cycling when I hit SEND when sending a “reply” message.
  
  You wont notice the rebooting of the phone if you hit send and fold it up and put it in your pocket. UNLESS, you have the phone security set to lock when it powers off. In this case the next time you use the phone you will notice that it is wanting the unlock code. This is because of a power cycle. I had three of them and every one would power cycle when sending text messages. I suspect this will be fixed with a firmware update but could take months.

  If they fix this and drop price I would like to have again.

  Oh, the reception is not impressive. My old black voyager did better on reception.
  
  Rating: 1 / 5
• 

  CJ says:

  May 12, 2010 at 7:03 am

  Got this because my LG Envy Touch was dying. NEVER BUY LG PHONES!
  
  I could not be more happy. Phone is built to last, already dropped it on a hard floor, not a scratch.
  
  I have read other complaints about poor voice quality with this phone, but for me, callers sound crystal clear, and my callers have no complaints.
  
  One thing I noticed is my bluetooth reception has improved with the Casio Brigade, on my other device I would always hear static, no static now!
  
  Also has very loud ringers, and a loud and clear speakerphone as well.
  
  So as a phone it works great!
  
  I haven’t used the web browser, I don’t have the data plan, so I can’t comment on it.
  
  It takes great pictures and video for such a rugged looking phone, better than my LG Envy Touch.
  
  Also has a great qwerty keyboard. I have large fingers, so I need a big keyboard, keys feel great, very responsive.
  
  Also has a flashlight, comes in handy at times.
  
  Voice recognition works great, I only need say a command one time, and it will understand me, my other stupid phone I would have to repeat the command several times, and it still wouldn’t understand what I said.
  
  And it is not heavy, I have read reviews where people complain, maybe if you weigh 90 lbs it might seem heavy, but it’s about the same weight as my Envy Touch.
  
  Great cellphone overall, this is my first Casio, I’m very pleased so far.
  
  Rating: 5 / 5
• 

  Michael J. Kinsey says:

  May 12, 2010 at 7:29 am

  My wife and I should be hired by a phone manufacturer to test out the durability of their phones. I’ve never seen anyone as hard on a phone (not in the construction business or something) as we are, so it has been a challenge to find a phone that was durable enough to handle us…until now!!! My wife and I both got a Brigade so we are quickly putting it to the test in every area imaginable. I don’t think that the phone is ugly, and it is heavy if you are comparing it to a sheet of paper! I’ve read a review where someone said it was like carrying around an anchor…what have you been talking on…a flash drive!? This phone is actually lighter than my AT&T Smartphone that it’s replacing. We’ve dropped the phone a ton already and it still looks like it just came out of the box! I’ve had it in the rain, wore it on my hip while cutting grass, dropped it in the soccer field while playing, and it was trampled a few times, kicked across my hardwood floor by my 5 year old, and just for grins, I’ve even had entire conversations on the phone while I was taking a shower! This thing seems to be indestructible! The buttons are easy to use, the phone is easy to navigate, the qwerty keyboard buttons are easy to push without hitting multiple keys, the camera and video camera are sweet (great quality on both), and I’ve used the flashlight to find everything from items I dropped under my seat, to my keys in the yard! The speaker phone isn’t just for show! You can actually hear (clearly) the people you are talking to, and they can hear you! I really like the key lock feature (it’s on a timer) because I’ve done a lot less butt dialing than I did on my touch screen during the times when I forgot my case. The display screen looks great, and music sounds really good on the speaker. I can’t comment on the Push-to-talk feature because I haven’t used it, but it is clearly marked with a big red button on the side of the phone. The only thing that I’ve had to adjust to is the data plan. You are required to get at least the $9.99 data plan, and I’m not a phone internet user so I’ve had to try to find a way to “get my money’s worth” through features like Mobile E-Mail. Bottom line, if you want a TOUGH phone that still looks good, is functional, and DOES NOT weigh 100lbs, this IS your phone!!! If you are someone who wants to be able to surf the net while driving, you will be greatly disappointed because the phone only has a mobile web browser and not a “true” HTML browser like an iphone or Droid…but you could put the Droid in one hand, the Brigade in the other, use the Brigade to Smash the Droid, and then call someone with the Brigade to tell them what you just did…WWW dot that!!!!
  Rating: 5 / 5
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  Patrick H. Crain says:

  May 12, 2010 at 9:55 am

  I bought this phone as a replacement upgrade to a LG Voyager, with the touch screen. It was 2 and a half years old, wasn’t working as well as it used to. It was my 3rd LG phone. As durable as they were, I had been looking for a more durable replacement, or addition I could use while working. Two years I considered other Casio Gz’One phones as a secondary phone. Their reputations weren’t bad. Some minor reliability issues. The biggest turnoff was the added expense. Until I saw this in the Verizon store, and I had an epiphany. It did everything my LG Voyager did, but was armored against everything I would throw against it while working(or playing). The two biggest negatives people say about it is it is too bulky, and it is ugly. The people who said this are obviously shallow, and conceited and are afraid of someone seeing them with it in public. Its lighter then most Nextel phones. And the coverage is way better. No other phone shares the features this does. As for the price, this phone has to be built to a higher standard then most phones. You are paying for water tight O rings. Design, and durability. It isnt as pretty as a Droid, or quick as a Nokia N900. It is a tool, for working class people. You can rely on it in the worst scenarios to call for help, your Mom and your significant other to buy milk on their way home. It just works. Even if it falls in the puddle next to your car on a cold winter morning. Lets see a Droid, or ANY other phone do that.
  Rating: 5 / 5