{"id":1192,"date":"2013-11-22T14:33:39","date_gmt":"2013-11-22T19:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kb1awv.com\/?p=1192"},"modified":"2014-03-23T04:55:45","modified_gmt":"2014-03-23T08:55:45","slug":"the-zte-valet-z665c-cell-phone-a-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/idlenot.com\/?p=1192","title":{"rendered":"The ZTE Valet (Z665C) Cell Phone, a Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"PhoneFamily\"<\/a>

Left to Right: Kyocera\u00a0K9\u00a0Rave, Kyocera\u00a0Marbl, LG800G, ZTE Z665C Valet. I think I’ll put the first three in a shadow box and hang them on the wall.<\/p><\/div>\n

Cell phones became real popular about ten years ago. It seemed that everyone was getting one. Those little cell phone antennas morphed out of the back windows on cars. Many people developed a permanent crook in the left arm as a result of the preferred method of talking while driving. Things were moving fast. I wasn’t.<\/p>\n

What did I need a cell phone for? I had my ham radio license<\/a> and there was always a 2-meter transceiver in my car. If there was an emergency I could get help easily. I remember the time my little Escort was slammed\u00a0from the back at a stop light. The collision jetted the car some\u00a025 feet forward, right in the middle of the intersection. I instantly got on the radio and broke into a conversation on a repeater. I asked if someone might call the police for me. They did. Within minutes patrol cars from Coventry and West Warwick were on the scene (there was a dispute as to which town I was in). Of course I did come to realize that it would not always be that easy to get help. But then there was still that high price for the phone and the service that dissuaded me from joining the crowd.<\/p>\n

Then Virgin Mobile offered a cell phone for only $25.00 and $20.00 every 3 months thereafter. How could I refuse that much technology and safety for such a small price? That first phone was the Kyocera\u00a0(who ever heard of them?) model K9\u00a0(Rave). <\/a>It had a full keyboard like an ordinary telephone, a small antenna, and a miniscule display (1-1\/4 x 3\/4″). But it worked! Every call cost $0.25 per minute. If you spoke more than 10 minutes in one day, the cost per minute was reduced (I almost never reached the magic 10 minute number). All was good until the battery finally gave up. A new battery, including shipping, was $25.00. Or, I could upgrade to a new phone (battery included) for $15.00. That is when I purchased the Kyocera\u00a0Marbl\u00a0(K127)<\/a>. This was a flip phone with a slightly larger 1.5″ display. This one served me well until I found out about a cell phone company that did not charge on a call-by-call basis but allowed you to purchase time that you could roll over if you did not use it all. I made the switch to Tracfone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My first Tracfone was a very cool LG800G<\/a>. It has a design that is sometimes called the candy bar shape. It had three buttons at the bottom for dealing with telephone calls. It also has a touch sensitive screen for working with things like texting and playing MP3 music. The LG even has a low resolution camera that is there when you need it. Unfortunately there are no provisions for uploading images to social media. It did not have any voice dialing or voice recognition\u00a0(something that my low tech Kyocera had). But, you could get on the Internet with this phone and run a very limited number of Java apps. I did pick up my email a couple of times. Usually it took 3-5 minutes to log on (if a really good signal was present). After a while I just gave up on that function. Also, this phone was not able to make calls from my home. The carrier signal (AT & T) was not strong enough. It would\u00a0handle texts from home, though. Another plus was that it supported Bluetooth. Using Bluetooth I was able to make it hook up with an iKross<\/a> Bluetooth speaker in the car. This allowed almost hands-free communication. My wife got one of these phones too and she uses it in her new Volkswagen. It hooked up with the Bluetooth there too and she can do voice dialing (I could not) because of extra features of the system that comes with the car.<\/p>\n

The LG served well enough for a while. I kept searching for a true smart phone in the Tracfone\u00a0stable. The LG800G\u00a0was very limited in the smart phone area. It could not even support WiFi! Then I heard that Tracfone\u00a0was offering two new phones that were true smart phones, the Samsung Galaxy Centura and the ZTE Valet (who ever heard of ZTE?).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The ZTE Z665C\u00a0or Valet. Back, Home, and Menu keys are at the bottom (hard to see). This is the home screen with my custom wallpaper (much better than photo). Faint bar at top is the Google Bar.<\/p><\/div>\n

I looked at the specifications for both phones. I looked at all the deals. I looked at the Valet that my friend Arthur purchased. I finally decided to accept the offer from Home Shopping\u00a0Network (HSN)<\/a>. It was too good to pass up. I bought the ZTE Valet Model Z665C. This is a true Android (ver. 4.1) smart phone. It is also the same size as my son’s Apple iPhone 4. It was almost too good to be true!<\/p>\n

Let’s get right to it. This is the best cell phone I have owned. It can do just about anything. The Valet is a full Android phone. That means that it can run just about any Android app as found on the Google Play Store<\/a>. My friend Art has a Google Nexus (real nice tablet). He claims that the Valet runs just like the Nexus,\u00a0only smaller.<\/p>\n

I can tell you from experience that this phone is every bit as fast or faster than my iPad when it comes to running apps, checking e-mail, and watching videos. It’s resolution is far from that of an iPad or iPhone, but at $99.00 including shipping and 600 minutes of talk, 600 of texting, plus 600 of data, it is a steal! (some places sell the phone for $75, but you don’t get the 600 minutes, a $40 value; HSN rocks!).<\/p>\n

\"Here<\/a>

Here is my frequent contacts screen. I made the thumbnails right from the contacts list. Hit a face and dial! I have air-brushed out last names.<\/p><\/div>\n

Let’s just enumerate a few of the things I like about this phone:<\/p>\n