**UPDATED** I’ve had my phone many months now, so I’ve updated this guide with all new information. If this is your first time reading my MM-A920 how to page, I suggest that you “subscribe” to this article. Every time I learn something new about my phone, or find another “free” resource or cool accessory I will add it to this page. When I update the page, you will get a courtesy email letting you know so you don’t have to remember to check back. I also set up some jump links at the top here, so you can quickly skip to whatever section you want….now on with the guide!

I believe this the best phone you can buy today under $100

This is a help guide and tutorial I put together for the Samsung Sprint PCS MM-A920, aka SPH-A920 or “Music Master“. I put it out there because of the hundreds of hours I spent gathering this info and figuring it out on my own – and I want to pass it on to you if you have this phone or were thinking about getting one. Even if you already have a phone – read the article and see how much cell phone you can get nowadays under $100. If you were considering getting the MM-A920, this guide is also for you – to help you make an informed decision whether to buy it or not.

This is a “multimedia phone” that has more features than you can shake a stick at. It’s a cell phone, a voice recorder, an mp3 player (with memory card slot), it’s internet ready with email, IM, text messaging, and a web browser, it’s plays full motion video with video clips to full blown movies, it has a 1.3 megapixel camera that can record full motion video in camcorder mode as well. The phone can be connected to your laptop or computer and used as a broadband modem for free using the included usb connector cable (talk about wireless Internet!). Oh, and did I mention bluetooth as well (get a headset!)? I figured out how to download and get free screensavers, free ringtones, and free java games for my cell phone – and I’m going to show you how to as well. You won’t have to spend dozens of hours looking it all up in google searches – I’ve already done that for you! Click “read more” below to read the rest of this how-to guide and wireless review of the Sprint EVDO MM-A920 cell phone.

If you don’t have an MM-A920, but were considering one (before or after reading the review), you can buy one here:

Also, I’m going to give you links to all the different sections of this article (because it’s so long), but before I do I wanted to mention (since this phone is now almost one year old) that you can reasonable by a used Samsung A920 on eBay quite easily and not have to be stuck with a new contract. One tip (since we’ve bought lots of used phones on eBay) is to make sure that the seller guarantees that the ESN number is clear for activation. You could even get the ESN number before you buy and call Sprint (or your carrier) to ensure that you can activate the phone once you get it. Otherwise you are wasting your money. Now then – I have taken great effort to give you 25 listings from ebay of A920 phones, as close as I could get to phones only (without all the accessories and garbage you get on ebay). Bookmark this page to come back and check the lastest up to the minute auction endings for A920’s if you are in the market for one.

Jump Links

This article is going to cover a lot You may want to jump to the section that interests you the most. I’m going to:
– go over the background of how I selected the phone
– show you what I’ve learned about features and plans since I’ve had the phone (that no one told me)
– review what I like (and don’t like) about the phone
– show you how to do things with the phone you didn’t know possible, including use it as a modem
– show you how to find and download free ringers and screensavers
– show you how to find free streaming tv and movies to watch
– show you how to upload any content to the phone
– give you links to purchase accessories for your phone

How I selected the phone

I recently purchased a Sprint PCS Samsung MM-920 cell phone (couple months ago now). I’ve never really had a good cell phone. In the past my cell phones only served one purpose – to call people. I’ve never owned a phone that did anything else. I had a Sprint phone once before and didn’t like it because the coverage seemed to suck. I never had enough bars. After two months the lcd screen cracked when I brushed it up against a desk, and that pissed me off since it was barely used. For the most part the others cell phones I’ve owned were all Nextel. I used to use the two-way function a lot, but don’t much anymore. I bought cheap rugged phones that looked like they could be dropped a lot.

So why did I buy this phone? I felt I was paying too much the last few years with Nextel. I was 18 months into my last contract and paying like $75 per month for 500 minutes, free incoming, unlimited 2-way, and free nights and weekends. That amount of money just seemed crazy to me. Somehow I had national 2-way service on my contract that I never used (an additional $10 per month). One of the main reasons I put off getting my teenage children a cell phone was the cost of mine. I saw the commercials on tv for the Sprint family plan where you share the minutes and thought that could possibly be a good deal. By sheer coincidence, I had to call Sprint/Nextel and change the plan (add minutes) for one of the other phones on my account. When I was on the phone with the representative – they told me that I could switch any phones from Nextel to Sprint anytime.

After doing a little research on the Sprint PCS web site, I found that the family plan for 1500 minutes per month was only $89.95 per month. For only $15 more than my Nextel phone, I could get 3 cell phones that shared minutes. Ultimately I decided to add Power Vision (Internet) to all the phones, and text messaging to one. I think the total was about $115 per month. This is not bad considering it’s less than $40 per month per phone, AND all the phones had Internet access.

The kids phones were easy to pick out, we just got two different models that they liked so they didn’t have the same thing. My son got the Nokia VI-3155i because it has an FM radio tuner. My daughter got the Sanyo VI-2300 because it comes in different colors, and does text messaging. I’ll be writing separate reviews and how-to guides for each of these phones – so keep checking back on the home page to see when they’re posted.

When I chose my phone, I was reading the specs of everything that Sprint had to see what was the best value. I’ve always gotten just a bare bones phone, because I’d yet to see one that could actually do anything other than call people well. The Sprint phone I had once before had Vision (Internet), but it was reallllllly show and pretty useless. They had two $20 phones with cameras (PM-A840, PM-8200), but I knew they were crappy since the details didn’t even tell how many megapixels they were. My wife has had a Nextel camera phone for over a year, and it takes some of the worst pictures I’ve ever seen. Low resolution, bad quality, and pretty fuzzy.

I knew I wanted a flip phone for sure. I saw the LG PM-225 for $49.95, but it had a crappy VGA camera and not much more. The next phone was the A920, and I was surprised to find that it was TV and music enabled. The 1.3 megapixel camera was sufficient enough to capture decent pictures, and the fact that it was bluetooth enabled was a big plus in my eyes. The thing that really sold me was the Flash memory card slot that it came with. This is the first phone under $100 I have ever seen that has a memory card slot. That was enought to sell me, so I placed the order.

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What I’ve learned about features and plans since I’ve had the phone (that no one told me)

The Sprint Samsung MM-A920 is an EVDO phone. EVDO stands for Evolution Data Optimized. In plain English it’s like high speed broadband Internet for your cell phone. It’s a 2 megabit downlink connection and Sprint covers 150 million people in 212 markets. In other words, it’s pretty fast and coverage is supposed to be pretty good (which it has been for me).

Now, the reason I explained the EVDO was because you need to know how this affects you. When I first bought the phone, the salesperson at Sprint told me that the “Vision” plan was only $10 per month. She said that the “Power Vision” plan that included the SprintTV and On Demand content was $20 per month. She also said Picture Mail was an additional $10 per month. I got the phone with just the normal Vision plan because I only wanted Internet web access and no picture mail and no OnDemand features.

When I first got the phone and set it up – every single feature kept asking me “Enable Power Vision”? I kepy saying no trying to find a way around it (thinking I would get charged more than the extra $10 per month I had agreed to), but finally had to say yes just to get any of the web features to work at all. When I got my first bill and “Power Vision” was listed for $20 – I called and demanded my bill be changed and credited for the $10 vision plan – and then all the features on my phone started behaving very erratically. I made many phone calls to technical support before I learned what I now know, and was not told before I bought this phone. If I didn’t like the phone so much, I would be very pissed off that it cost much more per month than I was initially told when I purchased it.

No matter what you were told when you got the phone, the MM-A920 is an EVDO phone, and the ONLY Sprint PCS Vision plan that will properly work with this phone is the Power Vision for $20 per month. There are $10 and $15 versions of PCS Vision – and neither work right with this phone (I’ve had them both). The $20 per month charge is in addition to your monthly plan for cell phone minutes.

For your $20 per month you are automatically going to get:
– Sprint TV (many free channels, some are more $$)
– Sprint Music Store (songs are $2.50 each)
– Streaming Music Radio (some for free, most are more $$)
– On Demand Content (News, Sports, Weather, Money, Movies free – the rest are more $$)
– Sirius Music (requires subscription)
– Picture Mail (included in the cost of Power Vision)
– Phone as Modem (use your phone as a wireless broadband modem for your laptop)

You DO NOT get any text messaging with Power Vision, you either have to pay 10 cents per message or get a monthly plan for it. My options were $3 per month for 100 text messages or $5 per month for Unlimited text messages. I don’t send that many – so I’m just going to pay .10 cents per text. I did find out that “Text Alerts” are .99 cents each. I’m checking in to this more – but I think that the Text Alerts are when you “upload” something to your phone (like a game or mp3 or picture – covered later in this guide) – so be careful!!

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What I do and Don’t Like About the Phone

I guess this is the “review” portion of my Samsung MM-A920. This is what I like so far:

• The phone is the right size, and easily palmed
• The controls are easy to work, and the phone pad buttons are raised and easy to push
• The menus are easy to navigate and use
• You can assign the launch pad (up, down, left, right) to whatever you want
• The phone has 24MB of internal memory
• It comes with a 32MB flash card, and the manual says the slot takes up to 512MB cards. I’ve read on other web sites that it takes up to 1GB cards with no problem
• The phone is basically an mp3 player, with controls for play, back, forward, shuffle, and playlist on the outer shell under the screen
• The clamshell case takes a beating, I’ve dropped it many times without scuffing, scratching, or denting it
• The camera takes great pictures, even while moving or in motion
• The battery has a lot of talk time, and holds a charge a lot longer than I expected.
• The 1.3 megapixel camera takes astoundingly beautiful pictures which are about ~225kb for 2200×1800 pixels in size
• The included 32MB memory card can hold up to 82 pictures in high resolution
• The phone transfers pictures from the phone to the Picture Mail web site (upload) or to others in email pretty fast
• With as little as one bar – the TV feature has nice video that’s almost never choppy
• When watching TV, the audio through the speakers is pretty darn good
• You can post pictures to flikr using the “send photo to…email feature

This is what I don’t like so far:

• The stereo speakers don’t go that loud for ringers
• The provided headset earbuds won’t say in my ears very well
• To get things off (and on) the memory card, you have to slip it into an SD adapter. I would have preferred a full size memory chip.
• The camera has an included USB cable that you can connect to a PC and the camera will become a modem. The fact that you can’t use that same USB connection to access the storage on the memory card is ludicrous, and a very poor design flaw
• At $2.50 per downloaded song, the Sprint Music Store just plain sucks. They can’t expext people to pay two and a half more times than iTunes, just because we’re using a cell phone to download music
• Most of the content in SprintTV, Media Player, and On Demand costs extra money. Why does everything have to be a ploy to get more money from you per month? It “could” be free if they supported it with advertising – why do they think they can make more money as a subscription service? Also – who in their right mind would pay $2.99 per month for things like Yahoo Messenger and some eBay mobile app?

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How to do Some Things with the MM-A920 you didn’t know possible

I don’t know a ton of tricks, since I’ve only had this phone a short while (a few months), but here is what I learned so far…

How to Install Opera Mini Web Browser for mobile phones in your MM-A920

The phone comes with a web browser for use with the Power Vision service (internet), but it’s really easy to install Opera if you want. Just hit Menu/OK -> 1 (Web) -> Menu -> 7 (Go to URL), and type in mini.opera.com. There you can install Opera Mini (web browser) on your phone, so you have more than one browser to use. Once installed, you’ll find it under Applications in “My Content” (arrow down anytime you open the phone). Just remember that while as cool as Mini Opera may seem, it won’t play any (3G) video from the Internet because it doesn’t have the right plugin.

Using the MM-A920 phone as a Modem for yor laptop

Another trick is to use the included USB connector cable to use the phone as a modem. On the computer or laptop you intend to use, just visit the Sprint PCS for Business Software Download Page. Select your operating system, and download “Sprint PCS Connection Manager for Phone as Modem / USB Cables”. Read the tips here to get it installed and running – and voila, you can connect to the web via your phone!

Sending Picture Mail photos to flikr on your MM-A920

Apparently you can send photos from your phone to flickr, but you have to turn off your vision to do it (and then back on). That’s something very stupid I won’t be doing, but they say it will be fixed in the next firmware upgrade. Here’s what I read About It Here. As far as I know, you can just “send picture to email” for flikr posting anyway.

Listening to MP3 files in your MM-A920

How to Install Google Local on your MM-A920

One of the newest tricks that I’ve learned, is that you can install Google Local right on your cell phone. And you don’t have to have the Samsung a920 to do it, nearly any phone with web access should work. I installed it on my phone, and zoomed right in to my street from the satellite map. This is something you should definitely get, and the download was only about 100kb for me!

How to install Google Gmail on your MM-A920 mobile phone

Have a gmail account? You can get to it by installing Gmail Mobile on your phone for free.

How to use Google SMS

Use google? Bet you didn’t know you could search google by sending it a text message, did you? Google has a service called SMS or Short Message Service. The trick is knowing what it’s good for. You could visit google in your cell phone web browser and do any search there….but what if there was a faster way?

Let’s say you needed driving directions. Simply text Detroit, MI to Cinncinnati, OH to 46645 (GOOGL) to get quick directions.

Let’s say you’re in the store, and they have a killer sale on mp3 players – but you want to know what the prices compare to online. Simply text price creative zen 4GB to get the latest prices.

You want to know what time your movie is? Text Superman Returns 49221 – and you’ve got today’s movie times.

In a pinch for a quick translation? Text translate bathroom in spanish – and get your answer quick!

You want to know the forecast, but your already on the golf course? Just text weather, Toledo OH to find out know.

If you’re getting the picture to how convenient this little service can be – then visit the Google SMS Web Site yourself, and read up on all the different ways that you can use it!

How to use ANY video as a screensaver

You can use the camcorder feature of the camera in your phone to create a video, and then you can assign it as a screensaver. Or you can place a video on your flash memory card in the \DCIM\100SSMED folder. Then you can assign it when viewing the pictures and movies on the phone. Read the other sections of this guide on how to convert video to (and back from) 3gp video format.

How to read RSS feeds with Google Reader

Almost everywhere on the web you can find little “RSS” icons. These are icons that link the RSS ‘feed’, a listing of headlines and strories from that page or site. To read these RSS feeds, you need a feed ‘reader’. Google now has one called “Google Reader”, and you can use Google reader for your mobile phone!! Read this blog posting from Google on Using Google Reader on Your Phone.

How to Get Free Ringtones and Screensavers

Using the installed web browser (or your new free version of Opera), choose “Go to URL” from options, and key in the URL “3gforfree.com“. The first screen will ask if you are browsing from your computer or your phone. From there, you can choose from many categories and download all kinds of free ringtones and screensavers to your phone. They have pay stuff, but also tons of screensavers and ringers and games for free.

I think it’s just absolutely rediculous that the wireless providers charge $2.50 or more for a ringtone, and you many expire in a month or two. With your A920 and the web you can download all you want from that web site for nothing. I also downloaded some free games for my phone from there too. One of my favorites is reversi. Some of the games are demo versions I found, but most are just old school classics for free.

If you want to create your own ringtones for your A920, read the tutorial How to Create AAC ringers for your multimedia phone.

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How to get free Streaming Movies and TV

The Samsung MM-A920 is a multimedia phone, and you can get streaming TV and movies to watch on it. However, a lot of the content and Sprint TV channels cost more money. They probably don’t want you to know this, but there is FREE 3G streaming video on the web you can get for your phone anytime over the Internet. Again, just fire up a web browser and in options use the “go to URL” pick and enter “zoovision.com“. There you will find all kinds of free video to watch. Music videos, anime, video podcasts, cartoons, and more! Remember, the more bars the better when watching video – I usually want to have 2 or more if I can.

People post free video they converted for their phone all the time. Take a look in the “3D Downloads and Guides” section of3G Forums and see what you can find.

How to upload any content to the phone

Using the Phone Uploader tool at the rumkin web site you can get about anything into your phone without having to take out the memory card:
http://rumkin.com/tools/sprint/. There may be a .99 cents per upload fee if yours come through as “Text Alert”. I’m still checking into this, but it was listed on my last bill.

You can also use the “Focus” uploader tool on sprintusers.com here. It’s free, you just have to register an account with the sprintusers.com web site.

The phone uploader tool is also good for phones with Internet connection, but no memory card. You can upload anything your phone will take – pictures, mp3’s, ringtones, screensavers, and more. Remember, you can only upload so much in a browser. I tried to upload two mp3 files, and they both failed because they were too big in size. I recently updated my phone software and that may have fixed it – I’ll post back here when I find out.

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How to find accessories for your Sprint MM-A920

I had a hard time finding the accessories I needed for my Samsung A920. I’m going to list the best accessories I could find for my cell phone, especially the 1 Gigabyte (yes it works!) and 512 MB trans flash memory card. Also, the first couple things I bought for my a920 was the card reader, car charger, and leather case – which I conveniently listed and linked below for you. I’m recommending to you what I already have – at Wireless Emporium the price is right and their policy is “Satisfaction Guaranteed”.

I’m listing the car charger and the leather case first because I bought both of these from Wireless Emporium in California – and I thought they were the best deals around. I got the case for $9.99 and the car charger for $9.99. There was FREE shipping and no tax, and I had them both in 2 days at my house. I guess that’s my testimonial – I love to order from that place.

Genuine Leather Case for Samsung MM-A920 Samsung MM-A920 Fitted Leather Case. I own this case, it’s the first one I purchased. It’s was worth the $10 and had free shipping. If you don’t like this style, maybe the holster belt case is better for you, or one of the other ones below. Convenient Standard Metal Belt Clip (non-swivel type) –Detachable Wrist Strap Included 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEE. ORDER NOW!

MM-A920 faceplates

Wireless Emporium has a ton of replacement faceplates for the Samsung A920 for only $9.99 with free shipping. Click to view all the different colors available..,

Samsung A920 Electron Blue faceplate

Samsung MM-A920 Car Charger “Samsung MM-A920 Car Charger. This is the car charger I have, and I use it every day in my car. I can fully charge my nearly dead phone to 3 bars full charge in less than 30 minutes! It works well for me…the adapter is equipped with a smart IC chip to protect against overcharging. Compatible with NiCD, NiMH, Li-ion and polymer equipped phones. We’ll ship it right away to your home or business for FREE! Remember – with every purchase at Wireless Emporium your satisfaction is GUARANTEED. ORDER NOW! COMPATIBILITY: Samsung A460, Samsung A500, Samsung A560, Samsung A600, Samsung A620, Samsung A660/Vi660/VGA1000, Samsung A680, Samsung A700, Samsung A740, Samsung A760, Samsung A820, Samsung A840, Samsung A920, Samsung N240, Samsung N400, Samsung RL-A760 and Samsung MM-A880/A880″

Black Horizontal Genuine Leather Case for Samsung MM-A920 “This is the case you want to get if you don’t like a cover on your phone. Get a belt holster like this so you have a place to put your phone to protect it…but when you talk you take the phone out of the holster unobstructed – making it easier to talk and use.”

Black Sporty Case for Samsung MM-A920 “Samsung MM-A920 2-Piece Case w/Swivel Belt Clip – This attractive case offers superior protection for your cell phone without sacrificing style.”

Pink Neoprene Pouch for Samsung MM-A920 “Need a girly case? We got it…this attractive Neoprene pouch offers superior protection for your cell phone without sacrificing style.”

Cell Phone Holster for Samsung MM-A920 “Samsung MM-A920 Swivel Holster – Can’t seem to find your cell phone holster or simply need a replacement? This durable plastic holster protects your Samsung MM-A920 cell phone while making mobile communication less stressful.”

Replacement Lithium-ion Battery for Samsung MM-A920 “Replacement lithium-ion battery for your Samsung MM-A920 – Is your Cell Phone battery not holding its charge like it used to or simply need an extra? It’s time for a replacement Cell Phone battery for your Samsung MM-A920 cell phone. Same capacity as your original battery at a substantially discounted price. These are brand new batteries with grade “”A”” lithium cells.”

The Samsung MM-A920 is also bluetooth enabled, and you can use a wireless bluetooth headset to talk on this cell phone. Here are several high quality headsets that you can purchase for the A920:

Motorola H700 Wireless Bluetooth Headset “If you want the best – this is it! Motorola H700 Wireless Bluetooth? Headset for Bluetooth Enabled Phones – The best just got better. With proven 5th generation technology and form, the Motorola H700 Bluetooth Headset enhances the popular folding microphone design with superior audio performance, echo cancellation technology and an approximate 30% reduction in size.”

I’ve included links to a bunch of trans flash microSD cards below. The size you want to buy for your MM-A920 depends on what you are going to do with your phone. The sizes you can buy that work in your A920 are from 128 MB up to 1 GB. The smallest one at 128 megabytes is 4 times your included 32MB card. That will store a lot of pictures, ringtones, and screensavers. It should get you from 80 pictures up to over 300. But you won’t really be storing many mp3’s on that, now will you? In my personal opinion, if you are going to use the memory card to store pictures and documents then the 128 or 256 card will work nicely. But, if you are going to store music then you definitely need the 512 or 1 GB card. Throw away your memory sticks and jump drives – and just use your phone. You have it with you everywhere you go anyway!

I’m giving you links to several card readers as well so you can get mp3 files and documents on to your phone in your new mass storage device. The first is a SanDisk card reader that is high quality and guaranteed to last. It will read a dozen different card formats, so it will be good for your other memory cards as well, from sony cards, to digital cameras and more. The second card reader is a kingston model that is a good multi-card reader if you need to save a few bucks. It works, but probably won’t last as long as the SanDisk. Next is probably the most portable which is the SanDisk MobileMate – it’s basically a flash or pen drive adapter you just slip your trans flash card in the end of. This is one you can stick in your shirt pocket and take to work or anywhere you go. And the last is a Bonzai card reader for SD and MMC cards. Basically – it’s a mini reader on the end of a USB cable. This is a great portable cable that you can take with you on the go – or to work, so you can transfer files quickly on the fly wherever you are. Stick it in your briefcase or bag so you always have it with you.

Last but not least – I found these really cool skins on eBay. Think of a a ‘skin’ as a ‘stick-on’ – but these don’t use any glue or anything sticky at all. Have you seen the signs in the window at all the fast food joins like taco bell, wendy’s, and burger king? You know, the ones that stick to the window with static-cling. When you’re done they just peel right off. They make skins for cell phones what work the same way. Stick em on, and just peel ’em off when you want to change them. They don’t fall off either – they stick pretty good. Follow the links below and you can get 3 sets of phones skins for the MM-920 for under $10! The ones I saw had more than 70 different designs to choose from. You can even use the skins with or without a case – and it looks like you’ve changed faceplates, when you haven’t gone to all that trouble! These are really cool…

originally posted: 2006-08-07 13:02:30 -0400