The Power button is used to turn the phone on and off. The button is located between the stub antenna and the headset jack. Anyone with large fingers might find it hard to press and hold without difficulty, especially with a headset connected. The button also doesn't provide any tactile feedback so it sometimes takes a couple of tries to turn the SB3000 on or off.

Pressing and holding the Power button for approximately 2 seconds will turn the Digital Link on or off. At power up, a Sprint PCS splash screen will briefly appear and then the phone will attempt to locate the Sprint PCS network. If successful, a brief welcome message is displayed and then the default Phone App screen, as selected in the preferences, will appear. This whole process takes from 7 to 10 seconds, a bit longer than my StarTAC's 4 to 6 seconds. I found that the stronger the signal, the faster it connects, though only by a second or two.

If service is unavailable, the network search will continue until you manually tap the OK button to terminate it or until the phone goes into its stand-by Power Save mode (approximately 15 minutes). In Power Save mode, the phone will periodically check for a network signal. You can also force the phone to search by pressing any key. "No Service" is displayed when the network is unavailable. It's important to note that the Digital Link is a single-band phone. Operating only at CDMA 1900 mhz, it does not provide any analog roaming capabilities, only digital (currently, Verizon is the only other provider utilizing this frequency in parts of their network).

When the SB3000 is on and has established an active service connection, the Service LED will flash green at approximately 5 second intervals. If no service is available or the module goes into Power Save mode, the Service LED changes to a flashing red.

At the top of the main phone display, various text and icons are used to show different features and state of the phone. When powered on and in a service area, the time is displayed at the left side. At the far right is the Battery Gauge which gives a visual representation of the current battery state. Immediately to the left of that is the Signal Strength Meter, showing the relative signal strength the phone is currently experiencing. Icons are used to show when Vibrate mode is on, a Headset is attached, the phone is in Roam mode, and Voice Mail and SMS message indicators.

The Ring Profile Selector lets you quickly choose between two sound profiles. You can customize the Sound Preferences for each profile independently with ring tones, volume level, vibrate mode, voicemail alert, and service alert. For example, if you set one up to ring loudly and provide alerts, and the other to vibrate only, you can easily silence the phone when entering meetings, a theater, or anyplace where a ringing cell phone is an annoyance.

As a phone, the Digital Link does a better than average job. I must say, it takes some getting used to to hold the Visor to your ear while talking (someone told me it was like talking into your TV). Voice quality from the Visor's onboard microphone leaves little to be desired, however. Using both a Deluxe and a Platinum while testing the module, everyone I talked to said I sounded tinny and far away. The module's built-in speaker is quite adequate, though, as I was able to hear my callers rather well, even in high-noise situations. In a fairly quiet setting, I could set the Visor on my desk and still hear adequately from the speaker.

The Digital Link really needs to be used with a headset. This way, you can still use other apps (as long as it doesn't use the phone or data functions) and access the data on the Visor. The included Plantronics M-120 headset is a good starter unit, dramatically improving my voice quality to people I was talking to. Personally, though, I could not get used to wearing it. It didn't fit around my ear in a comfortable fashion and the microphone portion kept falling away from my mouth. You'll probably want to use a headset you're already happy with, or look for a replacement rather quickly.

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