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"Nice, but falls short of perfection"
4.0 starson by KaneRobotPros: Features, "latest and greatest" factor is always a plus
Cons: Poor manual, Verizon service keeps it from full potential
Summary: Just bought this yesterday so obviously I don't know every single thing about this yet - take that into account while reading this. I got this one for free (after mail-in rebate) since I was in the "new every two" promotion window. So in that respect, it was certainly worth it. A few nice bells and whistles here between the bluetooth and memory card slot.
The same old Verizon annoyances are there - IE, they want you to only be able to get their ringtones/wallpaper/etc so you are forced to pay for them. If you're not anal about ringtones (I am, sadly) then it's no big deal.
Good feel, not too heavy although the phone feels "solid." The battery life doesn't seem to be living up to what was advertised, but it never does so no big deal there. 1.3 mpx camera gives slightly higher quality than your run-of-the mill camera phone.
The documentation with this thing sucks, as already posted here someone couldn't even find how to use the speakerphone and MP3 player (which apparently isn't what it seems, although I haven't looked into that myself yet). They give you a giant VCAST manual, yet a brief phone manual that comes with a CD-ROM that doesn't do much more than the manual itself. Priorities need to be rearranged.
So my final score is an 8 for the new LGVX king. The two qualifications for this score: If I had not gotten it for free, it would be a 7, and if it were any provider besides Verizon, I'd strongly consider a 9.Updated
I've had a heck of a time trying to get a good picture with at the maximum resolution (1280x960). Everything is extremely washed out and crappy quality. Messing with the brightness and white balance did nothing to improve it. I've heard that pics outside look better than indoor ones, I don't know since I haven't tried it myself.
However, after switching to 640x480 resolution, it worked noticably better. I was tempted to lower my score by a point because of this (what's the point in having a higher-res camera if it doesn't work good?), but I'll hold off for now and see how it works outside of the house.Updated
Right off the bat...my new score for this phone is a 6, so ignore that 8 up there. While everything seemed dandy right off the bat, there are a few very annoying issues that have popped up.
The camera on this phone is awful. While it's not bad at 640x480 or below, when you put it at it's highest setting - its default setting, mind you - it's horrible. Washed out pictures that are way too bright. Adjusting the brightness and white balance does nothing. This is a VERY serious issue and other than the possibility of a "bad batch" of 8100s going out, I can't see HOW this slipped by quality control. This may be able to be fixed by a software update, as the picture in the viewfinder is fine before you actually click the shutter button - then it goes to crap.
There are also your typical Verizon-cripples-the-features-because-they
-want-all-your-money problems, IE not being able to transfer MP3s from the mini-SD card to the phone to use as ringers.
The speakerphone is flaky as well...while it seems to work ok (not great) for me, if the people on both ends are using it (I have a friend with this phone as well), the quality is horrible and it's next to impossible to have a conversation.
This is very disappointing. I was looking forward to this being my first LGVX phone after owning a Motorola for two years prior and being disappointed by that. Despite that, if this camera issue is not resolved quickly, I'll be returning this for an E815.
- 1 reply to this review
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Frre after rebate? Verizon is selling the phone for $200 now. They only offer a $50 rebate and the new every 2 discount is $100. How did you get the phone for free? Am I missing something?
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