LG Ally (Verizon Wireless)

Pros: Android OS, LG Theme/User Interface, Great slide out QWERTY, Vibrant screen, Google integration and APPS. 5 home screens can be customized with widgets and APPS. Calendaring, Navigation, messaging are all great! Great MS Office Substitute!!!

Cons: Location of spacebar. E-mail client crashes frequently and is not playing nice with Godaddy e-mail. Email client does not update consistently. Socialite APP is great for twitter, not as robust for facebook. bluetooth voice activated dialing

Summary: This is a great phone! I've read articles that classify it as an entry level smart phone. After spending two days with the phone, It is well beyond entry level. Each day I learn something new about the Ally.

The 5 home screens are more useful that I initially thought. They can be customized with Widgets and application shortcuts making it very easy to manage your lifestyle on your phone i.e. one home screen for productivity, one for social networking, another screen for multimedia etc.

The Google integration is a must have. Previously, I subscribed to a lightly used google calendar. After being wowed by this phone, I immediately added additional calendars to my account to manage work, home, business, etc. Now, I can work between my iMac's calendar and Ally without the need to sync.

Overall, this phone is great though not perfect. My major complaint is the e-mail client. Hotmail and Gmail were a snap to set up, but Godaddy's email is a monster to set-up. Establishing the incoming POP3 setup is fine, its the outgoing settings that are a miss. On top of that, the android email client frequently crashes. It will also crash during account set-up which can be a real pain. Once the account is established, inbox updates can be inconsistent even with the sync timer set at 5 minute intervals.

My last issue is bluetooth voice activated dialing. Out the box, it does not exist. However, there is a voice dial app that will allow users to initiate a voice dial. this seems to work just fine! Initially, I was a bit bothered by this, but now, I'm less likely to place an accidental call when my headset is in a pocket or bag, so it works for me.

Other than the email client issue, this phone is truly amazing! I love the Pandora and Youtube apps. Contact info is full of fields to collect information.

Minus a few weak spots, great job LG!