A Great Phone For Those Who Want Everything On The Go!
Written: Jul 10 '08
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Pros: Easy to carry around, lets you stay connected
Cons: Everything is an additional cost
The Bottom Line: The LG enV let's you take e-mail, the Internet, and text messaging with you wherever you go. If you must stay connected, you must get an enV.
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| batraylover's Full Review: LG enV VX9900 Smartphone |
The LG enV VX9900 Cell Phone known as the LG enV was my first venture into the world of cell phones. I spend most of my time at my boyfriend’s house these days, and he, like most people does not have a home phone, so it was time for a cellular phone to keep in touch, and in case of emergencies. When it came to looking for a cellular phone, I knew exactly what I wanted, the LG enV. My boyfriend has the exact same phone, and I had played with his many times. It was then that I knew I had to have one too, if I ever were to get a cell phone. Most of my life I have been anti cell phones. I mean, if I am not home, why do I need to be reachable anyway? Can’t people just leave me a message and I will get back to them whenever? That always used to be my attitude, but now that I have been using my LG enV for just over three months, I will never be without a cell phone again.
The LG enV allows you to play games, music, send text messages, send and receive e-mail, and surf the Internet (partially anyway) all from your cell phone. There are many other services available including stock trading and E-bay services, all of which you can download to your phone for a fee. My biggest immediate gripe with the phone is that it does not come with a single game to get you started, or a sample song to get you started. Songs can be downloaded for an average of $1.99+ per song and games will run you anywhere from $5.99+ per game. You have the option of purchasing a game for a single month at a cheaper price, or purchasing a lifetime copy for a couple bucks more. I have always opted for the lifetime copy of games. I have only downloaded one song to my phone. I am a huge Brad Paisley fan, and I found that my three favorite songs by him were not in the database of available songs. Other popular country music songs were missing from the database as well. My boyfriend is into more “normal” music, and he’s always found the songs that he was looking for to download on his phone. I have taken advantage of a couple games on my phone including Pop Cap’s Chuzzle, Scrabble, and Spelling Bee. Chuzzle and Scrabble are just like their full screen desktop computer counterparts, while the game Spelling Bee I feel was a complete rip off because it was not what I expected. I hate the fact that there is no “try before you buy” feature when it comes to games, but oh well, I’m only out around $7 for a crappy game I played a few time. There is a preview mode for songs that lets you hear a very brief preview of a song to make sure it’s the right song before you buy it which is handy when many songs have the same title.
I have the silver version of this phone, but I have also seen it in orange, green, and black. I wish it came in pink…why, oh why did the phone I really wanted not come in pink? They had this awesome silicone cover that was neon pink in the Verizon store, I figured, this will make my LG enV into a pink LG enV, boy was I wrong. Within the first day, the silicone cover was so covered in dust that you could barely see the phone underneath. Every piece of lint and dust clings to the cover. Thankfully, the cover was included in my sign up deal, so I wasn’t out anything for it. If you really want a cover for your LG enV, I suggest a hard plastic protective cover, which is available at many of the independent, privately owned cell phone accessory shops at the mall (the ones that sell cases, covers, batteries, chargers, etc for many different brands of cell phones). My deal also came with a black leather belt clip protective case, which is so so when it comes to durability. My boyfriend’s phone came with the same case (he got his phone in October 2007) and his case already needed replacing. We found a better case for a fraction of what Verizon charged him for his case at a private cell phone accessory store at the mall.
The LG enV seems to have no problem holding a battery charge when you are using it simply for making phone calls. When you begin to use your phone for texting, sending and receiving e-mail, surfing the web, and playing games, you will see your battery life draining faster and faster. Luckily, the battery can easily be recharged with the included wall charger or the car charger (sold separately). The wall charger included with the phone is of poor quality, and my boyfriend already had to replace his, and he’s only had it since October. I will give Verizon props on their car charger for the LG enV however, it’s reliable, and completes a full charge of a drained battery in under 5 minutes, which is perfect if you are a cell phone battery waster (cough) like myself.
From the outside, the LG enV looks like a normal cell phone only thicker. It has an ok button surrounded by arrow buttons, send, clear, end, and a number pad. You can access the cell phones basic options from this main screen, as well as customize the picture that you put on as wallpaper. When you open the phone up you are treated to a full keyboard which makes texting and sending e-mail incredibly easy. As an avid computer user, I was skeptical about using such a little keypad to type on, but I found no problem using the keypad on the LG enV to type text messages and e-mails to friends and family members. The inside also allows you to customize the wallpaper, and you can even use a different wallpaper than the outside of the phone.
One of my favorite features of the LG enV is the picture caller i.d. It works similar to regular caller i.d., but it lets you see the picture of the person calling. This is great when your cell phone is across the room and you can’t see the number of who’s calling from where you are sitting. Another feature I love is the large speakers on the inside which makes music as well as gaming sounds crystal clear unlike the garbled mess that some cell phones make of music. You can also download new ringtones, for a fee of course, as well as ringback tones that your callers will hear when they call you. Some ringtones are included, but no ringback tones are included. The contact list is a great feature; it stores e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and even notes and lets you separate your contacts into categories which is great if you have a lot of contacts. I love the feature that allows you to see how much time you have talked, including your lifetime calls…it shows you just how much time you have spent jabbing on the phone to your friends and associates.
Since it’s a Verizon plan phone, you know you are getting reliable service on a reliable network. You also know that you are getting unlimited IN calling to any other Verizon caller. This can save you a bundle if your friends, family, associates, and/or significant other has Verizon also. Unfortunately, all of the great features of the enV do come at a price, you have to pay to add all of the features to your basic plan. Mobile e-mail runs around $5.00 and a basic texting plan with unlimited IN texting and pictures will run you $10. The mobile web, a.k.a. access to the Internet will run you another $15. All of this is on top of your regular plan. By the way, while I am on the subject of features for additional fees, I highly recommend the insurance. For $5.99 a month you protect your phone in case anything happens to it, and let’s be realistic, the LG enV is not a cheap phone, you wouldn’t want anything to happen to it. All of these additional fees are on top of your calling plan (whichever one you choose), so your overall bill can be quite pricey if you begin downloading left and right. Also, if you use over your number of minutes or picture messages to non Verizon customers, you can wind up with a hefty bill, just ask my boyfriend who wound up $300 over in a single month before I got my phone, lol.
Voice mail is easy to check by pressing one and send on your phone and entering your pin. I love speed dial, you load your contacts into speed dial and then press a number, and click send and your phone dials the number for you. The phone is even set up to recognize voice commands, and when in voice mode, you can say “call bank” and it will call the number you have programmed in for the bank. Other neat features the phone has include a built in calculator which is fully functional, a calendar which allows you to store dates and times as well as set alarms for important events, an alarm clock which will turn your phone on to wake you up or remind you of important events, a world clock which allows you to see what time it is anywhere in the world, a notepad which allows you to take typed notes at meetings or in school, and a tip calculator which not only calculates the tip but makes it easy for you to calculate how to split the cost of a business lunch in seconds. The phone is also Bluetooth compatible and can be used with most hands free devices.
The camera on the phone is fantastic, even though it is only 2.0 megapixels. It has autofocus, built in flash that you can turn on/off easily, and even a camcorder mode that allows you to record videos.
Here are the rest of the basics that you are going to want to know if you are considering this phone:
Bluetooth Version 1.2 - Supports headsets, hands free, dial up networking, A2DP (Stereo), object push for vCard, serial port, file transfer, audio/video remote control, basic printing, human interface device, ability to save up to 20 bluetooth pairings, stereo headset support for music.
Music – music player that plays both MP3 and WMA formatted songs, V Cast Music and Video, Sync music from PC to phone, Create and manage playlists, music only mode, microSD memory port, dual speakers for stereo sound
Video/Camera – 2.0 megapixel autofocus camera with flash and lens cover, camera resolution: 1600X1200, 1280x960, 640x480, 320x240 pixels, video recording capability with digital zoom up to 2.5x, set videos under 5MB in size as wallpaper, video resolution 320x240, 176x144 pixels
Voice/Audio – one touch speakerphone, text to speech, speaker independent VAD, voice memo recording, 13 unique ringtones, vibrate and silent modes, hearing aid compatibility M3
Mobile Media – text and picture/video messaging
Tools and Data – Broadband access connect capable, QWERTY keyboard for easy messaging, VZ Navigator voice prompted turn by turn directions, Chaperons parent child controls,
Wireless Sync Email using BREW Email Client
Specifications – 1.9 GHz CDMAPCS, 800 MHz CDMA, Data Transmission High Speed EV Do, Dimensions 4.64” high by 2.08” wide by 0.78” deep, 4.6 ounces in weight, standard lithium polymer battery, usage time up to 4 hours and 30 minutes, standby time up to 19 days and 4 hours, 2.0 Megapixel camera with autofocus lens cover and flash, Bluetooth capable, V Cast Music, V Cast Video, microSD memory port, QWERTY keyboard, dual speakers for stereo sound, TTY Compatible
There are a few little irks about this phone that drive me crazy, one is the amount of storage included with the phone. They give you an excellent 2.0 Megapixel Digital Camera Phone that not only takes pictures but also videos, and they give you next to no storage space on your camera. But, have no fear, the camera is expandable, and a new card can easily be added to accommodate all that music, all those games, all those photos, and all those videos you plan to store in your phone. The other irk I have with the phone is the battery life while text messaging or playing games; it runs out far too quickly. I recommend that you have a spare battery on hand all the time, so you can just switch it out when one dies and you do not have to stop to recharge your battery. The other irk is the door that you open to plug the charger in. It’s a little plastic hinged door that protects the charger plug in area when not in use. The door is really flimsy, every time I open it, I get the feeling that it is going to break off all though it has not done so yet. My final irk is that many of the cool accessories on the market for cell phones are not compatible with this phone, because of its size, which is kind of annoying when you want something besides a plain black case.
Since I do not have any other cell phones to compare it to, I rank this cell phone as excellent, since it lets me do just about everything I want to do on the go, and much more than I ever imagined. I love being able to Google the name of a place while we are out and about let the phone dial the nearest location, so that I can check store hours or product availability. It’s also great for checking weather forecasts, news headlines, movie show times, and so much more. It doesn’t let me play flash games online, or access flash websites, but it does give me the freedom to stay connected to my friends and to the world on the go or at home when no other media is available.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199.99
Recommended for: Professionals On-the-Go - Internet and Email is a Must!
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Epinions.com ID:
batraylover
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Member: batraylover
Location: U.S.A.
Reviews written: 90
Trusted by: 4 members
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