My first flip phone
Written: Apr 15 '03 (Updated Apr 25 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Clarity: |
|
|
| Portability: |
 |
|
| Battery Life: |
|
|
|
Pros: display, design, features
Cons: manual, lack of games, lame wallpaper
The Bottom Line: The bottom line of this phone is "buy it." You'll love the phone. I do.
|
|
|
| jeeper's Full Review: LG VX4400 |
I was never sold on flip phones before I purchased this phone. But, after seeing a friend's 4400 I knew I wanted to give it a try. And I haven't been disappointed.
When I first started looking for phones I was looking really hard at the Motorola T720. However, I had a bad experience with Motorola years ago and giving them another chance left a bad taste in my mouth.
At much urging from my friend, because she wanted to take advantage of the mobile to mobile minutes, I went with Verizon and decided after reading many other reviews that the 4400 was a better choice then the T720.
One of my deciding factors was the battery life. However, I've been minorly disappointed with the battery life. Like others say, "it's good for color phone," but I was simply expecting a little more. I should point out that I'm disappointed in the stated time as the phone seems to give what it advertises.
My friend bought her phone one week before I did, and she had some problems with text messaging getting messed up requiring a reset. This was an annoyance, but she got it fixed with a software update that Verizon performed in a short time -- she did have to go into a store. I haven't had the problem yet.
Other reviewers have reported sub-standard sound quality. But, I have to say that I have been really happy with the sound quality -- with the exception of headset volume. There is a echo from time to time, but it usually goes away with a slight adjustment of how I hold the phone. It baffles me, but I haven't had problems hearing people through the phone itself.
After getting the phone I had a blast browsing through menus and changing settings. I love the ability to define custom ringers for each phone book entry including changing the text messaging ringer (and I'm now addicted to text messaging). However, I quickly realized that there's just not enough of the extras included on the phone. The wallpaper selection is small and to add insult to injury the images are lame. The ringer selection is okay, but still lacks anything of particular interest.
Navigation was really easy. I love the shortcut key to the calendar which I use heavily. However, it's too easy to hit the key and get thrown into Brew.
Text messaging is a breeze, and I've found the TWord functionality which intelligently interprets your words to be pretty extensive with some interesting exceptions. The one thing I found odd is that the entry option for "Smiley" is available when editing the banner text, but not during text messaging. Very odd.
My problem with the wallpaper and ringer selection was easily cured by purchasing a data cable and a few minutes of searching the web. The data cable specifically for the 4400, but some very helpful people have posted messages on the internet stating that the cable for the VX10 will also fit. The cable can be purchased from RadioShack for $20 (part 170-0783). I now have a picture of my dog on the background and a picture of my friend displayed when she calls -- of course it's only shown for a millisecond as I open the phone, but it's still cool.
Probably my biggest complaint, and it's not that big of a deal to me, is the lack of games. For a $200 phone you should get at least one game! And again to add insult to injury the selection of games is poor (I liked Linez). So, if games are important to you on a phone then you probably don't want this phone.
The last point I want to make is about the manual. The manual is easy to navigate, but it seems to sacrifice content in lieu of brevity. It's only thick because half of it is a foreign language.
Update:
The battery has seemed to improve. The other day I had it off the charger all afternoon until about 2am. And during that time I exchanged several text messages and talked for just over three hours over two phone calls.
Also, the sound seems to be pretty weak with some of the polyphonic ring tones I downloaded. However, that is probably to do with the ring tones themselves and not the phone.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 100
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
jeeper
|
|
Location: Virginia Beach, VA, USA
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 2 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.