Read This Review From Someone In The Industry!
Written: May 17 '04 (Updated May 23 '04)
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Pros: Features, Vibrant Color Display, Get It Now, LG Reputation
Cons: Durability, Battery Life
The Bottom Line: Feature Rich, Compact, Vibrant Color Display, And Camera Functionality Make This Phone An Excellent Choice For Most Consumers.
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| jonwes's Full Review: LG VX6000 Cell Phone |
Preface
I'd like to begin by mentioning that I have been a Verizon Wireless corporate accounts representative for almost eight years now. Needless to say, I've seen a great deal of handsets come and go during that time period. Some good, some bad, and everything in between. I've enjoyed seeing the evolution of the wireless phone over the past few years, as every new generation builds upon itself and offers more to the consumer. I've now been using the LG VX-6000 CDMA handset for nearly a year as my primary phone, so I'm well prepared and eager to provide my two cents now that Epinions has finally included a review slot for it.
Specs
All Digital handset
Built-in digital camera
Snap, style and share photos with Verizon Wireless Picture Messaging
Large, 7-line 262K TFT color display
31 ring tones plus vibrating alert
CMX MIDI for sound & ringers
Voice-activated dialing
499 phone book entries
GPS capable for E911 emergency location
Dimensions:
0.95" Deep x 1.9" Wide x 3.54" High
Weight:
3.98 Ounces
Battery Life:
150 Minutes Talk Time, 110 Hours Standby
Appearance
The LG VX-6000 is an appealing phone. Silver exterior/interior, large color display, and blue backlighting on the keypad all contribute to the sleek look of this phone. One of the primary selling points for most of my customers is the same benefit the LG 4400 provided, which is a large, easy to read display. A couple of people that I do business with told me that their eye sight is poor at best without glasses and they wanted me to recommend a phone that wouldn't be hard to see. I had my 6000 with me and they were able to read the digits from five feet away. The contrast helps, with large black digits on a white background. You can change the text size from the menu, but most people like it set to large. The color display is vibrant and clear, making it perfect for viewing the pictures you take. Not to jump ahead, but the pictures you view on the phone are going to look significantly better than the enlarged versions sent via e-mail for a couple of reasons I'll get into later.
The stub antenna on the 6000 eliminates the majority of problems that inevitably come up with retractable antennas, such as breakage.
The keypad is large enough for people of all sizes and the ergonomics of the phone when held to the head is just about perfect.
Buttons are well placed, but the one drawback I have found is that if the phone is in the holster and you're receiving a call, it's very easy to accidentally hit one of the volume keys as you're removing it from the holster, and a double tap will send the call to voicemail. This hasn't been a real problem, but I've run into it several times.
Performance
As I mentioned, I've been using the 6000 for nearly a year and although I liked my Motorola v60i a lot, the LG has my loyalty now. Once you become used to the intuitiveness of the menu structure, the color display, the camera functionality, and the ease of text messaging, it's hard to part ways with this one.
Despite the stub antenna, reception tends to be very good even in weaker areas. The one word of caution I want to pass along in this review is the durability factor of the 6000. If you drop this phone repeatedly, you're going to find yourself in a situation where the signal strength alternates between no service and one bar. A few of my friends have had this happen as well, so I know I'm not alone. For this reason, the $2.99 insurance might be a good option for anyone that tends to be hard on their phones. My v60i could take a real beating, but I've gathered that the 6000 is on the sensitive side, most likely due to the camera and phone components sharing the same housing.
I do a great deal of text messaging throughout the day, both receiving and sending, and the 6000 makes this task a simple one. The T9 input makes for easy delivery. Some of the Motorola software had issues in the past that caused problems with text messaging, but the LG line has been trouble free.
"Get It Now" is easily accessible on the 6000 and provides you with a great deal of downloadable options - everything from games to ringers. The list is large and growing of apps that can be purchased. Just about any ringer style you can think of, including one that's a woman's voice saying, "You don't like this person" - lol. Classic video games like Frogger and Ms. Pac Man, all in full color with sound effects and/or music. There are functional applications available as well, like one app that will synchronize your calendar on your desktop computer with your phone. Again, a lot of versatility here, to the point that an entire review could be written on "Get It Now" alone.
Menu options are easily selected using the directional keypad and the selections can be switched from icons to a list, whichever you prefer. Anyone that can use Windows for a PC can operate the 6000. When in standby mode, pressing the up portion of the directional key brings up a calendar of the current month, allowing you to input appointments and reminders that will alarm you when due. The right keypad brings up "Get It Now", while the left keypad starts the "Mobile Web" minibrowser. This is an optional service, which starts at about $4.99/month. You can check movie showtimes, e-mail (Yahoo, Hotmail, and AOL), news, sports scores, etc. Finally, the down keypad brings up messaging options, such as your text messaging inbox and outbox, voice mailbox, etc. Once you learn the various key presses, access to these features becomes quick and easy.
Although I included battery life as a con for this model, it's actually quite good for a color phone. Both the external and internal screens shut down after a user defined pre-set amount of time passes, usually just a minute or two. This is the dominant reason for the relatively good battery life. Touch any key, including external volume or voice dialing keys, and the displays come right back up. A good design really. I will suggest that anyone who will be using the phone for more than an hour or two per day, should consider buying an extended battery at some point or at least a cig adapter. The extended battery adds about 50% more talk and standby time over the included standard battery. A worthwhile investment if your battery is dying out or dead by the late afternoon.
Sound quality is very good on the 6000, on both ends. Unlike the Motorola microphones that I've complained about on numerous occasions, the LG mic is very clear and unmuffled. Audio quality through the earpiece is very good as well and quite loud at its highest setting. A friend of mine actually lays the phone down and talks into it like a speakerphone when he's in a quiet room.
Voice dialing is accurate and easy to configure. I personally don't use voice dialing, but those who do appreciate the 6000's simplicity.
The phonebook is extensive with 499 phonebook locations that can store multiple entries in each location. It has room for two home, two office, two mobile, a pager, and two fax numbers for each entry. You can also store an e-mail address for each person, which makes sending pictures very easy. There's room for a memo for each contact as well as the ability to assign a specific ringer. Lots of customizable options.
Now to the meat and potatoes of the 6000, the camera. I wasn't expecting much from any camera phone when I got into the LG a year ago. My Olympus 3030 3.0 megapixel digicam takes great pictures, but it also ran me about $550 when it came out. You shouldn't expect that kind of quality out of a 4 ounce device whose primary purpose is to make and receive wireless calls. There are three different resolutions to choose from and if you select the lowest setting, you then have the ability to zoom in with the left and right directional keys when taking a picture. More of a novelty than true function here. For those who haven't used the 6000, I know you're wondering how the pictures are going to look. In a nutshell, if you take pictures in a well lit area and view them on the phone, they look great. If you take pictures in a darker area or send the pics to an e-mail address for viewing on a computer monitor, the quality is going to diminish. This actually occurs for two reasons, as I mentioned before. First, any picture is going to appear to be much sharper on a small screen than it will on a large one. Second, the LG downgrades the compression of the jpeg file when it sends it over the network to another phone or an e-mail address. To see this for yourself, take a look at a picture you took in the Gallery and take a look at the same picture in your photo outbox after you've sent it to someone. You'll be able to see a visible loss of detail in the pic you sent. I'm sure LG chose this option to speed up transfer of the pictures over the airwaves. Some might not notice, but I'm very particular about everything in my life and this was noticeable to me. Overall, the camera should be viewed as a nice bonus to this phone, but certainly no substitute for a good quality digital camera on the market with even a 1.3 megapixel rating.
I should mention that the 6000 is "1X" capable, which means that a mobile office kit can be purchased separately and used to connect your phone to a laptop to access the internet at speeds ranging from 14.4 kb/s if you don't pay for any additional features, all the way up to 75-150 kb/s if you opt for one of the express network data options.
Conclusion
A few other camera phones have come to surface since I began using the 6000 a year ago, including the Audiovox 8900 and the Samsung A610. I've used them all and I have also talked to people that have used them and the 6000 still remains the item of choice for myself and many others. There's a reason Consumer Reports rated it number one in their recent review. I'm sure the camera portion of the phones will be much improved in the next generation, along with even more features, but for now the LG VX-6000 is about as good as it gets!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 0.00
Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy
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Epinions.com ID:
jonwes
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Location: Los Angeles, California
Reviews written: 55
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