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236 of 238 found the following review helpful:
 Best phone I have ever had, but let me set some things straight.... Mar 08, 2007
By Jeffrey D. Hauenstein
"iPoder"
Couple of items that need mentioned since by reading the other reviews you obviously know that this phone ROCKS....
1) DO NOT waste your money on the sync data cable and music essential pack. All you need is a Micro-SD reader, about $10, and you can pop out the micro sd card and transfer music in that manner. I was able to burn any songs I wanted from iTunes as an audio CD, then import them into Windows Media Player to convert them to WMA and drag and drop into the music folder on the micro sd card. (Once you format the card through your EnV it will add 4 folders)
2) DO NOT waste your money on anything bigger then a 1gb Micro SD card. They sell them almost everywhere, I got mine for $22 on eBay. The reason you cannot go any bigger is that the EnV will only accept 1gb and after the card is formatted (required) if the card is larger then 1gb then only 1gb will be recognized.
3) I have read where people have had the phone speed-dail while in their pocket and/or case. I cannot see how this could happen if you have the 'keypad lock' set to activate. I have mine set on 7 seconds. For it to make a call on it's own it would have to have any button pushed, then have the 'ok' button pushed, then have the speed dial button pushed. All of this would have to take place within 7 seconds or the 'keypad lock' would be reset. I have taken mine out of the case to see where a button has been pushed but the screen will state to 'push ok to unlock' to continue to use the phone.
4) If you do buy the phone off of eBay and they mention a rebate offer, make sure that you are getting a 'point of sale' receipt. You will need this along with the rebate form...don't trust everyone, check to see if they are an actual Verizon Retailer.
5) You will need a case to cover the entire phone, I would hate the see the front screen get all scratched up. They have some nice leather ones, like the Monoca series, on the internet.
6) Yes, the outter screen and the inside screen can be set to different wallpapers as well as the keys and shortcuts can be set to different functions, very handy and well thought out. None of the keys get on the way while using the phone such as in the RAZR's case. While using the internal keypad your hand will be on the outter camera lens and I have once accidentally opened the lens cap by twisting the outter silver ring; no biggie, just need to check this prior to laying it down on something to keep the lens from being scatched.
Well I hope you enjoy your phone and I hope this set some things straight. I love mine and going from a traditional style flip phone to this was not bad at all. Very comfortable to hold and the phone works great!!
110 of 112 found the following review helpful:
It's Fantastic! Dec 13, 2006
By Wesley D. Lin
"So we own KMart now? No, so why are we dressed like we do?"
I am torn between giving this a four-star or five-star rating. I'm gonna stick to four, however, because five-star seems to warrant an absolutely perfect product.
Though not absolutely perfect, this is a fantastic and great phone. Like it's been said everywhere else before, the camera is phenomenal and takes great pictures. The auto-focus function is nice, but does slow things down a bit. If you're taking pictures of kids or animals, anticipate the moment and click a few seconds before in order to get the shot.
The phone is soo much thinner! The entire phone now is about as thick as the bottom half of the VX9800/The V. It's much lighter and I like the feel of the brushed plastic more. I'll be interested to see how this material wears since I started to get some spots where the color was rubbing off my VX9800.
The big thing that I LOVE about this phone is that you can actually make use of its Bluetooth function when pairing it with your computer. It was incredibly easy to pair it with my MacBookPro and send photos, sounds and video to and from my phone. I haven't had a chance to pair it with my Camry Hybrid yet, but I'm expecting everything to go smoothly.
My only complaints are concerning the main keyboard. I'm deeply saddened by the absence of the shortcut key. It used to be that I could whip out my phone and hit Fn 1 for my notepad, Fn 2 for my alarm clock or however else you organized your shortcuts. LG has compensated by allowing you to assign shortcuts to the navigation keys on both the main and front keypads.
Also, the clear button is about half the size on the main keyboard compared to the VX9800. It will take some time getting used to it, but at least it is not a huge flaw. The two space bars will take some practice and training in order to utilize it, but it's nice. I personally feel like two space bars worked better on phones like the old Nokia 68** series because they were so spread out, but it'll be nice all the same when I get used to it.
Buyers beware, however, because LG changed up the plug on this phone as well as the memory format. All those chargers, headsets, and data cables you purchased for your VX9800 will have to stay with your VX9800. Also, they switched from miniSD to microSD, so that nice miniSD card you had will have to become a key drive. Not a huge deal, however, because SD cards are CHEAP now.
Don't forget to use Backup Assistant to switch over all your contacts. They transferred flawlessly and perfectly from my old phone to new. Also, the phone works great with Bitpim if you set it as a VX8500 on the preferences. That way, I got my calendar, memos and text messages over also!
As you can see, this is definitely a four/four and a half-star rating, but not a perfect five. I love it anyway and look forward to using it!
53 of 54 found the following review helpful:
Great features, a few compromises Apr 19, 2007
By NHShopper
I've been using the enV for a few weeks and I'm very happy with it. The QWERTY keypad is great for txt messages and adding contacts. The front display is indeed small, but it's big enough to see an incoming call or choose a phone number. I use the inner keypad 95% of the time. My only complaint about the phone itself is that the call quality is average at best.
Here are a few other things to keep in mind....
* You do not need the $30 essentials music pack to transfer music if you have a card reader. Just remember to put the micro SD card in the enV first and format it before putting music on it (the format puts 4 folders on the card)
- the phone DOES recognize more than 1GB - my 2GB card works fine.
- if not all your songs are recognized, shorten the file name. I wrote to tech support who responded that there's a limit on the file name length. The fix worked. (Yes, it's a pain to have to do it.)
* In previous years I found some really great discounts on cell plans on the Internet. Now it seems that everyone offers the same pricing structure, which was a disappointment.
*The Amazon price varies dramatically, so if you don't need the phone immediately, watch the price for a few weeks. It's $99 as I write, it was free with rebates a couple of weeks ago, and I got $30 back after rebates when I bought it several weeks ago. (Phone + plan)
* Pay attention to the screens in the checkout process. I just wanted the phone and calling plan, but the default selections on the screens leading to the final purchase would have added $20 here, $10 there for things I didn't want. To Amazon's credit, they did have the best overall price - I checked numerous sites before deciding to buy it here.
* Verizon has a lot of extra fees if you want to use most of the phone's cool features. They even charge an extra $1.95 per month to get a detailed list of all the phone calls you make! These charges can really add up. It might be wise to call Verizon and ask if the things you want to do with the phone cost extra so you know what the actual monthly bill would look like.
* If you use an IM program like AIM and don't buy an extra txt message package you'll be charged $.15 to send and $.10 to receive each IM (every time you press "Enter.")
- In addition to the txt charges, just having IM programs open in the background use air minutes....so it's fine to have it on nights and weekends if you're on an unlimited plan for those hours. If not, you'll burn through your monthly allotment of minutes in a day or two!
In summary, the phone is great but watch out for additional charges incurred to make good use of the phone's capabilities.
44 of 44 found the following review helpful:
Very good phone. In-depth review with samples. Oct 13, 2007
By R. Clark
(This review was originally written for the LG enV Orange, but is also being posted here as almost all of the review applies to the silver enV as well.)
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The background paragraph: I work for a cell phone software company porting games to the many cell phones available on the market. What that can be boiled down to is that I have a lot of knowledge of handset quirks/bugs, stability, and look+feel, but not much knowledge for comparing handsets on how well they operate when placing actual phone calls, or trying to carry the phone around in your pocket, etc. It should also be noted that I mainly have experience with brew phones (Verizon, Alltel, US Cellular, Cricket, etc), and next to no experience with j2me phones (Sprint, Cingular, etc). The vx9900 is a brew device.
When it came time to upgrade my old LG vx8100, I choose the LG vx9900 Orange (enV Orange). Based on my own personal needs, I feel it is the best brew device on the market at the time of this writing. I did not give it a 5-star rating because the web browser on all current Verizon phones leaves something to be desired. This looks to be changing for the new models of phones being released later this year.
Below, any point which is a positive editorial is prefixed with a "(+)". Any point which is a negative editorial is prefixed with a "(-)". A neutral editorial is denoted with a "(.)".
SHAPE
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(+) The phone feels good in the hands. Not every phone does. Its edges are well curved.
(.) Nothing special about how well it is carried in a pocket. It's not as light as the various razr's, but it is the slimmest brew device that offers a qwerty keyboard.
(+) As a previous reviewer pointed out, the 9900 actually LOOKS like a camera when it is used for that purpose. See the "camera" section below for more details.
(-) When the device is opened, and if is placed on a desk to type on like a mini desk-top computer, it will wobble. This is because the back of the phone is not level, on account of the camera lens which protrudes 2mm. The wobble does make using the keyboard in this manner impractical, though not impossible. Luckily, it won't damage the lens due to the lens cover.
HOWEVER: Something which I have not read in other reviews which have written about this design flaw is that the wobble can be reduced to a practical level (but not eliminated entirely) if the phone is opened to a full 180 degrees. A little-known feature of the device is that it has two available angles when opened, about 135 degrees and 180 degrees. At 180 degrees, the wobble is reduced, but now the screen is flat with the table and so is not as convenient to look at, though not in a crippling way.
In field testing, I find that I'm rarely in a situation where I need to use the keyboard while sitting at a desk anyway. In those situations, there's usually an actual computer in front of me. Rather, I use the phone's keyboard when out on the town, in which case it is held in the hands. The thumbs do get sore when typing in this manner, however.
KEYBOARD
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(+) Along with its predecessor the vx9800, the vx9900 offers the best keyboard available on brew cell phones, hands down. Most notably because it has a dedicated row for the numeric keys. On all other qwerty brew devices, this is not the case... with the exception of the LG ax490, although its keyboard is impractical for other reasons (do a Google image search on the device to see what I mean). The keys give a quiet, mechanical "click" when pressed, which is nice feedback.
(.) A number of reviews have complained about the space bar not being positioned at the bottom center of the keyboard. Personally, I've had no trouble adapting to the space bar positions.
(.) A number of reviews also criticize the positioning of the volume keys. When the clamshell is opened to its 135 degree position, it's difficult to wedge your finger behind the screen to reach the volume key. However, when I need to access those keys I simply pop the screen down to its 180 degree position, easily play with the keys to my heart's content, then pop it back to 135 degrees.
(+) Unlike its predecessor the vx9800, the vx9900 hinges its clamshell in such a way that the screen folds behind the keyboard. This makes access to the two soft keys easier.
(+) The symbols written on the keys light up, making it easy for night time use. Handy since I mainly use the keyboard when out on the town.
(.) Some of the keys are shaded grey rather than black to make them stand out as keys to use as an alternate directional pad (there's already a dedicated directional pad on the keyboard.) As a game developer, I can fill you in that Verizon REQUIRES games to accept these keys as alternate directional input for the vx9900. So you know it is supported. However, I don't find them any easier to use than the dedicated directional pad. The only advantage I can think of is it may be more natural if you are left handed.
(+) The vx9900 Orange has a special button in the upper left corner labeled "enV". For the silver version of the vx9900, this button is instead labeled "email". Though I have not tried the button on my company's silver vx9900, I believe I've read that it only can bring up the email app, just like it's labeled. For the enV Orange, however, you can assign this button to any of a number of shortcuts. Unfortunately, you can not assign it to be ANY shortcut you'd like (what I'd really enjoy would be to have it launch the web browser to a specific URL of my choice.) Instead you can only assign it to one of 10 options granted to you (Email (which launches the web browser), Text Message, Video Message, Mobile IM, Wireless Sync, V CAST Videos, Picture Message, V CAST Music, Pacman, and Tetris). Holding the button down launches your assigned shortcut. Tapping the button brings up a list of all the mentioned shortcuts, for you to scroll to and then launch.
(+) There's a dedicated speaker-phone button right on the keyboard.
PHONE CALLS
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(+) I've yet to experience bad reception on my end.
(.) I do not know if I've had dropped calls due to my phone. There have been calls dropped, but the person I called blamed it on their phone.
(-) A complaint I've read about numerous times for the vx9900 is that it will sometimes launch a speed-dial when you are not using the phone. I've never used speed dialing on my previous phones, and after reading this complaint I've made a decision to not use it on this phone. Having not tried it, I can not comment on this. However this complaint has arisen enough times that it should be taken seriously if you are someone who enjoys speed-dial features. An alternate may be to use voice-command dialing instead.
As an aside, one of the reviews I read attributed this defect to the clamshell getting wedged in a carrying case or purse in such a way as to open its clamshell slightly, which would deactivate the key-guard for a few seconds, allowing accidental key presses during that time to launch their assigned speed-dial numbers. Out of curiosity I compared my enV Orange against my company's silver enV to see how far the clamshell needed to be opened in order for the key guard to be deactivated. My Orange needed to open by a smaller amount for this condition to be met.
CAMERA
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(+) The phone LOOKS like a camera when you use it as one. It is held horizontally, and you tap your finger on the top right corner to snap a shot.
(+) It has a lens cover.
(-) If auto-focus is activated, which you will want to use, then photos are not taken instantaneously. You have to wait for the click.
(+) 2.0 megapixels.
(+) Decent frame rate for videos. Better than my vx8100. There have been times when it looked choppy, but often it looks fluid. Examples are below.
(+) If you have a memory card, videos recorded to the card are not given a short time limit.
(-) When examined closely, the photos look grainy. I suspect, but have not confirmed, that the camera does not have the full range of millions of colors we are used to on computers. To see what I mean, take a look at the example photo linked to below. Look closely at the pink of the toy in that photo, or the red bow on the toy. The toy is supposed to be smooth plastic, but it looks a bit grainy.
If a photo is shrunk down (and they are rather large), this can eliminate the graininess.
(-) Videos look very grainy.
SAMPLE PHOTOS and VIDEOS:
I've put onto the web some photos/videos of a friend and I dismantling an Etch-a-Sketch to see what was inside. With the exception of the drawings, which were scanned in, the images were taken with my vx9900 Orange.
http://www.rashid-clark.com/etch-a-sketch/
Here's a direct link to a sample photo, taken at the phone's highest resolution setting of 1600x1200:
http://www.rashid-clark.com/etch-a-sketch/victim.jpg
Here's a direct link to a sample video, taken at the phone's highest resolution of 320x240. I speak very quietly by nature, so don't worry video volumes are normally ok. Also, the phone does not natively save videos to .wmv format, I had to convert them:
http://www.rashid-clark.com/etch-a-sketch/stylus.wmv
BATTERY LIFE:
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(+) So far I'm happy with this. I've been recharging maybe every 4-10 days, depending on how the phone is used that week. I'm not a heavy user. Do make sure to follow the carrier's suggestion of fully charging your phone before using it for the first time, and to fully (or near-fully) use up the battery before the first few recharges.
MISC:
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(+) The device comes with a GPS Navigation app, complete with a voice giving you directions. I have not had a chance to use this, as I do not have a car. Sounds cool. However, Verizon does charge you out the nose to use it. You can buy a monthly subscription, or pay to use it for a day. Also, the car phone-holders currently available for the vx9900 seem like they can only hold the phone in its closed state, though I have not tried them.
(+) Nice, stereo speakers when open.
(+) Accepts micro memory cards.
*NOTE*: There are reviews on this site stating that the vx9900 will not recognize any memory beyond 1 Gigabyte. This was true for old firmware versions, BUT IS NO LONGER THE CASE. If you get a phone (weather it's the enV or not), do make sure to update its firmware first thing, as it's free to do. I am using a 2 GB card, and the phone recognizes the 2GB available. It's possible go higher than 2GB (I forget what the current limit is, but I think it's 4 GB). HOWEVER, reviews I've read state that any card greater than 2GB will be so thick that tweezers are required to remove it from the phone. The 2 GB card I use slides out just fine. I have not personally tried larger cards.
(.) Many reviewers noted the front screen's small size as a mark against the enV. It is a very small screen. If a large front screen is a part of your needs, you may want to wait until the vx10000 is released (details below).
Personally, I prefer a functional, non-impressive front screen. The reason being that the front screen is exposed to the elements. I stuff my phone in my bag, and so if anything bad were to happen such as the phone getting scratched, then the nice large screen shall remain unharmed. When I feel like breaking out of stealth-mode and showing off the phone's dazzle, then I open it up. And when in show-off mode, it DOES impress - people ask me what phone it is when it is opened.
(+) Lots of blue tooth options. I have not played with any of them, and so can not comment.
(+) The IM client works swell, and having a keyboard really shines here. Verizon will charge each message sent and each message received as a txt message. Actually running the IM client doesn't cost you anything, however.
(.) I have not tried the vcast features, and so can not comment on them.
(+) Most people don't care for cell phone games, but speaking as someone who works in the cell phone game industry, I can say that games on this device look a lot better than they do on plenty of other devices. Verizon requires games to make use of a phone's full screen, so the wide screen of the vx9900 is a nice feature.
(+) From a programming stand point, the vx9900 is stable without a lot of quirks (this can not be said for a lot of devices). From a user's stand-point, this doesn't mean much, but can be reassuring to know.
VX9900 vs vx10000
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The vx10000 is the successor to the vx9900. At the time of this writing, it is not yet available in stores, but will be soon. If you are thinking of getting a vx9900, should you wait until the vx10000 is released?
Well, the vx10000 is not in my office yet, so I have not had a chance to play with it. And although I do have access to its technical information, I am under agreement to not share that with the public. However, if you perform internet searches you can get some details. Namely, it has a HUGE front screen. This screen is touch-sensitive. It also has what looks to be a much better web browser. A good browser interfaced with a touch-screen has a lot of potential of they implement it right. The internal screen is also larger. Further, the back of the phone is flat, eliminating the "wobble" problem described earlier in this review for the vx9900.
On the minus side, the vx10000 does not yet look to be orange. =D
29 of 30 found the following review helpful:
Awesome Phone! Dec 09, 2006
By J. Diaz
I've had LG phones for a while, and like all of them, the ease of use with this phone is phoenomenal.
The phone seems big for some, but it fits in the pocket VERY nicely. Ive dropped this phone once on the hard street and it sustained the tiniest of scratches and works awesome all the same. It lags for a second or two when you use backup assistant.
The camera on this phone is one of the best ive ever seen! The pictures are SO clear and it has four resolutions!
Texting is of the easiest and you can do almost everything with this phone with the flip closed as well. Voice recognition is amazing and the SPEAKERPHONE is SUPER LOUD!
4.999 out of 5 stars!
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