LG VX8000 EV-DO Phone (Verizon Wireless)

by LG

Product Details

Data Sheet [302kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 3.4 x 1.8 x 1.1 inches ; 3.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007N7IP0
• Item model number: VX8000
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #382,717 in Cell Phones & Accessories (See Top 100 in Cell Phones & Accessories)

Product Description

Amazon.com Hands-On Review

In 2004 Verizon introduced their EV-DO 3G data business services to select markets in the US. Months later at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show, they finally rolled out their first 3G consumer offering, named VCAST. For $15 per month, Verizon's VCAST service offers an unlimited number of streaming video clip downloads over their high-speed EV-DO network. The user gets access to daily updated content from news organizations such as CNN, CNBC, and ESPN as well as entertainment content from the likes of Comedy Central and others. If you live in one of the markets covered by their EV-DO 3G service, then you can get this on your mobile phone.

Click image to see full-size photo shot with auto white balance and macro lens setting.

Click image to see full-size photo shot with manually set white balance and the normal lens setting.

Of course, you need an EV-DO cell phone such as the LG VX8000 to view VCAST content. The VX8000 was the first handset to be launched with the VCAST service, and was the star of Verizon's VCAST launch event. It is a somewhat large clamshell handset that comes equipped with a 1.3 megapixel camera with a macro lens setting for close-up photography. The camera takes photos that range anywhere from decent to very good in quality, depending on lighting conditions and settings (try out the manual White Balance settings). The VX8000 can also record 14 second long video clips that are also typically quite nice. Photos and videos can be painlessly uploaded to Verizon's PixPlace website, though the photos will be greatly reduced in resolution, or they can be easily sent to any internet email address. Sending a photo to an email address is the only way to get a full resolution 1.3 megapixel photo off of the VX8000, since it has no IR, Bluetooth, or data cable.

The photos and videos you take will look great on the VX8000, thanks to its dual 262k color displays. The main 2.2" display is very colorful and clear, and the unusually large 128x160 pixel external display is equally nice. The external display serves as the camera's viewfinder when you have the phone closed, allowing you to record perfectly centered photos and video clips of yourself. The controls under the display and the volume rocker allow you to navigate through your photos with the phone closed, which is handy.

The VX8000 has a very well laid out keypad, with large buttons that are as easy to read as to use. The 5-way directional-pad controller is also large, and has a nice big OK button in the middle for selecting things in the VX8000's menus. The user interface is consistent and simple to use, but has some organizational issues thanks to Verizon's desire to drive people towards their Get It Now download services (which typically costs extra). In their defense, Verizon does offer a wide selection of ringtones from various partners, and has some of the best 3D games I have seen on a mobile phone to date.

As far as doing normal phone things go, the VX8000 has pretty good reception, decent audio quality, and a simply fantastic speakerphone. The speakerphone is probably the best I have ever tested. Battery life is probably going to be an issue for most people, though. 4.5 hours of talk time is decent, but the standby time is rarely much more than two days with no calls being made, and that is unacceptable. Best to opt for the extended battery, which will provide 50% more power.

The VX8000 is a solid phone. Verizon's VCAST service will provide you with timely news and some entertainment, but might be a bit expensive for most people at this time - though it is sure to get cheaper eventually. The VX8000's camera is very nice, as are its dual displays. If nothing else, the VX8000 will let you be the first kid on the block with a 3G phone.

Pros:

• 3G Service
• Nice 1.3 megapixel camera
• Dual 262k color displays

Cons:

• Bulky
• Short standby battery life

What's in the Box:
VX8000 handset, standard lithium-polymer battery, home charger, stereo headset.

--Reviewed by Michael Oryl, editor in chief of www.MobileBurn.com

Amazon.com Product Description

Get ready for the power of Verizon's exciting V Cast service, which allows you to download or stream full motion video and 3D games, all on your handset. A service like that requires some horsepower, and luckily, the LG VX8000 is up for the task. With support for Verizon's EV-DO high speed data network, a 1.3 megapixel camera with video capture, and dual color displays, the VX8000 is the perfect companion in a new era of high-speed wireless content.

Design
The phone features a traditional clamshell design with a very large 176 x 220 color display and support for a whopping 262,000 colors-- plenty of room for V Cast content. There's also 128 MB of memory built in, so you'll have plenty of space to store your videos and photos. A generous, full-color 128 x 160 supplementary display on the outside of the cover displays incoming call information, battery life, signal strength, graphics, photos and more. Most of the phone's features and on-screen menus are controlled by a five-way center button on the handset's backlit control pad. The VX8000 also features a standard jack to accept universal hands-free headsets and up/down keys are located on the left side of the unit. The 1.3 megapixel camera unit is housed on the rear of the unit, and USB data connectivity is available via an adapter cable that plugs into the bottom of the phone.

Calling Features
The VX8000's built-in address book can store up to 500 contacts for quick and easy management of phone numbers and email addresses. The phone comes with built-in polyphonic ringtones plus a vibrating alert. More ringtones can be downloaded via Verizon's Get It Now service. Ringtones can be assigned to specific callers so you don't have to look at the phone to know who's calling, or you can match pictures with callers to identify them. Voice activated dialing makes calling your friends, family and associates as easy as saying their names. The VX8000's GPS location technology pinpoints your exact location when you dial 911.

Messaging, Internet and Tools
With support for the EV-DO high-speed data standard, the VX8000 is fully compatible with Verizon's V Cast service. With V Cast, you can download and stream high-quality video. Need news and weather? Get the latest Accuweather forecast delivered right to your handset, or stream CNN news headlines. ESPN sports updates, entertainment news from E!, and even Sesame Street content for the kids, are all available. V Cast also serves as a portal for enhanced 3D games. Have more fun with a new breed of realistic games.

With support for sending and receiving text, picture and video messages, the VX8000 has all the bases covered when it comes to messaging, too. T9 text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit-- a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.

Getting on the Internet anywhere is easy with the VX8000. Verizon's Mobile Web package allows you to read and send e-mails, exchange instant messages and view your favorite web content on your phone. You can check your e-mail, trade stocks online, compare prices while shopping, access flight information, get movie listings and find directions to the theater. Verizon's Get It Now wireless download service is also fully compatible with the VX8000. This pay-per-download service features application downloads, games and productivity tools. You can also personalize your handset with ringtone downloads using the Get It Now service.

The VX8000 ships with a number of handy tools including a calendar and a voice memo application. An alarm clock and calculator are also included.

Imaging and Entertainment
While the VX8000 is a great platform for watching V Cast video content, it can also capture video that can be shared with your friends and associates via video messaging. The video unit records in MPEG4 format and can capture clips up to 15 seconds in length. Of course, you can also use the camera to capture still pictures, too. In addition to megapixel resolution (1280 x 960), the camera features an LED flash, macro and night modes, a self-timer, and brightness and white balance controls.

The VX8000 supports V Cast 3D games, as well as other 2D-based games, which are available from Verizon's Get It Now service. You can also customize the phone's wallpapers and screensavers to give your VX8000 a look that suits your style.

EV-DO Wireless Broadband Coverage
Learn more about where EV-DO coverage is offered. View EV-DO demonstration.

Vital Statistics
The LG VX8000 weighs 3.88 ounces and measures 3.76 x 1.97 x .93 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 265 minutes of digital talk time, and up to 184 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the CDMA 800/CDMA 1900 frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.

What's in the Box
VX8000 handset, standard lithium-polymer battery, home charger, stereo headset.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding phone and great service from Verizon!, March 9, 2005

By 

Stephan Anderson (Grapevine, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LG VX8000 EV-DO Phone (Verizon Wireless) (Wireless Phone)

I'm a tech consultant who travels a lot and needs to be contactable by clients wherever I travel in the US, and also I needed a means to keep in touch with news, weather, sports and world events when traveling. This phone turned out to be the perfect solution.

Using Verizon's high-speed EV-DO network which has coverage in most major cities in the US, this phone can download "CNN To Go" 2 to 3 minute video & audio clips in 10 to 15 seconds, very fast for a mobile phone.

Additionally, the video quality on the 262K color LCD screen is just like watching a small LCD TV and the built-in stereo speakers produces outstanding sound quality. Using the stereo earphones that come with the phone, you can listen to video clips at restaurants and other public areas without disturbing the people next to you. For using the phone while driving, I recommend buying the Shure QSHB3 headset with the NoiseBlocker earphone and noise-canceling QuietSpot boom microphone, this headset provides good call quality while driving over noisy road surfaces.

Speaking of call quality... for the past year I've been using AT&T Wireless/Cingular service with a trusty and durable Nokia 6800 GSM phone. My first call on the VX8000 this week was a multi-way business conference call with several parties, and I've made this call many times with my old phone and service. I was amazed at the clarity of everyone's voices and even nuances that I never heard before on previous conference calls, like pages shuffling and whispers in the background. Many kudos to LG and the Verizon Network for enabling this level of call quality.

Regarding picture quality, this phone includes a 1.3 megapixel high resolution digital camera with the best photo quality of any cell phone I've seen to date, the quality of daylight photos compare nicely to photos I've taken with a Nikon 3700 digital camera.

Regarding customer service, the reason I called Verizon was because I was with AT&T Wireless/Cingular and I called their customer service line (611 from phone) to ask a question about my plan. After aggravatingly trying to navigate their voice recognition menu on their automated "customer service" (what a misnomer) line which never did understand my voice requests (perhaps I was cursing too much after a while ;-), and then navigating several levels of menus, and then being placed on hold for 15 minutes without receiving any customer service person, I realized my contract was up and therefore didn't need to put up with the poor customer service...

After doing a lot of research (including Consumer Reports) on cell phones and service, I decided to call Verizon which has the reputation of having the best customer service in the cell phone industry and the best network coverage in the US. Their 800# menu was quickly navigable and professional and within 1 minute I was able to speak to a courteous and knowledgeable customer service representative. This helped convince me to choose Verizon as a service provider.

The only downside I can think of with Verizon is that they may not be as price-competitive as T-Mobile or Cingular on many plans, however Verizon's $59 / 900 minute plan is quite competitive with the other carriers and is the best value of any carrier (IMHO) when considering the call quality, network coverage and customer service you get with Verizon.

LG & Verizon, keep up the good work!

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great phone for now, May 4, 2005

By 

Scott - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: LG VX8000 EV-DO Phone (Verizon Wireless) (Wireless Phone)

I switched to LG phones from being a long-time Nokia user because I wanted a flip phone and all of LG's phones seem to offer so many more options, and picked up the VX8000 because it's currently the best LG has to offer. Fortunately, I was not disappointed. While this phone does have some flaws, it has proven to be the best cell phone I've ever owned.

Reception - After two months I have never had a dropped call or poor reception, ever. I've never even had to extend the antenna. I didn't receive too many dropped calls with my Nokia, but with Suncom, there were several "dead" areas in my city where my phone just wouldn't work. I haven't found one yet with Verizon.

Features - This phone has just about every feature you could want. The contact list is extensive and holds 500 names. It provides one entry per name, and within that entry you can assign two mobile numbers, two emails, and a work and home number. You can also assign picture and ringer ID by caller. It would have been nice to have a space for notes such as being able to store an address for contacts but this isn't available. Pressing the SEND button brings up a list of recent calls, and shows all calls received, missed, and dialed, so no more clicking on "call log" then selecting "dialed calls" etc. The recent call list clearly shows the type of call. I find this very convenient.

Alarm - The phone has an alarm that is integrated with the calendar. The alarm is great because you can set a recurring alarm by day. You can set a weekly alarm that will go off Mon-Fri, and then set a separate alarm for the weekends, and never have to set it again. With my old phone, I had to set the alarm every night. The only problem is there is no snooze feature, which would have been nice. You can also set an alarm to go off every Third Tuesday of the month if you want.

Camera - I didn't really want a camera phone at first, but I find that I really enjoy mine. This phone comes with a 1.3 Mega pixel camera, which is the highest resolution currently available. This thing takes incredible pictures for a camera phone. You can increase the resolution all the way to 1280x960, which are huge pictures. Outdoor shots look great even at that resolution. Night shots don't look nearly as good. The phone comes with a built in flash, but it's just not powerful enough to take shots in dark areas such as a bar. Pictures come out grainy and out of focus. The camera does have numerous built in settings you can change for night mode and to adjust the gamma and brightness, so it's possible I just don't have it configured right. But if you're looking for a phone with a good camera, this is the way to go. An additional problem though is that it's very hard to take a good self-shot. Trying to photograph yourself while holding the phone shows a full-resolution picture on the front LCD, but it is hard to hold the camera far enough away to get a good shot. I haven't really found a good use for the video camera other than novelty since it only captures 15 seconds, but the quality also appears great.

Ease of use - One of the best qualities of this phone is how convenient everything is. There is a beautiful full color LCD on the front of the phone to show calls without having to open the flip. You can also turn on the flash from a side button, activate voice dialing and the camera from convenient buttons on the side. Vibrate mode and the speaker phone are very easy to turn on by holding down a button on the phone, and adjusting the phone to silent or vibrate mode takes less than a couple seconds. Most of the phone's features can be activated by simply 1-button shortcuts, and I rarely have to navigate through menus to reach any of the more important features.

Extras - The ring tones that come with the phone are fairly limited, but sound great. The speaker on this phone is also the best I've ever heard. There is no need for a car adapter kit, since you can simply turn on the speaker phone and put the phone in the seat beside you. No one can ever tell when I'm talking to them on speaker and you can turn up the volume so high it sounds like they're sitting next to you.

I definitely recommend the web access for $5 a month. It's hard to navigate sites that aren't designed for mobile phones, but the screen is so huge that Verizon's built in web access comes out great. They have all of the top stories and built in areas to access Yahoo and AOL mail. The phone comes with no built in games, which would have been nice, but you can download some from Verizon for around $6-$10. The quality rivals a Game boy, although the controls on most of the arcade games is difficult. The main feature of this phone is the EV-DO VCast network from Verizon, which lets you download sports and news clips for $15 a month. However unless you live in a very large city (like Atlanta or New York), this network most likely isn't available to you.

If you get this phone and you're into the tech side of it, you should definitely get a USB data cable for it. I can transfer all of my pictures, wallpaper, ring tones, and Mp3s (it has a great MP3 player) directly with it and free software you can find on the web. Just make sure your data cable is made for this model and can charge the phone while plugged in. Battery life is great already however.

My one main concern with this phone (and the reason it only gets 4 stars) is the size. I'm used to very small phones and had heard this thing was a brick. It's not as big as made out to be, but it is definitely a large phone. I've gotten used to it and it doesn't bother me, but if you can, I would hold out for the next model, the VX8100, which will be much smaller and contain Bluetooth support. I will most likely pay a few hundred to upgrade to that model when it comes out just for the size alone. The phone also scratches rather easily so you have to be careful with it.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The only phone better isn't out yet, May 14, 2005

By 

D. Gaines "Recruiter" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LG VX8000 EV-DO Phone (Verizon Wireless) (Wireless Phone)

I've been selling wireless phones for about five years and remember when LG first became competitive. I made it a point to let every customer interested in an LG phone that I would not be held responsible for anything they encounter. LG simply left a bad taste in my mouth.

Then they came out with thLG 6000 and then the 6100. I started to notice LG Phones became more popular and reliable. I then turned my skepticism of a solid phone to the Audiovox phones (and Kyocera phones).

I got hired at VerizonWireless and started playing with the LG8000. Why not, I asked, and purchased it to see what they hype was and if I could get the memories out my mind...

This phone has everything, but the Bluetooth I wanted. The VCast feature is unmatched by any other carrier. Never really one for all the bells and whistles, I find myself checking out the latest news and sports from my handset with video instead of reading text from the traditional mobile web sites. I missed having a speaker phone from my Sanyo days. LG8000's speaker is actually a lot better than I thought it would be. Pretty loud and clear.

The DSL connection makes IMing from the phone a breeze. No one realizes I'm IMing from a cell phone. I IM with MSN, AOL and Yahoo. The menu, something LG was been terrible at, is extremely user-friendly and too easy to learn.

The feature I like most about the phone is being able to answer the phone while wearing an earpiece without having to open the phone, press send, then close it. INstead, I press a button below the huge external display. I end my calls like that too. I read my text messages from the huge external display.

For those into camera phones, the 1.3Meg camera is crisp. And the macro feature allows me to take pictures of extremely small details, like the writing on a coin, without it being blurry.

I could go on and on, but you just have to go check it out yourself. The only phone I can think of that even competes at this level (and no, the Razr has nothing on this phone) is the LG8100 which isn't out yet. Only because it has Bluetooth.

If you're serious about having a solid phone that's easy to use, has big numbers to make it easy to dial compared to some of these phones with tiny buttons, a huge external display that is interactive and the streamline video that is crisp, this is the only phone available.