LG VX8500 MINT CHOCOLATE VERIZON CDMA CELL PHONE

by LG

Product Features

• Stylish Slider Design With Soft-touch External Controls
• First Phone To Play Either Downloaded VCAST Music or PC-transferred Music Files
• Wirelessly Stream Music To A Stereo Bluetooth Headset
• High-speed Data Downloads Let You Watch TV Or Listen To Streaming Music
• 1.3 Megapixel Camera Takes Print-quality Photo And Hour-long Video Clips

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

LG's newest mobile treat, the VX-8500 Chocolate offers minimalist-inspired style in a silky-smooth slider design. Deluxe features include support for V Cast Music, glowing touch-sensitive navigation keys, a powerful integrated music/video player, a 1.3 megapixel camera/camcorder, stereo Bluetooth capabilities, and a microSD memory slot for extra storage. If you value extreme style mixed with powerful substance, this is the phone for you.

The Chocolate's sliding keypad keeps it hidden until you need it. See the phone in 3-D (requires Flash).

Design
The phone features an attractive open-faced design with an internal antenna and a vibrant 240 x 320 pixel, 262,000-color TFT/TFD display. A touch sensor click wheel--similar to the navigation device featured on the ever-popular iPod--and sliding design set the phone apart stylistically. Opening the slider reveals a numeric keypad, as well as the 1.3-megapixel camera and LED flash, which are housed on the rear of the phone. The volume and voice slide keys are on the left of the phone, while the music, camera and "end" keys are on the right side. A memory card slot is provided for MicroSD/TransFlash memory cards of up to 2 GB capacity. The phone includes 512 MB of internal memory.

Calling Features
The Chocolate boasts powerful calling functions, such as speaker independent voice dialing, which makes it easy to call contacts by simply saying their names. No prior voice training is required and you can even speak individual digits to the phone for quick dialing of numbers you know by heart. And because the Chocolate is Bluetooth enabled, wireless headsets can be configured with the phone for total handsfree operation.

The Chocolate's internal memory can hold up to 500 contacts for quick access to email addresses and phone numbers. The phone lets you easily assign pictures as well as ringtones to your most common callers. In addition to vibrating alerts, the phone supports polyphonic ringtones, and a number of ringtones come preloaded on the phone and more ringtones can be downloaded from Verizon's Get It Now service. Lastly, the Chocolate's GPS location technology pinpoints your exact location when you dial 911.

Diminutive size and incredible music functionality make this phone the complete mobile companion. Learn more about V Cast Music (requires Flash).

Messaging, Internet, and Tools
The phone's support for multimedia messaging means that text, photos, video and audio can be sent with ease (Verizon messaging charges apply). When used in combination with the Chocolate's built-in camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. There's also a built-in web browser for downloads and mobile web browsing. Verizon's optional Mobile Web 2.0 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. 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.

With support for the EV-DO high-speed data standard, the Chocolate 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, making it possible to have more fun with a new breed of realistic games.

Verizon's music service is another EV-DO-powered service that makes the Chocolate all the more desirable. With V Cast music, your phone is a music player, letting you jam out wherever you are. It's also a music store, and you can download songs instantly to your phone. Save your songs to a memory card with a capacity that's right for you. You can even pause to take a call without missing a beat.

A number of handy software tools are bundled with the Chocolate including a voice memo recorder that can record calls, a calculator, a calendar, and an alarm clock. You can even set the alarm to wake you to your favorite music. Also included with the Chocolate is Verizon's VG Navigator software, which allows you to get real-time, turn-by-turn audible directions as you're driving.

Imaging and Entertainment
The Chocolate's 1.3-megapixel digital camera features a flash, as well as digital zoom, self-timer, night-mode functions, and brightness and white balance controls. The camera also offers up to one-hour of video capture. A built-in music player with stereo speakers and an equalizer, offering MP3 and WMA playback, lets you keep your music playing in the background. You can also take advantage of the Chocolate's Bluetooth wireless headset capability, allowing you to hook up a pair of Bluetooth stereo headphones.

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

Vital Statistics
The LG VX-8500 Chocolate weighs just 3.53 ounces and measures 3.80 x 1.88 x .69 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 3.5 hours of digital talk time, and up to 384 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the CDMA 850/CDMA 1900 frequencies. The phone comes with a one-year limited warranty.

Note: The LG Chocolate supports the Headset, Handsfree, Serial Port, Dial Up Networking, Advanced Audio Distribution, and Object Push for vCard. It does not support all Bluetooth object transfer (OBEX) profiles

Product Description

So what makes the Chocolate look so great? The touch sensitive keypad controls? The sliding number pad? Slim design? Beautiful screen? From R&B to Heavy Metal to Easy Listening, the Chocolate lets you download from over 1 million songs on the go with V CAST music.

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• ASIN: B000LNFZ0G
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15 in Cell Phones & Accessories (See Top 100 in Cell Phones & Accessories)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars worth the change, March 13, 2007

By 

T. M. Lassak (AZ, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LG VX8500 MINT CHOCOLATE VERIZON CDMA CELL PHONE

I have long been a fan of the majority of LG products. My first cellphone was an LG (when they were still called Lucky Goldstar) half-flip. Every LG phone I have owed has been nearly problem free.

the mint chocolate, or chocolate in general, is a new design which will definitely take some getting used to, but is well worth it. The touch screen auto-locks when the slider is closed, unless you tap the same side button twice in rapid succession, which helps prevent it from making calls on its own. if you want more security than that, you can still enable "phone locked" mode which is available on every other phone. it has an awesome little camera and the sound quality is impressive.

if you have used an ipod in the last few years, you will quickly adapt to the LG chocolate interface. If you like the possible musica capability, this phone is definitely for you.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shiny..., June 1, 2007

By 

P. Moulthrop (Syracuse NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LG VX8500 MINT CHOCOLATE VERIZON CDMA CELL PHONE

I've had my chocolate for a month now, and overall I would say that I'm a pretty satisfied customer. This is my second LG slider style phone. The first one I had was the LG PM325, and I liked it a lot until I broke it (which was entirely my fault, not a flaw of the phone). I'm going to do a handy pro/con list.

Pros:
-Pretty design, very shiny and sleek.
-Huge vibrant screen.
-Durable. I've dropped it once already and it didn't skip a beat, or send the battery pack flying in another direction like one phone I had.
-The only time I've been low on service was when I was out in the middle of the woods and no one else had service either.
-Sound quality is great, I can always hear people loud and clear, except for when their service is crappy.
-Decent battery life, lasts all day even when used for music.
-Speaking of music, I got a pair of Bluetooth headphones to go with the phone and the music sounds great. Pretty decent range as well.
-The touch buttons, although sometimes annoying (like when you are making a call and you hit one with your face) are responsive and fun to use, and they don't get pushed accidentally by things in your purse or pocket.
-MicroSD card allows flexibility of expansion that you don't get from something like an iPod. They aren't that expensive, so you could get a couple and have one with music for the gym, and one for travel music or something.

Cons:
-Seems to be vulnerable to scratches. I'd keep it in a case if I were you.
-If you are a Mac user, getting your own music on the SD card is going to be a bit of a hassle. To sync things directly you have to have WindowsMediaPlayer10, which they don't make for Macs, or you can use a card reader and drop music directly into a folder. Only problem with that is it seems really picky about which files it recognizes the song info (title, artist, album) for.
-If you are a PC user, getting your own music on the SD card is going to be a bit of a hassle. Chances are you already have WindowsMediaPlayer10, but now you are going to have to pay 30$ to get the Music package from Verizon, which includes the USB cable and drivers on CD (Or you can by the cable on ebay and find a download for the drivers). Then you sit through the clunky syncing process that doesn't always work how it should.
(Once you figure out a process, though, the music is worth it.)
-I personally don't care for the little flap that you have to open to stick in the charger.
-The camera seems to squish images vertically a little.
-The menu system takes some getting used to, it's definitely geared toward convincing you to buy downloads and such but once you learn where the things you actually want are it's easy navigation.

All in all, I'd say the phone has it's quirks but none of them were a deal breaker for me.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love my Mint Chocolate!, July 29, 2007

By 

J. Peplinski (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LG VX8500 MINT CHOCOLATE VERIZON CDMA CELL PHONE

I've had this phone for a few months now and I couldn't be happier! I've previously had Kyocera and Audiovox phones and this LG is the best phone I've ever had BY FAR. I really don't understand why people have trouble with the buttons or programming in contacts; for me it's been far easier and more intuitive with this phone than any other. In fact, I use it for jotting down numbers that I would normally have jotted on a post-it, it's much easier to plug in, find, and retrieve later.

I've never had an issue with it dialing itself in my purse or pocket; it locks itself very quickly if it doesn't receive input immediately after hitting a side button. Texting and Pix messages are very easy as well. This phone is so easy and pleasant to use that my bill has been totally out of control! That's a user issue folks - sometimes I wish I didn't love it so much.

One thing I love is how you can switch to hands-free and slide the phone closed mid-call, and it doesn't hang up on your call in progress. Maybe that's a feature of all sliding phones, but my old Kyocera used to not only hang up on my call but turn itself completely off! The Kyocera was a piece of junk.

The only phone issue I've had with it is very minor; I tend to hold the phone too close to my face when listening to my voicemail and I accidentally activate the heat-sensitive touchpad. Not a big deal, it doesn't mess up my ability to listen to the voicemail at all. Just a minor annoyance.

The mp3-player capabilities of this phone are far above and beyond my expectations! It holds a zillion tunes and playback quality is great. It even creates playlists easily and shuffles my tunes if I want it to. It's lighter and smaller than my 60GB iPod, so it's my music player of choice for long walks and runs. Plus it pauses to receive calls REALLY easily then picks back up at the same spot in the song after the call. I use the mp3 feature of this phone a lot more than I thought I would! One drawback is the software that Verizon sells with the music kit; it doesn't work with Windows Vista!! So I had to burn some iTunes CD's on my laptop, then borrow a friend's computer for using the Verizon music software. Extremely inconvenient, but I feel that's a software problem, not a phone problem. Once the music is in the phone, it works perfectly.

Other Verizon features such as V-Cast and games don't get used too often, as they are expensive and I live way out in the country where I don't get an excellent signal. But, I have used them occasionally on this phone and everything works great. I love the ringback feature, and the ringtone selection is fantastic. The sound is great on the phone too!

As a camera it's not great - no flash. Fun for occasionally sending pix messages, but that's it. I'd be bummed out if it had NO camera, but it won't be replacing my pocket digital anytime soon.

Overall, the phone is extremely easy to use and packed with features that I LOVE and use all the time. I couldn't be happier with it!