Customer Reviews

LG VX9800 (Verizon Wireless)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Have you ever owned a Swiss Army knife? It is an ingenious knife but it is a tad bulky compared to a normal pocket knife. It combines many different specialty tools into one device that are easy to keep on hand when you need them. If you have the need for those tools it is a life saver. This in a nutshell describes the VX9800 which is a complex multifunction cell phone communicator at a ridiculously low price.

I like it so much that I have cut down carrying my widescreen laptop by seventy five percent! The VX9800 is just so easy to use!

As a cell phone it has all the bells and whistles of a normal cellular phone but in spades.

BIG PHONE BOOK

The built in phone book has room for 1000 contacts. Each contact may have multiple numbers with the mobile number the first choice. This makes sense since if you call another Verizon mobile the call is FREE of cellular charges. Why call your family on the landline if you can get them on a cell phone at no cost and chat forever? I use over 3000 cellular voice minutes a month but only about 350 are minutes that are billable and they are covered by my basic plan. By the way check and see if your company has an agreement with Verizon to promote their service. I get a modest twenty percent discount off my basic cell bill as long as I work for my current employer. Most of my fellow employees have no idea that is a basic benefit as they have never asked.

Now for what makes the VX9800 phone book special. Each of those 1000 contacts may have photo or picture as well as a special ringtone associated with them. This photo will display on the outside when receiving and DURING a call or a larger one inside when you open the phone up. Some other phones will display a photo only while the phone is ringing which is dumb since most may answer the phone without looking to see who is calling. There is something special about looking at the person whom you are talking to and it makes for a great new experience with the VX9800. When the incoming call matches the number of one of your contacts there is an advanced setting where you can have the phone in an English woman's voice announce who is calling before it rings! Yes it is an English lady, LGE the VX9800 manufacturer is an English corporation. This announcement can even be heard over your headset wired or Bluetooth. Your callers picture, voice announcement, caller details on all displays also, slick - very slick!

An instant jump to any part of your 1000 entry phone book is possible by tapping one of the keys with the flip open is part of the fast search possible with this phone. The top of the display displays how many matches your search fits as you add more letters or numbers.

You can call anyone in the phone book by speaking their name by opening the flip, pressing the space key and then saying CALL SOMEONE (or by pressing the number one key) and then the person's name or part of a person's name as listed in the phone book.

You can also do this with the flip closed after you are familiar with the phone and its many features.

When the flip is open it activates a powerful speaker phone that allows you HANDS FREE operation of the phone using VOICE COMMAND.

VOICE COMMAND

This is an advanced option on many of Verizon's new phones. The phone understands it when you say

CALL SOMEONE

DIGIT DIAL

MISSED CALLS

MESSAGES

VOICE MAIL

TIME AND DATE

Most are self evident as to what they cause the phone to do. But there is a sleeper in there. You can by using the advanced menus cause the VX9800 to not only tell you if you have new written messages but it will open them and READ THEM OUTLOUD to you. While driving and you need to keep your eyes on the road this is SLICK - VERY SLICK!

BLUETOOTH

All these neat features make for a phone you could talk on all day long. You may need the extended battery or else just pop for a mobile charger to keep the phone at its peak capacity. I have an extended battery around here somewhere but I have misplaced it and I don't miss it very much as this phone lasts and lasts.

But once you move to BLUETOOTH you will avoid having that cramp in your arm from trying to hold the phone to your head. Be aware that this phone has an unusually SMALL BLUETOOTH ANTENNA. That means you can not enjoy some of the newer tiny Bluetooth headsets that also use a very tiny antenna as the connection between phone and headset will be too weak. Also if you get near any 2400 MHZ wireless devices there will be static on your Bluetooth connection. Be careful in selecting your Bluetooth headset and you will be happy with the VX9800. I took back over a half dozen before setting on a couple of them.

When my wife is sick I like shopping for her using the VX9800 on my belt and a wireless Bluetooth headset while talking to her as I pass each item in the store. To others they must think you are another crazy talking to yourself unless they know what that is in your ear.

HACKING THE VX9800

You can also connect to your laptop using Bluetooth and if you are slick you can tether your laptop to the internet via Bluetooth with the VX9800 but I think it is more trouble than it is worth plus you can make Verizon very mad at you if you do something dumb like abuse their EVDO bandwidth. A USB cable works better for this and makes it possible for you to really abuse your phone account to the point where you will get an outrageous updated phone bill from Verizon for this abuse. But if you are modest in what you do they will not say a word as you will be under their abuse radar.

You may use a piece of PC software called BITPIM to make certain modifications to your VX9800 that allows for free ringtones and such from your own MP3 files. Search HOWARDFORUMS DOT COM and PHONESCOOP DOT COM for information on how to do this. There is a VX6K YAHOOGROUP mailing list that also covers the VX9800.

You can open any VX9800 to the inside command screen and type in SEVEN ZEROS to get to a hidden setup screen with dozens of settings that Verizon does not want you to know about or use.

You can clear the ERI banner and if you desire add one of your own to the two screens. This is from TOOLS - SETTINGS - DISPLAY- BANNERS

You can change the location of where files are stored from the built in internal 128 MB of internal memory to an optional 1024MB mini SD card. That way you can move pictures from your phone to your PC and back without paying Verizon like you have to on most all other Verizon phones.

EDVO and VCAST

If you live in an EDVO area VCAST is a no brainier. This is a slick service that allows you to download commercial free video clips of TV broadcasts from CBS, CNN, FOX, and ABC. This seems to vary a little from day to day as to which channels are listed. I watch the news while eating lunch with the VX9800 open - sitting on the table in a restaurant. When traveling in my work I check out the weather from the Weather Channel and Accu Weather. Sports are available in both Spanish and English which delights some of my Hispanic friends. There is a whole range of other video including Sesame Street and Cartoons. This is buried in many VCAST menus and takes quite a bit of exploring to locate what you may want.

VCAST includes free use of Mobile Web 2 without any minute usage charges. MW2 is very fast in an EVDO area, faster in rendering pages than my high speed cable. If you have a poor EVDO signal VCAST and MW2 is slower. If you have no EVDO all you can do is MW2 at the same speed you would get on lesser phones. But it nice to be in the mountains of Kentucky and be able to pull up a current radar display of the weather using MW2.

EMAIL

Dumb clucks and those on a business account may opt for Verizon's $20 GET IT NOW email package but by using MW2 and the new MOBILE GMAIL you can access your normal GMAIL accounts for reading and replying to email anywhere in the world at no charge. You can even view PDF, MSWORD, and photo attachments to your email using the new MOBILE GMAIL portal.

VIDEO

You can download 3gp video to our SD card and play them on the VX9800. The VX6K yahoogroup has a number of these video clips in its file area. I have the entire movie of FINDING NEMO along with about fifty other video clips on my phone with room to spare.

MUSIC, AUDIOBOOKS, PODCASTS

You have access to a great built in MP3 and MIDI player with EQUALIZER. There is even a special setting for 3D audio which works pretty good for tunes. These are all easy to use without any special knowledge or actions. The only stupid part in the design of the menus for this is you have to look under GET IT NOW where the last option is MP3 player. I use the FREE iTunes software from Apple to rip CD's for this phone and also to download Podcasts for this phone. make sure you change the import setting to MP3 instead of the default Apple format AAC.

Basically this SWISS ARMY KNIFE of a cellphone is A MINIATURE ENTERTAINMENT CENTER that goes everywhere with you.

VX9800 CAMERA

The VX9800 has a decent 1.3 mega pixel camera as found in many current cell phones. I use it to snap pictures of my contacts for my PHONEBOOK.

The VX9800 features a 'night mode' which sets the exposure time higher, allowing more light into the lens. There is at the cost of having to hold the camera perfectly still while using the night mode. The flash allows a faster picture and more reliable results when you are taking a photo of a person if you are very close to the subject. He must remain perfectly still during the exposure if you are to succeed in using only the night mode on him. The night mode gives greater color depth even when used indoors during the day but at a cost of the much longer time to make the exposure.

You really need natural sunlight for great pictures. This phone isn't that great for taking pictures of an indoor party. The photos will be too dark. I have to position people of color under or near a bright light to get an indoor photo that may be acceptable.

One cool feature of the VX9800 is the Dual LCD mode. When activated, both the internal and external screen display the camera image which is good for taking self portraits using the built-in self timer. Also, the camera has a macro switch, which is useful for taking pictures of close up text.

The VX9800 has a business card reader option where it can take a picture of a business card and recognize the text on it. It will then store the text into a contact file. The feature works well but I think it is faster to enter the contact information using the phones excellent thumb keypad.

There is much more I could tell you about the VX9800 and I may do so in a future edit of this message but I am tired of typing so I will conclude that you get a BIG BANG for YOUR BUCK with Verizon's VX9800.

Let Amazon know if you found anything in this post helpful.

Ki4je

Hello,

I read with some amusement about people complaining about the lack of the external antenna on this phone. Let me ask you some thing, what makes you think an external antenna would be better than an internal one? Going by basic antenna mathematics, a quarterwave monopole would be so long at the frequency of cellular application, that it would be impractical to use. A planar antenna is better in these cases, not worse. Trust me, I hold patents on this issue.

This phone is excellent because of 2 things,

1) excellent clarity of voice communication, be it while using it like a normal phone (holding it next to your ear) or while using it like a speaker phone (with the body flipped open). It has speakers, which out put a clear and precise audio signal. I can just flip the phone open and place it next to the gear box in my car and talk and listen without any problems. Thats saving me $2000 from installing a blue tooth compatible hands free system on my Mercedes.

2) It has the features of a PDA at a low cost ($199 with 2 year contract). You dont have the features like a pocket PC, you cant download email attachments, or do anything fancy. But hey, you get what you pay for. If you want those features, shell out the additional $200. This phone allows you listen to music, check your emails, and is amazingly easy for typing in and reading text. And the mini SD card slot is great. The internal inbuilt memory at around 58MB is not too much, but not too less either.

This phone uses the mobile web browser, which curtails graphics and such, but never the less, when I need to check my email urgently, I am able to do so. And that makes a difference. There are some features that are important and practical, and I get these features here. I dont need a fancy toy, like many of those wannabe types, who dont know how to use 90% of the features anyway.

And you know what, you are NEVER going to get the same kind of satisfaction with a PDA phone compared to a PDA or a Phone. Crowding too many features in to a device only increases its potential for failure and, not to mention, ensures mediocrity of performance in all those features.

If I have a pan, I want to fry eggs in it, I dont want to play a musical tune on it. Period.

This is a phone, first and foremost, and it functions as a good phone, which is the reason I give it 4 stars. Apart from that, the big screen, the fancy looks, the internal key board, those are very good plus points. I downloaded true tones, and now when my phone rings, I can listen to some of my favorite metallica songs, how cool is that!

But be warned, Verizon has a terrible shylockish attitude towards their "get it now " feature. The ring tones and wall papers are placed in different categories called "apps"(applications). You are not allowed to go in and view many of the apps (like 'national geographic' app and 'guy stuff' app) unless you buy credits towards these apps. After you buy the credit and get the app, you are allowed to browse the app. An app,like the guy stuff app, is utterly useless. When inside the app, you are allowed to browse the app for the various wall papers before spending the credit that you have reserved for the app. But in apps like "guy stuff", the choices are so horrible, you might not want anything from there, except for the fact that you have already paid money towards that app, and it is non transferrable. But as far as ring tones are concerned, make sure you check the website for some previews before buying anything.

This phone has a good solid feel to it, the battery life is amazing, I can talk for hours on the end, even while using the speaker phone (thats a very big deal). And its standby time (8 days or something) is just mind blowing. Shows very good power management, and excellent design sense. There are a few features that takes getting used to, for example, you cant really change many of the menu items from the front screen (while phone is not flipped open, the screen on the front), you will have to flip the phone open and use the main screen. If you are using it as a speaker phone, flipping the phone shut means you are back to using it while holding it against your ear. That is contrary to most other phones, which terminate the call when the phone is flipped shut. But the feature of this phone to be able to switch between normal phone (held against the ear) and speaker phone (while flipped open) by means of merely flipping it open or close is infact useful. As I said, it just takes getting used to it.

The bluetooth feature worked like a charm, set up was very easy, and I used my Jabra BT250 headset with it. People I called said they could hear me clearly. But honestly, I was not too impressed by the way I could hear them. But that might be due to my year old head set and not because of the phone. But be advised, verizon will only allow your bluetooth to work with ear pieces or car audio, you wont be able to use it to communicate with your computer. They want to charge you for it.

Be advised of 2 things

1) You can download songs to this phone, but you wont be abe to use them as ring tones. The ring tone folder is held secure by the operating system. There are internet resources which will allow you to bypass the security feature and you will be able to get out of the vicious cycle of paying $3.00 for every ring tone (Phew!), but then that will void your warranty.

2) Verizon has a terrible customer service policy, they will do anything to prove your warranty is not valid. But insurance is through a 3rd party, and you will need that for this phone. However, insurance is $5 per month additionally, and if the phone goes bad, then you get a refurbished phone as a replacement. Refurbished phones are about $90. If you are paying $5 per month, then after 12 months, you have already paid $60. Whats the point of getting a refurbished phone for a $30 discount?

One of the tricks verizon always uses is "water damage", they will open the battery console, and look at some marker to see if there is water damage. Like in the LG VX6100 (that I had prior to this) there is a marker right at the bottom of the battery, and when it senses water, it turns darker in color. Now I went to verizon within my 1 year warranty period for the LG VX 6100, because of some mechanical problem. The place, where the charger male goes in to the phone, had a loose connection. Verizon said they would not honor the warranty because of water damage.

I am a RF engineer, I know water damage and I know how to prevent it. There was no way the VX6100 phone had been ever exposed to anything close to a "water damage" scenario. But I could do nothing, and was forced to buy a new phone and extend my contract.

So before going in for a warranty claim or any kind of issue with verizon, go and talk to them about the way they would identify water damage on the model of the phone you own. Dont take your phone with you, dont show them your phone. They dont need to see your phone to divulge this information - they are obligated to do so. Then come home and check your phone for the indications. If necessary, buy some bloody white paint and fix that marker to make it look like there has been no water damage. Those technicians are not too smart anyway.

So this concludes the review for the LG VX 9800. I think it is a marvellous hand set. I recommend it, and give it 4 stars for great phone (audio) quality, ease and utility of blue tooth features, great keyboard, superb speakers, and great looks. I take a 1 star reduction for Verizon's shylockish attitude and the fact that this phone cant really display all that many graphics in web pages.

Thank you,

Kaushik Lodh.

I'll make this simple and bullet the key features (in no particular order) that make this phone a gem. First, I will tell you what the phone is not. It is not a Palm Pilot, a Pocket PC, a Treo, or a Blackberry, neither is it meant to be. it IS meant to be a "fun phone". Here go the reasons why I love this phone and still love it after having it for two months...

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

1-it is NOT huge. My former LG (the big one with the big screen that flips open) is thicker and clunkier.

2-it is not awkward.

3-the flip open design is very user-friendly.

4-I read a comment on one of the other reviews saying that the inside keyboard doesn't light up. This is UNtrue. It does, and it looks pretty snazzy when it does.

5-inside screen very clear, but a little small.

6-keyboard buttons easily discernable, although small. Not a problem messaging or navigating browser.

7-good speed dial and bluetooth initiated command options.

SOUND QUALITY: PHONE/SIGNAL

1-great for communication. Great signal strength - even from the lower level of the bus terminal.

2-excellent clarity.

3-does not shut down when jumping cell towers (i live in NJ and have had that experience with Verizon on other phones).

SOUND QUALITY: MUSIC

1-someone commented about the poor quality sound on the MP3 player - WR-r-r-r-ONG! very good quality. more a function of how you rip/burn and transfer to smartmedia card. Ie, what is the source of the transferred track - digital, analogue, etc. I have a decent set of Jabra headphones that sound very good. It's not "Acoustic Research" sound, but it does the trick and then some. Great highs and decent lows. There are numerous style selections through a very convenient button that scrolls through equalizer choices. PS - a 512 disk will hold about 60 or 70 songs. NOTE - you cannot download from verizon site on this phone - YET. I have been told to check back in a few months for it to become available. Also, I have been told that the phone will be 100% WMA - Windows Media Audio file compatible in a few months. Since that's what most music sites download in, that will conceptually eliminate the need to transfer, burn, rip, and convert to the MP3 formatted supported today. Enough about music functionality. Oh, one more thing, the stereo speakers when the device is flipped open are EXCELLENT. Very clear and crisp sounding - especially when Surround Sound is engaged.

PS - some banana in one of the reviews I read said that the sound is NOT in stereo when you listen via headphone. That might be because he/she doesn't hear in stereo. Trust me, all sound is IN STEREO and sounds very good to great.

CAMERA

more fun phone stuff. Very respectable quality stills even in dimmer lighting. Takes sepias, b&w's, etc. Outside shots and movies are best, but I have great pics and flix of my daughter at an indoor band recital. Very good novelty camera. Very comfortable holding position and snap controls. All single button zoom, exposure, snap and flash on/off. Inside screen is very clear and crisp to show off your photo album. You can also upload to "pix place" and access it from this phone.

BROWSER/COOL FUNCTIONALITY

The Verizon browser has come light years since just 6-12 months ago. There is so much here. News - all types, sports, weather are all retrieved quickly. Very ez to navigate. There are some neat services - pay services - that you can subscribe to. The coolest perhaps is the NAVIGATOR, a turn by turn sattelite-guided direction service that speaks directions to you. There is a monthly fee - but worth it if you drive a lot. Screen is a little small, but VERY CLEAR and crisp. There are, of course, games that you can download for a one-time or monthly fee. The good ones are generally monthly or one-time fee in excess of $8.99 one shot. I haven't gotten in to the FLIX newsclips much because I live in a non-service area for that. Generally speaking, you've got to be in a city to get news FLIX. Mountain and boonie dwellers need not apply. Just be thankful you can use the phone!

GAMING

This is one area I found a little difficult to get used to. The navigation directionals on the inside screen (you can't game on the outside screen) are a little small. Sometimes the controls are frustrating depending on the game. The directional pad is on the right side instead of the middle so you can only use ONE FUNGER TO NAVIGATE. This is NG for games like ZUMA, one of my used to be favs. Right now I am hung up on Diner Dash which is a keeper and doesn't really depend on pad much. Burger Time is a challenge with the pad on one side. Try not getting eaten by weenies when you've only got one big fat thumb to use. A PS2 this is not nor is it supposed to be. What it has done is prevented me from needing to by a separate gaming device to pass the time on my commute.

BLUE TOOTH

Works great - period. Don't skimp on the device. Spend the coin up front for a reliable device that synchs easily and doesn't need to be recharged frequently. Synching was a snap btw. Device sounds great for reception and transmitting.

POWER MANAGEMENT

Surprisingly good. My commute is long - 2 hours about. I surf the browser, call my wife and talk for 5 minutes, then I play a quick round of some game until the trip starts. Then I listen to MP3s for the next hour+. This is after a day of light to moderate talk time and somewhat heavier text messaging. When I arrive home, I'm down to two bars. TIP: charge the phone every night and you will have no problems. I keep a spare charger at work in case I forget to charge at home. LG is smart because they are making their phones all with the same adapter. Makes charging anywhere easy. Someone in a review commented about "poor power management". I don't see that. One more thing: there are backlighting options that will increase or decrease your battery life.

TEXTING

Very EZ. I use my pointer fingers. One dopey thing on the keyboard is that the clear/backspace is where I think the SPACE button should be. Makes my messages - - hard to read at times. It just takes getting used to. If you text a lot, this is cool. NOTE: texting OUT OF VERIZON network limits you to 160 characters. Within is not limited. I have the unlimited texting plan. It did not cost that much more than the next plan down.

That's all I have to say. Buy the phone if you are looking for a multi device that will help you pass the time talking, texting, getting caught up on news, gaming, or listening to tunes. All done very well within one package. This is not easy to pull off, but Verizon and LG have done just that. (I should get a job at a Verizon Wireless store!)

ENJOY!!!

I can say without hesitation that this is the best phone that I have every had. Here's what I'm looking for in a phone: call quality, text messaging, and bluetooth. I'll look at these first and then comment on the additional features.

Call Quality - this phone approaches the Motorola E815's level which puts it in elite status for Verizon phones. Whether using the phone normally, with speaker phone, or bluetooth, I can hear people really well, and they can hear me. The speaker phone is a very impressive full duplex. The two speakers definitely add to this feature. There is also a cool feature where you can have the name of the person calling announced if they are in your contacts.

Text Message - predictive text entry is ok, but while settle for that if you don't have to? This phone was made with text messaging in mind. I find the keyboard to be well spaced - unlike the Palm Treo phones. You can add individuals or groups from your contacts to your messages. The option that announces incoming calls also works for text messages.

Bluetooth - I've had the Motorola HS850(see my review) for my last three phones now. The two devices integrate well. I am able to use voice commands with my headset which is really nice. I have also been able to pair the phone with my laptop. While I don't use DUN, it is still handy for transferring contacts and calendar entries from my laptop to the 9800 using DataPilot (see my review). You can also transfer vCards with other bluetooth devices.

Now for the other stuff...

E-mail - unless you use Verizon's Wireless Sync (currently ~$20/mo.), you are not going to be able to use the e-mail app. However, with the advent of Gmail's mobile version, this is not that big of a deal.

Mobile Web - this phone uses the standard Openwave browser with Verizon's landing page. The display is very sharp with 256k colors, and with EV-DO, the pages come up pretty fast. I find this useful for weather and traffic information as well as using Gmail.

V-Cast - the videos look great, and the stereo speakers make for a nice experience. They could stand to add some more content, but it's not bad for $15/mo. The bonus that you get with V-Cast is that you don't get charged for minute usage on Mobile Web - a big bonus indeed!

MP3 - this is no iPod killer, but it is functional for nominal use. Most people will be happy using a miniSD card for a few songs.

Ringtones - this is probably the weakest feature on the phone. However, if you find midi files, you can use DataPilot to load your own ringtones.

Camera - I've yet to be impressed with a camera on a phone, but that's not why you buy the phone anyway, right?

HINT: To keep buttons from being pressed while the phone is in your pocket or case, press and hold the # key on the outside screen.

First, let me say, this is not a PDA replacement; this is a cell phone. It has pretty much all of the same functionality as my old Motorla T720, with a better phone and some extras.

[...]

Where this device shines is text messaging and general ease of use. The screen on the inside of the phone is large and crisp, making for easy entering of contacts and typing of text messages. The keyboard is nice and large, and the thumb typing is among the best I've experienced.

Reception seems on par with other devices I use. I am still getting better signal in some places over my T720. So while it may not be any better, it sure isn't any worse.

Camera seems decent; I haven't had a camera phone before, so I am not really qualified to make a review on this functionality. Seems to do pretty well in well-lighted applications, low light is somewhat weak. The "flash" is just a white LED on the front, that doesn't give all that much light.

The VCast video-on-demand is neat and all, but the content is pretty weak right now. I may look into it again once it becomes more rooted. When I got this phone the day after it was released, there was hardly any games or other content downloadable, but recently there has been a boom in available applications on GetItNow.

The phone is somewhat heavy and large compared to some of the newer, sleeker phones. My T720 flip phone was about the same size, so it doesn't bother me.

Conclusion? A very neat and geeky cell phone. I do a great deal of text messaging, so this was the perfect phone for me.

Again, this is a cell phone through and through, _NOT_ a PDA. If you want anything to do with Outlook syncing, e-mail, or other of the more advanced applications, look at a blackberry, smartphone, or pocketpc phone.

I'm a cel phone fanatic. Every 6 months they come out with new features that make my current phone look like it should have a rotary dial on it. I've also been a Motorola fan since they came out with the first flip phone, albeit the flip portion on the original was pretty much just an on off switch. My biggest problem is the 24 month Verizon upgrade cycle. I cant stand 8 months let alone 2 years so I moved to the "family plan" and added multiple phones.

The LG VX9800 functions like a standard phone with camera etc, but when you open it you have a full qwerty style keyboard and the 1.3 megapixel camera switches resolutions to fit the wider internal screen.

Expansion - They use the newer Mini SD memory cards, i grabbed a 1gb card the other day because I knew whatever is on the phone isnt going to be enough. Not many electronics stores have them as of yet, but I found one at Fry's Electronics. One complaint i have after trying to move pics of my 3 week old baby from camera storage to memory card, is I got a bunch of "unable to write to card" errors that mysteriously went away after I kept trying and you can only move 1 picture at a time to the card. I'm not sure yet if i can play videos from the SD card or not, nor am I sure if I can move mp3 files and set them as ringtones but those are on the list of things to do.

Bluetooth - With Bluetooth on, the battery seems to die off after a days use (about 1.5 hours of talk for me). I have 2 bluetooth devices, the motorola bluetooth headset and my car 2006 Acura TL. The bluetooth headset works flawlessly. In my car, it will display battery meter, caller ID and signal strength. Complaints, the hang up button on the car doesnt hang the phone up and sometimes immediatly redials the last person I called. Never did that with Mot V710 or my Audovox Pocket PC phone. Apart from that, it works well with the car and sounds nice and clear.

Good things -

Web browsing is great and only $15 a month with Vcast streaming video service.

Functionality of the external buttons can be easily transferred to the more robust internal flip keyboard and display by just opening the phone.

Text messaging is quite good and much easier with a key allocated to each letter.

Camera is nice and clear, flash is also quite bright compared to previous phones i've owned.

You can also talk externally on the phone and have the internal set to speaker mode and flip it open during a call and easily switch to speaker mode.

You can also send text messages in speaker mode or handsfree bluetooth mode without the other party hearing key presses.

Hands free commands work great.

Speaker and Mic volumes are extremely excellent. I've had problems with previous phones where they just wouldnt go loud enough and I couldnt hear some callers that were too soft.

MP3 Player is excellent, internal stereo speakers too if you dont want to wear earpieces to listen to music.

Calendar and reminders are excellent, the best of any phone I've ever seen.

Tools, calculator, alarm etc are fantastic.

Bad things -

Doesnt seem to correlate names in the address book with caller ID when receiving a Text Message. Nor can you type the name of a person in the address book in the to: field of a text and have it work.

Battery life isnt great with bluetooth on.

Charger plug only fits in one direction, yet its hard to tell which way it goes in without trying it.

Email service is too expensive and you are limited to using their service instead of a standard POP3.

Verizon, why cant we use our phones as a GPS like other carriers?

Verizon is an excellent carrier. They are on the conservative side when it comes to deploying phone technology, so they tend to be behind other services when it comes to consumer phone equipment. However, consistancy of phone signal and coverage are more important even to a gadget freak like me so I continue to use them.

The LG VX9800 is a well thought out phone and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.. at least until the next wave of upgrades comes out.

This is by far the best cell phone I have ever owned. It does more than I could want and does most of it well to excellent. But, before I get to far, let me tell you what this phone is NOT:

1) It is not a Blackberry killer. Verizon offers a push email system, but it is neither as good as RIM's nor as safe. Basically, it requires you to host it on their servers, which is a security risk that is not worth it to many companies. Cost is $19.99 per month. Works well though if you use it.

2) This is not a web browser. V Cast is pretty but not that great because it is snapshots of what VZ is putting out there. You can download ~5 minute videos that are great, but not the full internet. It also comes with Mobile Web 2.0, which will allow you to check web mail and browse most websites, but they won't really be formatted for your screen (although I check and send Gmail email all the time).

3) It is not an iPod. I have ripped and transferred (via miniSD card) around 150 songs to it and they sound great on the built in speakers and headphones. But it can't compete with a new iPod or even a deicated mp3 player. As a stand in, though, it's great.

Now, for what it is.

1) A great phone. Reception is as good or better than my previous Motorola T730. The speaker phone is the best I've ever used and the sound quality of using it as a handset is great. People say it's big, but it's not. Sure, it's not Zoolander mini phone, but if you lay it side by side with a typical flip phone, you will find it is the same thickness and only around ~3/4 of an inch longer.

2) A great text-er and capable emailer. As long as you are not looking at sending dozens of email a day, this is just fine as an emailer (even without the $19.99 subscription, since it hits webmail just fine). As for text, if you are into texting it is awesome. Definitely better than the sidekick.

3) It is feature rich. Aforementioned text capabilities and speaker phone. Bluetooth capable. Good music player. Better than average camera (you'll actually save photos to your PC and remember, you can transfer photos to your phone via mini SD to show others. Games play great on it.

4) VZ Navigator is AWESOME. You will get 95% of the features of a Magellan GPS system with only a $2.99 per use (24 hour) cost or $9.99 for 30 days. On its big screen with good speakers, you just perch it on your dash and it tells you where to go. Want to have lunch at XYZ restaurant on your way to Houston? Do a local search, have the phone call the restaurant, get your call-ahead seating, and then have the phone annouce as-you-drive instructions until you are there. This feature is offered on any V Cast capable phone but REALLY shines here.

5) Clam shell designs are the way to go. When I do type and email or text, I am much faster than my boss on his Blackberry.

6) It's cool. Keyboard is lit up in the dark. Mp3 player has a graphic equalizer. Inside screen is amazing. Clamshell will have other doing double takes. This may not be an important feature, but cool looking is cool looking.

There are a couple of things I don't like about it. For one, it only allows you to take 15 second videos. Not sure why when, with a 1GB mini SD card, you could go much longer. Also, not all of the features available to you when the clamshell is open are available on the front screen. Also, because this phone has usable music, speaker phone, camera, video, and games, battery life will be lighter since you will be using things that suck up batter life.

Still, this phone is great and I am extremely happy with my purchase. I have experienced NO trouble whatsoever with the screen breaking like that other reviewer. Nothing but happy for me.

This is a HUGE phone that does a lot more than just a normal phone. If size matters, then treat my rating as a 2 star. This phone is approximately 2.5 times the size of a standard issue nokia.

So this phone will appeal to a very select group of individuals - its not for everyone.

If you want a phone - text messaging machine - camera - palm hybrid, look no further. This "phone" was built to do a lot of things and does them well. Well enough to justify 4 stars.

The LG menu is fairly intuitive once you get used to it. The phone ships with an excellent manual (and demo on CD) to get you up to speed.

The keyboard is very reasonable in size. The space bar is not underneath and instead to the side. I prefer it this way, others might not. Most people seem to adapt to it.

You can get a mini sd cheap - 35 bucks for a gig. I have not used it to play music yet, but you can transfer photos with it.

Lookup Bitpim on Google and then buy a standard USB data cable (should be < 10 bucks on Ebay). That will let you sync your phone with your computer. Very simple and intuitive. I entered all my contacts on the computer and synced the two.

The camera is reasonable. Better than the V710 camera. Not as good as a standard issue digital camera. Ok for pics and quick snapshots. With a 1 gig card, memory is not a problem.

The phone really really shines when opened and used as a text machine. Its really designed to be used that way. The speakerphone is EXCELLENT. Super duper. When combined with the keyboard, the screen and the software make using the cellphone a joy.

The build quality is good. Nothing chintzy or cheap - it feels solid. No flimsy parts that I expect to break soon.

One drawback is the lack of ringtones. The supplied default ringtones are terrible. But with Bitpim and some other software, you can make your own ringtones. Or download them from VZW.

All in all, this phone is not a conventional cellphone. The primary purpose of the phone is not making calls when being held next to the ear. It feels like a brick in those cases. This is a phone that you leave hooked on to your desk and use the blue tooth headset to walk around the room while taking the call. It is super charged up for use as a small hybrid palmtop/camera/cellphone, and excels in those roles. Or even as a speaker phone on a desk in a study.

Be very careful of expecting too much from Vcast. Vcast has limited service. And is expensive. And the web surfing is limited to content controlled by Verizon. You can not surf the web - just Verizon's version of the web.

Last, like all palm/cellphone hybrids - excellent battery life when using the phone only for calls/SMS. Twice the battery life of the V710.

Before purchasing, do take a look at a friend's phone and run over to the Verizon store. This is really not a conventional phone. If it fits your lifestyle and needs you will be very happy. If it does not, you are going to be miserable.

And it really is HUGE!

The Good:

1. This phone is VERY GOOD for text messaging, as the keyboard is one of the best I've ever used. I could type with ease and speed, and all the special characters are easily accessed.

2. V-Cast works very well on the phone, as the inside video screen is crystal clear.

3. The dual speakers are loud and clear for a cell phone

4. The battery life is not too bad either.

5. Optional MiniSD slot to store MP3 and photos is a unique feature

Good After Thought: So if text messaging is your priority, Blue Tooth and surfing the web and watching V-Cast is what you want, , plus Video capture for up to 15sec and 1.2 Mega Pixel camera, this phone is a very nice package.

The Bad:

1. This phone doesn't have an antenna, as a result, reception often breaks out and suffers from quality compare to other regular phones.

2. The phone is advertised to have a MiniSD slot, which allows you to get 1G of memory storage. And the phone allows you to play MP3s, which is mostly likely what you'll use the MiniSD slot for. However, the phone does not have a regular stereo audio jack! You'll have to resort to the built-in speakers or cell phone headphones, which is poor for music playback.

3. The Calendar feature is poor, as you're limited to type in only a title for the event, you can't event input detailed notes. That's about only 30 or so characters you can input.

4. The phone also doesn't have wireless connection such as 11b or 11g, and support for syncing with Outlook is none out of the box.

5. Poor camera for low lighting with flash. Yes, my old Samsung phone which only cost me $50 is a much better camera for low lighting capturing.

Bad After Thought: I was hoping this phone will replace my Palm Pilot, well thinkk again. With Outlook Sync unspported, poor calendar management, I will have to reach for my palm.

Conclusion:

Overall Conclusion:

Read the Bad section and use your judgment on this phone. Personally, I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

I've had this phone for two months and loved it. The keyboard on the back is great for text messaging and checking email. A previous reviewer said you could only check email with nsync, a $15 service. But if you have hotmail, aol, or yahoo, and a few others, you can check your email by using the mobile web service, which is only $5 a month. But it does use your airtime.

This phone has excellent capabilities such as picture caller ID, mp3 player. The internal ringtones aren't the greatest, so for good ringtones and games, you have to use the Get It Now feature and download it.

A word of caution with this phone, if you are going to take a lot of pictures, and download a lot of ringtones and games, do yourself a favor and get a mini SD card. The phone has a mini SD slot on the side. I downloaded three songs, one game, and took about 12 pictures and had it on the internal memory. My phone shut down yesterday because the hard drive was corrupted and the internal memory must have been too full and crashed like a computer. Verizon is replacing my phone because it was clearly a hardware error.

Just be mindful when doing a lot of downloading that they put the SD slot on the side for a reason.