LG VX4500 Phone (Verizon Wireless)

Rating:
Summary: Great phone!
Review: I would highly recommend this cell phone. In my experience LG cell phones have great sound quality. The conversations are crisp and not muffled like a Motorola I used to own. The ring tones are loud enough that you can hear them as well. Often I need to turn the volume down. This cell phone has a lot to offer for the price.

Rating:
Summary: Good buy on an uncomplicated phone
Review: I've had mine for seven months, including extensive travel throughout the US, and overall I'm very happy.

Highs:

- Excellent sound quality, clear and loud, useable even in very noisy environments.
- Reasonably full featured phone WITH NO CAMERA!!! This was a huge selling point for me--anybody whose workplace bans them will definitely appreciate this.
- Small external display works great--no need to flip it open to see caller ID, msg notification, etc.
- Verizon signal coverage is generally outstanding.
- Verizon pricing isn't the best at first glance, but it is quite straightforward, and well worth it for their outstanding network.

Lows:

- Manual is absolutely terrible, reads like a poor translation of a manual already badly written in a foriegn language.
- What looks like a rocker switch for screen navigation really isn't--much to easy to activate wireless web/paid content services (which you still have an opportunity to cancel out of, but it ties up the phone for several seconds).
- Proprietary LG charger interface is a pain. LG gives practically every model they make a different plug and cradle design, making them harder to find on the aftermarket. Tip: uses the same car and travel chargers as the VX6000.

Rating:
Summary: A great phone, especially considering the price
Review: I've had this phone going on 6 months now and usually wait that long before reviewing any electronics product. Ergonomics and design flaws aren't immediately evident until after you've used the item for quite some time. I'm glad to note that the LG VX4500 is an outstanding product with virtually no problems that I've noticed.

The most fantastic thing about the phone is the outstanding battery life. I never actually measured the total talk time I get on one charge, but I usually go 2-3 days between charges and I make many calls in an average day. Also, there's NO CAMERA (a must for me -- if I wanted a camera, I'd buy a camera . . . not a phone), plenty of scheduling/alarm/calender features, and an amazingly loud and crisp speaker phone.

The Driving Mode on the phone has become indispensible to me as I drive around a lot. You can say any name in your addressbook and the phone will dial it. There is no need to sit down and store the voice recording of the names so the phone understands who you mean. You can even say the phone number you want to dial and the phone does that and on incoming calls it'll say the name/number that's calling.

There are a few minor drawbacks. First is the reception. The phone still gets a great signal considering the extensive verizon network out there, but it doesn't receive as well as some of the other verizon phones. A few times, I've been on the phone next to friends who're on verizon as well and I've had my call drop while theirs stayed connected. Even putting this cell phone next to another, you'll at times see this phone with 3/5 or 4/5 bars while other verizon phones will have 5/5 bars.

Second, in Driving Mode the phone will only dial the first number associated with each name. An easy way to get around this is to just put in separate entries for someone's cell, office and home lines if you'll be calling them often using the Driving Mode.

Overall, the phone is great. It fits well into the palm of your hand. It doesn't feel clunky or heavy and has nice rounded features so as to feel unnoticable when in your pocket. It's a great phone at a great price.

Rating:
Summary: An easy to use, easy to read phone
Review: I've owned this phone for 7 months now and can say that it's the best mobile phone I've had. The speaker phone and voice dial features are invaluable in the car or if you want to conduct a conference call. I'm amazed on how well the voice dial feature can recognize names I've entered into my address book. The display is easy to read and the menus are easy to navigate. The big, clear buttons are ideal for larger hands. Verizon's network is more reliable than most, and this phone seems to get better reception than other LG and Motorola models I've owned in the past. Verizon's bills, however, are difficult to understand even though their pricing plans are simple. On the plus side, I have been extremely impressed with their helpful, earnest and courteous customer service reps over the phone, which is a rarity these days in the customer UNfocused business world.

Rating:
Summary: BEST!
Review: This is a wonderful cellphone for first-timers. The service is wonderful, you have so many cool features, and I think the battery charges quicker. Get this cellphone!!!