LG Chocolate 3 Phone, Black (Verizon Wireless) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Contrary to what the documentation says, you don't need to install Rhapsody to sync music to the phone. Before you plug the phone in for the first time, just go into the Settings menu, pick the USB Auto Sync option, and set the phone to the "sync data" setting. That will install the proper drivers. After that, set the phone to "sync music" and you'll be able to use Windows Media Player to sync music anytime thereafter. Or, you can copy music files manually to the my_music folder by activating the "USB Mass Storage" option located in the Settings/Tools menu.
Little quirks like that are the story with this phone.
Pros:
* Strong signal and clear reception
* Great battery life as a phone (4+ hours talk, days of standby)
* Feels and works very much like an Ipod when closed
* Built-in FM transmitter to beam music to car stereo!
* Music playback is loud and clear on phone speaker
* Standard headphone jack
* 2MP camera
* Two beautiful color screens (pictures look great!)
* Menus and buttons are very intuitive
* Clicky, responsive keys (feels like a phone!)
* Solid construction, but thin enough to fit in pocket
Cons:
* Ringtone volume is TOO LOUD, with no real way to lower it
* Have to remove SD card to sync to internal memory
* Pictures look a little tinted when sent to PC
* Can't organize pictures into folders, so gallery gets unwieldy fast
* Can't change behavior of the lock button
* Signal strength meter is totally inaccurate
* Mirrored front quickly gathers fingerprints and smudges
For me, those quirks weren't enough to get me to dock a star from the Chocolate 3's rating. I bought the silicon cover to avoid the fingerprint problem. I got around the loud ringtones by downloading and sending a couple "quieter" ones to the phone. The lack of good picture organization and camera quality didn't bug me because I don't use my phone as a camera. The pictures look pretty decent anyway. The signal strength indicator doesn't jive with our two older phones, but in real-world use the Chocolate 3 can make a call in our favorite big grocery store whereas our older phones can't.
Out of all of those tiny peeves, the one thing I wish they'd fix is make it possible to change the behavior of the button that locks the scroll wheel. Right now, a single-click lets you use the scroll wheel. I'd prefer a double-click. I haven't actually managed to unlock the phone in my pocket yet, though, so it's all good.
What I wanted was 1) a comfortable, reliable phone, and 2) a decent music player. The LG VX-8560 Chocolate 3 has delivered superbly on both counts.

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The third-generation of LG's iconic Chocolate, the Chocolate 3 for Verizon in light blue supports all of the latest features in mobile music technology. The first flip phone in the Chocolate lineup, the Chocolate 3 boasts an easy-to-use external front navigation wheel and center select key to make music navigation easy. It also includes dual speakers, Bluetooth stereo music streaming capabilities, and a built-in FM transmitter enabling you to play music through your car stereo. It's also compatible with the V Cast Music and V CAST Music with Rhapsody services, which enables you to purchase songs through your phone and download them via Verizon's fast EV-DO data network.
The Chocolate 3 has 1 GB of internal memory--enough to store up to 250 songs--and it's expandable via optoinal MicroSD memory cards up to 8 GB in size. Other features include fast downloads via Verizon's EV-DO 3G network, Verizon Navigator turn-by-turn direction capability, a 2-megapixel camera, one-touch speakerphone and Bluetooth wireless connectivity to handsfree devices, speaker-independent voice commands, and up to 4.5 hours of talk time.
Verizon Service Options With support for the EV-DO high-speed data standard, you'll enjoy fast access to the Internet and Verizon's multimedia services (additional charges applicable), with average download speeds ranging from 400 to 700 Kbps and peak rates up to 2 Mbps. (Learn more about where EV-DO coverage is offered.) The V Cast Music service enables you to download songs instantly to your phone, or purchase music through your PC and transfer the files to your phone. If purchased from your phone, you'll receive two copies of the song: a Windows Media Audio Pro Plus format at 64Kbps stereo is sent to your phone, and a Windows Media Audio 9 format at 160Kbps stereo is sent to your account in the V CAST Music online store for downloading to your PC. V Cast Music offers nearly 2 million songs, with more being added all the time.
In addition to the V Cast Music service, this phone is also compatible with Verizon's V CAST Music with Rhapsody, which enables you to access this exclusive digital music service for RealNetworks and for MTV Networks. V CAST Music with Rhapsody delivers unlimited monthly access to music on up to three Rhapsody-compatible mobile phones and players and online on multiple PCs and Web browsers. In addition, customers who purchase music over-the-air are able to download the master copy of the songs or albums to their PCs free of digital rights management (DRM) software that restricts how and where music can be played.
The V Cast Video service enables you to stream or download video clips to your phone from a variety of news, entertainment, sports, and weather channels, including CNN, ABC News, E!, CBS Sports, The Weather Channel, and VH1.
Verizon's Mobile eMail gives you access to your Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and AOL accounts so you can read, write, and reply. Access your address book, receive e-mail alerts and more, right on your Verizon Wireless phone. Getting on the Internet is easy using Verizon's Mobile Web 2.0 package, which allows you to read and send e-mails, exchange instant messages and view your favorite web content on your phone. Verizon's Get It Now wireless download service is also fully compatible with this phone. 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.
With this GPS-enabled phone, you'll be able to access Verizon's VZ Navigator service (additional charges applicable) for voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, heads-up alerts, local search of nearly 14 million points of interest in the US (such as landmarks, restaurants and ATMs), and detailed color maps. And Verizon's Chaperone service lets you easily locate your loved ones from your Verizon Wireless phone or PC in real time. After defining a zone, such as an area designating a school or summer camp, you'll be sent an alert via text message when the Chaperone handset enters or leaves the zone.
Phone Features The first Chocolate phone available in a clamshell form, LG's Chocolate 3 makes mobile music easy. Its easy-to-use external front navigation wheel and center select key provide quick access to your library and playback controls, and the front of the clamshell also offers a large 1.75-inch LCD screen with 262K colors and a 220 x 176-pixel resolution. In addition to viewing currently playing songs, you'll also be able to quickly check on battery level, signal strength, and current time.
Flip open the Chocolate 3 to reveal a 2.2-inch LCD (262K colors, 240 x 320-pixel resolution), alpha-numeric keypad, five-way navigation pad, and standard send/end and soft keys. The phone has a 1 GB internal memory so you can store music files right out of the box, and it's expandable via optional MicroSD memory cards (up to 8 GB in size). You can store up to 1000 conact entries in the phone book, each storing up to 5 numbers, 2 email addresses, and a Picture ID. The phone also features a 999-entry speed dial (with default voicemail) and USB connectivity (with USB mass storage capability, allowing you to drag important files to the phone's memory from your PC's desktop).
The Chocolate 3's digital audio player supports MP3 and WMA files as well as unprotected AAC/AAC+ formats, and it to multitask in other areas of the phone (SMS texting, checking email) while still allowing the music to play on in the background. The built-in FM transmitter enables you to play music through a car or other stereo system, and it also has dual stereo speakers. Other music features include playlist creation and management and equalizer presets.
This phone provides the latest version of Bluetooth connectivity--version 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), which makes pairing with the included headset as well as other Bluetooth devices a snap. And with EDR, you'll get a faster connection than with the previous version 1.2, which makes transferring files and using the phone as a modem for your laptop hum along nicely. And with the embedded A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of Bluetooth stereo headphones or other compatible devices.
The 2.0-megapixel imager enables you to capture still photos up to 1600 x 1200 pixels--perfect for printing up to 8 x 10 inches--as well as capture videos up to an hour in 320 x 240-pixel resolution. Other features include a 2x digital zoom, customizable brightness and white balance, self-timer, night mode, and multiple color effects. You can also edit still images right in the phone, by zooming, rotating and cropping. The phone also supports WMV, MP4, 3GP, and 3G2 video format playback.
Other features include:
Verizon Nationwide Premium Plan capable
Organization tools: Calendar, Calculator, EZ Tip Calculator, Alarm Clock, Stopwatch, World Clock, Notepad
USB mass storage and USB charging via PC
Flight mode that allows you to play uninterrupted music while flying or when you don't want to be interrupted by incoming calls
Voice recording up to 1 hour (depending on available memory
27 unique ringtones, MP3 music ringer support, vibrate/silent modes
Messaging: SMS, MMS, mobile email
Hearing Aid Compatibility = M3
TTY compatible
Download software upgrades over the air
Bluetooth version 2.1 with the following profiles: A2DP (stereo music streaming), AVRC (remote control), HFP (hands-free car kits), HSP (communication headsets), BIP (for sending images to another device), BPP (basic printing profile for text, email), DUN (dial-up networking), FTP (file transfer), OPP (object push for business cards, calendar items, and pictures), PBA (transfer contacts)

Vital Statistics The LG Chocolate 3 weighs 3.36 ounces and measures 3.87 x 1.94 x 0.64 inches. Its 800 mAh lithium-polymer battery is rated at up to 4.5 hours (270 minutes) of talk time, and up to 350 hours (14.6 days) of standby time. It runs on the 800/1900 CDMA frequencies as well as the 1xEV-DO r0 data network.

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