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(More customer reviews)I purchased the LG Venus a few days after Thanksgiving (a little over a week ago). Initially I had purchased the LG Voyager after reading the reports on its features. Since this review is about the LG Venus, I'll just say I returned the Voyager after 12 hours and exchanged it with the LG Venus. I am very happy with my decision. This phone packs a huge amount of features in such a beautiful and small (but not too small) form factor. I was first impressed with the practicality of the dual screens on the front as many have noted. After tooling the previous day with the Voyagers lack of responsiveness with the touch screen I was instantly pleased with the Venus' ability to recognize my taps. There is no sensitivity control (nor does the Voyager) but after a few minutes you can quickly become accustomed to how it works. The best feature of the touch screen display's ability to adapt its menus prompts according to the action you are currently conducting. When you are using it as a phone the buttons for Mute, Speaker Phone etc are prominently displayed for touching. It's a huge step beyond the ubiquitous soft keys that Verizon phone depends on for many of its phones.
The number keypad is well constructed and tactile. There's no slipping or mistakenly pressing two buttons at once like I've noticed on some smooth face keypads. This is my first slider phone and I must say it was a quick transition from the standard flip phones and all the comfort of the old candy bar Motorola phone I had years ago. I like hanging up the phone by pressing the face closed against my leg instead of flipping it closed too. One vice I had with my old LG VX8100 phone was the VZW Texas Hold'm game I had purchased (note: not transferable, had to purchased again for new phone). I didn't realize not all Verizon phones were compatible with all the games. The Voyager didn't have the game as an option (guessing inside landscape screen made it incompatible). I was very happy to see IT WAS on the LG Venus.
The Venus includes a nice 2 mega pixel camera as stated, no flash (decent night vision mode though, bit blurry). Average pictures and the controls are very similar to basic point and shoot digital cameras. I haven't dabbled with the video yet, but I think its limited to 30 seconds. I would definitely suggest getting a Micro SD card. The on board memory is less than a gig and you'll need the card to load MP3's due to right management laws. It handles 8 gig, I opted for a basic 1 gig though. If you are looking to replace our Chocolate this might be a good option for you. Friends of mine have the Chocolate and complain about their cheek often bumps buttons while talking. In the week or so that I've had the phone, it's never been an issue with the touch screen. The vibrate and sound features are neat, I turned them off because the novelty wore off and I wanted to save battery. The battery runs as best as I'd expect. I'll probably have to charge it once or twice a week with normal use. Text messaging is relatively easy for a non-Qwerty. While texting, I like how you can change from Word (used to be called T9-Word) to Abc/ABC etc from the Touch screen instead of soft key though. If you are not happy with the fancy smancy new interface on the Venus the 'Display Themes' in the Settings window has 'Classic', which looks like the interface of the rest of Verizon's cell phones. I liked the Venus Color option.
One thing that surprised me was that I was able to make calendar events on the phone and bluetooth them to my Palm T|X. I didn't think they would be compatible. (Note: Palm T|X seems like GSM phones for dialing and can't get it to work on Verizon's CDMA system, oh well) I like having two devices, so as not to worry about a single battery failing and wiping out all my communication ability. The back of the phone is nice textured plastic instead of the normal smooth faux metal finish. Feels good in your hand and doesn't slide on the table like my old phone.
Good Features not mentioned above:
- The main screen (non-touch) allows for animated gif files like my old LG VC8100 did. Make you own animations in Fireworks etc, great for designers who like to customize or download animations you like from the web.
- The MicroSD/SDHC card slot is accessible without having to remove the battery or turning off the camera. Other phones aren't so lucky.
- No antenna for calling or using Verizon's EVDO mobile services (I didn't buy the ultra package, so I can't comment on those features)
- Elegant chrome frame and black finish, reminiscent of the iPhone, but not a blatant copy.
- The phones call quality and reception are just as you'd expect from Verizon. No dropped calls and I can hear the other person very clearly. (Located in Phoenix, other areas might differ).
- Surprisingly good sound quality from onboard speakers
Some Gripes:
It's minor, but I liked the old power plug on my LG VX8100 better. It was at the bottom of the phone so it was easy to find while driving and just click in the plug. This has a cap over the port (I guess you could snap it off) and it is located on the left side. Just a hair more difficult to manage than before. The navigation controls that appear when needed on the touch screen are nice but the BACK button located on the bottom right corner is bit too large for my thumb sometimes. I go for the Down arrow and end up hitting BACK by accident. It's happening far less often, but I am sure others will find it clumsy at first.
The camera has a longer than desired lag between pressing the button and the phone reacting. (the 'Say Cheese' audible voice option is cute though, my wife liked it).
The front screen is prone to finger prints as most devices of this nature, but it doesn't interfere with readability.
Directed to this phone and Verizon in general, no compatibility with web pages that contain Flash content. (I haven't tried internet browsing on my Venus, I use the Palm T|X for that functionality)
I haven't yet found the setting to remove the starting animation. It takes a couple of seconds to boot up. Hopefully after reading the manual I can find that setting.
I don't know of many (if any) phones that have FM radio, but that would be very nice thing to add to this already feature rich phone.
Headphone jack is non-standard for regular MP3 players style head phones. Adapter or special head phones required otherwise.Overall this is the best phone I have every owned from Verizon. If you are up on your contract for the 'New every 2' this is something to consider for the $100 off. There was a $50 mail-in rebate when I bought the phone that was nice. I'd suggest it to anyone that doesn't need a qwerty style phone and wants all the bells and whistles that Verizon has to offer.
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The sophisticated and stunning LG Venus slider phone offers a unique combination of touchscreen and tactile keypads in a compact form factor with a stylish mirror finish. The phone features dual external screens, with the bottom screen incorporating interactive touch navigation, and the top slides open to reveal a standard numeric keypad. The Venus gives you access to V CAST Video--Verizon Wireless' multimedia service with news, sports and entertainment video clips, 3D games and more--as well as V CAST Music, which offers access to more than 2.4 million songs that can be purchased and downloaded over-the-air. Other features include a 2-megapixel camera/camcorder, MicroSD memory expansion, Bluetooth connectivity for headsets and stereo music streaming, multi-format digital music player, and optional GPS turn-by-turn navigation services. It operates on Verizon's 850/1900 CDMA frequencies, and offers fast connectivity through Verizon's EV-DO data network.
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.
With the V Cast Video service, you can 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.
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.
Phone FeaturesThe face of the Venus slider includes two LCD screens, with the top 2-inch screen providing a 240 x 320-pixel QVGA resolution and support for 262K colors. The lower screen (1.49 inches, 176 x 240 pixels) displays touch-sensitive navigation controls with different layouts depending on the application you're accessing--such as changing from standard soft key layout to music controls when the digital audio player is activated. LG has incorporated haptics technology--an interface that creates tactile feedback--that provides vibrating feedback in response to your finger taps when using the touchscreen. The Venus offers gently curved corners and a faux-leather covering on the back that provides a luxurious feel in the hand as well as added grip.
It has a 64 MB internal memory, and it's expandable via optional MicroSD memory cards with support for up to 8 GB of storage. The digital audio player is compatible with MP3, WMA, and AAC/AAC+ music files, and you can multitask with other phone functions while continuing to play music. Other music playback functions include a variety of equalizer presets, shuffle and repeat mode, and an airplane mode that turns off the cell phone's receiver for continued playback while on a flight.
This phone also provides Bluetooth version 1.2 wireless connectivity with the A2DP Bluetooth profile, which enables you to stream music to compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones or speakers. (Note that the airplane mode doesn't shut off the Bluetooth connectivity, so you can still listen to music using wireless headphones.) It also includes profiles for communication headset, handsfree car kits, dial-up networking, audio/video remote control, phone book access, serial port/object push for vCard, and basic imaging for sending/printing non-protected images to a compatible device.
The 2.0-megapixel camera can capture still images in four resolutions (1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480, and 320 x 240 pixels) and video in two settings (VGA 320 x 240 and QCIF 176 x 144). Other camera features include a 2x zoom, white balance settings, a variety of color effects, night mode, self timer, and three shutter sounds (with silent option). Video recording is limited to either 30 seconds for sending via MMS or up to an hour for saving to memory card.
The Venus provides storage for up to 1000 contact entries, with up to 5 numbers, two email addresses per entry, and Picture ID. Support is built in for text messaging and mobile IM. When used in combination with the phone's built-in still and video camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. Other features include:
Tools: Calendar, notepad, calculator, alarm clock, stopwatch, world clock, and EZ tip calculator
Speed Dial (95 entries + 4 pre-programmed for voicemail, #BAL, #MIN, #PMT)
USB connectivity to your PC for file transfer as well as charging
One-touch speakerphone
Speaker-independent voice commands
21 included ringtones and compatibility with real-music ringtones
Voice recording up to 1 hour or 5 minutes during phone call
Video player compatible with WMV, MP4, 3GP, 3G2 formats
Hearing Aid Compatibility Rating: M3
Vital Statistics The LG Venus weighs 3.79 ounces and measures 4 x 2 x 0.62 inches. Its 800 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 4 hours of talk time, and up to 480 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the CDMA 800/1900 frequencies as well as Verizon's EV-DO data network.
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