How would you change LG's Vu?
By Darren Murph 
posted May 30th 2008 6:30PM
posted May 30th 2008 6:30PM
posted May 30th 2008 6:30PM
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I don't have an iPhone or a Vu although I have used both. An instant deal-breaker for me is the fact that the Vu's ability to use Java apps has been crippled by AT&T. They do this to every phone except smartphones and the iPhone. The initial minor annoyance of confirming your permission for Gmail, Googlemaps, Opera, etc. to connect for data quickly becomes irritating and then downright infuriating. You will need to confirm permission EVERY TIME the app needs data. Ugh.
Otherwise quite a nice phone, call quality being excellent.
I understand you frustration about having to confirm your logins every time you want to check your hotmail, google mail, etc. via web. Something to consider: how many phones are lost or stolen every year, and do you want to risk your accounts in that manner?
Reverse scrolling direction and improve battery life. Other than that...it's a pretty sick phone.
The Vu would be worth considering (to me) if it had better contact sync features. As of right now, no integration with MS Outlook.
I don't use Outlook for much beyond contact & calendar management right now, but if the iphone, Palm, Windows mobile, & S60 platforms can all sync with it, then LG doesn't really have much of an excuse for not having that feature.
Needs to be $100 less. Right now it's too close in price to an iPhone. When you can get a refurbed for $50 more there just isn't a large enough price gap.
Not that I like the iPhone or anything. Just think they are competitors, with the Vu not being nearly as nice.
linux based with full firefox 3
i wish it were more like the LG Voyager but with a little bit of smartphone. a keyboard like the Voyager would be nice, in addition to the 2 screens, inside and out. but i guess then you could call it the Voyager for at&t. lol. WIFI would make me crawl all over this.
but yea. waiting for the 3G iPhone. Albany, New York has had 3G for 6 months now, & I LOVE IT. lol
like the fact that this is the iPhone plus everything else the iphone(current) needs- plus an outrageous amount of money
this has html web, camera, and other thing people like about the iPhone
plus keyboard and video and minus itunes
too bad that it looks like the new iphone(supposedly) almost exactly if you made some changes to the interface
can att get any more cool phones compared to VZW- apparently
It needs to run Android.
On the Plus side:
If the VU is anything like its predecessor, the Viewty (KU990). Then it is undoubtably one of the most hackable phones ever made. Meaning most of the software related issues, and any network crippling 'features' can all be dealt with relatively easily.
have a look at www.ku990.co.uk and see what some bright sparks are doing with there Viewty phones.
On the Minus side:
If there is limited syncML support in the VU as there was in the Viewty, its compatibility with several car kits and email clients will be variable and this feature cannot be added by aftermarket modding.
Just bought the Vu yesterday, and just saw this... so, I guess here's my opinions.
The Vu is the second cell I've owned, graduating up from Verizon's free Razor, so it's quite a change. The phone is physically quite nice. Small, thin, lightweight, but doesn't feel shoddy or like it's going to shatter if you hold it wrong. The screen is bright and although I've read complaints about the resolution, its detail level suits my purposes just fine.
The big issue here seems to be touch sensitivity and haptics. Speaking personally, I do like the haptic response, but I've turned it down to level 2 (out of 7), so it's more of a twitch than a vibration. It's a good feature, as it really aids in knowing that, yes, you indeed have hit the button, but if it really does drain the battery as much as they've said, I'd probably turn it off.
The screen itself does seem to have some slight response issues. I've not used the fabled iPhone, so I can't compare it to that, but it does take pressure to activate keys. You're not wailing on the keys to get something to happen, but it's possibly to not get it to trigger if you're moving fast and not thinking. The QWERTY keyboard is, I have to admit, awkward and uncomfortable to me. It seems very easy to hit the wrong keys, but that could simply be my lack of familiarity with the layout. Sad to say, I'm faster texting on the keypad of my Razor than I am with either the keypad OR full qwerty keyboard on the Vu.
The sound quality seems to be fine to me; same goes with most of the basic features. I'm slightly saddened to see the hampered internet browser, but I don't plan on paying for that feature, so I can't really comment. The address book gives me a bit of issue, as with the Razor, you could type in the first few letters of who you wanted to call and it'd seek that way. The Vu seems determined to force you to use its scroll functionality to search through the list. It's concession to the desire for more speed are four buttons on the left side of the interface, "A-E", "F-J", "K-O", and "P-Z" which will seek to A, F, K, and P respectively. Not nearly as useful as it sounds.
Already noted one bug in the phone; when attempting to set a photo as a caller ID picture, it would not access my contacts, instead giving me only the pre-built addresses that it came with. Personally, I don't feel the need to set a picture to "Pay my Bill", so... frustrating.
The pros, I'm afraid, can't really outweigh the cons of this phone. While I love the minimalistic design and compactness of the phone, the touch screen itself seems to almost be a drawback in the way it was implemented. I'm honestly considering taking it back and getting a free "with contract" POS, and buying a 3G iPhone when they eventually hit. Or maybe buy something else altogether. We'll see. Hope people find this helpful.
hey strunner, try copying your contacts from your sim to your phone, this shoudl sort out your problem with attaching photos.
And with all due respect, if this is only your second mobile phone ever, your opinions, although being first hand, are not really going to be seen as expert.
I am sure most people viewing this blog have had 10 phones at least
oh, and thomas- you are an insight - into pointless stupidity. Go suck another bong and eat some cheetos
LG vu is much less than the iPhone, LG's technology is just not on the same level as APPLE, discuss more at w w w. LG-Vu .c o m