LG eXpo goes on sale at AT&T, sans projector
By Chris Ziegler 
posted December 16th 2009 7:47PM
posted December 16th 2009 7:47PM
Anyone looking for the highest-end Windows Mobile experience you can buy on AT&T, go ahead and form a line to the left, please, because your knight in shining armor has arrived. The LG eXpo -- complete with a Snapdragon core, 5 megapixel camera, 3.2-inch WVGA display, fingerprint scanner, QWERTY slide, and optional microprojector -- is now available, albeit at a $199.99 after-rebate, on-contract price that puts it pretty far into the realm of the high-power smartphone elite. The downside is that the aforementioned projector isn't yet available for purchase, which makes the whole package a little less compelling -- then again, that means you're walking out of the store with $179 that you wouldn't have otherwise had, so just look at your eXpo purchase as a fantastic money-making opportunity.
>>> "...albeit at a $199.99 after-rebate, on-contract price that puts it
> pretty far into the realm of the high-power smartphone elite..."
There's something...interesting...about that statement.
@Freakin Ijit
I can't quite put my finger on what other phone was introduced at $199 and was bought by everyone and their grandmother...someone help me out.
@Freakin Ijit This makes me feel old. I remember when $199 was for a moderate phone and that $399 was for a good smartphone. Oh wait, that was less than 2 years ago. I do have to say, I am grateful for the iPhone in that the price drop on the 3G has seriously shaken up the pricing on phones if folks now consider $199 to be steep.
What's the point then?
If I were looking for a high-end Windows Mobile smartphone, I'd probably pick an HD2, although the Touch Pro2 also seems tempting.
@Dogcowsaysmoof TouchPro2 has a substantially slower CPU than this thing. Also that fingerprintscanner/optical trackpad is pretty intriguing.
Spec by spec this thing blows the doors off the TP2. That being said, the TP2 is an HTC device and is very popular with XDADevs, so there will be way more cooked ROMs available. Oh and it comes with the TouchFlo overlay which is way nicer than the LG equivalent.
@Dogcowsaysmoof The HD2 runs Sense (not TouchFlo), which is miles ahead of the standard interface. Plus, it has a SnapDragon (fastest processor on a mobile phone today, not an archaic processor). It also has WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, and a 5 megapixel camera, not to mention the massive WVGA screen (over 4 inches!). Check your facts before commenting!
@Dogcowsaysmoof This may help:
http://www.htc.com/europe/product/hd2/specification.html
@Dogcowsaysmoof You realize the LG eXPo also runs a Snapdragon processor, just like the HD2. Yes, the HD2 is a great phone, but for similar features, plus finger print scanner/DPad, optional pico projector and nice physical keyboard this phone is more than comparable.
Not to mention you can buy the LG eXPo today. The HD2... well who knows when it will be available.
@Dogcowsaysmoof These are specs for the HD2, I was talking TouchPro2 TP2
@RandomGuy Oh, nevermind then.
@(Unverified) I'd still get the HD2 though, if for nothing more than Sense and the screen. A physical keyboard would be nice, nevertheless.
Anyone know anything about LG's UI? I know most people around these parts hate WinMo, but I'm slightly intrigued by any phone packing Snapdragon. No 3.5 mm jack is pretty lousy though.
@bullwinkle12 comes with an adapter for a 3.5 mm jack. Still sucks, but better than nothing.
@bullwinkle12 Well the Expo comes with an actually good idea of an adapter. It is NOTHING close to the Tilt2 or Touch Pro 2 adapter - it is actually pretty awesome. Check it on Part 3 of a very comprehensive review of the LG Expo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02PEYkUElho
I think after seeing the 4 videos he made, you will get a lot of insight on the true capabilities of the phone. To be honest, I am returning the Tilt2 to get the Expo for 2 reasons: 1GHz processor, full qwerty physical, and the whole 3.5 mm adapter. ( I am a music buff)
@Chas Percodani
No, it would need two attachments on top of each other to look like a fucking turtle.
Which is better this or the HTC Touch High Definition Two?
@AndroidRokz
I think you'd get the HTC HD2 as the answer from most...that tends to be the best WinMo device thats out there(unless you want a hardware keyboard)
@zap2 except for those of us with ATT, HD2 won't work with 3g. On a related note, has anyone heard of negri electronics? They have an HTC Hero NAM (that would work on ATT 3g). Never heard of this before, maybe I just missed it? http://www.negrielectronics.com/hero-usnam-unlocked-black-p-3037.html
@AndroidRokz We have an HD2 and it seriously kicks ass. It's amazing.
Capacitive screen?
@AndroidRokz Nope resistive. Highly considering this device as it was originally spec-ed out as having Winmo7, so it has hopes of an upgrade down the road. I am a physical keyboard kind of guy otherwise the HD2 would be my choice. So my only hesitations on buying this are, due to it being an LG, XDA Devs won't touch it, and the resistive screen might make it less likely to get Winmo7.
Otherwise it looks like the only full slide out qwerty Winmo phone with a 1GHz snapdragon for the foreseeable future.
@AndroidRokz
Until Microsoft releases 6.5.5 (or whatever it will be officially called) or WinMo 7 I think HTC will be the only one manufacturing Capacitive WinMo phones. The amount of skinning to get the current OS completely finger friendly is quite extensive. But on another note if this had a larger screen (3.5 or better) this would be almost a no brainer choice over the TP2 for me.
@Chas Percodani too bad its still not turtlely enough for the turtle club...
I've seen a review of this phone and it is very impressive. But I would love it to have a bigger 3.7" capacitive screen and be a bit thinner. Really nice multitask button on the right and the fingerprint scanner also operates like a laptop fingerpad, so useful for scrolling.
@Wesley Yes, 3.2" can really feel a bit restrictive when using Touch....
@Wesley Maybe the review series you saw were these:
Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_DwKeExFhY
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG-AS7ri11o&NR=1
Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02PEYkUElho
I just saw the commercial for this(a few hours ago). I forgot what movie they were endorsing with it.
@jamesFF
Avatar. They only showed the stupid projector and not the phone itself, which leads me to believe there is no "special" interface, just plain ol' winMo. I'm not knocking it, but I doubt there will be anything special about the UI....or the phone itself.
I've got one on order from Amazon, can't wait to get it.
Despite the WM 6.5, this phone is real interesting to me. The specs are a geeks dream. And $199 for a high end phone with a Snapdragon? Not bad at all!
They lost me at AT&T.
it seems that there is no 3.5 mm jack
how is this possible? how are you going to play the sound from the video at your friends when watching a movie?
@(Unverified) The Expo comes with a 3.5 mm adapter that you connect to the mini-USB port. It is actually thin and allows you to use your regular headset handsfree as it has a built in microphone. Pretty cool and hardly noticeable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02PEYkUElho