LG Dare VX9700 Phone, Silver (Verizon Wireless)

LG DARE, I dare you to give it a try! August 12, 2008

Reviewer:  Stuart Floyd  (New York, NY) -

I have had the LG DARE/VX9700 touch screen phone for over a month now and it is a great phone and certainly the best touch screen Verizon has to offer and a great alternative to an iphone over on that other network AT&T. Remember you will need phone plan, internet plan, picture/text plan and they have many to choose from. Myself I went alacart and chose specific things I wanted and know I would use and it cost me less than several of the packages offered. NOTE: This is not a SMARTPHONE, it doesn't promote itself that way but some may expect that and it is not.

Side note for comparisons:
I have an Apple iPod Touch mp3 player which is basically a first generation iPhone without the phone. The Touch is a superb product and the screen is unsurpassed in it's size and clarity, identical to the iPhone and I even get free wi-fi on the iPod Touch, something you pay for with a data plan with the iPhone. If the iphone had more features and fair plan/price options it would be more desirable, maybe it's next iteration?! For example for the $59.99 plan I have with Verizon, the same plan/options with the iphone on AT&T would cost me $99.99. Again I have no affiliation to either and would prefer NOT to be a customer of either one but sadly we have little choice but to select a company and their pricey offerings.

Back to the LG Dare, it is a superb product the screen is exceptional and if it were as big as the iPhone/iPod Touch screen it would be even be more exceptional. However, LG went with a little smaller footprint but packed it with many goodies that you can't yet get in any other touch screen phone including the Apple iPhone 3G.

I am not a fan of any contract to any service provider, I just happen to have been on Verizon a long time, they do have in my experience the best call quality and coverage coast to coast but I still hate signing anything for 2yrs. Remember you have 30 days to test out the phone and if it's NOT what you expected or want, return it and get another or go out and try another provider.

I didn't return mine as I really like it allot and yes the biggest gripe would be to have a larger screen thus less need to scroll during internet use as the net takes up allot of real estate when dealing with a small screen. I am not on there to do long term surfing or intensive seraches. I get onto the net to check my hotmail email and to look at weather, movie times, news headlines for brief periods. Sometimes it can be slower then you'd like but that depends allot on the signal strength of the area you are in.

You can view horizontal or vertical as the screen will adjust to however you hold the phone. This also happens with typing text for text messages or using the internet. Hold the phone horizontal and you will get the onscreen qwerty keybord, hold it vertical and you get the phone like keyboard to enter text. There is a button on each of the screens to select either one you like best for your typing.

The call quality is exceptionally clear and loud, the screen adjusts to indoor and outdoor lighting which is great and better than many other phone screens and even digital camera screens. Of course you have bluetooth as well for connecting to headphones, your computer if it bluetooth equiped etc.

You have the ability to drag and drop icons/buttons on the main screen, arrange them to your liking. You have an abundance of menus that are quite easy to click/scroll through and easy to follow or test and see what your options are with many of the features.

It does have hand writing recognition, it is not easy for me with big fingers to draw things, or a map and with a stylus pen certainly better. You can craft something and email or text it someone, it's a nifty little feature and something unique for now and you will see more of it in the future and of course it will be improved with each iteration.

You have many sound settings and vibration settings for the phone, tactile feedback when typing/scrolling and a load of ringtones to choose from or go buy/download others.

Speaker phone is loud and you can even have it verbally read your text messages to you which can be amusing with the computerized voice.

This phone has the best camera of any cell phone sold in the U.S. It comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera, with face detection, zoom and editing in the phone to name a couple things off the photo menu. The photos I have taken are exceptional for a cell phone and close to what I had in my first digital camera several years ago. They are more than exceptional for emailing and online posting. Remember when emailing them to users on a smaller phone that the photo text messages will be very pixelated because they are trying to view it on a much lower resolution screen and a 1-2 inch screen at best.

I recommend getting a micro SD card and you can get them pretty cheap on amazon, search and do a little research and you'll find a good cheap 4gb card and thus you will have ample room for photos and videos and not suddenly run out, but in saying that make sure to download stuff so as to keep the phone pretty empty allowing you to photo and video when out and about or when you forget your digital camera.

As for it being an mp3 player that is another great option and of course Verizon wants you to use their store but you can plug the phone in and download/rip music from your computer but not from itunes of course, all about file conversions and all that proprietary BS. In any case it works just like an iPhone for music minus the very good itunes store that can be accessed direct from an iPhone. For me I don't use this phone for music being I have the iPod Touch and it also saves me concern on draining the phone battery. I have gone several days without charging when using the phone, texting, taking photos and sending them as well as accessing the net. The charger has a plug for the electrical outlet and a usb plug to connect to your computer to charge as well.

It is a little smaller over all from the iPhone a tiny bit thicker but almost not noticable. Slowly I see more and more accessories for the Dare and many are here on Amazon and much cheaper than Verizon or other retailers. I recommend a cover, silicone, rubber ones are great and I have dropped my phone several times without any damage or marks as it almost bounces with the silicone cover I have. I also purchased a few of the screen protectors.

By having the screen protector I often use a stylus pen on the screen as I have very large fingers and one thing that happens with any touch screen when you have big fingers it is easy to select the wrong thing or more then one thing. The LG Dare will allow you to actually set the sensitivity in the options menu. It comes preset but you can actually run a test and change the sensitivity to make it more pressure sensitive to how you tap the screen.

I have touched on many things and many more things I have easily missed but go to Cnet, ZDnet, Amazon and check out Reviews, or just google LG Dare reviews. The best way would be to go take it for a test drive at a local Best Buy, at the Verizon stores and check on the 30 day trial as well via Verizon.

As with any electronics product, they could always be better and this is the first version of the LG Dare and hopefully they can improve the next version just like Apple did with it's iphone, however, Apple didn't go nearly far enough so maybe the 3rd generation iphone will be great and the 2nd generation of the Dare even further unique than it currently is on the market today.

Verizon's best July 8, 2008

Reviewer:  Robert Jenckes "RobbDogg"  (Phoenix, Az) -

Ok, I don't have time for a full detailed review but I'll try to cover the basics. This phone is awesome, I bought it the day it came out after looking at the Voyager and the Glyde and reading several reviews for months on all the different touchscreen phones. This thing looks far better than both and the features are much better as well.

The screen is 3 inches, slightly smaller than the Instinct and Iphone but its bigger than the Voyager and Glyde. Trust me, it's a good size. When you turn the phone from vertical to horizontal while looking at pictues or the internet the screen will automatically rotate with it, much like the iphone, which is cool! I didn't like the white un-organized main menu that you see in all the pictures of the phone but you can change it to an organized black one more like the iphone which looks a lot better if you think the white one doesn't look so great.

The camera is much better than anything I've seen on a phone and you can edit and draw on any of your saved pics and then save it. The camera button is in the exact spot where it would be on a digital camera and you can even hold the button half way down to focus just like any digital camera. The headphone port allows you to use any headphones without a stupid adapter that you're never going to carry around.

The onboard QWERTY keyboard works pretty good, I have no complaints but I do hit the wrong key every now and then (I've never had a QWERTY before this phone). The Voyager's actual keyboard may be more user friendly but this one works well and is very convenient.

My buddy got the Samsung Instinct, which is supposed to be the Sprint Iphone, two days before I got the Dare. We compared them for over an hour (while sitting in a bar) and he was definitely upset with some of the features mine had. Camera was much better, bluetooth syncing was better, keyboard options were better.

Lastly, if you were thinking about the Voyager or Glyde, I would definitely go with the Dare. I saw a guy with the Voyager the other day and I almost laughed at him. The Dare is smaller and thinner with a bigger screen and its better looking. You really can't go wrong with the DARE!

GREAT phone.. not for me thou. READ August 27, 2008

Reviewer:  Jonathan Doyle  (Frederick) -

ok I am considered a tech-junkie by most family and friends so when i got this phone i was more than excited..
ill do a basic pros/cons and then talk a bit more.
pros:
-light
-loaded with features, such as vz navigator,games (downloadable), and a basically customizable desktop for icons
-an incredible camera with features u wont find anywhere (face detection and smart pic??!!)
-cool battery saver option of when i put the phone to my face to talk during a call, the display turns off. remove it from my face and it turns back on.

cons:
-when i compare the scroll and touch features to the ipod touch i have.. the LG DARE just doesnt hold a candle as far as accuracy goes. WITH THAT SAID, if you are new to touch screens, like my wife, you would find it enjoyable.
-the call quality to me was a bit lacking.. i would call from the same spot as my wife and just MUCH MUCH better call quality from her chocolate..
-i have bigger hands/bigger fingers. im 6'2 and 230lbs.. and when id try to type or dial or something, it was a bit "wonky" with its responsiveness (i felt like shrek with it)
-stereo bluetooth is not that good of quality. i tried three $100 headphone sets and they all sounded muffled. when i hooked up my wired Sennheiser headphones, all was fine..
-lastly - to me, there was an annoyingly elongated "load" time for the display to turn on, and then id have to push unlock and then answer.. while others would find that fine, i just need a faster time. (ipod touch is lightening fast)

now i referenced the ipod touch, but that is just the mp3 player.. not the phone. i do think this is a GOOD phone, but its just not for me. little quirks over 7 days of use just got to me..if you have no touch screen experience, or very little - this phone might be for you.
if your looking for a FAST paced phone - this might not be for u..

i hope i can help someone out there..
cheers

Great phone! My first touch screen.... July 7, 2008

Reviewer:  Angela Schmidt "Angel"  (Knoxville, TN) -

I just got this phone a few days ago, and I love it!!! I can't get enough of it! It has taken me no time at all to get used to the touch screen and navigating through the menus is so easy, and I am hooked! I highly recommend this phone to everyone!

This phone has so many great features, and some of the many that I like are (in no particular order):

-A home button on every page except for the dial pad (but you can use the clear or end key there) so if you need to start over you can

-A back arrow on each page that allows you to go back one step on the path you took (How convenient is that?!)

-The non-touch screen physical buttons on the bottom of the phone are great and practical (unlike the iPhone) so you don't have to worry about searching for the send, clear/voice command or end keys (I find the send key to be convenient for placing three way calls as well.)

-Drag and drop ability for shortcuts to your home page

-Speakerphone button on side and on the touch screen if you choose

-Face proximity sensor so the LCD turns off when on a call so no button pushing with your face

-Handwriting recognition (a bit of a learning curve with pressure but still so cool!)

-Scroll/flick through menus, photos and contacs up or down AND side to side

-Qwerty keyboard touch screen when you turn it sideways

-Tactile vibrating feedback option for touching and scrolling

-3.2MP camera/camcorder (awesome!)

-Music player with sound effects that will play in the background while you do other things and also auto pauses if you receive or make a call

-Lots of fun animated and still wallpapers to choose from

-Different menu font styles to choose from

-You can use your finger, yes, but also a stylus (that doesn't come with the phone but should) or a retractable pen that is retracted, etc.

-USB cable comes with the phone and an adapter to turn it into a charger (no extra money shelled out for a USB cable there!)

-And it just looks freaking cool!

OK, OK. I have to let you know that there are a few things that some people might not like about it (but they don't bother me):

-The Dare doesn't have wi-fi, but the plus side of that is that no data plan is required to have this phone...unless you want to get the regular internet browsing stuff.

-You can't put iTunes directly on it. They have to be converted to wma files or mp3s first, or you can burn a CD from your iTunes and burn/rip those songs right back and load them from iTunes that way.

-It's just a hair thicker than the iPhone, like .04 of an inch.

There is so much more about this phone that is great, though, but just read about it here and on Verizon's and LG's sites. You can also watch a short video about it on CNET at [...] Play with one, get one and LOVE IT! It's more awesome than any phone I've ever had or seen that I can't give it anything less than 5 stars!

Go on! I DARE you to get one! ;)

Mostly good October 8, 2008

Reviewer:  Chris Hann  (Alameda, CA United States) -

First, a few words about the network. Verizon does have good coverage, but I get a lot of vmail when I am sitting at work with 3 bars on both signal meters. I also get text messages in blocks. I now advise people who get my vmail to just try again a couple of times. The message does eventually get through though. Text messages sometimes result in a "network error" message too, that's just laziness on their network folks part, they need to deal with making sure the message gets through rather than putting it back on to the users.

I do actually like this phone, as a software professional of many years experience that's actually quite unusual; I have high expectations. Most of the features on this phone work well and it's a reasonable size too. Given the choice of a bigger phone with a better keyboard or a smaller one that I don't mind carrying... well the choice was obvious to me. But in the months that I have had it there have been no software updates and they do need to fix some bugs.

The phone works well enough, not the same as a phone with a proper keyboard, or even a phone with a regular keypad. A few things you can do with the real buttons, but the rest has to be done via the touch controls.

Phone connectivity has been better than with AT&T, it has never dropped calls at the places where AT&T dropped them 100% of the time, as an example there was a railway bridge (just north of 84 on Mission Blvd in Fremont, CA) where AT&T drops 100% of calls. Verizon doesn't.

But on the general phone call quality front the Verizon network more often suffers from bad echo, I make phone exchanges and echo cancellation is a network issue, so that's not the phone. But outside of that the voice quality, both sent and received, though adequate is not spectacular. It's good enough, comprehensible, but not great.

Controls are a vast improvement from my Motorola phones, the best thing of all is that the side buttons are locked when everything else is locked, so I don't end up with zero ring volume unexpectedly and miss calls.

The display is OK, but not as good as my three year old Dell 51v PDA, not by a very long way. This makes the net browser of questionable use, but zooming in helps with readability, if not the quality. The data network is not fast, nowhere near as fast as AT&T. But then AT&T doesn't have the coverage, so a slow Verizon net is a lot better than no net at all in many of the places I visit. Round Silicon Valley it's rather disappointing though, seems like they should be able to achieve more in the tech capital of the US.

I used BitPim to transfer the comma separated variable (.csv) file I exported from my Nokia E51, which I liked better as a phone, but which lacked GPS and good camera, though it had much faster data and 802.11 too.

The camera is pretty good. It's about the quality of the $800 Olympus I bought about eight years ago, or the cheapest digital you can buy now. The lens isn't as fast and doesn't have great optical zoom, but the sensor is fast, so you can get some surprisingly good low light shots. The shutter delay is long though, and the exposure control with the 'flash' isn't good, so you end up with burned out blue-white images if you use it too close to your subject. Better than nothing though.

Should I review the navigation as if it were a dedicated GPS? First, the GPS features depend 100% on data coverage, when you don't have data coverage you don't have GPS. So don't rely on this as your only form of navigation. The big problem with traffic linked navigation systems is that the method of getting the traffic reports in is poor. The data tends to be old or missing. So you get reports about incidents that were in the distant past, or you get no warning before running in to a problem. The Bay Area has a lot of radar based traffic speed monitoring, but even that isn't enough to cause either this LG phone or my Garmin Nuvi 670 to make good traffic related decisions. The regular routes chosen are fine and the maps downloaded are adequate. But if you are heading out where there's no network coverage then there's no GPS guidance either. The phone does really use GPS, not some awful signal strength based triangulation. Re-routing on bad traffic isn't as good as Tomtom or Garmin, sometimes it even asks you if it should request a new route rather than just getting on with it. Right now I am wondering if I should continue to bother with the GPS or just keep it as a curiosity.

The interface to the phone book is different and much less good than the regular interfaces: navigation is a loaded application, so it doesn't do things the LG way. It should. The phone native software has a favorites list, a contacts list and a dial pad for selecting numbers. The favorites list can use pictures of the recipients. In the messaging the favorites are available as a short list under one tab. In the GPS software there's an option to send a sit-rep to tell people when you will get where you are going, it's under the options menu. But then you have to hit 'add' to add a contact to the recipient list and then either dial the number or find it in the address book. This version of the address book lacks the short cut letter bar, so you can't just go to the 'S' entries with one tap. You have to search for individual names. This is the last thing you want to be doing whilst driving.

The email interface is not good. It is slow and neither includes the graphics nor can follow links. So if your receive html based email you aren't going to know what the message is until you get to a real browser. Or, if you are lucky, you can browse to the page on the Verizon browser, which actually seems OK. The email client also crashes on trying to do a group reply and takes the phone down with it. They need to improve this and also add some user friendliness, like allowing the notification tone to be changed to separate it from other features on the phone.

Then there's the curious operational bugs/incompatibilities/irritations. When it receives an email or text message it just has to tell you right now, even if you are busy writing another text. Couldn't it just beep and flash an icon? Instead you either have to read the other message now, at which point your current message is stuffed into the drafts, or hit the read-later button. Now, if you were typing at the time the message turned up you might randomly get either one of those. When email comes in it beeeeeeps. Nothing you can do about that. And then you have to hit ignore, if you hit the hangup key you also close whatever else you were on. If you get email notification it holds the screen lit, even if the phone had locked the keys and gone blank before, so if you don't tell it not to bother you at night you are very likely to wake to a dead battery. Sometimes the navigation system starts itself for no apparent reason, like when the phone is sitting on the coffee table and we are watching a movie.

The phone comes with a poor set of ring tones, my Nokia E51 was much better and I think the sound quality was better too. In general I think Nokia are much better than LG.

The web browser can be slow, not the data connection, that varies with signal quality and all else; at times the touch screen and the web page are slow to respond, the tactile feedback shows that the 'mouse' events have been ignored for long periods. The widgets can be very hard to select too. Mostly it's OK, but on the low side of acceptable. You wouldn't want to try browsing normal web pages with anything less than this, but it can be used.

Anyway. so what do you expect when you have a phone that's smaller than an iPod but has a web interface and all else built in? maybe just a bit more than I got. A screen that can be read in direct sun and has better resolution would be a good start.

3 Months later:

The GPS, especially in the 'traffic based routing' mode is more of a novelty than anything else. If it is all you have then it's better than nothing, but a basic $100 GPS receiver is better than this. Recently I was making a side street diversion (home brewed, not the phone's idea), even when I was almost back on the main road, no more than 200 yards from empty road, it was still advising me to go back to where I got off I880 and sit in traffic for 30 minutes. The Garmin Nuvi 680 is much better than this. Verizon should disable this supposed 'feature' until their software people have done some serious rework.

The work-flow around text messaging is poor. New messages interrupt while you are entering a response, picture messages take over completely. When you are entering text other things should happen in background. These phones have fantastically powerful little processors, I can only suppose that the software guys know nothing about multi tasking and real time software (where I have 25 years experience). When you have read one text message and told it to you'll read two or three interruptions later it drops you out of messaging instead of back to the in box to deal with the new messages. Sloppy.

Reliability has been good, though with a few crashes and still no software update. An interesting strange behavior that has crept in, each time I enter a $ sign in a message it enters $130000 but puts the cursor before the 1. It crashes if I try to group reply to email. Sometimes it just crashes. Not very often though. So it's not a show stopper for me.

Would I buy this phone today? Still yes. The network coverage on Verizon overrides the better bandwidth of the iPhone. If AT&T had better coverage it might be a different answer. If coverage doesn't matter to you, like you don't leave metro areas, then Verizon doesn't have any trump cards.

Late December: still no software update. I've found a few more ways to crash the phone,[...] can do it any time. Hmm, no, that's not true. There is a software update, and there has been one for some time, I have v0.3 and v0.5 was out in September when I got the phone. Not great to find that out now.

March 09 update

The software update fixed most of the reliability issues, and if I ever got round to complaining about questionable Bluetooth performance... well that was fixed too. They have massaged the UI code and it has made the web abd keyboard interfaces easier to use, a subtle but important improvement, hard to quantify but very good.

The GPS guidance and especially the traffic avoidance are still not worth using, unless you are really lost. Verizon's navigation scheme is not a good solution. If you need that sort of thing then buy a cheap GPS.

The Truth about Dare August 15, 2008

Reviewer:  FastGurl "Energy Junkie"  (New York, NY USA) -

After much deliberation I purchased the LG Dare. My concerns were as follows: the size, Outlook calendar synchronization and the QWERTY. My previous phone was a KRZR which I loved because of the size and hated for many more reasons. My phone before this was the V710 which I hated because of the size but loved everything else about it. So purchasing a "waffle phone" such as the Dare was a big concern. Men don't have much of an issue but women's clothing does not often allow a roomy enough pocket to store something the size of the Dare and I'd grown accustomed to the small size of the KRZR. The other phone I was considering was the Blackberry Curve.... which isn't any smaller but it does come in pink. haha

I bought the LG Dare because A) it's cool, B) it does almost everything I want and C) the camera phone. I was hesitant to buy the Dare because it is not a smart phone.

To the best of my knowledge you can not sync your Outlook calendar with your Dare the second you boot it up. There are tweaks and downloads available so that you can basically do it but there isn't a feature that is as straightforward as ActiveSync available. This would be my #1 complaint.

The second problem I have is that it does not appear that the internet pages I am bringing up are MOBILE internet pages like you would get from surfing from a pocketPC or a smart phone. Instead it's the full size page, shrunken down a bit but not really enough because you have to scroll from side to side and up to down.

All in all this is a fun phone. It's easy to use and the LG/Verizon interface is really smart and simple to use. The mp3s sound good, it plays flash, video and jpg look great and after 24 hours of use I'm pretty happy with it. I've calibrated the touch typing and did the "voice training" so I feel like the phone responds very well. The Dare isn't a smart phone if you want a smart phone that's like the Dare try HTC's latest but it's much bigger (I have one of these also and really love the keyboard and feel like I'm on a micro-laptop).

I gave this phone 3 stars because I feel like if LG had added Outlook syncing and a better HTML browswer (like on a smart phone/pocket PC) it would be the perfect phone.

Oh, hey, and I almost forgot... the call quality is awesome. Quite possibly the clearest I've ever heard. Not that phone calls are important on a phone. haha

THE LG DARE, I LOVE IT November 22, 2008

Reviewer:  Richard Tjomsland "Common-Sense Wit & Wisdom"  (Encinitas, CA USA) -

I got so tired of the negative reviews with no basis in fact that I have addressed almost all "CON" issues by previous reviewers to bring you the real facts without being tainted by lack of intellect, common sense or lack of understanding on how the phone features work best. You will first see the "CON" followed by my "RESPONSE". I have made no changes in their negative reviews. They are quoted exactly as posted by them. Furthermore, I am not a tech, just an informed novice. I tried to address all of the 1 and 2 stars and some of the 3 stars. First, start with the online tutorial.

CON: The back buton is on the top left hand corner.
As a right hander , each time I press the back button , my thumb needs to travel all the way to the top left corner and the button is not with-in reach , inspite of my big palm.
This is putting lot of pressure on my thumb.
If you are really interested to buy this phone , please check the ergonomics before you do so.

RESPONSE: This is absurd. This reviewer can't even spell. Most of us are right handed. However, I hold my LG in my left hand and simply move my thumb to the top left corner and unlock it. It is very easy.

CON: The Dare is slow, it's touch screen is oversensitive you have to correct the . mark because you wanted an n but it keeps giving you a period mark. Give it some time and you to will be back to texting the old way instead of using the full keyboard.

RESPONSE: I have not found the Dare to the least bit slow and my previous phone was the LG VENUS a similar phone. I had some learning curve problems with the touch screen and went into Verizon where the tech quickly showed my how to use it correctly and I have had no touch screen problems since then. First of all I can't believe people still text message when Jot.com is available. But, if you do, I find the full keyboard very easy to use and user friendly. I am 6'1" and have big hands and it is still not an issue. It was like moving from a stick shift car to an automatic, just a little learning curve.

CON: unresponsive touch screen freeze ups and lock ups battery overheating phone would place calls on its own even when the screen was locked with that being said the lock feature was sketchy......

RESPONSE: I have never had this problem and never heard of anyone else having the problem. If I would have had the problem, I would have simply had Verizon replace it with a new one.

CON: this phone has a terrible screen. You can not read anything when outside or in direct sun. The connection ports are not well designed eitgher and you have to take the cover off everytime yo want to simply use your car charger.

RESPONSE: If this is an issue for you, for less than $5 you can buy a screen protector and it does away with the glare without loosing any of the screen's resolution.


CON: I bought it mainly for the 3.2 megapixel camera. That has been a major disappointment, mainly because it is so difficult to transfer photos to my computer. Verizon and some other companies make it difficult to transfer photos directly to your computer because they want you to use the avenues they have set up for you, such as emailing the photos, for which there is a charge. I have had to buy a Micro SanDisk chip for about [...]...... The location of the two buttons that turn the DARE on are located on the lower right of the front and on the upper left side, locations that result in the phone being turned on accidentally very frequently, and draining my battery......

RESPONSE: Absurd. I love the 3.2 megapixel camera and I simply took the Micro Disk from my previous phone and plugged into the Dare. And, of course, there is a charge for texting photos. Is it supposed to be free? Texting is not a free service. And, for $[...] at Best Buy you can buy a Micro Disk which I previously purchased for my LG VENUS. I have no problems transferring photos from my phone to my computer. If you really have justified issues, have Verizon replace the phone. Further, I find the placement of the lock/unlock buttons excellent. You also do not need to use the touch screen feature if you find it inconvenient. Simply push the unlock button twice. I have never had it unlock in my pocket. It seems to me it is fool proof.

CON: Reception sucks. No one is experiencing this, so I guess it's my location.

RESPONSE: I think the above person probably answered their main CON. I have never had a reception problem.

CON: when i compare the scroll and touch features to the ipod touch i have....

RESPONSE: The DARE also does not cost [...] or [...]. Would you expect an apple to compare to an orange?

THANK YOU

Well rounded and feature packed September 12, 2008

Reviewer:  Jason Bentley  (Everywhere, USA) -

The fact that I decided to come back to Amazon to actually leave a good review for this phone says a lot (for me at least). I have owned the phone for 3 months now and I have no major complaints. My two previous phones were both flip phones; both Motorola's, and I will probably never buy another Moto again because this phone has opened my eyes to the fact that there is product out there with superior quality in comparison.

Size:
The sleek profile of the phone fits nicely in my pocket without making it bulky. However, it's not so small that it is uncomfortable to grip for long periods of time. It sits nicely in the hand while on calls.

The screen:
My favorite aspect of this phone. The touch response is lightning quick, accurately calibrated, and the vibrational feedback (which is configurable to either short or long pulses) is a neat function. The screen resolution and color are amazing, with my only gripe being that the screen is much harder to view in direct sunlight. But this should be obvious since it's a problem with most mobile devices.
The picture and video quality are also excellent.

Sound quality:
My phone calls have never been so crisp. I HATE holding the phone up to my ear if I don't have to and so I've always been a fan of speakerphone whenever possible. The speakerphone on the dare blew away any other phone I've had. Not only are my callers loud and clear, but so am I to them on the other end. I also don't use my phone for music much, but this little thing impressed me very much when I played music using the same external speaker output that the dare uses for it's speakerphone.

Menu icons layout:
I found the phone to be very intuitive, another big surprise for me after purchasing the phone. I had initially worried about where LG would decide to hide all the menus, options, and gadgets of the phone, but this worry was quickly dispelled. Simply put, the customization and standard layouts of this phone are easy to learn and well placed. This aspect of the phone, along with the screen itself and sound quality deserve 5 stars. Transitions between menus and the like are virtually lag-free as well; another plus.

Battery life is phenomenal, even with heavy use. Although I have only had the phone for 3 months.

The only reasons this phone does not get a 5 star review is because the buttons at the bottom of my phone do not "bounce back" as well as they once did and are a bit harder to actually depress, as they "stick" a little bit now. Also, out of the box, the phone is quite slick. I didn't have to live with this problem for too long because I invested in buying an Invisible Shield protector for my phone (a super thin, super scratch resistant adhesive film covering the entire phone and significantly improving the phone's grip at the same time. I would suggest one to anybody buying this phone).

I totally love my phone and would suggest it to most.

Update:

I've had my phone for several months now and the invisible shield that I bought to cover the entire phone worked well at first, but started bubbling up and peeling in some spots. The film that covers the screen and the backside of the phone are holding up well, but my suggestion would be to just buy the one for the screen if you were interested in one at all.

I should also mention that I never have and never will use this phone to browse the internet. I have a laptop for that, and so my rating doesn't take into account the internet or email feature of this phone.

Overall, still very pleased with the phone. If you can live with a touch screen and are realistic about what having one means for functionality, I think it's a good alternative to an iPhone.

It's nifty, but it wasn't for me November 14, 2008

Reviewer:  M. Cargill  (Eastern Oregon) -

I'd been shopping for a new phone for quite awhile & kept waiting for that new just right phone. Well, I thought I had it in the Dare. I like the touch factor more than I thought I would, especially after the screen protector was put on. I liked being able to drag items & play with the camera. Getting pictures to my computer was easy, but videos, I had to use a program called BitPim. The phone would sometimes turn off when least expected. The battery life was good. I liked the Qwerty keyboard, but I found myself going back & forth between it & the number keyboard because it was easier to do the special characters. The draw pad was fun, but I wouldn't use that feature for text messages because it wasn't accurate. A stylus would have been a great feature, but a pen cap worked just fine. The one major drawback for me, though, was that you could not input street addresses into the contacts. I don't want a PDA because of the extra expense. Yet, on my old LG VX8300, I could at least make do & use the email location because it accepted spaces. The LG Dare does not. It does have a notepad, but it isn't attached to the contacts. If it had this one little ability, I probably would have kept it. It may not be an iPhone or G1, but it's a nifty little phone. The other drawback, is that with Verizon & a family plan, getting upgrades is almost about as expensive as getting a new plan with new phones & their other phones are not as neat as some that the other carriers are offering.

iPhone killer? Nope. Verizons best phone? Oh yeah! October 1, 2008

Reviewer:  J. Vazquez  (Virginia) -

Ever since the iPhone came out, touch screen everything has been the new trend. While this technology has existed for many years, having it on something as small as a phone has excited lots of people. Add to that the features of a smart phone, like mp3 players, internet, etc., and you have an all in one product that does the task of multiple electronic devices.

New into the growing market is the LG Dare, a spin-off of the LG Prada that has been available in Europe for a few years now. At first glance, this is a smaller iPhone clone, which is partially true (the Prada came out in 2006). The biggest differences is that...
1) This phone uses proprietary Verizon software. Very similar features to other LG/Verizon phones, which isn't all bad, but you won't be able to customize it like an iPhone.
2) Using the Verizon network, this phone has amazing coverage and high internet speeds. I never have dropped calls, and have coverage in the most remote of places.

The first thing to notice is the beautiful 3-inch screen on the front. It is smaller than the iPhone, but so is the entire phone. The colors are vibrant, and the animations are smooth. The screen is very accurate for one its size, and the overall look is very nice. There are also three buttons on the bottom (call, back/speakerphone, and a back/end call). On the side you get a USB charger, speakerphone button, volume rocker, key lock, and a camera button.

All the menus are layed out well, but require some tinkering before you know where everything is. From the main screen you get a few options. There is messaging, call, main menu, contacts, and favorites. On the upper right there is a link to shortcuts, which can be customized to your most used tasks. One great idea is the ability to drag items from the shortcut screen to your main screen. From there they can be moved anywhere on the front of you Dare.

In addition to the typical features, the Dare also gives you a large amount of connectivity to other things. VZ navigator is a GPS program that provides turn by turn directions to addresses and a huge listing of food, gas, events and more. I found the GPS to be very accurate, and with the text-to-speech function, I never had to look down. Another nice feature included is a mobile email feature that will notify you of new emails from a variety of accounts that you can add.

Texting is very easy as there are many ways to do it. There is your typical text entry by tapping the numbers to get the letters you want. There is T-9 for predictive text, and a handwriting recognition program, which I found to be very poor. The coolest features is that if you turn the Dare sideways, a full qwerty keyboard appears. At first it is a little hard to use because the screen is a little small, but it works well.

Connecting to the internet on the Dare is easy, and the Verizon network is fast at loading web pages. The only real downside is that the small screen makes navigating pages a chore (the volume rocker will change page size), and large pages require a lot of moving around to see everything. This is not like a laptop internet, more like a "last resort" kind of thing that is still neat, but is a bit of a chore.

V-Cast is also included, which has a wealth of video clips that range from pure entertainment, to sports and up to the minute news coverage. With the Verizon network, the speeds are good, and the video quality is watchable. There is Verizon's base browser that has been on many phones offering quick access to news and weather, but because it is proprietary, it is not customizable.

One very nice feature is the camera. It loads in two seconds, and offers a large amount of features for a useful 3.2 megapixel camera. Things like face detection, customizable ISO and white levels, etc., give this camera more bang for your buck than other phones. The video recorder takes nice pictures also, and there is a high rate function that takes 120 frames a second for some very cool slow motion videos.

There is an on-board mp3 player that works quite well, but you must supply your own SD-micro card. Verizon includes Rhapsody software, so you can fill your Dare with tunes for $15 a month, but with the restrictions of DRM (i.e. burning limitations, you can't listen if you don't pay that month).

Other basic features (which I won't hit all of) include your basic, calender, alarm, stopwatch, world time, notepad, etc.. Basically, if it should come with it, this phone does. As a note the battery life is great, lasting days without heavy usage, and about 2-2.5 with very heavy usage.

Some minor quirks do arise. The phone is smaller than the iPhone, so the screen isn't as accurate. The letters on the qwerty keyboard are quite small. Even though there are two forms of feedback (a noise when you hit a letter, and the Dare vibrates when ever any button is touched), you will find that big fingers will hit the wrong button. Also, the web browsing leaves something to be desired.

Overall, this isn't the smart phone the iPhone is, but those on the Verizon network should take a good look at the Dare. It is a sleek and sexy phone that offers a huge amount of connectivity in a fun to use package.

*** Three Month Update ***

My plan is over and I am switching to T-Mobile (just got the Google G1 phone; will review later). After a few months with the Dare, a few updates...

- The Dare is VERY small, but doesn't feel cheap. That being said it is too small for me. My average sized hands dwarf it in size. Also the slick backing makes it slide off things when you put it down on a slope. The solution for me was a silicone case. It adds a bit of size (not much), but makes the phone feel more solid, and it prevents it from sliding (for example, putting the phone on the dash of my car for a sec).

- It takes time, but the virtual QWERTY keyboard can be used quite fast and accurate. That's with time. Most of my friends found the keyboard too hard to use and would rather have a real physical alternative. All I wished was there was some type of spell correction that would kick in if I hit the wrong key. If I am typing the word "president" and hit "y" instead of the "t" at the end, I wish the phone would assume I was one letter off and do it for me.

- Having played with an iPhone and G1, I can tell you the Verizon app store is a total joke. Some categories have nothing in them at all. My G1 had at least 10 apps on it in the first half hour, and they were all free. Verizon expects you to pay $3 a month for a underpowered Wiki app. These pay per month apps can add up.

- I still must say the batter power is amazing in this thing. The other day I left the house with a full charge and drove an hour north to visit a friend. I used GPS there and back (2 full hours), surfed the net, made a few calls, messaged a bunch of people, took pictures; and still had 2 of the 4 bars of power. I didn't charge the phone that night, took it to work the next day (still using it quite a bit), and got home 10 hours later with one bar.

- In all fairness, comparing this phone to the iPhone is not fair. This is a mediaphone. You get internet access (which gets a C- in my book), mp3 player, youtube, etc.. This phone is way more about keeping yourself entertained than it is about work. Having just purchased a smartphone the differences are much more clear. I can send long emails with my G1, but wouldn't want to with the Dare.