LG - Strawberry Chocolate Cell Phone Review

Overall 3.38 of 5 view all 16 reviews

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JChancey
Chelsea, AL

Cute and fun to use--but watch that touchpad!

a busy person, Every day computer user, a woman, a mobile phone user, somewhat tech savvy, computer literate, expecting good, fair service, rough on my stuff

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Pros

compact size, pretty color, beautiful display, excellent voice quality, music player

Cons

Doesn't work with gloves on, touch screen is annoying, charger door flimsy

MAY

2008

I had a flip phone for a couple of years but became disappointed with the features (especially the fact that it was too easy to accidentally hang up on people and the fact that the phone dropped calls rather frequently). I did some research and found that flip phones often have a more limited pick-up than flat phones, so I decided to check out a new model when my Verizon contract's free upgrade offer came around.

I loved the look of the Chocolate right off the bat, but I also appreciated the sliding panel feature that allowed me to cover the keypad without flipping the phone closed. With curious children, it's great to have a keypad that's a bit difficult for little hands to access! I also liked the camera, which takes photos of a higher quality than my previous camera -- and which lets me email photos directly from the phone to friends and family.

The MP3 feature is one that, frankly, I should use more often, but it takes quite a bit of time to sync the phone to my laptop and initiate downloads, so I finally just gave up. It's a great feature to have if you don't already have an iPod, but it's a bit of a hassle to use, and you need to purchase an extra memory card if you plan to store more than a few files.

While I've enjoyed this phone much more than my flip-phone, I still find the touch pad (for menu options) annoying. The user can set the sensitivity of the pad so that a light touch won't make a selection, but I've discovered that there's really no ideal setting. If it's set too high, then it's difficult to get it to read a touch at all. Too low and anything sets it off. For example, not only will the pad "read" a finger touch, but it will also "read" my face as a touch if the phone brushes against my cheek! That can be exasperating when I'm on voice mail and need to click an option on the number pad (which isn't touch sensitive like the front option panel).

If the menu screen has brushed against my face, then the phone opens a menu option, and if I go to press a number on the key pad, voice mail doesn't get it -- the menu screen gets it. I then have to pull the phone away from my ear to look at the screen and use the touch pad to get back out of the menu options so that I can click a number for voice mail's menu. This happens all the time, even if I'm being very careful. Whenever I'm out, I've learned to stick with the Bluetooth earpiece, since I can speak commands instead of having to touch the keypad at all.

The idea behind the Chocolate was a great one, but I think LG doesn't quite have the touch technology mastered. It would have made more sense to hide the touch-sensitive menu buttons so that they cannot accidentally come in contact with the user's face. They'd have been better off inside the sliding panel with the number keypad. I'd also have put more careful thought into the doors for the charger and the memory card. They are flimsy and too easy to break off.

While I plan to keep this phone and use it for the time being, I know I will switch to another phone when my freebie comes around with my contract renewal. I'll shop a little more carefully next time, trying out the practicality of any touch-sensitive features before falling in love with the cute color and nice camera!