- Joined
- Feb 8, 2004
Quick review of the Optimus V smartphone running on Virgin Mobile
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Virgin+...99164111&skuId=1879739&st=optimus v&cp=1&lp=1
I got the Optimus V phone about three months ago when they were selling it for $130 at bestbuy. It's now gone UP in price to $200 but is still a good buy.
Since there are many other review that are just a google search away I'm not going over all the specs, instead I'm going to limit my review to my experiences with the phone and provider.
Bought it at Best Buy after being refered there by Radio Shack. They set it up and got it running and making calls within 15 minutes and the 3G was running in about an hour, Woo Hoo! New toy goodness!
The phone is a great little unit with pretty good response to touch and flipping through menus. Touch accuracy is very good. the keyboard is now quite as nice as the iPhone with it's nice little touches like the '.com' button. The CPU is a little on the slow side. There is definite stuttering when playing the Angry Birds games (rio,seasons) but it's not too bad. The 3.2 megapixel camera gets about a 3 out of 5 from me. It has no flash and pictures can look a bit washed out but they are sharp. Video recording does well but also suffers from mild pausing.
Wireless hotspot is turned off by Virgin Mobile by default but you can easily get it going by getting Quick Settings from the app store. The biggest problem for me so far is the very limited onboard storage. Even by moving apps to the SD card you run through the onboard storage quickly since not all of the app is moved there. and once on the SD card the app takes forever to load when you are turning the phone on. Much has been written about Apple store having 3.5 times more apps than android. I've used both and really you may have 5 of the same kind of app on Android and 17 of the same app on apple, no big difference really. Plus Amazon now has a store on android as well and they give away a different paid-for app for free every day. Web surfing is OK, but the smallish screen requires a lot of zooming. Flash does not play in the browser but there is a youtube app which works well. playing .avi or .mpg files requires a different movie player than the one provided. I used QQ Player. It works ok, but frame rates are noticable low when playing an episode of Big Bang Theory. Firefox is NOT currently available for this unit. The Google apps are amazing with the only problem being in Navigator, which is the built in GPS for driving directions. The app does not store maps anywhere on the phone, so if you do not have internet connection when starting your trip you will not be able to get driving directions, which brings me to the second biggest problem with this, and all Android phones. When you do not have internet connection your phone is crippled, many of the coolest features simply don't work. Sorry Google, but ubiquitous internet may be so common out in Google land that you guys don't even think about it, but for us poor shmucks in rural New Hampshire it's hit and miss. I overcame the Navigator problem by paying for a GPS app that loads the USA street maps (2 gigs) on to the SD card, but it's a shame that Navigator does not let you store maps on the phone because Navigator is much better. It's voice recognition for driving directions is eye-poppingly good (requires internet though).
Battery life is decent out of the box but much better after I installed an app called Juice Defender. It can go all day on one charge under light to moderate use. The phone is slim enough, feels solid, performs well, overall a great entry level unit. Sound quality on the phone is excellent. As is playing music through my car stereo. You can stream music to a car stereo though blue tooth and this is good quality too. The internal speaker is good for an internal speaker.
The carrier is definately a mixed bag. Service is provided by Virgin Mobile, which is part of Sprint. It is a pre-paid service. I have coverage in my home town and most places I go but there is a big dead spot where I work. My friends can get service INSIDE the building with Verizon, I have to travel out of town to make a call. I knew this going in to the deal though, so I am not griping, just pointing out that Sprint is definitely a lesser carrier. Phone calls though are crystal clear, much better than Verizon quality.
After about three weeks I had issues with 3G all of a sudden not being there. I tried several things and figured out it was definitely Virgin Mobile and not my phone, so I called tech support where I got a person who spoke heavily accented English. After repeating several times what my problem was and the circumstances of it occurring they had me pull the battery out and reset several times, then had me check several settings. No Luck. After acknowledging that the problem was with Virgin Mobile service, not my phone she tells me she will start a trouble shooting ticket and I will have to wait 7 to 10 days to get a technician to fix it.
WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!
I was now about an hour in to this, losing patience and I blew up at her. Didn't swear or be abusive but I let her know I was angry and repeatedly told her this was not acceptable, pointing out that it only took an hour to get this phone fully activated when I bought it. She tried the 'there is nothing I can do you have to wait 7 to 10 days' thing with me, so I told her I wanted to escalate the matter, she was clearly non-plussed, so I told her I wanted to talk to her supervisor, so she got one for me and 20 minutes later my phone was fully working. Later that day I got an e-mail about a service change and I lost 3G again and went through an exact repeat of my first tech support call. two days later I could not make phone calls and went through a third round of exact repeat of my first tech support shenanigans. It's been about two months now and I've been getting rock solid performance.
my other negative about Virgin mobile is the method of paying for your service. It sucks. You have to go through the Virgin Mobile web site, which is not well thought out. It's bad enough on a desktop but a total pain when on the phone. Trac phone has a vastly better idea, you simply buy a pre-paid card at any convenience store and punch the number in to the pre-paid app on the phone. Poof! you have more minutes and service time. Why Virgin Mobile can't simply copy this is beyond me, the CEO should find out which executives are responsible and fire them.
On the plus side, Virgin Mobile did end up fixing my phone on the same day I called, be it with angry prodding. The plan itself is awesome. I pay $25 for 300 minutes and UNLIMITED texting and UNLIMITED data use, I get service most places I want it and I never use all 300 minutes anyway. If I did I can change my plan on the fly to $40 for 1200 minutes or $60 for unlimited voice. then go back down again any time I want to the $25 plan. Phone insurance with water damage coverage is only $5 a month extra. As much as I like the better coverage of Verizon or AT&T I am simply not able to afford it, they are grossly overpriced. I would not be able to have a smart phone at all if not for Virgin Mobile, and I love having a smartphone. The to-do list alone has been worth it for me.
Overall I am reasonably satisfied with both the Optimus V and with Virgin Mobile service, I would do it all over again if I had to. When I'm ready to upgrade I will will have minimum requirements of a 4" screen, 1 gig of onboard memory and a 1 Ghz CPU with a GPU accelerator (the optimus V has an onboard GPU, so this is not a wild wish)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Virgin+...99164111&skuId=1879739&st=optimus v&cp=1&lp=1
I got the Optimus V phone about three months ago when they were selling it for $130 at bestbuy. It's now gone UP in price to $200 but is still a good buy.
Since there are many other review that are just a google search away I'm not going over all the specs, instead I'm going to limit my review to my experiences with the phone and provider.
Bought it at Best Buy after being refered there by Radio Shack. They set it up and got it running and making calls within 15 minutes and the 3G was running in about an hour, Woo Hoo! New toy goodness!
The phone is a great little unit with pretty good response to touch and flipping through menus. Touch accuracy is very good. the keyboard is now quite as nice as the iPhone with it's nice little touches like the '.com' button. The CPU is a little on the slow side. There is definite stuttering when playing the Angry Birds games (rio,seasons) but it's not too bad. The 3.2 megapixel camera gets about a 3 out of 5 from me. It has no flash and pictures can look a bit washed out but they are sharp. Video recording does well but also suffers from mild pausing.
Wireless hotspot is turned off by Virgin Mobile by default but you can easily get it going by getting Quick Settings from the app store. The biggest problem for me so far is the very limited onboard storage. Even by moving apps to the SD card you run through the onboard storage quickly since not all of the app is moved there. and once on the SD card the app takes forever to load when you are turning the phone on. Much has been written about Apple store having 3.5 times more apps than android. I've used both and really you may have 5 of the same kind of app on Android and 17 of the same app on apple, no big difference really. Plus Amazon now has a store on android as well and they give away a different paid-for app for free every day. Web surfing is OK, but the smallish screen requires a lot of zooming. Flash does not play in the browser but there is a youtube app which works well. playing .avi or .mpg files requires a different movie player than the one provided. I used QQ Player. It works ok, but frame rates are noticable low when playing an episode of Big Bang Theory. Firefox is NOT currently available for this unit. The Google apps are amazing with the only problem being in Navigator, which is the built in GPS for driving directions. The app does not store maps anywhere on the phone, so if you do not have internet connection when starting your trip you will not be able to get driving directions, which brings me to the second biggest problem with this, and all Android phones. When you do not have internet connection your phone is crippled, many of the coolest features simply don't work. Sorry Google, but ubiquitous internet may be so common out in Google land that you guys don't even think about it, but for us poor shmucks in rural New Hampshire it's hit and miss. I overcame the Navigator problem by paying for a GPS app that loads the USA street maps (2 gigs) on to the SD card, but it's a shame that Navigator does not let you store maps on the phone because Navigator is much better. It's voice recognition for driving directions is eye-poppingly good (requires internet though).
Battery life is decent out of the box but much better after I installed an app called Juice Defender. It can go all day on one charge under light to moderate use. The phone is slim enough, feels solid, performs well, overall a great entry level unit. Sound quality on the phone is excellent. As is playing music through my car stereo. You can stream music to a car stereo though blue tooth and this is good quality too. The internal speaker is good for an internal speaker.
The carrier is definately a mixed bag. Service is provided by Virgin Mobile, which is part of Sprint. It is a pre-paid service. I have coverage in my home town and most places I go but there is a big dead spot where I work. My friends can get service INSIDE the building with Verizon, I have to travel out of town to make a call. I knew this going in to the deal though, so I am not griping, just pointing out that Sprint is definitely a lesser carrier. Phone calls though are crystal clear, much better than Verizon quality.
After about three weeks I had issues with 3G all of a sudden not being there. I tried several things and figured out it was definitely Virgin Mobile and not my phone, so I called tech support where I got a person who spoke heavily accented English. After repeating several times what my problem was and the circumstances of it occurring they had me pull the battery out and reset several times, then had me check several settings. No Luck. After acknowledging that the problem was with Virgin Mobile service, not my phone she tells me she will start a trouble shooting ticket and I will have to wait 7 to 10 days to get a technician to fix it.
WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!
I was now about an hour in to this, losing patience and I blew up at her. Didn't swear or be abusive but I let her know I was angry and repeatedly told her this was not acceptable, pointing out that it only took an hour to get this phone fully activated when I bought it. She tried the 'there is nothing I can do you have to wait 7 to 10 days' thing with me, so I told her I wanted to escalate the matter, she was clearly non-plussed, so I told her I wanted to talk to her supervisor, so she got one for me and 20 minutes later my phone was fully working. Later that day I got an e-mail about a service change and I lost 3G again and went through an exact repeat of my first tech support call. two days later I could not make phone calls and went through a third round of exact repeat of my first tech support shenanigans. It's been about two months now and I've been getting rock solid performance.
my other negative about Virgin mobile is the method of paying for your service. It sucks. You have to go through the Virgin Mobile web site, which is not well thought out. It's bad enough on a desktop but a total pain when on the phone. Trac phone has a vastly better idea, you simply buy a pre-paid card at any convenience store and punch the number in to the pre-paid app on the phone. Poof! you have more minutes and service time. Why Virgin Mobile can't simply copy this is beyond me, the CEO should find out which executives are responsible and fire them.
On the plus side, Virgin Mobile did end up fixing my phone on the same day I called, be it with angry prodding. The plan itself is awesome. I pay $25 for 300 minutes and UNLIMITED texting and UNLIMITED data use, I get service most places I want it and I never use all 300 minutes anyway. If I did I can change my plan on the fly to $40 for 1200 minutes or $60 for unlimited voice. then go back down again any time I want to the $25 plan. Phone insurance with water damage coverage is only $5 a month extra. As much as I like the better coverage of Verizon or AT&T I am simply not able to afford it, they are grossly overpriced. I would not be able to have a smart phone at all if not for Virgin Mobile, and I love having a smartphone. The to-do list alone has been worth it for me.
Overall I am reasonably satisfied with both the Optimus V and with Virgin Mobile service, I would do it all over again if I had to. When I'm ready to upgrade I will will have minimum requirements of a 4" screen, 1 gig of onboard memory and a 1 Ghz CPU with a GPU accelerator (the optimus V has an onboard GPU, so this is not a wild wish)
