Virgin Mobile - LG Rumor Touch

The clam shell like phone, model Vx3400, was my very first cell phone on the Verizon network. Before that I had a pager aka beeper.  Later on when I lost that I upgraded to the Vx6000.  I dropped the Vx6000 at a Dave and Buster's and when I came back for it, it looked as if someone stepped on it.  They were decent basic phones with basic applications and good speaker phones.  The last phones on the Verizon network were the Palm Treo 650 and 750.  I have then switched to Cingular-AT&T and T-Mobile.  I've been through more than one iPhone and version 3, Blackberry 7230, Blackberry 8130 Pearls, World and Curves, used the Razr for a month and sold it, tinkered with the HTCs and Motorola Dash with Windows OS. There's so many others I laid hands on and used, hoping to grasp the PlayStation Portable (PSP) type media and data merger, while able to access the internet and make phone calls.  When I finally quit my geek hunt for the most media all in one device in a cell phone, I decided to just go basic with a cheap Metro PCS phone, for two years unlimited calling had served me well until I lost my phone and didn't care to stay with Metro PCS any more because yes their data and calling usage plan are unlimited, but if the phone doesn't support it then what's the point, for the ones that did support data access you had to shell out approximately $300 for a crappy Metro PCS phone with a crappy browser or interface.  At last the smartphones explosion...

I love the latest iPhones and the HTCs where you can do video conferencing.  I love watching the great HD clarity of the World Series on the HD screen.  I love the applications like the Angry Birds game, find the closest bar when you're on Amsterdam Avenue and 96th Street, tip calculator (because I am bad at it) and even the Budweiser ad where when the host of the party runs out of Budweiser, he loads his Budweiser app. and start pouring beer from his smartphone.  This is like the beginning of the Star Trek replicator aboard the Enterprise, "There's an app. for that", "If you build it, he will come".

I switched to Virgin Mobile a year and a half ago and this is my second LG Rumor Touch because I either lost or someone stole it when I was in Europe, in which it does not work because Europe is mostly GSM and Sprint is a CDMA network.  I got this phone when it was like two hundred something dollars, then after a few months they dropped the price to $149ish.  This Dumbphone, non-Android, is a very versatile phone.  I am reviewing it for anyone else going conservative, thinking about buying the LG Rumor Touch on the Sprint Virgin Mobile network.

As you can see, it slides to a nice keypad which allows me to text and type much faster. You can use it in it's closed position by touching the screen.  I set my main screen list with the Main Menu as the first option which opens to another set of useful tools.  The Contacts list is second in line then my Opera Mini browser and the Google Maps.  Within Main Menu are your basic apps. like Notepad, Calculator, Stopwatch, Alarm, Facebook/Twitter login apps., Camera/Camcorder, Media Player, an app to find how many minutes are left and some other minor apps.  You don't have access to an extensive apps library, they only give you some cheap entertainment or music selections.  If you want a smartphone, go with one of their Android phones.  This phone has the following:

--Mini USB Slot on the bottom
--MicroSD Slot
--Headphone Jack
--Quick Volume Up and Down on side 
--Quick Camera button

--Charge time is short and it can last close to two days with minimum use

--The price is right: $25 Plus Tax at the end of each month for $27ish for 300 minutes and unlimited data is nice.  If you run out of minutes, you just add more.  You can change to an upgraded plan at the end of every month.

--Unlimited Data: So far I've been able to text, email, YouTube music, surf the web, check my email on a daily basis with very minimum connection issues.  The Opera Mini browser is very clear and very good.  I get pictures fine and people can email mynumber@virginserver.com and I'll get the email to my phone.  I can update this blog with limited words on the phone. 

--The volume and clarity in talking over the phone is good, no what or what did you say?  No speaker phone. It includes Bluetooth for hands free.

--The Google Maps works great, I have a GPS device but sometimes I don't bring it with me.  This app. helps when I get lost in Long Island and New Jersey.  This Google Maps application you can download free dots where I am and points an arrow to the direction as I am moving street by street.  It also traces a pink line for the best From Address to the To address.  The zoom in and zoom out takes a while to load but which GPS device doesn't?  One night I was in Paramus, NJ and was stuck on the highway for 20 minutes waiting for the map to load, some Data Error, scared me because without a map I was stuck, it's good to have this but a separate GPS unit or a map as backup keeps you moving in the right direction.

--Each contact has a field for extra info like address or memo and you can add a picture for that contact or set a specific ring tone for that Contact.

--The Camcorder is okay but if someone is robbing a bank and you're filming it, it won't help the Police very much.  If you're trying to take a picture of a license plate from more than a feet away, you better take out a pen and paper also.

Photo of myself in the office.

Problems: The only problem I have with the phone is sometimes it will freeze, like as I use Mini Opera and a text comes in, sometimes it will freeze and I have to reboot to read the text then go back and reload Mini Opera.  Other times I will close the open keypad and it will just reboot by itself.  Those are two minor problems that I have had that delays me a minute but it doesn't affect data or information, no biggie.