LG VX-4500
Average Ratings
Hold the Applause
At first sight, this phone was a must have. Shortly thereafter, it became a Be careful what you wish for. First off, let me state that my primary usage of my cell phone is for long distance from home. I live in New Jersey just outside of Philadelphia and I am on the Verizon network. For some reason the reception on this phone from inside of my house is awful. Every call I made faded in and out for the entire duration of the call and then quickly dropped off completely. My previous phone was a Motorola Startac and I NEVER had any such issues with it. In fact, I have now re-activated the Startac and used it as a test calling the same person I had called just one hour prior on the LG4500 and had no difficulty whatsoever.
Outside, the reception is outstanding. Clear and very audible. For someone such as a salesperson on the go, this phone would likely be an excellent choice. If you are like me and plan to use the phone from home fairly often, I would suggest you keep searching. I myself will now try the Samsung SCH-530 based on the outstanding reviews it has received on phonescoop.
Pros: Sleek design, loaded with features. Voice Activation is excellent, speakerphone is very good. Good assortment of ringtones, all of which are very audible. Excellent reception and clarity when used outside of the house
Cons: Inside of the house, reception is awful with extensive Cutting out, fading and dropped calls.
Due to the fact I cannot use the phone for my primary purpose, I cannot award it more than a rating of 2.
Dropped calls number one problem
I am a Verizon customer and have been for over 4 years. I recently upgraded two primary lines from LG510 and T720 to the VX 4500. This phone has all the features one could ask for a non-camera phone. However, no amount of features is worth the problem of dropped calls. I have lost more calls in the past week with my LG VX 4500 than I lost in the past two years with my other phones. If you feel that you can live with an all digital phone, then by all means this is the phone for you. But if you are a Verizon customer you should be aware of the fact that Verizon still has many analog towers out there and that without a trimode phone you are destined for problems.
Great Phone
I have owned cell phones for five years and found the LG VX4500 on Verizon's website completely by accident.
As a blind person, I needed a phone that would talk and this was exactly what I needed. I was already a Verizon customer and didn't want to switch companies nor spend $500.00 for a different phone. At this time, I wouldn't have any other phone.
Pros: Love the text-to-speech feedback, which allows me to scroll through the various commands, great sound and the phone has a nice feel in your hand.
Cons: So far, I have had two people complain that it sounded like I was under water when on speaker phone. Have not received braille manual as yet. Manufacturer website not very informative regarding instructions and there is no usable text file which can be downloaded. Other then that, great phone!
A Decent Phone for a Metro Area
I've had this phone since April 2004, and it has had its ups and downs. People have mentioned the problems they have had with the first batch of these phones, and I've had problems with it as well.
However, if the phone is kept current, ie software upgrades and *228, the phone can be very reliable.
I drop calls here and there, because of its lack of analog capability, but for the most part, the phone has done its job.
The speakerphone option is great. I will never have another phone without it. I am able to clip the phone to my visor and have a conversation while driving in the car, which is very handy in DC traffic.
It's also very sturdy. I've dropped the phone on numerous occasions, and have had no problems with it.
If you live in a Metro area, this is a great phone...but if you live in the suburbs or rural areas that has not seen much in digital networking, then I would avoid this phone, and find a Tri-Mode one.
Wouldn't recommend it to a friend
The phone itself looks nice and all that....
but...
But, the software version is pretty buggy. The browser is slow and clunky. Stored numbers may or may not actually be saved (I lost several I programmed in), and worst of all it's not dual band (If you go out of a metropolis, there's no chance of analog signal). I travel for work and most of my assignments are somewhat rural, making this phone somewhat useless.
Miss My T720
This phone was awesome when we first got it...anything was better than my T720 who's screen decided to go black and stay that way.
CONS:
*Can't train names.The voice recognizer doesn't choose the right name.
*No status light.
*Can't lock your phonebook or inbox. You have to manually lock the phone.
*Can't silence the alarm from the outside of the phone the way you can when you get an unwanted call.
*Screen isn't all that.
*When you close the phone the ext. LCD doesn't light up for a few seconds. It stays off unless you press one of the outside buttons.
*You have to hit OK to change the ringer volume. You can't just hit the up key and be done you have to press okay. Sounds picky til you have this phone.
PROS:
*Good Reception (VZW)
*Speakerphone
*Silence unwanted calls from the outside of the phone.
*Time still displayed on the outside of the phone while taking a call.
*Loud
*All and all, an okay phone...as long as you aren't as picky as I am.
Had to return
Be careful, this all digital phone may not work well in some areas. I returned mine because of dropped calls and loss of service in places I travel. Traded for a vx3200 tri-mode. It may not be as fancy but it does what the 4500 could not do, lets me talk!
to good to be true
well lets see had the phone for seven days
frist two the phone would power off & on by it's self hmmmmmmm. the battery doesn't last
half aday before its at two lines.an now today the best part of the phone stoped working yea the speaker.yea i read almost all
this here but thought if i waited they would work it out guess not. well any recom. on a
good phone.p.s some calls took forever to
connect (live on long lsland new york so its not the area) help.. an to think i switched
from att.......o the 1 is for the speaker.
when it worked.
Goodbye Lg, Hello Moto
I received this phone as a Christmas present. Now I am going to replace it. When I first got the phone, I was happy with the features, and loved the phone. After a while of some use, my speaker broke.(as do many others) Now I am looking at the motorola V65p. In the end, this is a great phone, but only if your willing to replace it everytime your speaker breaks.
driving mode - an accident waiting to happen
I liked the design of this phone and its generally intuitive nature. As I do a lot of driving, however, hands-free calling is very important. Nearly a week of poring over the manual and several near accidents while trying to get adapted to this phone leads me to believe that the designers either did not think through this feature (driving mode) or chose to disregard the concept of hands free. I compare this set to the Kyocera Slider, which was almost truly hands free (just press a button to end the call - otherwise totally hands free). With this phone, to make the call you have to push a button on the side, and to end the call (unless I hear otherwise, I've looked in the manual extensively) you have to open the phone and find the END button. It is possible that the reviewer has not fully understood the use of the driving mode - okay lets see, where is the use of driving mode specifically described - vis a vis announce mode and normal mode? - uh, let's see, for about two sentences in the manual. It does fine in interpolating the command once you push the side button.
I looked on the LG website and, apart from the ability to download the manual, there's no help, and really not any feedback whatsover as to this phone and any problems, usage issues it may have.
Pros:
The display is fine.
The menus are relatively intuitive.
Pretty good sound quality in Dallas and outskirts using Verizon.
Cons:
The manual is mediocre
The speakerphone comes on at the drop of a hat - very frustrating, and seemingly counter-intuitive.
The side buttons are a pain in the rear (unless you need to adjust the volume, in which case you'll be grateful for them there)
Driving mode or hands-free mode should not require the user to open the phone and find an obscure phone to either initiate a call or end one.
