LG enV Dare VX-9700 - Black silver (Verizon) Cellular Phone

I've had the Dare for a little over a month now, and it is truly a remarkable phone. I was a initially going to get the Blackberry Storm, but didn't need all the data plan features that were required to pay for. so i looked a step down and found the LG Dare, and the Samsung Omnia. I had the same problem with the Omnia - you have to pay for data service monthly. So i decided to go with the Dare.

The best description for this phone is a mix of thing. So i'll take it by its key steps.

First, the phone features itself. The clarity is very clear and high quality, and it has all the options you need while calling on the screen, such your entire home menu in case you have to look up an address, number, or need the dial pad. It also has sensors that lock the phone as soon as it gets within a certain close distance to your cheek, thus disabling the possibility of hitting numbers accidentally while on a call.

Texting:I thought at first a touchscreen would be difficult and inaccurate to text on, being also that the Dare is smaller than the iphone or the Blackberry Storm. i find that keeping a slight vibrate set to each touch, helps you to have the best accuracy. After a few days, i was texting just as fast as i use to with my qwerty keypad on my old LG enV. The screen, held vertically, is like the pad on a regular phone; rotate to phone horizontally in your hand, and you have a full virtual keypad.

Music: I'd best describe the music features on this phone, remarkable, and very similar to the ipod touch / iTouch. The clarity and quality is incredible, and i dont use an ipod now, i have all my music on my Dare. you can browse albums by sliding with your finger to the left or right, and you can set any song to a different sound effect, such as if your listening to rock, pop, classical, R&B, etc, so you always get the best sound. You can also keep your music playing and return to your home screen to multi-task, such as play a game, edit photos, etc. You can also plug it into your speakers and have music playing in surround sound. quite awesome.

Photos/ Videos: I am truly amazed at the quality of the photos it takes. The best photos are ones taken outdoors, because it has plenty of natural light. It has tons and tons of photo effects, options, and editing software ON the phone. I took some photos outside, and was blown away when i saw the result. My friends couldn't believe my phone took the picture. The video is not nearly as clear as the photos, but again, outside, and keeping the phone steady and moving slowly, its a great device for capturing moments quickly. you can record up to over an hour i'm sure, i'm not sure how long. but i've recorded an hour.

Browser: a phone that has real HTML browsing on the internet, just like your computer only the size of your phone screen - pretty cool if you ask me. The browser has been slow with me, but i rarely use it.

GPS / Navigator: One of the coolest features on this phone in my opinion is the GPS syustem. I've used it many times, and its completely accurate, and amazing. Enough said - its also a GPS.

Its got lots of other applications, and 3D games that are remarkable for a phone, and the size is sleek and slim. weather a business guy, or a teen wanting entertainment, this phone is a great, great choice!

I got this phone as a gift for my gf. She absolutely loves it. The minute she activated it, she was playing with the features, the full touch screen, the texting capabilities, and the fun sounds and tones on it.

The phone is capable of sending and receiving tones and pictures through bluetooth to any handset or PC, which I love because most Verizon phones don't allow that. The text messaging allows you to use standard T9 numerical keypad entry, a full QWERTY keyboard, and even a built in handwriting recognization feature.

The 3.2MP full color plus built in LED flash camera is pretty good for what it is. The pictures come out beautifully and the phone doesn't take forever to take the photo. Its not as amazing a camera as you would find on a Nokia Smartphone, but its pretty impressive.

The touchscreen is very responsive and doesn't hiccup. I also got a PhantomSkinz screen shield for it, and thee touchscreen responsiveness still has not faltered. I love the fact that the screen locks during a call so that your face doesn't accidentally press anything on the screen.

The phone itself looks to be pretty sturdy. I know a few other people that have the LG Dare and they claim it has lasted them longer than many of their other phones. It is also very sleek and fits comfortably in a pocket or purse without the 'brick phone' feeling.

The charge time is pretty good as well. The initial charge only took about 5 or 6 hours, and maintains a charge for at least 3 days with normal use (talking, constant texting, etc).

My gf doesn't have a web plan so I don't know how well its web browser works, but I'm sure its pretty solid. This phone has many strong points and I don't doubt the web browser is any different.

Love this phone. It's in great shape and functions perfectly. The keyboard is a bit on the small size but would be ideal for smaller fingers. The speakerphone function is pretty good and the the audio is also decent. It would be nice if Verizon allowed for voice recordings to be used as custom ring tomes. Also, as a MAC user, the phone does not sync quite all that well as the software is more conducive to a PC. I really like the size of the phone as it fits into virtually any pocket and is comfortable in my hand when talking. Additionally, I like how I can transfer pictures to my computer or vice versa through the bluetooth function. It's not quite an iPhone but the LGVX-9700 does lend itself to being a well rounded smart-phone-esque tool. The internal ring-tones are pretty good and not too cheesy.

Dare's impressive 3.2-megapixel camera. Although the camera is not point-and-shoot quality, both users and reviewers alike contend that the camera, which includes face detection, is the phone's best feature. Users consistently complain that the Dare's 3-inch touch screen can be difficult to use, although many say they have gotten used to it. The LG Dare has a smaller body than its competitors, the iPhone and the Samsung Instinct, measuring just 4.1 inches long by 2.2 inches wide by 0.5 inch thick -- a little larger than a deck of cards. Reviewers say the smallish 3-inch screen does detract from using the full HTML browser, and a lot of scrolling is necessary. (The iPhone has a 3.5-inch screen.) The Dare doesn't have autocorrect, which some find bothersome, but it does let you copy and paste by simply highlighting text. (Apple recently added cut/copy/paste functionality to the iPhone.)

This is my second touch screen phone. I decided to buy it because I thought it might perform better than the Samsung Glyde I had. It indefinitely does. The LG Dare is my best phone so far and I've owned MANY phones. (I'd say about 10-12 different phones). Another reason for purchasing the LG Dare was because I love to keep up with the current technology.

The LG Dare has many great features, such as:
* A Full QWERTY keyboard (when you flip the phone on it's side, the screen automatically changes to a full keyboard)
* An excellent quality camera
* The sensitivity of the touch screen is superb. My previous touch screen would always mess up and press the wrong buttons, the LG Dare doe not. My old phone would also press buttons while I was talking on it and/or hang up on people. The LG Dare has a great feature which disables the touch screen while you have it to your ear, which is an EXCELLENT feature. As soon as you remove the phone from your ear, the screen lights up and touch functionality is resumed. A++ On that alone.
* Weight - The LG Dare is a light weight phone. It looks like it would be heavy like a brick, but it's not. It is a very light weight phone.
* Overall feel - The LG Dare is a comfortable phone to use, it is in no way akward or bulky to hold and navigate on the phone.
* GREAT for text messaging! I honestly thought it would not be, but I would give it 5 stars for texting! It hits all the buttons with ease and never hits a wrong key. Text messages are also sent super quick.
* I also love the fact that you can drag icons around on your phone. You can create your own "desktop" on the wallpaper, just simply by dragging icons from the menu to the main screen of your phone.
* The first great feature I found on this phone, that sold me right away, was the "Favorites" section. You can add 10 people (I am not sure if it's 10, might be more) to a little "star" button on the main screen. When you press the star button all your "Favorite" contacts come up and it makes it super easy to call, text, picture/video message, or edit these people. It shows a little picture of their contact id (the photo you attach to their contact information). You can also drag these icons around and rearrange them to however you like.

The only thing I can find on the LG Dare that I dislike is the camera button. It is "touchy" and sometimes difficult to capture a picture. I think it stems from all the functions on the camera, such as smile finder, face finder, auto focus, etc. If all those things aren't in order, sometimes it takes a few clicks of the button to capture the photo. But other than that the camera is amazing and it has MANY options.

Overall I'd give the LG Dare an A++. It is an excellent phone and like I said before, the best phone I've owned so far.

I was going to give it a "good" rating instead of an "excellent" rating because the issues with capturing a photo, but I decided that all those other "pros" about the phone override the one camera issue that I have with it. Overall, an EXCELLENT PHONE. A MUST HAVE for touch screen lovers, people who text often, and people who like to stay up to date with the current technology. I can't tell you how much I LOVE THIS PHONE!! =) Go get one now!!

This phone, (if it works) is an awesome product. I had previously owned and enjoyed 2 of these phones, which I purchased directly through Verizon. The features were great, and I loved the personalized Wallpaper slideshow capability. It had many of the "bells & whistles" of a smart phone, without all the apps I really don't want or need. I had used the enVDare phones for several years, but ultimately they wore out, as cell phones are apt to do. After the 2nd one died, I was very disappointed to learn, the LG enVDare was no longer available through Verizon, and had been discontinued by the manufacturer. When I found the "new" enVDare on ebay I was delighted ~ till I recieved the phone and attempted to activate it, (at the Verizon store). The "new" enVDare was defective, and ALL my contact information was lost in the transmition process, (between the old phone and the new defective one). It was a real BUMMER. Although the vendor did refund the cost of the phone, (after lengthy explanations of, it really wasn't their policy........they were doing me a big favor.........they'd have to look into the matter and get back to me......etc., etc., etc.). Quite frankly, it really wasn't worth the hassle! I will NEVER, EVER, buy another cell phone on line. Far better to deal directly with an established, reputable store. Their product, their employees, their liability, etc. Remember, you get what you pay for ~ LESSON LEARNED!!!