LG VX6100 (Unlocked) Cellular Phone

The good: Clear call quality; decent VGA camera; embedded flash; sliding lens cover; speakerphone; analog roaming; voice commands.

The bad: Slow Web browser; external display doesn't show picture caller ID; no infrared port.

The bottom line: If you crave an affordable camera phone with a few added features, the LG VX6100 is a worthwhile option.

Essentially an update to Verizon's first camera phone, the well-received LG VX6000, the LG VX6100 ups the ante with much-needed features such as a sliding lens cover, a flash, analog roaming, and increased storage capacity. Camera veterans will bemoan the VX6100's lack of certain photo features such as picture caller ID & a preview mode for self-portraits, but the VX6100 is a solid handset that does what it's supposed to do. The price is very fair at $149, but you should be able to find it cheaper with service. At 3.7 by 1.9 by 0.9 inches & 3.9 ounces, the LG VX6100 is a nice-size handset that fits well into a jeans pocket. The postage-stamp-size external display shows time, date, battery life, signal strength, & caller ID (where available) but no picture caller ID. On the upside, the screen also acts as a rudimentary viewfinder for taking self-portraits when the flip is closed. You'll also appreciate using the sliding cover for the camera lens, which is located just above the display & the tiny mirror for self-portraits. A bright flash is located to the left of the lens, & the speakerphone lies on the bottom of the front flap.

Once you open the clamshell, you're greeted by a vivid 256,000-color screen that measures 2 inches diagonally. The display is both large & bright enough to comfortably view mobile versions of Yahoo and MSN, which makes checking Web-based e-mail easy and pleasant. You can also change the size & the color of the display font. An attractive mirrored frame surrounds the screen, & the earpiece is colored light blue. For navigating the user-friendly menus, the VX6100 provides two soft keys that open contacts and the main menu. The soft keys flank the five-way toggle, which offers one-click access to the speakerphone, the Get It Now home page, voicemail, & the wireless Web. You will also find the traditional Talk and End keys, a Clear key, and a dedicated button for starting the camera. All the buttons are well spaced. Oddly enough, their layout resembles that of many Samsung flip phones.

The blue-backlit keypad buttons on the VX6100 are slightly raised, which makes dialing by feel a cinch. On the left side of the handset are the headset jack, a volume rocker, & a dedicated button to activate the VX6100's many voice features. On the right side is a dedicated camera button.

The LG VX6100 features a 499-contact phone book that holds five phone numbers, three e-mail addresses, & photo caller ID for each name. Contacts can be organized into caller groups and paired with a picture as well as any of 41 polyphonic & 5 monophonic ring tones. Other features include a vibrate mode, a four-minute voice memo, a notepad, a tip calculator, text & multimedia messaging, a WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser, a scheduler, an alarm clock, a calculator, & a world clock.

The VX6100 has fairly sophisticated voice capabilities with a quality integrated speakerphone. The handset allows voice dialing & offers voice access to other features.

My wife lost my LG 6000 which I had for several years.I'd bought my son a 6100, a year ago,and figured it was time to upgrade mine.Mainly, this model has the Mobile Office Kit,which allows you,like I had for my 6000, to connect phone to laptop to get the internet off of your AIR TIME MINUTES with NO extra charge. Verizon and the other phone companies typically charge by the Kbyte,on what they usually refer to as "data packages" which adds up very fast.Since I feel cheated that I'm already paying an exhorbitant fee for my phone just to use it, why ALSO get nailed on a data charge?The MOK is fantastic,and basically does what putting a modem on a phone line at your house does.So the MOK is the way to go.

Its not blazing fast,but hey,it is fast enough that there is essentially no lag time on surfing,and it gets me what I need online. I'm a catastrophic adjuster, and spend many hours on the road in areas where there is NO internet connectivity in hotels,restaurants,etc,and this allows me to handle my claims for my clients when there is no other connection, as well as stay in touch with my family when I'm away, by email.I can use it ANYWHERE I have a cell phone signal(my car)and again,its FREE because its off my airtime minutes.Guess what?After 9pm,its completely free,just like my minutes.I'm sure this is why Vrzn and all the other companies started charging "data" rates. They see another sector they can stream money off the public. That's show biz...

I realize that if you need broadband speed, there's the options of using the pcmcia cards with the little antennas, but again, this is essentially a free modem line off your phone using your laptop. And unless you are living in the handful of major cities, they don't tell you about that you dont GET the high speed broadband off those cards they are capable of. So again, the MOK is for all intent and purposes a great alternative.

Ok, thats MY reason for getting the 6100. There are sexier, sleeker phones out there, but guess what? Who cares!! This is a terrific phone, it WORKS well in areas that normally have crappy service, and my dropouts are minimal. This is of course due to whoever you use for a carrier, and every state has better or worse coverage. In WA, I get 1-3 bars, outside WA, all over U.S. I get 6 bars! I'd love to find the perfect cell phone/carrier, but from everyone I've talked to, no one is happy with their service ever, it seems. So its hit or miss. Back to the phone. Its got a lot of good features, all more in quantity than my 6000 had; more picture storage, has a flash, 6000 doesn't, speaker phone (absolutely essential for driving), voice activatated dialing and recognition (very cool), and simpler to use than the 6000, all in all, a very nice upgrade.I've checked to see if the MOK is available for the upper end models, but I haven't found it, at least the FREE air time kit, I believe verizon makes it for other phones, but you PAY for the service on top of airtime. It does NOT have bluetooth, so if thats a necessity for you, this is not the phone. (I don't know if there's any addons to this phone that give you bluetooth, probably not.)I think the next model up is the 8100 or 8300 and has bluetooth,but check the phone site to be sure. My next upgrade when my contract runs out will probably be to a Treo or something like that, that will give me all this stuff in one place instead of having to use a laptop. Hope this helps!-Jim Mitchell

Being a seller of cellular phones and accessories on Ebay we always get to test out and try many different phones The LG 6100 is a nice follow up to the popular LG 6000 and Adds a Decent (Loud) Speakerphone, Voice Commands, it is TriMODE For those of you who live or travel in areas that still require analog signal (Not Tri Band as so many people seem to get confused by)
Very Informative Outer Caller ID display Time, Date Speakerphone Status Etc as opposed to the OLED outer display of the 6000 which had the scrolling display
The LG VX 6100 has a greyscale Outer LCD display
The 6100 has a very nice inner color screen only bad part is the black Icon with white edges
The Camera takes OK pictures for a phone but the Samsung A670 seems to take better quality pictures but its a phone first
the Up and Down Volume Keys on the phone are a little to close to the Voice Commands Button
Inside the Buttons are decent sized and not crammed together like some smaller phones (Kyocera Slider for Example)Reception and battery life on this phone are Average To Very Good(Using Verizon Wireless Network) battery Times and performance will vary depending on your carrier
Overall this is a Good LG phone That Wont Disappoint

I had this phone for about 3 months had to replace with a new one another 4 months that one was replaced then the third time went in for a version upgrade the phone fried loosing all my buisness personal contacts. Yeah idiot me didnt' write them down as a back up. I had the previous LG 5200 i think it was awesome phone lasted me 2 years still worked cheri then switched to this cuz it was the new thing to have camera phones. This was a buisness phone so I spent about 4 hours of talk time a day but the battery would last 3 at most had to have 3 batteries charged at all times. I complained to verizon about 20 times about the heat and burning of the ear after a 1 to 2 hour talk with a customer. Finally they upgraded me to a Razor for a nice hefty fee but its like night and day.. jsut that the razor has crappy reception compared to this phone.

It's a great phone. I haven't had a single problem with it. The screen has amazing color and cool backgrounds. It's easy to hold. The buttons are a great size--not too big and not too small. The camera is just like any other. The pixels aren't great, but for fun it's fine. The camera has different setttings you can take pictures with. You can also use a picture of a person for their contact, so every time you dial or receive their call you'll see their picture. The outside screen is gray-scale--no color, which is fine if you just use it to check the time and who's calling like I do. Battery life is fine for me. I don't talk for long periods of time. If you do, consider getting a car charger. Because like every cell phone the longer the calls the shorter the battery holds out. I would strongly recommened this phone to anybody. It's easy to use and very dependeble. I don't regret ever buying it.