A Single Article
Read it, comment, and share it with your friendsMy new enV and VZ Navigator
Part of moving to Fairfax VA and becoming a Virginian is getting a local area code, and since Verizon apparently has the best coverage in the Fairfax area, I decided to renew my contract with them. To be honest, I walked into the store without any idea about what phone I wanted to get. I’m with Verizon for the network, not the hardware, so when it came to picking a phone I just went with the best deal I could get. Fortunately, I picked the right one.
But I didn’t pick my phone based on its features alone. I saw a display in the store for GPS Navigation at $9.99/month and I immediately knew that I had to have that on my plan. Since I was getting this feature, I realized a full QWERTY would be a big help, and the LG enV is one of those phones that flips open to offer just that. Plus, the enV has a 2.0 megapixel camera with auto-focus and a lens cover, which is pretty good compared to the typical 1.3 megapixel cameras on most phones nowadays.
The enV does have a few gripes, such as:
- I can organize my contacts into groups, but AFAIK, I can’t set specific ringtones for groups. I have to set custom ringtones on a per-contact basis.
- The directional arrow pads on both the outside and inside of the phone are terrible. They are recessed instead of raised which means that I always end up hitting surrounding buttons when trying to navigate the menu. It’s bearable when I flip the phone open, but still lousy compared to my previous phone, the Motorola e815.
- The user interface isn’t quite as good as what I have seen on Motorola phones (RAZR and e815). I can’t explain it, but there’s a bit of head-banging involved in the day-to-day interaction.
With those gripes aside, though, the enV is a great phone, and I’m very satisfied with it. Plus, with my rebates and credits for renewing my contract, it only cost me $100… a little more than I wanted to spend, but worth it. And, the GPS Navigation service (called VZ Navigator) is the best thing ever on a cellphone since phone calls! My phone is basically equivalent to a Garmin GPS system with a full QWERTY keyboard… the VZ Navigator software offers auto-completion, local search, favorites, and recent history, and it talks while it displays map data, distances, and upcoming turns. To be honest, I prefer it over the bulky GPS systems that I have seen available as stand-alone units or as in-dashboard systems. Plus, you take it with you when you get out of the car, so you don’t have to worry about it being stolen and you can use it even when you are in a rental car or riding with a friend. For once, I think I have found a cellphone feature that’s better in cellphones than any other way, and it has definitely saved me a whole lot of trouble finding my way around Fairfax (especially considering how much driving I have done since I got here).
Anyway, here are some questions for you, reader: do you have GPS navigation on your phone, and, what’s your favorite cellphone feature (calls, text-messaging, GPS navigation, etc.) of all?
Get a Trackback link
5 Comments
Responses to my articleI have a Sony Ericsson k800i and it is a superb phone. I’m from the UK, and I’m surprised to hear that most phones over there only come with 1.3MP cameras. Mine has a 3.2MP Sony Cybershot camera (and my girlfriend recently picked up the 5MP Nokia N95, but standard phones are around 2MP now). Normally your technology lies ahead of us!
I don’t have GPS, and your deal sounds pretty sweet, but I get around that with an unlimited web subscription and the Google Maps mobile app that does a stunning job (and allows me to zoom into my house on the satellite version too).
Ultimately, my favourite part of the phone is it’s web access, allowing me to use Maps, Gmail and GReader when I’m out and about, as well as just surfing with Opera Mini. The mobile web rocks!
Phil: The telecoms manage to keep the USA behind the rest of the world when it comes to cellphones. The most advanced countries (and the most affordable) when it comes to cellphones are probably S. Korea and Japan.
I decided to do without web access on my phone, just because I spend all my time on the web as it is and I need to save money. I know Google maps must be great, but I have to say that the GPS navigation is probably better. Having it talk to me as I drive and report distances really helps on these confusing Fairfax highways.
if you want to know the truth, I’ve inadvertently eliminated two of my biggest vices since moving to Phoenix: Caffeine and cell phones.
I don’t need a cell phone because I have free long distance on my home phone, and really know nobody in the area as of yet. And there aren’t any Tim Hortons this far south, and I’m not likely wont to settle for any lesser coffee.
Well I have the reverse for you, Phil. I don’t have a land line… I figure 450 minutes a month with in-network and nights and weekends all being free is enough that I don’t need a second telephone plan sitting in my apartment unused.
Caffeine, on the other hand, I still enjoy, but I haven’t used it to wake up in the morning for the past year. I never want to be a person who requires it to get going.
Besides the obvious of making calls, I’d have to say web access and Google maps. I just got back from a “business trip” in North Carolina and I was able to use my new phone to look up local restaurants that were open late, check out menus on their websites, and get turn-by-turn driving directions really easily. Instead of having to bring along my laptop, iPod, and phone as I would have in the past, I just brought the iPhone and it served me better than the other three would have combined. Conceding that GPS is better, Google maps is actually pretty great.
Btw, what happened to you?
Leave a comment
Share your thoughts with the worldYou can use Markdown, or you can use these tags:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>Please keep comments respectful and on topic.
This form is guarded by Akismet, so don't waste your time trying to submit spam. It won't work. Ever.