what facts? just look up korean phones they have in korea and the phones that tmobile, verizon and cingular offer for their services. its not even comparable.

the chocolate was in korea a year and half (estimated) before it even hit america. im not saying that korea is technologically ahead of the west in terms of technology but in terms of cellular phones, all you have to do is look at the phones in the 2 countries and see for yourself. i guess its a judgment call in terms of style of phones but ive been trying to find a korean phone to use in america for years now and cant find one that will be compatible with the USA GSM networks.

 

hrmmm... did you guys know that the chocolate is not only available for verizon and that there's a GSM version too? never knew this myself until i saw one in the office the other day...

 

just what i thought, you don't know what you're talking about. korea is cdma, not gsm. when was the last time you went to south korea? the chocolate is hardly the gold standard for phones. what did the chocolate phone do in korea that you love about it so much that makes it 1.5 years ahead of similar phones in america?

when you get some facts, not your personal preferences or opinions, come back to the conversation. you're not making a judgment call, you're repeating what you've heard. this is what bugs me, people just repeating what they've heard but you've never researched the facts. you don't know when korea launched their high-speed wireless networks, you don't know when korea launch live network tv on phones, and you don't know when korea will ever get push-to-talk technology like we have here already, do you?

i don't have to "look up" the phones, i just came from seoul and i spent a couple days there going thru their phone lineups, in and out of cellphone shops like sktelecom, talking to people are cellphones and their usage and habits. not much different that in the u.s. i saw a few people watching live tv on their phones but not a whole lot of difference. lots of people using gps in the phones, especially in the taxis. i didn't see people doing anything different at the train station or on the trains any more than we do here in america. at the airport, incheon looked just like o'hare or dfw. no one would think any different. so i don't know what that means when people say they are far ahead of us.

so i saw at least a couple hundred korean phones in the shops. are they pretty impressive looking? yeah sure, who doesn't like a cellphone they've never seen before. all shapes and sizes and colors and styles. samsungs, motorolas, sharps, curitel, lots of phones they don't make over here. are they that much better [looking] than ours? absolutely not. what phone was i using in korea? my sanyo katana. i used my sprint phone all over that country for the 4 days that i was there and it worked well as good as any korean phone. and koreans were looking at MY phone because they don't have katana there.

what i didn't see where rims, blackberry, pocketpcs, and treos. we definitely have them beat when it comes to pda. by a long shot. i guess the os and those keyboards aren't ready for the korean language.

and i spent some time in japan. japanese phones are not as advanced a korean phones and are in fact a bit larger overall also. in osaka and kyoto, i went in all kind of kddi and docomo phone shops looking at their stuff. the phones were plain, not very impressive, but they sure know how to accessorize. the phones have a lot of games and ringers and cute services and different stuff that wouldn't go over so well in america anyway.

btw, all those crazy phones you see online, that's less than 1% of what's actually being sold and used in asia. just like in america, the vast majority of cellphone users have the basic, inexpensive handsets. if you look hard enough online, you can find a lot of exotic phones for america....that nobody has.

 

there are a lot more mps for cameras in korean phones. they have had mp3 players are of greater quality. they are integrating phones to be used as credit cards at vending machines and the things you buy are charged to your monthly phone bill. live tv (as you said) is being used over there.

i dont know about you but those features are a lot better than the ones we currently have in the states.

i know korea is CDMA, im pointing out the fact that the chocolate has been out in korea for a long time while we only got in just now. i never said anything that the chocolate is the gold standard of phones. the reason why LG even decided to bring the chocolate to the states is because they released it into the other parts of the world, korea being the first, and it had a lot of success so they decided to sell it internationally. all you do is just make assumptions about my remarks.

how about you learn to read what i am saying instad of magically coming up with what you want me to say to make your argument less idiotic?

 

"mp3 players are of greater quality?" is that another one of your facts? what makes them so much better? No ipods in Korea. And I saw a few phones with 3 or 4 mps but that's about it. Nobody was really carrying one because they were expensive and rather bulky. The rest of the 80+ phones I saw were normal camera phones. Just because you have a few more mps in a few phones.....doesn't mean your pictures are so superior.

"integrating phones to be used as credit cards at vending machines...." so i saw a few machine here and there maybe but not like you think. one or two machine don't make it a revolution. the vast majority of the machines that i saw were regular. and everywhere you went, in all the shops and stores and malls, in all the taxi cabs, hookers, whatever. people paid with won...or credit card. not with a phone lol.

...and the things you buy are charged to your monthly phone bill" lol is this what you call years ahead of the us in technology. we're passed that. america doesn't want it.

if you know that korea is cdma, then why did you say "ive been trying to find a korean phone to use in america for years now and cant find one that will be compatible with the USA GSM networks." no cdma phone from korea is ever going to be compatible with the gsm network in the usa.

"i never said anything that the chocolate is the gold standard of phones" but then you said this: "the chocolate was in korea a year and half (estimated) before it even hit america. im not saying that korea is technologically ahead of the west in terms of technology but in terms of cellular phones, all you have to do is look at the phones in the 2 countries and see for yourself" which leads me to believe you are using the chocolate as an example of phones that are ahead of the west. do you know what the lg325 is?

"the reason why LG even decided to bring the chocolate to the states is because they released it into the other parts of the world, korea being the first, and it had a lot of success so they decided to sell it internationally." Is that a fact? Or just another guess? Because you don't know the first time anyone in America has seen that phone. Be careful with your answer, I talk to LG every week, have been for nearly 7 years now.

Finally you said "how about you learn to read what i am saying instad of magically coming up with what you want me to say to make your argument less idiotic?" So I posted your quotes exactly. My only reply again is have you even been to South Korea to support anything you've said about what is actually happening over there or are you simply repeating the popular belief traveling around the internet? I went there to actually see what was happening. It's not happening like you think it is.

I'm not trying to argue with you, just saying there's a lot going on you don't know about and it's unfortunate that some American's believe America lags behind the Far East by so many years in the cellphone area when the gap has been closing significantly over the past few years and is closing faster every year. You can't compare the two cultures, there's so many things that Americans simply don't want or find no use for, not because Japan or Korea has them first or is smarter, Americans simply aren't interested in some things. Like joining a ring of friends and buzzing your phones when you're friends are nearby using gps. And America has a lot of features that Asia doesn't have. Quite a few actually.

 

Ken I am with you on everything but I have to agree with him that camera phones abroad > camera phones domestic. I have a couple sample pics from my friends sony that he picked up in india, and they are just like a regular camera and he said his moms phone and dads phone take similar quality pics (dont know what they have).

 

i can put a 4 mpg camera in a sprint phone today. what good will it do? it's more expensive and it's gonna take forever to upload and send to someone else's tiny US phone. the us networks are not capability of handling 10mp images and neither are they overseas (because their network is not that much faster than ours). in the us, we share and upload pictures that's our model so this is our limitation, not because the koreans or the japanese have figured it out and are smarter or more technologically advanced. if you only take a picture and look at it in your phone and just save it on a memory card, we can put 4 and 5mp cameras in our phones, too. would you pay $600 for a cellphone with a 10mp camera or would you rather pay $200 for the 2mp camera?

so the bottom line is yes, the camera image is the best phones overseas are better than most camera phones over here mostly for the above reasons. 2 years better i don't think. i think there is about to be a run on the mp camera and the gap is going to close fast...a run based on price coming down. american's still don't want to pay for expensive phones and anything over 2mp is still a little expensive. do you know what mp the indian phones are? mp isn't the only thing to determine how nice a picture is, could be some other factors too.

i still want to know what they have that we don't have? can anyone tell me please?

 

Sales of LG's hyped "Chocolate" phone have been somewhat disappointing so far, according to CIBC. Although the Chocolate phone has directly challenged the Motorola RAZR due to its unique style, the phone has not made huge inroads against the RAZR's popularity.

This comes even though carrier Verizon Wireless has aggressively marketed the Chocolate above the Moto RAZR in recent months. The Chocolate is a very unique handset in terms of color and style, but I just don't see the value proposition like Verizon does -- the RAZR, when it was released, had the "wow" factor, and still does.

Shipments from LG to Verizon have been reported to be in the area of 400,000 to 500,000 units per month starting just in August, although actual retail sales of the unit remains a mystery for now.



source: http://www.thewirelessreport.com/200...-in-u-s-sales/

 

a higher megapixel camera will mean a bigger and clearer picture when you save it to your computer. you don't necessarily have to use the camera at the higher resolution if you're planning on just sending it. instead you can select a lower resolution setting and you won't have any trouble sending it. Most of the phones here in the U.S. that were branded by Cingular, Verizon, etc are now just starting to get 1.3 mp cameras... overseas phones have been having 1.3 for much longer already and a lot are now 2-3 mp.. Verizon cripples their phones so that you can't exchange files without sending them. I'm not sure if they still do that but they have in the past. if that were the case then a bigger mp wouldn't make a difference.

Cell phones here are definitely behind in technology from the ones overseas... is it really 2 yrs? i'm not sure... most phones are released for a couple months at least overseas before any of the carriers have them branded here... i hear from some of my customers who travel, that overseas, there are already cell phones where you can do video-conferencing.

 

Sound quality for some of the ones overseas FAR surpasses ANY of the branded phones here.

 

well i'm glad were down to "some phones" instead of everyone and their brother on the street is using and abusing this great technology and us poor americans have nothing to compare. sure i saw some phones that were actually mp3 players first with nice dual-stereo speakers and matching strobe lights, the size of a small brick, it was expensive and it was under glass in a cabinet because no one would ever really use it, but again, there were just a few models out of hundreds. i wish you could check into a lot of our phones here in america, there are some hidden gems as well. i know it seems like i'm making excuses but do you really think americans what mp3 cellphone that play music thru external speakers like a boombox? thru the stereo headphones, i almost believe you haven't really heard the best phones here in america, do you really think the same mp3 file on our best phone in america is that bad compared to your everyday korean phone?

1.3mp camera phones? had them for years at sprint, nothing special. again i believe they do come out with phones overseas first before they come here but if i were to guess, i would say were are down to a year or less gap.

phones in japan, i'm not impressed. korea, respectable. very respectable. just making it clear i'm not hating. Samsung, Sanyo, and LG make the same type of phones for America that they make for Korea and believe me, they aren't holding anything back.

Do you know what the most popular phone in Korea that I saw practically everywhere? The Samsung A900 equivalent. Practically the same phone. Nah, one or two cool phone models that a few people have in the country don't make them that much more superior. On the Internet, they might appear to be superior; in person....nothing.

 

I guess now that we are finally seeing Chocolate, we're getting a "taste" of what launched Korea into such a superior nation of cellphone users lol.

As I said before, most Americans don't want what is in Korea. The high-speed technology is nice and some of the features are cool for a few weeks but for the most part, it's not all that.

Teleconferencing?

 

not all good mp3 phones are bricks.. there are a few good ones that are pretty small actually..

 

i agree with this part though... there are plenty of other phones out right now that does the same stuff... i believe the popularity of the chocolate is mainly due to all the advertising they've been doing for it... there's really not much that makes it stand out from all the other phones...

 

The Korean version of the chocolate is so much nicer than the US version.

A phone is a phone. If you want an MP3 player or a high pixel camera, get them separate. I have neither downloaded a song or taken a picture with my Chocolate yet. Its not a big deal. If I can make and receive calls and send texts, then my $150 was worth it I'd say. Its not the greatest phone of right now, but I think its pretty unique looking. Everyone who sees it knows what it is and wants to know all about it. I have 3 people in my office alone that have went out and bought it just because they liked mine so much, so it does have that 'power of attraction' thing going for it.

Is it the best phone ever? Hell no. Is it a good phone? Yeah, very good I'd say, especially if you are sick of everyone and their mother having a Razr or Slvr.

 

I only did a brief comparison and I did notice some minor differences. But please....help me understand the layperson's view on the hows and whys of the Korean version being so much nicer than the US version. I'm curious and since you've obviously seen them both and made the comparison, I'm interested in your viewpoint on what a consumer deems important. Thanks.

In case you're talking about the slick box that the phone comes in or the cool accessories that they pack into the box or the special edition Chocolates that have emerged on the Korean scene....I'm mostly interested in the phone itself.

 

The Korean version appears to be slimmer, I think the square OK/arrow button looks better than the round version we got, and the silver trim around the sides is a nice touch. If you can get a pic of each version side by side, the Korean version is a little sleeker looking. The keypad on the Korean version is also different. If you notice, the keys are 'cut' differently so they look like diamonds, the US versions keypad is plain and bland with a white backlight, I think the backlight should have been red also.

But like I said before, I bought this phone for its main purpose: to make and receive calls. I will probably use the camera sparingly and will most likely never download 1 song onto it. I have an Ipod and a 5mp camera for that stuff. I bought the phone because it was different and I was tired of the same ol flip phones.

Before the Chocolate came out here, I was looking online for the Korean version unlocked, not even knowing it was going to be available here a few weeks later. When I saw that is was available for Verizon, I hesitated, only because it was not GSM based and I couldnt switch to another phone as easy. But my contract with Nextel ended and Verizone seemed like a good choice. The phone looked different to me, but I still liked it alot, so I preordered it online before it hit stores.

 

I'm not some trend analyzing expert or anything but in my opinion, if I had a choice, wireless company aside, I would choose the KG800 (Korean version) over the VX8500 (Verizon model). Why?

As mentioned above, the KG800 is much sleeker and slimmer. And it comes in white if that's what you like. I work at a cell phone store and see/touch one, if not, both phones at least twice a day. Everyday I'll pack up all the phones and hold both in my hand, and everyday someone will ask about the Chocolate.

What annoys me is the fact that the VX8500 has a built-in loudspeaker, but it is disabled. That completely ruins the point of having it there if it doesn't even work. It also ruins the lines of the phone; as opposed to having a flush, somewhat flat back (a la KG800) the VX8500 has a speed bump around the area where the useless loudspeaker is.

The downside to the KG800 is that it has no external memory card slot and it doesn't have a loudspeaker at all. But baetter none at all than some useless speaker grill ruining the look and feel of the phone.

They are both nice looking phones but quite different. To me the KG800 is like a Scion xA and the VX8500 is more like a xB. Similar inside, but not out. The VX8500 is kinda squarish to me. Maybe its personal taste, but the VX8500 just feels and looks cheaper in construction. Even when I put in the battery for the VX8500 it doesn't feel right.

Would I even buy either of these phones though? No. Maybe 4 months ago, before I started working at a cell phone store. No offense to anyone, but this phone was designed to suck in all the people who were fooled by the RAZR.

 

^^^^ Apparently, there is supposed to be a software upgrade coming out soon for the US Chocolate to enable the speakerphone. HOnestly, that was the one thing that almost kept me from getting it, but since it has BT, its not that big of a deal.

 

So then what resonably priced phone would you recommend for Verizon customers?

 

Yeah, I'm aware of that. But it doesn't help to tell customers "Yes, it has a speakerphone, but you can't use it yet, maybe in a couple of months." Most are to wary to buy a BT headset, they always expect "free" Plus




Motorola E815, Samsung A930, LG VX8300. All phones have expandable memory card slots, Bluetooth capability, come with VCAST and are free with a contract, depending on the store and conditions.

 

^^^everything i am hearing so far has to do with tastes, likes and dislikes. to me, that doesn't make one phone superior to another.

what makes a phone "better" is a more durable construction not a nicer feel, a cleaner sounding speakerphone, not the choice to have a loudspeaker or not; more onboard memory...those don't make korea better than the us. because the koreans like the stuff in america. it's natural to like stuff from overseas...doesn't make them superior.

also some of the other stuff that you mentioned may have a lot to do with the wireless carrier. verizon has a lot of influence (like sprint) over how their products looks and feel and how they function. please don't just american wireless technology on how it gets implemented with verizon.

anyway, i had a lengthy discussion with a korean just today about this very topic. i won't bore you with the all the details regarding banking, purchase habits, cellphones, social life, etc but here's what i asked him:

1) In the area of wireless phones and technology, compare the US with South Korea, how far apart are we really? He said "up until EVDO was launched in the states, the gap was probably two years. Since them, it's pretty close, less than a year apart although Korea had it all first. It jumps back and forth like an [accordion], with Korea getting ready to surge ahead again with the launch of new technology like WiMax and broadcast TV."

2) Why hasn't the iPod been embraced in South Korea? He said "Koreans have their own music and music store. They have been buying music in their phones for years since 2002. But maybe iTunes and the iPod will catch on later, for now things like iTunes, Yahoo, even eBay just aren't popular in Korea." He made it seem that Koreans aren't interested in foreign services.

3) Why aren't there more PDAs in Korea? "the language is very difficult. koreans carry computers and laptops, they don't need pdas [lol]"

4) Are mp3's in korea superior to mp3's in America, the sound thru the headsets or the sound thru the speakers? "Not really. An mp3 is an mp3."

5) What about cameras? "Yes we have cameras that go up to 8mps. The pictures are really nice. Koreans don't like to carry both a phone and a camera." He did say most camera phones are only 2mps tho and like with any new technology, the best stuff is rare. When I asked him what do you do with an 8mp photo, he said "store it on the memory card."

So we talked about a hour. We talked mostly about banking and how the banking system is so much more open and easier than in the US. You can access every bank online and you can transfer money anywhere to anyone anytime, etc. And how about 10% of the population will make retail OTC purchases with their cellphone although the security is not quite there. He said as long as Americans can write checks, they'll never fully embrace electronic technology. He did say however Paypal is wonderful and he wish they had it in Korea.

So I learned more about how fast the networks are over in Korea (faster than in the US) and I learned more about the local carriers' wireless strategies but I found it interesting that he said the US has come a long way to catching up to Korea by launching services like picturemail, wireless modem, download music store, on demand information, live/streaming tv and steaming music...everything that korea had first that set us apart but sprint/verizon evdo "has virtually closed the door on the services gap for now."

as i said earlier, i just came from japan/seoul a few months ago, hong kong a few years ago, my goal (it's part of my team's job) is to study wireless technology in south korea (sk telecom) and japan (kddi) and learn from them (because they are ahead of sprint) and try to bring US customers what they want, the finest phones and services at the right price. three members of my team are going to china/japan/korea in october. don't get me wrong, i am amazed at some of the things they are working on...if those countries could maximize their potential, with such a small, non-diverse user base, small geography, the possibilities would be endless.

edit: sorry the grammar, corrected.

 

wow, way to overanalyze everything i said. i didnt read everything you wrote but damn. you pretty much nitpicked and overanalyzed every noun verb and adjective worse than a pmsing girl.

ill let you win the argument because i dont feel like reading your redundant crap over and over again. happy?

 

^^ken, you may judge a phone but the majority of customers will base their decision on first impressions. I as well as others will immediately judge a phone after they look at it and hold it in their hand. If it feels sturdy, wouldn't that mean

People often overlook Verizon phones simply because the ones that Cingular and T-mobile offer are much more attractive. Yes, that is again, according to one's opinion, but there is no definitive answer when it comes to taste. No matter how much better the EVDO is in America, people tend to comment on how ugly Verizon phones are, and how much better looking Cingular ones are. Numbers don't lie, and as hard as we try to push for people to buy Verizon (we make most from Verizon sales) we just can't keep up with the Cingular sales.

It's just preference for me, and I prefer the Korean version. And not all MP3s are the same, they are encoded at different bitrates; 128 kbps, 192 kbps, etc. In general people buy with their eyes first and brain second.

 

Actually I had forgotten all about you and was simply commenting on the situation for the benefit of everyone else who might be reading. I guess it started out with the last thing I was going to do was let you come in here and say America is crap and years behind Korea but it turned into just more general information.

I'm not trying to win an argument you have your opinions, that's fine.

 

correct, 192 kbps korean mp3s sounds the same as 192 kbps american mp3s. that was my point. i can understand your facination with korean phones, they are very attractive.

 

btw, you should read what i wrote when you have some time. it just gives you another perspective on things. i realize that i've been around phones all day and have lost some perspective on reality, the comment about "better looking phones" and "first impressions" is important to know.

 

Hey guys,

I just bought this phone yesterday. My mom broke her phone, so I gave her my e815 and decided to get a new phone since I SUPPOSEDLY have a Merit account w/ them, so I can upgrade every year instead of every 2 years, which was odd. Anyhow, I've got some questions about it. First of all, I did purchase a BT headset for the e815 when I bought it, but used it once or twice maybe. So, when I bought the phone, I decided to also get the $50 package which came with a leather case, car charger, and music essentials kit. Now about this kit, do I NEED this kit in order to transfer mp3s to this phone? They said I have 15 days to return this package. I really only need the car charger, and there is a better case on ebay for like $10 that I could get, and I'm sure I could get the car charger for cheaper than $30 on ebay. However, if I also need the music essentials kit, I might as well keep the package.

Also, as far as the memory card goes, do I need a miniSD or microSD, cause I dont know what the difference is. In addition, I read that the phone can only take up to 1gb of memory and not 2gb; is this true?

So far, I like the phone alot, as the UI is pretty cool. I haven't messed around w/ it much yet, but so far I like it alot. It's very light compared to the e815, which I highly prefer. Anyways, any info or tips about the phone would be appreciated.

`John

 

i'm going to attempt to answer these questions off the top of my head but i'm sure someone will correct me if i am wrong. you do not need to purchase the music essentials kit in order to play mp3 on the phone as long as you know how to get music onto the memory card. the phone uses microSD and whether it can play a 2gb card it should but it's possible it doesn't, you may want to check the phone forums for anyone who can confirm; really no good reason why it shouldn't.

 

damn, amazon is having a sick sale on the phone...it's $125 and has a $50 rebate, but this only applies for new customers!! Why can't that work with the upgrade?!? I want my money back

 

I have the 2gb MicroSD card. It works fine.

You don't need the music essentials kit. You can put mp3s on your fun through the MiniSD adapter card that comes with the MicroSD card. You just have to format the MicroSD card in your phone first. Then you can copy + paste mp3s into the music directory of the MicroSD card in My Computer.

 

awesome, thanks for the info!

 

Wow, I spelled "Phone" as "fun"

 

Sorry to bump and old thread like this but I came across it and just wanted to add my ...

I had this phone about a month ago. I liked it at first and mine actually had a working speaker phone (since it had been mentioned it didn't have one). After a little over a week of using it, I started getting really frustrated with the tiny buttons, especially when receiving a text message. I got annoyed with the slider as well as the sensitive buttons on the face. One Friday evening, my phone was blowing up with calls and while I had not recieved two calls at once prior to this day it was no big deal till now.... I found switching between calls was a big PITA, especially since the buttons on it were so tiny. Needless to say, I started getting extremely annoyed with it and the very next day I took it back and traded it in for a Samsung sch-a930. The Samsung does everything the LG Chocolate does and I love it. Not to mention, I don't feel like I'm going to break the Samsung like I did when I used the Chocolate. Trying to use that Chocolate was like trying to learn how to use a telephone all over again. It's pretty but I'll pass.

This is the Samsung I got instead. I love it.

 

yep... for those who don't know... Samsung > LG

 

So I've been reading a lot of online complaints of poor battery life.

For those who have this phone, how does the battery life compare to other phones you have used?

 

Yeah, battery life sucked too.

 

i dunno...I've had it for about a month or so, and I haven't had any problems with it whatsoever. My battery life is actually rather awesome. By the end of the day, I still have a full battery, so I dunno?

 

Hmmm...placed the order anyways. We'll see if it's worth keeping.

 

Battery lasts me 4-5 days between charges. It inly drains alot when you go online to get new ring tones or wallpapers. Texting sucks, obviously, but if you text alot, you wouldn't get this phone. I have no complaints 3 months in. Just the fingerprints.

I also thought by now my screen would be scratched to hell since I have no case and it is always out or in my pocket. I have not one scratch on it yet.