3GScottishUser
2nd December 2007, 11:39 AM
Having had the 3skypephone for a few weeks and having enjoyed using it I took the plunge and ordered an LG U990 Viewty on a Mix & Match plan on 3. The main reason for choosing 3 over the others who have this handset available is the amount of free video and content available. I also like the add-ons and the Internet pricing on 3 now. For far too long I have had powerful 3G handsets with services that are simply too expensive to make them useable (i.e. Orange's loony £4/month for 4MB on their Orange World service where nothing is free!!).
The Viewty too a while to arrive. Over 2 weeks from order to delivery but it did arrive exactly when stated via Royal Mail Special Delivery. 3 have been quite good at keeping in touch with reminders of the delivery date and advice about number allocation etc.
Opening the Viewty is a pleasure. LG have gone to great lengths to make the package feel special. The box is very high quality and the packaging is of a very high standard. It feels like a premium product. Included in the package is everything you could need including a screen protector (glorified sellotape really!) and a decent headset which has facility to allow you to use your own headset with a standard 3.5mm stereo mini-jack. Inserting the SIM, Memory card (Micro SD) and Battery is easy enough and the initial charge takes about 3 hours. Keep a mains charger handy as the viewty seems to have an appitite for charging!!
The Viewty takes a little time to get used to in terms of the touch screen. Menus are intuitive and well thought out and navigation is easy with soft keys on the touch screen. There is just too much on the phone to go into too much detail but suffice to say that the media player is top notch and the camera is not only great quality but has a weath of features for both taking stills and video and editing the results.
The Viewty like most mobiles suffers from an amazing yet simple drawback..... you cant insert a rival operator's USIM/SIM to copy contact details!! Surely manufacturers could make that basic facility available whilst making network services SIM locked!! The display is huge and easy to read and has visual indication of the type of network being received.
The Viewty over the last 48 hours has been quite fussy with 3's signal in my home area. There are major parts of highly populated areas of Glasgow where 3 don't have any coverage (well at least not indoors). Where they have coverage it can vary greatly. I have stood and watched the signal go from 3 bars of 3G to 1 bar of HSDPA then switch to GSM all within 10 seconds!! I have not made many calls as yet but have had two dropped calls so far and both happened when the phone switched from a low grade 3G signal to Orange's GSM. I have made one videocall and although the quality was a bit poor (pixilating) it was stable for 2 minutes or so. Services are great when they are available but due to coverage there are limitations that are making me think carefully before buying the internet add-on. I have installed LG's data suite on my laptop and will probably try the HSDPA in this area soon. The set up of the software is seamless and worked first time with either USB or bluetooth.
Extra services require software downloads when you use them for the first time. Pretty quick and easy when you are in coverage though to get the Skype and Windows Live Messenger clients and fairly easy to use once installed. Both can run in the background and you get an audible warning when either need attention.
Overall my first impressions of the handset are positive. I am not entirely convinced about 3's coverage or handover and so far the LG does not appear as resiliant as the 3Skypephone. Services (when available) are superb now and 3 now have the content and pricing to make this high spec handset worth buying.
Early days...... we shall see how it works over the next week or so and I will pack my little 3Skypephone for comparison. Thinking about it, we have come a long way after 18 months.... I vowed I would never carry another 3 handset and I now am packing two!!
Watch this space for updates......
The Viewty too a while to arrive. Over 2 weeks from order to delivery but it did arrive exactly when stated via Royal Mail Special Delivery. 3 have been quite good at keeping in touch with reminders of the delivery date and advice about number allocation etc.
Opening the Viewty is a pleasure. LG have gone to great lengths to make the package feel special. The box is very high quality and the packaging is of a very high standard. It feels like a premium product. Included in the package is everything you could need including a screen protector (glorified sellotape really!) and a decent headset which has facility to allow you to use your own headset with a standard 3.5mm stereo mini-jack. Inserting the SIM, Memory card (Micro SD) and Battery is easy enough and the initial charge takes about 3 hours. Keep a mains charger handy as the viewty seems to have an appitite for charging!!
The Viewty takes a little time to get used to in terms of the touch screen. Menus are intuitive and well thought out and navigation is easy with soft keys on the touch screen. There is just too much on the phone to go into too much detail but suffice to say that the media player is top notch and the camera is not only great quality but has a weath of features for both taking stills and video and editing the results.
The Viewty like most mobiles suffers from an amazing yet simple drawback..... you cant insert a rival operator's USIM/SIM to copy contact details!! Surely manufacturers could make that basic facility available whilst making network services SIM locked!! The display is huge and easy to read and has visual indication of the type of network being received.
The Viewty over the last 48 hours has been quite fussy with 3's signal in my home area. There are major parts of highly populated areas of Glasgow where 3 don't have any coverage (well at least not indoors). Where they have coverage it can vary greatly. I have stood and watched the signal go from 3 bars of 3G to 1 bar of HSDPA then switch to GSM all within 10 seconds!! I have not made many calls as yet but have had two dropped calls so far and both happened when the phone switched from a low grade 3G signal to Orange's GSM. I have made one videocall and although the quality was a bit poor (pixilating) it was stable for 2 minutes or so. Services are great when they are available but due to coverage there are limitations that are making me think carefully before buying the internet add-on. I have installed LG's data suite on my laptop and will probably try the HSDPA in this area soon. The set up of the software is seamless and worked first time with either USB or bluetooth.
Extra services require software downloads when you use them for the first time. Pretty quick and easy when you are in coverage though to get the Skype and Windows Live Messenger clients and fairly easy to use once installed. Both can run in the background and you get an audible warning when either need attention.
Overall my first impressions of the handset are positive. I am not entirely convinced about 3's coverage or handover and so far the LG does not appear as resiliant as the 3Skypephone. Services (when available) are superb now and 3 now have the content and pricing to make this high spec handset worth buying.
Early days...... we shall see how it works over the next week or so and I will pack my little 3Skypephone for comparison. Thinking about it, we have come a long way after 18 months.... I vowed I would never carry another 3 handset and I now am packing two!!
Watch this space for updates......