LG enV Touch VX11000 Cell Phone

I haven't liked a telephone since rotary dial black plastic went out of vogue; not so much because I hate technology but, rather, because the concept of being in constant touch annoys me.  Back in the days of black plastic rotary dial phones you most likely had one or two phone IN THE HOUSE and if you weren't in the house you were left alone.  No such luck these days.

That said, if you have to have a cell phone (because men are, after all, twelve year old boys in larger more padded bodies) the LG enV Touch is a pretty fine way to go.  I have had the same cell number since 1983.  Started with a Fujitsu Alex phone in my car and just dumped an LG enV in favor of the Touch.  If you text and I have been for the last 6 months (easier when the kids ask for money at least you don't have to listen to the whining) the enV and enV Touch are the phones to have for full sized guys.  The env2 and enV3 are fine if you have small hand/fingers but real men need bigger keyboards and the Touch has that in spades.

The graphics are phenomenal; I now understand why so many fish get caught on bright lures.  The controls are intuitive, well as much so as Verizon and LG can make them.  If you are familiar with LG-ese you will figure this phone out quicklike and in a hurry.  If you are not familiar with LG-ese the manual is only 140 pages so you should have the phone knocked by the time teletransportation is perfected.  Seriously, it's not all that tough to figure ot out and any 6 year old can help you in a pinch.  I recommend the vintage setting as opposed to the cool blue for the theme.  The blue is nice but more heavily reliant on icons and whirling gizmo type stuff...the retro is more text oriented.

The screen itself scrolls well but more effort is required than I like...seems I am always activating a feature when all I really wanted to do was slide the lock off or move to the next screen.  The right amount of pressure to use has been the steepest learning curve for me.  I am getting it but it does take some time and patience.  The external QWERTY keyboard is usable but not nearly as nice as the internal keyboard.

The favorites feature is a really nice addition.  The pen feature for me is a great way to one hand text as opposed to the darn keypad which requires one-two-three-four clicks for each letter.  How annoying is that in our fast paced world.  I am just recovering from a fractured thumb and was one hand texting for a month...talk about dismal...my good thumb now has tendonitis from all the click click clicking!  I have mastered the one hand pen though and feel smugly satisfied that even young kids tell me "hey mister, that's pretty cool"!

The sound is, in my opinion, a step above the last generation of enVs...just seems clearer to me on a more regular basis.  The camera is cool enough but unless you are planning on spying on your neighbor is it really necessary to have a camera in your phone?  I guess taking a picture of your kid to use as a picture ID is a good reason but the concept of everyone walking around with cameras is a bit too Big Brotherish for me; I'll get over it.

The flip open QWERTY keyboard is a joy to use even with my big fingers...the centrally located space key is new and takes some getting used to...your first few texts will look like this --wheresmthexdarn spacemkey--; but in a few days you will be back to merrily misspelling with aplomb.

Those who complain about short battery life must be using their phones to jump start their cars or something.  I use my phone all day...texting and calling and have yet to have it jump below three bars.  Here's a news flash...use the lock key on the left side and turn the screen off when in downtime!  Seriously, I have tried to drain this battery and can't do it; must be my electric personality keeps it charged or something :)

I love the usb/adapter charging system as I can attach to my Toshiba Satellite and recharge or use a wall socket.  Speaking of the USB connection it's great to have direct access to the phone to synch Outlook; look for and download the Outlook synching software, you'll be pleased.  I use the micro SD card to store pics and such...works smoothly and even the document reader function works.  Of course, the document is displayed at about 1/100 of its size and only Superman could possibly really read it...but, hey, it works and if you only type one or two word documents you can enlarge them and you'll be very happy.

I suggest leaving the plastic on that covers the internal and external screens.  The picture is plenty pretty and the LG screens historically tend to scratch.  I also recommend using the lock feature that requires a password to unlock; the auto-lock works fine but carried in my cargo pocket did get undid somehow.  Synching music is a bit of a pain using Windows Media Player but, truthfully, I have an iPod Touch and have no intention of using my phone for a music player; if you do once set up it works flawlessly so far (I put a few tunes in just to test). 

The best part about an old guy like me (53 years young) owning one of these phones is it makes me look younger, thinner and definintely gave me thicker hair...believe that and I have this bridge in Lake Havasu I want to sell you!  All kidding aside...the enV Touch works, pure and simple and it does have a cool factor I have not experienced since seeing Pete Townsend smash his Gibson on stage!