LG Banter Review

[As a quick side note: yesterday the intro post that I wrote was taken down for reasons unknown to me. It was just an intro post and I would like to know the reason why an introduction was taken down from a so-called social blog. In the recent email that was sent out to all members of the social blog, I saw nothing that said we couldn't introduce ourselfs, I would like that post to be reinstated, if at all possible. Thank you.]

LG Banter Review

The LG Banter is sold at Alltel stores and is made to be a texting phone. With it's full QWERTY slide-out keyboard, it would make the average texter really happy. 

Banter, as I typed before, is made for texters, so it has to have a QWERTY keyboard and LG did it just right. Almost. It is a landscape keyboard, so the keys are spaced far apart, new users (like me) may make a lot of typing mistakes when they first get the phone, but this shouldn't last long. A downside for people who are used to autocorrect on the iPhone, the LG Banter doesn't have it, so if you make a mistake, you have to correct it yourself; this is a major downside in my opinion, because the keys on the keyboard are quite small, and you make a lot of mistakes.

Now, if you move onto the GUI of the phone, you will find that it has all the features the iPhone currently has, with the exeption of video recording, but it can take pictures. When you turn the phone on for the first time, you will (most likely) be presented with your carrier's logo as the wallpaper, you can go ahead and change that if you want. You will have three items at the bottom of the screen (for Alltel users), Celltop, Menu, and Message, respectively. (If the phone is locked, you will only see the words "Unlock" on the bottom of the screen) The phone's clock will also be displayed near the bottom of the screen, as well as in the menubar. The clock can be changed to different styles, I have mine set to display on what looks like a redneck's way of a doing a daily planner (A calendar taped on a cardboard back with a analog clock in the left corner). If you bring out the phone's QWERTY keyboard, you will be presented with a different main menu.

If you press the phone's OK button from the main menu (without the keyboard out) you will be presented with other applications, Messaging, Alltel Shop, Alltel Web (Internet), Multimedia (Ringtones, pictures, voicenotes, ect), Contacts, Recent Calls, Music (it is a MP3 Player too), Tools, Settings, Solitaire, Alltel Navigation, and Email. If you have this phone on a different carrier, these menu options will be different.

The LG Banter is $53 with a contract which includes a $50 mail-in rebate, so you only end up paying $3. (without a contract the phone is $230-something)

Comments

[jonathan]

sold at all ALLTEL?
verizon bought them out. They dont have that company anymore?

[Seth Hoogeboom]

The FCC made Verizon keep Alltel stores in rual areas stay open untill more companys were in those areas. So that Verizon didn't become the only wireless carrier that they could choose from

[David (thecreativeone)]

I'm a pussy