LG 100c Review, Part 1

As I mentioned previously, I’ll be combining some aspects of the 100c, 220c, and 290c into a single article, since they are identical in some important ways. But before I do that combined segment, I’ll be introducing each phone individually. Now, here’s the first part of my

LG 100c Review

General Overview

LG 100c

The LG 100c is the lowest-priced of the three new LG CDMA prepaid phones released this fall, and accordingly has the lowest feature set. It’s just $14.99 for TracFone, $29.99 from Net10, and $29.99 from Straight Talk.

The LG 100c is a very basic candy-bar style phone, and it’s also VERY light and compact. It’s just 2.45 ounces, and measures 4.09 x 1.80 x 0.50 inches. It’s also light on features – it does have a browser, hands-free speaker, and some basic organizational tools, but that’s about it. It does not have bluetooth, camera, mp3 player, games or Double Minutes for Life, although you can get DMFL on this model if you look for certain specially-marked packages available only at a seemingly select few Walmart stores.

External/Appearance

The appearance, as with the feature set, is very basic. The keypad look maybe a little outdated, but not too bad in my opinion. The gray casing and buttons won’t appeal to everyone, but overall in my opinion it’s a pretty big step up from the Kyocera 126c in terms of appearance (as well as many other factors, which I’ll get to later).

As has been the case with most recent TracFone/Net10/Straight Talk releases, there is no carrier branding anywhere on the outside of the phone. However, the header at top of the screen displays the carrier name, and I could not find a way to remove this branding.

Because of the light weight of the phone, I’ve found it somewhat difficult to assess the “quality feel” of the LG 100c. Honestly, there’s not much to evaluate here. I don’t really like the buttons all that much, but they definitely feel more solid than the k126c. When comparing the 100c to the quality of the k126c, the LG 100c wins hands-down in my opinion.

Semi-Conclusion

I do like this phone better than its predecessor, the Kyocera K126c. However, I think that for just $5 or $10 more, the LG 220c provides some advantages, such as bluetooth and a larger screen, as well as a few others. I’ll addres those points in a future post, but for now suffice it to say that if you like this small candy-bar form factor and don’t need bluetooth, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with the LG 100c. If you have a few extra dollars to spend on your next phone, I don’t think you’ll regret spending it on the LG 220c instead.

Note: I have a material relationship with one or more of the brands mentioned in this post.

Samsung r810 Finesse – Breaking Straight Talk News

I apologize for interrupting your regularly scheduled review of the LG series phones, but I have a breaking news announcement.

Picture of the Samsung R810 Finesse

Straight Talk wireless has released the Samsung R810c Finesse phone, which showed up for sale on Straight Talk’s website yesterday. It is currently offered only in combination with a monthly card, meaning that you’ll need to pay for the first month of service at the same time you pay for the phone itself. It is also NOT available anywhere else yet, including Walmart.

Here’s the real news, something that I have a feeling will cause a lot of “sticker shock” among frequent readers of this blog: The price of the phone alone is $329. That’s not a typo – $329 is the price. As I’ve mentioned previously on this blog, though, it seems to be targeted not at those of us who like to chase the $20 refurbished phone + airtime bundles, but at current postpaid subscribers who would like to reduce their monthly costs without having to accept a significant downgrade in phone. For those people, it might be a bargain to pay over $300 for a phone, because they can then recoup those costs in just a few months of significantly lower airtime costs.

Another bit of news to consider with this phone is that, based on the info now available at Straight Talk’s site, it appears that the Finesse does NOT have a full HTML browser. Instead, the r810 tutorials show the same WAP browser that is available on all other Straight Talk handsets. This means that r810 users will likely only be able to access the “mobile” version of websites, not the full version. Websites that do not have a separate mobile version will be unaccessible to WAP browsers. It’s certainly possible that once this phone is distributed, we’ll find out that there is indeed an HTML browser, but that seems pretty unlikely. It’s also possible that users will find a way to work around this limitation, but that’s also unpredictable.

Lastly, I’m wondering what you think – I am considering purchasing this phone for a test drive, but it’s obviously much more expensive than any phone I’ve previously reviewed. I really don’t think I’d keep it for personal use, and if that’s the case I’d probably end up selling it, once my review is complete, to recoup some of the costs. However, if nobody is interested i a review anyway, I might just skip it and stick to the more moderately-priced market I’ve been focused on so far. So, I’m asking your opinion. Do you want to learn more about this phone? Should I take the time and money to do a Samsung Finesse review, or keep waiting for advanced features to be added to more reasonably priced models? Please post your opinions in the comments section of this post. Thanks!

Note: I have a material relationship with one or more of the brands mentioned in this post.

LG 220c Review Part 1

As I’ve been promising, I’m finally ready to start posting my reviews of the LG 290c, LG 220c, and LG 100c. I’m going to be doing it a little differently than normal, though. Since these phones share many common characteristics, I will be combining portions of the review. I’ll start with an overview of each model individually throughout this week. Toward the end of the week or into the weekend, I’ll post my review of the features the three models have in common. Next week, I’ll begin wrapping it all up with summaries for each individual phone. Here’ the first part of the

LG 220c review:

General Overview

LG 220c

The LG 220c is a clamshell phone using the CDMA network, which provides very good coverage and especially outperforms the GSM network in many rural areas. It is available for TracFone at $19.99, Net10 at $39.99, and Straight Talk for $39.99.

I really like the compact size and light weight of this model – it weighs in at a super-light 2.9 oz., which feels especially light in comparison to the Samsung QWERTY phones I’ve reviewed recently. It measures 3.5 x 1.8 x .75 inches, making it more compact than any other flip phone I’ve ever used. It scores very high on that “how does it slide in and out of your pocket” metric that many people seemed to be concerned with. On the other hand, I guess it could be easy to lose, for you ladies with a lot of stuff in your purse.

Part of the reason the 220c is so compact is that it does not have an mp3 player, memory card slot or camera. However, it does have bluetooth, speaker phone, and a nice color external display. For you TracFone users considering this phone, keep in mind that most versions do NOT include Double Minutes for Life. However, some Walmart stores in CDMA territory offer specially-marked packages including the LG 220c, an accessory kit, and DMFL for about the same price as the phone alone at other locations.

External/Appearance

The external appearance is, in my opinion, very clean and sleek. It reminds me a lot of the LG 600g, except the 220c is even sleeker looking. The metallic trim on the 220c might not appeal to everyone, but I think it’s minimal enough to be attractive without being too much.

As I mentioned above, the external display is quite nice. The color screen is fairly large as far as external screens go, measuring about one inch diagonally. On this display, you can get a lot of information at a glance, including current time and date, signal meter, text and voicemail message indicators, ringer volume setting (silent, alarm only, vibrate only, or regular ringer), and battery meter.

Some people don’t like light-weight phones because they think the phones feel cheap or flimsy, but that was definitely NOT the impression I got from this model. It seems to be durable and relatively high-quality. The hinge has enough “give” to it that there’s not much worry of accidentally breaking the hinge, but not so much that it’s wobbly or flimsy during use.

Semi-conclusion

I still have more to say about this model, obviously, but if you’re looking for my first impression, I really like it. I think it’s a nice update on the reliable but somewhat outdated LG 3280 and LG 200c CDMA models previously available for TracFone, Net10 and Straight Talk. If you don’t need a camera or mp3 player, I think the LG 220c is a bargain at the relatively low prices being asked.

In my review of the common features shared by these three LG models, I’ll go into more specifics on why I think this is such a valuable little device.

Note: I have a material relationship with one or more of the brands mentioned in this post.

Mobile Web News, Transferring Contact Lists, More Phone Deals

First the deals, but if you have a bluetooth phone, especially one you’ve purchased just recently, be sure to read on for more tips on setting up your contact list. Walmart is currently offering a couple of bargains, if you can find them. They have the Net10 T401g, with an accessory kit, for $60. This price is NOT available online.

There is also a bundle deal featuring the Samsung T301g plus DMFL, a year of service, 200 bonus minutes, and an accessory kit for $69.88. This deal is available online, and in stores if you’re lucky enough to find it. Also, there is a rumor that in CDMA areas this same deal is available on the LG 290c but that one is NOT available online and at this point I would call it “just a rumor.”

Now, for the other tips:

After going through the comments on these phones and reading more on various forums, I’ve learned a few more things about the two new Samsung phones I’ve reviewed recently. First, on the T401g, I took the advice of some people who posted in the comments section and tried harder to access extra content on the browser. I was able to get to Facebook, Yahoo! mail, and Gmail.

I did this by using the search bar at the top of the browser homepage. I typed in the name of the site I wanted to access (i.e. “Facebook”) and clicked on the first link that came up in the search results. In each case I was able to get in to the site. I even sent an email from my Yahoo! account just to make sure it worked. Everything worked great. Others have said that you can go to sites that have a dedicated mobile portion by typing in the URL of their mobile site, such as m.facebook.com for Facebook’s mobile version.

Some people had success that way; I had better luck searching for the site name. In either case, once you’ve been to a site it will show up in your history so you can click through to it that way. I have not tried this personally with the r451c, but I’ve read that it works the same way.

The next feature I discovered is using bluetooth to transfer contacts between phones. I was able to send my entire contact list from my T401g to my r451c. I also tested with the LG 290c, 220c, and 600g, and was able to receive contacts by bluetooth on all of those phones as well. How to easily transfer contacts has been an ongoing question among people upgrading phones, and it looks like bluetooth will be a solution for those people.

With so many different phones, I can’t possibly explain exactly how to do this with each model, but I’ll explain what worked for me: I first paired my T401g with the phone I wanted to send the contacts to. Then, I went to my contacts list, chose “options,” and “send business card via…” and then “bluetooth.” After that, I could choose to send just the currently selected contact entry, all contacts, all contacts saved on the phone, or all contacts saved on the SIM. These menu options will vary among phones – on a few other phones I tested, I was able to go through my contact list and check a box next to each entry I wanted to transfer. And on the EM326g and 600g, I could only send contacts one-by-one, but it was still better than entering them by hand.

The phones send the contact list as .vcf files, which might also be referred to as a vCard file or “business card.” If you are having trouble finding the correct menu option on your particular phone, you may want to look for one of those.

This is also interesting because .vcf is a pretty universal standard for contact info. This opens the door for some interesting possibilities of transferring contacts by computer. For example, I like to keep my master contacts list in my Yahoo email account. I was able to download all those contacts in a single batch, with the batch zip file containing a separate vcf file for each contact. I then sent a few of those contacts, one at a time, from my computer to my T401g. It may take some tinkering, but I think this should be possible with most phones that accept “push” bluetooth services, including the t401g, r451c, 290c, 220c, 600g, and possibly the EM326g.

Even if your old phone doesn’t have bluetooth, I think this should work if you have another way to get the contacts list to your computer (such as with a sim card reader). You could then convert that list to vcf format, then send it over to your phone. Even if you have to do some typing on your computer keyboard, for example by manually entering your contacts from your old phone into outlook or an online email service, it should be easier than manually entering your entire list into your phone.

I hope this is helpful to some of you as you upgrade phones. Like I said above, I can’t provide support on how to do this with specific models, but hopefully this is enough information to give you an idea of what’s possible and get you started in the right direction. If you have success transferring files this way, please do share your experience in the comments section of this post (including the “transferred from” and “transferred to” devices).

Finally, before I go I wanted to point out a comment made by “Billy Zimmerman” regarding how he was successful with syncing contacts on his from his new Straight Talk Razr V3a:

http://pbush14.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/samsung-r451c-review-first-impressions/#comment-5491

Samsung R810 Finesse – Straight Talk Review Site

[EDIT: As of 12/7/09, the Samsung r810c is available on Straight Talk's site here. As of 12/7/09, it is NOT available anywhere else.]

For months now, prepaid enthusiasts on online message boards have been discussing rumors of a possible touch-screen phone coming to Straight Talk. Though it’s not actually on sale yet, there is stronger evidence than ever before that we’ll actually see this new device very soon.

(For more info about the phone, go to Straight Talk’s site and enter “r810” in the search box at the top of the screen, then look for “Tutorial” or “Search Results.” Whether or not a link works seems to depend on when you try, so I’m not putting a direct link in this article at this time.)

The Samsung r810 Finesse is a device that is also available for other providers, such as US Cellular and MetroPCS. Like all other Straight Talk phones, it operates on the comprehensive U.S. CDMA network. As I mentioned previously, the biggest draw of the new r810 is a large touch-screen display, which is similar to Apple’s iPhone. I’m not attempting to compare the two devices beyond the touch-screen functionality, however.

In addition to the touch screen, the phone includes a slide-out qwerty keyboard, 2 megapixel camera, video recording, and mp3 player, among other features. Further, it appears that the Samsung Finesse is designed to support add-on widgets, or small applications that can be added by the user. Whether Straight Talk will limit or completely disable this functionality remains to be seen, however.

Also noteworthy about the r810 is that it uses EVDO technology for data transmission. This is significantly faster than the 1xRTT speeds allowed by all previous Straight Talk handsets as well as Net10 and TracFone CDMA models.

At this point, it appears that Straight Talk will NOT require any special data plan for use with this phone. At $45, unlimited data usage on the EVDO network as well as unlimited talk and text would be a bargain for people that will make a lot of use of the (relatively) high-speed data. And if you’ve seen Verizon’s recent television ads touting the wide coverage of their “3G” network as compared to AT&T’s, you know that you’ll get strong coverage for using web access on the go.

The question I failed to answer so far is, of course, is “How much will it cost?” The answer is $299, which is a pretty big price tag for those of us who’ve been TracFone or Net10 customers for a while now. I don’t think this device is necessary intended to appeal to us, however.

The Samsung Finesse seems to be aimed at the segment of current postpaid customers who are considering a switch to prepaid but are hesitant due to the limited selection of phones as compared to the heavily subsidized models they might get when they sign a two-year contract. Similarly, the Finesse might be enough to retain current prepaid customers who are considering more feature-rich phones as an incentive to switch to postpaid service.

It might even cost a little more up front than many of the newest phones offered with a contract, but the cost savings over the life of the phone will most likely end up being much more than enough to offset the initial cost.

So to sum it up, this might not necessarily appeal to the readers of this blog directly. However, I know that many of you, like me, are often in the position of educating others about how much they could save with prepaid. The Finesse is another option worth pointing out to those people that might be on the fence about switching to prepaid.

However, since I don’t want to clutter up this blog with info that isn’t of interest to most readers, I’ll be setting up a separate site dedicated to this phone. Those of you that with to read more about it can find it at my Samsung R810 Finesse review site. I’ll be developing that site over the next few months as more info about the phone is available.

Up next: TracFone promotional code updates, LG CDMA phone reviews.

A Comment about Comments

As I mentioned in a previous post, I the H1N1 virus struck my family and me earlier this month. That set me back in many areas of my life, including my plans for this blog. As a result of that illness, along with some traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I’ve fallen VERY far behind on comments.

I’d previously tried to make sure that all I followed up on all comments at least within a week (unless someone else already had responded). For most of the month of November, however, I’ve been unable to do that.

I’ve given priority to keeping up with writing new posts which reach many people, rather than responding to comments, which are often of interest only to the person posting the comment. This is especially true of comments specifically asking questions of me.

For comments, I’m going to wipe the slate clean and start over – I’m not going to answer anything from the last three weeks (prior to November 26th or so) that I haven’t already answered. If you’ve asked a question via the comments section during that time, you probably haven’t gotten a response from me. I assume that by this time, any answer that I could provide would no longer be helpful to you. If you posted a question and you’re still wondering about it, please feel free to post it again.

I’m also making a few changes to how I handle the comments. First, I’m going to lock comments on all phone-specific pages except for one page on each phone – in most cases, the review summary page.

Secondly, I’ve always offered the option of reaching me directly by posting a message in the form on my “about” page, and subscribers can reach me by replying to any of my posts that get to their email. However, in the future I’m going to respectfully request that if possible, people post their comments in the comments section of one of the posts/pages, which allows for other readers to answer the question and/or benefit from reading the questions and answers.

Finally, I will, at some point in the future, set up a “Frequently asked questions” page so that people can use it as a reference prior to posting questions that may have already been answered.

Before I wrap this up, I’m also going to add in what I plan to make a regular feature in my posts: a preview of upcoming posts. Here’s what’s on tap for the next week: a first look (finally) at the new LG CDMA phones for TracFone, Net10, and Straight Talk; News of yet another new Straight Talk phone; Updates (finally) to the bonus code database.

Black Friday Summary

As I promised a few weeks ago, I’ve put together a list of all the TracFone, Net10, and Straight Talk deals, summarizing info contributed by readers through their comments.

First, all three of these companies have offered free overnight shipping on their website. At this time, the official word is that the free shipping offer will be valid only through Monday, November 30. In addition to the free overnight shipping, both Net10 and TracFone have cut prices on some of their phone models. The shipping and price cuts are available NOW, so you don’t have to wait until Friday if you want to order one of these models.

First up is Net10’s Motorola EM326g, which is still being offered with a free 2GB microSD memory card and USB cord, and now they’ve thrown in an accessory kit. Net10 has also knocked $10 off the price of this package, bringing it down to $41.99 after the $8 promotional codes I’ve mentioned previously. In my opinion this is a pretty appealing deal, especially for all the extras. If you want just the phone, though, keep reading as it’s on a better sale Thursday and Friday, which I discuss below.

On the TracFone side of things, they’ve brought back the very popular deal bundling a 60-minute airtime card along with a free, reconditioned Motorola w376g for $19.99 ($16.99 after promotional codes). This deal is listed as “while supplies last,” though, so get your order in quickly if you want one (or more).

They have also reduced prices on the following items:

• LG 600G, with free accessory kit, from $39.99 to $19.99.
• Samsung T301G, with free accessory kit, from $39.99 to $29.99
• Motorola w260 from $17.99 to $9.99 (they also added a free accessory kit)
• They’ve also added a free accessory kit to the Samsung T101g, but maintained the price at $19.99.

Remember to use promotional codes when you order from TracFone.com. They currently have codes for $3 off your order as well as a code for a free accessory kit. Click here for more info on those codes.

Straight Talk doesn’t have any price cuts or bonus codes to offer this time around, but they are also taking part in the Free overnight shipping promotion. Further, evidence is mounting that they’ll have a new high-end phone available sometime soon (and I’ll post more about that soon as well). To check out what’s available for Straight Talk right now, click here, then click on Phones>Shop.

Below are deals available on Friday (unless otherwise noted) from various retailers. Some of these deals may be available on the stores’ websites as well, although you’ll have to check on that yourself. Also, these deals are mostly as reported by readers – please be sure to confirm the deals are valid at your local stores before heading out shopping.

• Sears will offer the Samsung T301g (or the LG 290c in CDMA-only areas) at $24.99
• Best Buy will have the T401g (NET10) for $39.99
• Rite Aid is advertising a TracFone handset for $9.99. The ad doesn’t specify the model, although the w175 is pictured in the flyer. Might also be the LG 100c in CDMA areas.
• KMart will have Samsung R451c and T401g (Net10) for $59.99
• KMart will have the Net10 EM326g for $29.99, but this does not include the free accessories available through Net10’s site. (This deal is available Thanksgiving day, and should be available online.)
• KMart will have the LG 600g for TracFone for $19.99 (Friday and Saturday)
• KMart also has a “Wireless Gear” bluetooth headset for $8 as part of their 2-day sale.
• Radio Shack will have 10% off on all prepaid wireless airtime
• Radio Shack has a Plantronics bluetooth headset (E210 model) for $19.99
• Radio Shack has a SanDisk 2GB MicroSD card for $4.99

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. If you know of a deal that I’ve missed, please share it by posting in the comments section at the bottom of this post. Thanks, and happy Thanksgiving!

Required information about this blog

As a result of a new set of regulations implemented by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), many online publishers (e.g. bloggers like me) are required to disclose some information on their sites. So I decided to take this opportunity to fill you in on a little history of this blog.

You see, I started writing about TracFone three years ago. It started with a little $3 ebook, including a list of TracFone promotional codes, that I sold on eBay. After eBay took it’s percentage and a few other fees, and PayPal got a cut as well, I was making a couple of dollars per ebook. It was through that ebook that many of current followers of this blog discovered my work. However, after a few months and a few hundred sales of that ebook, eBay changed it’s policies and prohibited the sale of any downloadable item on their site. As a result, I was no longer able to reach other TracFone users through eBay’s site.

It was then that I started this blog, as a way to continue to reach TracFone users that might be interested in my work. I put the TracFone promotional code list up (for free), and hoped that people would see my list and decide to buy the ebook as well. I guess I then got hooked on blogging, because I kept going with it despite the fact that my ebook sales continued to nose-dive, even from the modest 2-3 daily sales numbers I had seen on eBay.

But I kept writing, and people kept finding me. They would contact me with questions and, occasionally, compliments on the info I was publishing. And every once in a while, someone would suggest that there might be some profit potential in this for me, while others asked if there was any way they could compensate me. The more I wrote, the more people told me I was providing a valuable service. After hearing this repeatedly, I finally looked into becoming a TracFone affiliate. I was accepted into the affiliate program, meaning I could then promote TracFone’s products and receive a commission on certain sales. After that I went on to become an affiliate for several other prepaid cell phone companies (Net10, Straight Talk, Page Plus Wireless, T-Mobile) and online retailers (Amazon, Buy.com, Letstalk.com). Accordingly, I must post the following disclosure:

“I have a material relationship with TracFone, Net10, and Straight Talk, because I receive a percentage on purchases made through their websites by readers that arrive at those websites through links in certain content I produce.”

Most readers of THIS blog have remained completely unaware of my affiliation with any of those companies, as wordpress.com prohibits advertising on its site. Still, after learning how those affiliate programs work, I have developed a few other web properties and implemented other strategies in an attempt to profit through affiliate sales. This is where we get back to the FTC: since I do have a “material relationship” with some of the brands discussed on this blog, I am required to disclose that to readers, even though the content on this particular blog is not “advertising.” So the required disclosure is my purpose in writing this post.

However, I also want to make a pledge to people who read this blog. I will NEVER let my published opinion be swayed by any affiliate relationship I have. As you’ve probably realized by now, I have been openly critical of certain TracFone and Net10 policies and products, despite my affiliate relationship. Further, I am writing with the goal of helping readers to SAVE money on their wireless phone service. If a less expensive product is the best fit for the needs of a particular reader, or if an expensive phone is a piece of junk, that’s what I’m going to write. No exceptions.

In short, you, the reader, come first. I strive to write with honesty and integrity, and put the best interests of potential readers above my own financial interests. However, if my writing is useful to readers and results in readers making informed purchasing decisions after reading my commentary, I may eventually derive financial benefit as a result of those purchases. This is the case only if you end up going through some of my advertising (such as may be found occasionally on eBay or through Google Ads). I do not profit when, as is most often the case, someone reads my phone reviews and then ultimately ends up purchasing a new phone from a local brick-and-mortar store like Target, Sears, or Walmart.

Before I wrap this up, I want to thank you for continuing to be a reader, and hope that I can provide info that is of interest and benefit to you for a long time to come. I also would like to include a little more info about my affiliate relationships:

• I have been suggesting TracFone, Net10 and, later Straight Talk, services to friends and family since long before I became an affiliate of those companies.
• My affiliate relationships are NOT contingent upon providing favorable reviews. I present my honest opinions, and allow the readers to make a wise choice based on the information I provide.
• I have never tempered or withheld an unfavorable comment or opinion about a product or service, even when that unfavorable comment will cause readers to act in a way that is against my financial interests.
• I have never received a free product from any of the companies or brands I discuss in my writing.
• I will never accept products or payments intended to hinder my objectivity or sway my opinion.

I hope this info answers any questions you may have. If not, please post any feedback in the comments section and I’ll do my best to respond.

Also, coming up later today or tomorrow, I’ll post a summary of the TracFone/Net10/Straight Talk Black Friday deals.

Samsung R451c review summary

Samsung r451c

The Samsung r451c is the newest offering from both Net10 and Straight Talk. It is currently offered for $99.99 from Straight Talk’s site. It’s also on Net10’s site, where you can get it for $71.99 if you use the discounts I recommend here: Net10 Promotional Codes.

Below I’ll summarize the review, skipping over the detail that was included in parts 1, 2, and 3 of the review. If you have not yet read those posts, check them out at my Samsung r451c review index.

Advantages

• Signal reception is very good.
• QWERTY keyboard for easier texting.
• .3 units per text is cheaper than any other Net10 phone.
• The Samsung r451c’s mp3 player offers better sound than the Motorola EM326g, but requires either  special headset (stereo 2.5mm) or an adapter (2.5mm to 3.5mm).
• 1.3 mp camera, which captures about as much detail as any other Net10 or TracFone model (similar quality to T401g, EM326g, or 290c).
• Expandable memory slot – accepts up to 16gb, or possibly even 32gb microSDHC cards, though I’m not aware of anyone actually testing a 32gb card. Expansion memory can be used to store mp3’s as well as photos, or any other files you wish to take with you.
• The browser will not load unless the slider is open, thus reducing accidental browser activation.
• Data transfer between the r451c and a computer or other phone can be accomplished by bluetooth, USB cable, or removable memory card.
• Lack of Net10/Straight Talk labeling allow this phone to easily blend in with other more expensive or contract-only phones.
• Includes 300 minutes at activation, partially offsetting the cost of upgrading.
• Excellent battery life for a feature-packed phone.
• Screen is big and bright.
• Can assign contact-specific ringtones.
• Can use mp3 ringtones.
• Can store mp3 ringtones on the expandable memory card

Disadvantages

• Bulky and heavy – 4.6 ounces, and measures 4.4″ long, 2.0″ wide and 0.7” thick.
• Audio quality for calls is not as good as most other Net10 handsets. The LG 290c, LG 220c, Samsung T401g and Motorola EM326g all produced better sound than this model.
• Shortcut keys cannot be customized.
• No video recorder like on the Samsung T401g.
• At $72 after my recommended discounts, it’s the currently most expensive Net10 model. However, this can be offset partially by the 300 free minutes at activation, as well as the reduced cost of text messaging.
• Web browser still restricted by Net10 (This applies to Net10 version ONLY – the Straight Talk version has full internet access).
• Web browser is via 1xrtt, not the more advanced, faster EVDO.
• Browser button cannot be re-assigned to a different shortcut.
• No preloaded games.
• I could not find a way to install Java software.
• Playlist organization on the mp3 player is not very user-friendly.
• No FM radio.

All in all, I’m not blown away by this model. If you’re a Net10 user, I’d say the T401g is a better QWERTY model. It’s important to note that the T401g is a GSM phone, while the r451c is CDMA. If you require a CDMA model, the r451c might be your best bet for the features it offers, but the new LG 290c and 220c both offer better sound quality.

Similarly, Straight Talk users considering this model will be weighing it against the LG 290c and possibly the LG 220c, as well as the Motorola w385 and the time-tested Razr. Further, there are rumors of a touch-screen Straight Talk phone hitting the market before the end of the year, so it might be worth waiting around to see if that rumor is true.

Samsung r451c Review – Part 3

The Samsung r451c is currently offered for $99.99 from Straight Talk’s site. It’s also $79.99 from Net10’s site, where you can get it for $71.99 if you use the discounts I recommend here: Net10 Promotional Codes. Now, here’s part 3 of my review. You can find more on this phone in my Samsung r451c review index.

Camera

The Samsung r451c takes photos at settings up to 1.3 megapixels (1280×960), as well as lower resolutions if you choose. The 1.3 mp resolution should provide enough detail for some 4×6 or maybe 5×7 prints. But, like most camera phones, this one lacks a flash, so any photos will end up looking muddy if there isn’t adequate lighting. Here are a couple of pics I took with the T401g on the highest resolution; first an outdoor shot, then a pic in standard indoor lighting situation:

Picture taken with Samsung r451c

Picture taken with Samsung r451c

The r451c camera also offers the following options: