CU720 LG Shine (AT&T Wireless) Review

We changed providers, since our old provider didn't give us a good upgrade deal.  I got the Shine.

Compared to my old LG, this one is a massive upgrade.

I won't go into tech specs. Everyone wants to know what the user wants to know... plain and simple, how it works.

Capabilities:

4G Micro SD card slot.
2 Mpixel Still camera.
Video Camera.
Web and email capability.
MP3 player.
Bluetooth compatible.

Appearance:

I have the black model.  It has a nice brushed appearance in back, and a shiny appearance in front.

The right side has the buttons for volume, camera and such.  The left has the jack for the charger/headset/data connections as well as a Micro SD slot.

The screen smudges easily... get screen protectors to keep the screen from getting scratched.

Functionality:

Menu System and navigation: 

The heart of the navigation is this "joystick" button.  It takes some getting used to, before you can operate it smoothly.  It can be clumsy and hard to manuver at times.

I considered the menus to sometimes be confusing, and the navigation not well planned.  For example.  You can read a text message with the slide closed; but you need to open the slide to get out of the menus back to your main screen.  Other sequences seem out of place, like the menu options were added as afterthoughts.
Other than that, the options do work well and are effective.

System functions and options: Everything works well.  What I absolutely hated though, were hard coded options for services you had to pay for or only trial versios that required purchase or subscription.

The Email program works well as long as you have one of the supported providers... AT&T, Yahoo, Juno, and a few others.  Gmail is not supported.

The web browser is generally okay.  It will not go into "Landscape" mode for a wider screen.  Some graphics will not show up.  Fortunately, Opera mini works with this phone, which corrects the shortcomings of the built in browser.

Screen size is sufficient.. if you do not plan on using this phone for general use.  It is best for quick stuff, like news updates, weather radar, and such.


The phone has AIM and Yahoo messenger installed.

There are many applications in the standard .jar format that work well with this phone.

Bluetooth: The phone easily finds and acquires a Bluetooth headset.  It seems to work fine.  I do not use this function all the time, but paring with my headset was a snap. 

Battery/Power:

The phone can be charged via the supplied charger, a car charger, or a USB data cable.  Battery life is about 2 days of moderate use.  I'd like to see more life; but it works for me.

Connectors:

The phone uses a single "do all" jack.  As such, the USB cable isn't one of the standard ones, nor can you directly plug in a set of headphones.  You need compatible cables/headphones, or you can purchase adapters.  A headphone adapter runs about $3 on Ebay.  My data cable also cost about $3 on Ebay... get your stuff there.

Cameras:

The phone has a 2Mpixel still camera, which is good for any day to day photography.  It works as well as my stand alone digital camera at this resolution.  The built in flash isn't the best, so make sure you have good lighting.  You can adjust white balance and such.

Quicktime can play recorded videos.  They are good for "YouTube" sized movies (screen resolution)  I wouldn't record soemthing you want to burn to DVD.  It records in the 3gp format.  It can play MP4 video also, you just need to get it right.

Computer/Phone connectivity:

You will need a micro SD card for computer connectivity.  The phone itself cannot be read by any known software package, including Bitpim.  As such, your phone book, calendar, and such CANNOT be accessed.  Note:  Overseas versions can be edited, but not the USA AT&T version.

With an SD card, you have access to all your media.  You can drag and drop from your computer.  There is a built-in "media share" function that will let you transfer from Windows Media player also; but you can skip this and directly access the card the same way you would access any removeable media. with 4G, it will hold a lot of music and photos.

As a Telephone:

Yes... it is a phone.  The audio is crisp and clear.  The AT&T GSM network is good to us here.  I find you need to open the slide for the opther person to hear ou well. Speakerphone is also sufficient.


Summary:

All in all, a good phone... remember, it IS a telephone. 

It has more functions than I will use on a daily basis.  Everything works well.  Other than some odd menuing order, and those oh so annoying "you gotta pay" applications, it is a winner.

I would like to see full access to contacts, calendars and such via data connection.


-----------------------------Update:
This phone, for some reason will NOT store (install) an application you download to external memory (SD card).  It also will not recognize an application you doenload off the internet, then transfer to the phone.  Pretty much you have to go to a download site ON the phone and download and install it to the phone's internal memory.  All the SD card is good for is to store your photos and stuff.

Perhaps this is why LG is coming out with the "Shine 2"


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