UK 3G Mobile Phones - LG KU990 Viewty Review

Your LG KU990 Viewty Reviews

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Reviewer: Ian - Huddersfield, UK
Date: 13th May 2008

Brilliant phone with many annoying quirks. I've had mine since Christmas, the first one died altogether after about a month & wouldn't turn on or even charge. The second one has been great. I love the video playback (I've watched a few episodes of Heroes on the train). The video camera is good quality. I am disappointed with the still camera, which although is miles better than my old Sony Ericsson K510i, doesn't live up to the hype, a real 5MP digital camera would take much better pictures. It seems the problem is that the viewty compresses the image after it has been captured so you end up losing all the detail you started with!

For Tracey, to get pictures onto your PC you have to either,

- Install the LG PC suite software that comes with it. Make sure that the phone's USB connection mode is 'Mass Storage' (under Phone Settings, Connectivity) & then connect the Viewty to the PC using the USB cable. Then you can see the phone using Windows explorer or the LG PC suite's explorer & copy & paste your picture files onto your PC.

- Use Bluetooth to send your pictures to your PC, if the PC has Bluetooth that is :-).

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Reviewer: Gin - Northolt, UK
Date: 11th May 2008

The epic review.

I tried the Viewty & it was VERY good.

- Camera, reading the manual (not that much reading, maybe 10 minutes whilst doing it with the phone) I managed to get some amazing photos & it didn't take long to take the snaps either.

-Touch screen, it took me about a day (2 hours usage) to get used to the scrolling bit. By the end I think I didn't manage to scroll 1 every 20 times or so. I was sceptical about using a touch screen but with a little practice it's fun to do all the time :) especially with the silly but excellent feedback from the screen when you make a selection. Again, very fun to use.

-Texting, I started by using the mascara brush, erm I mean the stylus, but found that using your finger meant you got that feedback fun feeling even more. It takes a short while to get used to but using my fingers (not that fat for a man) on the QWERTY keyboard, I managed to type out most (1 stroke incorrect out of 8) of the text correctly. What's more having the cancel button (hard key) as the delete it so easy to delete a mistake. Let's not forget that using the T9 (is that the right term? ) function makes texting quick. & I like to be able to knock out a quick text from time to time.

-Speakerphone, quite good really. Was a little tinny but was nice & loud. You can definitely tell there is room for improvement especially when compared with a Nokia 7610 & a Nokia 6280 which I also used on a regular basis.

-Video capture, very good. Now I rarely download videos to watch elsewhere but viewing the videos under the right settings (again very little time needed to set up (3 to 5 seconds) I managed excellent video footage of small insects going about their business.

-Internet Use, this bit was brilliant fun & really quick to use. From time to time I couldn't get the scrolling to work (usually only to realise that I was doing it hard enough) & got annoyed. But I was only annoyed that it temporarily stopped being so quick, easy & fun to use.

-Internet Speed (HSDPA), I got 4 Mbps on my home broadband. It's not great but it loads up pages more or less as quick as I am ready to look at them. The phone isn't that good, but nearly. Yes of course there were blips when some pages didn't load that quickly, but I just refreshed or reused the address bit & voila: it's time to get back to the cool surfing.

-Battery life, quite good. I spent a lot of time surfing once I got used to the scrolling & also just generally realising how much fun it is to surf WAP style. I also used the camera a fair amount (maybe 300 times) with testing in set scene moments or quick I need to get me phone out a take a picture as quick as I can moments. Getting the phone ready to take a shot takes about 2 to 3 seconds. Not bad really. But if you rush yourself & don't press the touch screen in a calm manner then you could easily not do it properly & get very frustrated at it (Warning, this phone is not for those with a lack of chill out factor). Happened to me a few times, luckily, I am chilled.

-Email, I'd never used email very often as I found it too cumbersome to navigate. With this I was logging in to both my yahoo & hotmail accounts & finding it very easy to do so. The switch to landscape mode means with the 3 screen you can view text to read very easily. I was even reading the news late at night to send me to sleep. It really is good to use for sending casual emails & checking your email accounts.

-Looks & Design & Looks, well it certainly stands out. After putting on some cool posters as the wallpaper I suddenly became really cool as the phone's design acts as a frame. Was very worried about this phone being a bit too girly but the posters persuaded me that with changes to the design, that could be sorted. Don't get me wrong though, it's still a little bit girly. But customisation was good & just gave me a chance to point out the wallpaper. Whenever I got it out simply to answer a call, the framing effect meant that people around were asking me about the picture.

-Weight, I usually don't lean towards having a phone that feels nonexistent in my pocket. But what I'd really like is one that weighs not too light but isn't huge either. This phone comes very close to getting that right for me. Guys I reckon will like the weight (might be a little too light for some) & girls will like the slim size.

-Phonebook, LG could definitely have put in more space. When I transferred contact data from my Nokia N80 there were several entries for each one of my old entries. This meant that the limit was reach from a list of only 200 contacts. I wouldn't have minded to have to adjust & sort out the list as I appreciate the software by Nokia & LG may not have been that compatible, but to prevent me from transferring in the data without me having all of it. Annoying is my opinion & a lot of work.

Software, rubbish. This works at snail's pace compared to Nokia phones. The Software to prepare the stuff you want to place on the phone (music, videos, wallpapers, etc.) is a pile of rubbish. Result is that I used it with an unhappy face.

-Music player, quite good. Not like my Nokia N80 nor my Nokia 7610 or any of my friends Sony Ericsson phones (K850i or K800i).

Damage aspects, with a big screen you will have a few minor marks on the plastic cover if you keep the phone loose in your pocket, sometimes where your keys are as well. I used it just like I have my old phones & it does alright but I can image paying for quite a few extra plastic screen covers. I would recommend asking these to be thrown in as part of the deal. Can't believe they didn't make a hard lens cover but for me I like to think it's not a huge deal. More important is that you don't scratch the lens when you move the jog wheel, stupidly place around the lens. What genius came up with this silly idea? It's a case of looks great, not great really though. I did however manage to get past this, but again I can imagine some people won't be as aware of how they control their fingers movements & may put their finger (s) right on the lens. But again, this won't happen THAT often.

Extras, this phone does not have voice dial, disappointed.


REASON FOR RETURNING the PHONE TO MY NETWORK PROVIDER.

Usage time, I used this phone over 2 weeks & tested it thoroughly over one of the weekends.

Finally I can write why even though I love using it, I had to return it, its gadget stuff is really easy to use & loads of hassle free fun. It wasn't mind blowing, but was fun. However, all this aside, I wanted this to use as a phone. I was all up for keeping this on an 18 month contract when, speaking to a friend I decided to temporarily put the phone between my ear & my shoulder. They asked what I had just done & I explained. I tested this aspect & realised that the material used to make the casing was cool to touch & look at, but by even just brushing my finger even a little bit along the back of the phone behind the microphone or even the middle of the back, the person you are speaking too will get a very nasty sound in their ear.

To ensure no painful sounds are made in the ear of the person you are speaking to means you have to hold in a permanently posing manner. On top of that you shouldn't hold with your fingers near to top end of the phone (I like to do this as it makes me hold the phone is then stable in my hand) as that's where the reception works (I kept losing calls or clarity whenever I did that, it even warned me not to do that in the manual). I am very dexterous with my fingers but I'd like to choose how I hold my phone please. If you like posing each & every time you hold the phone, you will love this phone ;).

Furthermore, I had to speak quite loud & overly clearly sometimes for me to be heard. I don't like having to speak loud on the phone unless the background noise is also loud.

Overall, this gadget is excellent & fun. As a phone it's really annoying.

I still miss it since it went, but I don't want to feel annoyed every time I use it to accept or make a call. For most of the call it was okay but I found that at least for a little bit during every call, I got annoyed with this, most important, aspect of the phone.

Want a good looking & fun gadget? Get it. Want a fun phone, sadly, don't get it.

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Reviewer: Paul Holmes - Northallerton, UK
Date: 5th May 2008

Can any one tell me if the Viewty will take a 4GB or higher mamory card? Because my 2GB is full with pictures, music & videos & its a pain having to delete some things please help.

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Reviewer: Tracey - UK
Date: 3rd May 2008

Great phone, great camera.

As long as you charge the battery for the first time, for 24 hours before you use it, there should be no problems. & as long as you don't sit on it, the screen should be OK.

The stylus can be threaded through a little loop at the top of the phone, so you can never lose it.

However, my one gripe with it is, how can you store pictures on your computer? So far, I can only see images when the phone is connected to my PC. Do I need to buy a memory card & transfer everything on to that first? Any computer whiz kids out there, HELP please!

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Reviewer: Laura - UK
Date: 1st May 2008

My boyfriend received this phone today, & what a cool phone it is! It takes a bit of getting used to, but after that it's really good. A lot of people have complaints about the touch screen? Well the problems with scrolling & the difficulty texting is associated with all touch screen phones, so if you have a problem with these kind of things then maybe a touch screen phone isn't for you, full stop. It's a bit harsh to bring down the rating of this phone just because it's categorically a touch screen phone, as all touch screen phones offer these problems, but it depends on the user whether they can deal with them or not!

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Reviewer: Miro - Lleida, Spain
Date: 29th Apr 2008

An almost perfect mobile phone, I am very happy to have it, but the only flaw is that software updates on the webpage of LG.

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Reviewer: Anne - Kent, UK
Date: 29th Apr 2008

I have had this phone for a month. It certainly looks good, but I am unable to send MMS! I can receive them, but that is all! Vodafone could not help (my contract is with them) as I got the phone from phones4u. I was told to ring LG for help but no success so far. Still it looks good! Anyone with any suggestions as to how I can send MMS?

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Reviewer: Sam Jamson - Hull, UK
Date: 28th Apr 2008

Got good savings on this phone from online store, well worth looking at, thank you.

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Reviewer: Lisa - Leeds, UK
Date: 24th Apr 2008

Does anyone know how to set up the Picture messaging on this phone?

I was sent a text with the settings but it would not open. I spoke to someone at 02 & they told me to go on the LG website but I am lost!

Thanks.

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Reviewer: Dee Mayne - Woodford, UK
Date: 23rd Apr 2008

I am a bit upset because they tell you it's 1GB & you can't even delete the dumb pictures & music that they put on the phone how annoying is that.

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Reviewer: Sasikumar - Chennai, India
Date: 23rd Apr 2008

This is my first touch screen mobile & its performance is decent. I would recommend this mobile of you are looking at a basic mobile with touch screen, decent camera functionality & to music playback.

I have used many mobiles starting from Nokia's 3310, 2100, 3250, N73M, N82, Sony Ericsson's K790i, K850i, Samsung G800 (had this mobile for just one day). Multimedia mobiles from Nokia comes with a loads of application & customizable menu, but the menu's are standard in Viewty & the applications are kept minimal.

The main drawback of this mobile I experienced is the time it takes for the data transfer. It tooks almost 1 minute to download a 1 mb file (MP3 & jpeg) from a PC to Viewty, & vice versa, whereas a Nokia or Sony Ericsson can take mere 10 seconds to do that. You must be very patient when you do bulk transfers. Or my suggestion is to start the data transfer before you go to sleep in the nights. By the time you wake up in the morning, data transfer would have been completed.

The image clarity is also not so good as Nokia N82 or Sony Ericsson's K850i. But really better than Samsung's G800. The outdoor images are good than the indoor images, but this is common on all the mobile cameras.

The display resolution is also better than G800 & K850i mobiles.

The music player doesnot have controls for equalizer, stereo widenings, etc, commonly found in Nokia & Sony Ericsson mobiles but the output quality is good with the factory preset value.

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Reviewer: Tommy Aj - UK
Date: 20th Apr 2008

I love this phone! I text a lot! Since I am still in my parent's house, & my girlfriend is miles away & I LOVE the keyboard! Lifesaver! I love everything about this phone, apart from three disappointing aspects.

- the SMS messages are not able to download to the PC, UNLESS you rewrite some of the code in the LG PC SUITE as I did, but it's REALLY slow to start up when you do this, probably because its thinking What the! I didn't put that code there. Shall I accept it. Is it wrong? Shall I change it? BaH! This feature is very important to me, as, I like to keep my messages from my girlfriend Crowd goes Awww! SHUTUP! LOL!

- There's no Wi-Fi! Wait, I know why, because the battery wouldn't last TWO seconds if it did! Bigger batteries LG! I don't care if the phones bigger, I just want good life, & durability, & Wi-Fi! But I have my PSP for that anyways.

- Where's the password on my documents & texts? You can't set it up, like I have seen on some £70, 3.2 megapixel Sony Ericsson's I've seen! I don't want my mother checking my phone (I wouldn't be surprised) & finding out what I've been talking about with my girlfriend! You older ones know what I mean! MOTHERS!

TAKE NOTE! Don't be put off at first, the phone was complete rubbish on the first week. It kept crashing when taking pictures, & generally being slow! IT doesn't ANYMORE! WOOO! GIVE IT A LIL TIME! It took mine a three weeks. & it only crashed when I forget to reset the programming on my LG PC SUITE which I change before I connect the USB, it doesn't like that ONE bit!

I love my phone, & I wouldn't trade it in for anything but a more durable version of this, with a bigger battery, & better computer SMS software, & possibly password protection!

Oh yeah, & generally, I love LG usability for the actual phone, unlike rubbish NOKIAS! About the guy who traded his KU990 Viewty for a N95, I hope you realise your error, & throw it in a lake, FAR AWAY!

& oh yeah, I HATE Samsung cameras! This phone has replaced my camera! If you keep complaining about the battery life on this phone, at least it lasts longer than a Record Breaking FIVE MINUTES on my £100 camera! At least you don't have to carry three sets of batteries! I've finished now, deep breaths.

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Reviewer: Carol Irvine - St Neots, UK
Date: 19th Apr 2008

I have had my phone for a few months, & I have to say it was great, to begin with. But it is now plagued with problems. There is a distinct echo during voice calls, a massive amount of text messages sent to me do not arrive (it is not the messaging centre at fault), the battery life now only lasts 12 hours on standby. The USB to PC connection software does not work & the voice calls are often terminated half way through & I have to remake the call. The phone is still under warranty, but LG are just not interested in resolving the problems, absolute appalling customer service. This isn't just my phone either, a few other people I know have this phone, & they have the same problems. I also find the stylus on a string is a very bad design, it should be stored inside the phone where it doesn't get pulled off or broken. If you notice on all the advertising pictures of the phone, it does not show the stylus swinging from the string attached to the corner of the phone! The calibration on the touch screen is not very accurate & many downloaded music files cannot be used as ringtones or message tones. I find the camera is exceptionally slow to take pictures, by the time it has zoomed in, out, in again & flashed, the subject has long gone! There is also no lens cover. The clear film over the screen on the display screen affects the sensitivity & is expensive to replace. I will be sorry to bin this phone because I had high expectations of it, but overall, the reliability & user friendliness is a real let down, as is LG's customer service, who admit there is a fault with the phone but state they don't really care that they supply customers with faulty products!

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Reviewer: Djkcx - Suffolk, UK
Date: 19th Apr 2008

After having this phone for 4 months, I am still 100% happy with it. I have had no problems with it at all.

At the time I was picking between this & the Nokia N95 8GB. After using the Nokia this week & finding it took an hour to transfer 50 192kb MP3's, I definitely made the right choice.

LG are planning on having updated firmware online by the end of April too. Hopefully this will bring more interesting features.

Go out & get one, don't waste your time on the SLOW Nokia.

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Reviewer: Nicola - UK
Date: 18th Apr 2008

This phone is HUGE wouldn't fit in my jeans pocket. I had the purple phone & changed it to the Samsung Armani phone. Superb choice. This is so ugly & like I said previously HUGE!

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Reviewer: Mosey - UK
Date: 18th Apr 2008

Back after a few months of using the phone. There are pros & cons. The scrolling isn't that bad once you get used to it, so I don't know why people would complain about it. Of course, I don't own an iPhone or iTouch (?) but I have played with one, & the Viewty is less responsive, but once you get used to scrolling through content & touch screen, the next time you pick up another phone, you wonder why it's not the same?

IN terms of usability, I have found the Viewty to be just fine for what I need. I tend to message about 5 to 10 times a day on average, & just use the keypad option rather than the keyboard & stylus (although the latter is great when you're wearing gloves) the interface is well designed, & is pretty intuitive.

The only thing that really gets me down is the camera. After being used to Sony Ericsson & hoping that the 5MB Viewty would take far better pictures, I can't help but conclude that Sony Ericsson is definitely further down the road than LG at this stage. I've played around with the settings a bit, & there must be something I am just not doing right to really maximise the camera.

Music wise, I find it great for listening to music (I use it in place of an iPod) but it does drain battery life, & it helps if you have your own good earphones (I am using Sennheiser, haven't tried the ones provided).

The annoying thing is that with Orange, they don't give you an extra memory card for free, which you'll need for music & pictures & video. I got mine (a 2GB Sandisk inc. Postage) for 7 GBP from a seller on Amazon which I would recommend.

Reception is generally good for this phone, although I have noticed it isn't as good as my old Sony Ericsson w810i. But mostly I have no problems at all.

Oh & finally battery life, I don't feel that my Viewty has an extremely short battery life, but it is shorter mainly because I use it so much for music. However, I do occasionally go through the whole thing of letting the battery drain completely to recharge; & making sure that the fewest number of processes are running at any one go (it drains battery life).

Would I recommend it to people? Yes, if you want something a bit different that will change the way you think about phones, stylish & practical (it's pretty solid, I've dropped it a few times) then I'd recommend you try it out before you buy for at least a week before saying yeh or neigh (it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it will provide you with hours of entertainment, with a charger, as you can spend your time editing photos etc. On the go if that floats your boat) but if you're looking for something with a good camera, I would say wait for LG to improve their technology in that area.

Hope this helps :)

P.S I tested the document & pdf viewing function & it works a treat :).

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Reviewer: Chantelle - UK
Date: 17th Apr 2008

WOW I dropped my phone & the screen cracked but I sent it back & got a new one exactly the same it's amazing I love it so much. No one else I know has it so I like being the only one with it & all my friends love it & want to play with it.

I love it, anyone should get it it's really good.

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Reviewer: Ben - UK
Date: 14th Apr 2008

This phone is rubbish. It takes a long time to download a lot of things & it is too big & heavy to carry. If you want a good phone get the new samsung f490.

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Reviewer: John - UK
Date: 14th Apr 2008

This is a really good phone! The camera is awesome. I recommend this phone to all people who cannot afford an Apple iphone.

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Reviewer: Kevin - UK
Date: 12th Apr 2008

I tried this phone out a couple of times in shops & I found the camera to be extremely slow. I expect to press the button & the picture to be taken instantly. At times the delay was around 5 seconds which is way too slow. By then the moment has gone. This is what I want to find & the Viewty is so nearly there except for the slow camera.

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Reviewer: David - Ellemore, UK
Date: 12th Apr 2008

Software is rubbish.

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Reviewer: Michael - Surrey, UK
Date: 12th Apr 2008

Firstly I wanted a mobile for making phone calls then a mobile that was quick at sending text messages, the Viewty did not disappoint, I not that interested in the camera but once again I found it took good pictures & was easy to use.

What I found hardest was to scroll down the page by using a finger or the stylus, very hit & miss.

Now some help needed please. Can someone tell me if & how do change the incoming ringtone to something more modern like chart hits, also is it possible to assign ringtones to contacts, somewhere on this review someone said that you could by going into the contacts name & there you will find that option, not on mine you can't.

Overall a good phone, not great but better than most.

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Reviewer: Colin Stevens - Swindon, UK
Date: 10th Apr 2008

I just got this phone as my Nokia 6500 slide kept crashing & I have got to say it is the best phone I have ever had. There is not a thing they could do to make it better.

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Reviewer: Patrick - Bahrain
Date: 10th Apr 2008

Fantastic phone! From being a lifetime Motorola nut I switched to the Viewty & have no regrets. Just one small thing, can anyone out there tell me how to disable the irritating ping when entering text?

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Reviewer: Suzi - Southampton, UK
Date: 10th Apr 2008

Well I only had this phone for 6 hours (& 4 of them it was charging! ) before it reverted to a bright yellow screen saying refreshing in the top right hand corner & I haven't had anything from it since! Personally refreshing is not what I'd call it!

Anyway, I was saddened the pen wasn't able to be stored integrally. The camera lens isn't able to be closed away from being scratched & also you are unable to use Wi-Fi on it. So, I am swapping mine to the N95 which has all those things just not the touch screen! Oh well!

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Reviewer: Gareth - UK
Date: 9th Apr 2008

Poor software & features. Concept of phone is good but technology is very poorly implemented.

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Reviewer: Gemma - Swindon, UK
Date: 8th Apr 2008

Have not had this phone long but I do like it. Have figured out how to multiple delete, you have to mark the messages you want to delete or tick the box next to the folder they are in to select all of them & then you can delete them like that!

Hope this helps?

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Reviewer: Mr Happy - Aberdeen, UK
Date: 7th Apr 2008

Having purchased this phone, it lasted approximately 1 hour when I placed in the front left pocket of my jeans, sat down for dinner only to find that the screen had cracked, not the glass, but the screen behind the glass. The chassis is most certainly not up to stopping any slight flexing. Also it comes with a stylus which has a small string attached, possibly the stylus was over the screen when I sat down which may have caused the damage. I had to pay for the accidental physical damage as the store said the guarantee didn't cover it, that's rubbish in my book, not fit for purpose. When it comes back I'll tell them I am not accepting it, as it is so fragile. What's the point in having it if it can't be put in your pocked perhaps the manufacturer will be supplying a large cotton wool bag to carry it around in, attached to a lanyard or something, AVOID IT.

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Reviewer: Sumit - Raipur, India
Date: 7th Apr 2008

I thought of buying a smart phone & Nokia N82 was my first choice, but somehow I not found its look attractive, well I have to say that Nokia make products with good decent features but they seldom come with good design or eye catching materials & therefore I decided to buy Viewty, a classic masterpiece, extremely eye catching, large screen, great touch screen & above all a great camera & the best video camera around, it captures at 120frps that is just cool.

The only thing which could be improved was that the stylus should have been inbuilt & a drop down & up keys should have been added as it's not easy for every individual to sort how the back circular pads work.

If you are a technically savvy person then you will not have a single problem regarding the above mentioned two points, just the stylus one I thought is absolutely necessary as it simply makes to carry the phone very easy & comfortable.

It just took me two hours to understand all the features & I found them really cool, the music is just fine too. I would highly recommend this phone to everyone even over Nokia N95 & Nokia N82.

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Reviewer: Ready - Essex, UK
Date: 3rd Apr 2008

This phone is mustard! It takes the rubbish out of all the others available, it looks superb, feels good, surprisingly easy to use & the camera is awesome. It's a phone you can be proud to own & show off to all your mates!

I was expecting the touch screen to be a bit of a pain but it works so well, it responds quickly & & smoothly. The camera has a lot of features which you don't get on other phones & you get great pictures.

One bad point is the battery, it's pretty bad to be honest, apart from that the phone is faultless!

If you want the phone that everyone wished they had, this is the 1!

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Reviewer: Paul - UK
Date: 1st Apr 2008

Well I was. Note the word was a huge Nokia fan, but sorry Nokia you have taken no notice of customer complaints what so ever so it's goodbye I am afraid.

The LG on the other hand is what Nokia used to be, reliable, solid, & a joy to use, Thanks LG, I LOVE THIS PHONE.

For those who complain about dark video when using 120fps indoors, what do you all want? Film companies spend thousands if not millions of pounds on camera equipment & guess what else they buy. Lighting. They adjust the lighting to get the results they want, so why should a cheap in comparison mobile phone be any different, Oh & by the way, go get this phone.

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Reviewer: Kyla - UK
Date: 1st Apr 2008

Some people moan! I have had this phone for 3 months now. I love it & do not regret getting it & look forward to the next 15 months with it. Yeah, the touch screen is difficult to get used to, but as soon as I set up the touchpad calibration, it was brilliant. This makes texting people easy (I use the keyboard texting mode. Very quick! ).

The camera is actually really good, but it is a camera phone, & you do need to spend time taking a photo if you want a really good one. As you do with a normal camera.

I have to admit I do not use the music side of the phone as I have a 180GB iPod! Unless you are living in the 20th century, who doesn't?

It is a very good phone, perfectly acceptable for this era. Stop moaning & change some features so it suits you, & remember, it is designed to be a camera phone, not just a phone.

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Reviewer: Katie - Ravenshed, UK
Date: 30th Mar 2008

I got this phone for my birthday. After about 1hour I started to understand how it works. You have to get used to the touch screen but overall it's great! .Snazzy looking as a bonus! The Camera is amazing too! Not To Cheap But I Think Definitely Worth It :D.

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Reviewer: Jakeyp - UK
Date: 28th Mar 2008

3 DAYS TILL VIEWTY,

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Reviewer: Clair - Basingstoke, UK
Date: 28th Mar 2008

I have had this phone since November it is a wonderful little phone! I have always been an avid Sony Ericsson fan & as soon as they bring out a similar touch screen phone I will be getting one! However this phone has a lot of very nice functions without being too technical having functions that most people will never use in a million years! I already had a black one & decided I'd like a Silver one so brought a second one!

The Camera on it is very good & the picture & video quality is excellent! Bearing in mind it is a phone NOT a camera! The MP3 player sound quality isn't amazing but it is a phone after all!

Down side, the only down sides I can really come with are that the scrolling function isn't amazing & could be improved! & it can be clunky between applications.

It will never be quite the same as the iPhone however in my opinion that isn't amazing either!

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Reviewer: De - Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
Date: 26th Mar 2008

TRUE HONEST REVIEW, this phone is quite simply fantastic. It is the best phone I've ever had. My last phone was a Nokia N80, & a Samsung D600 before that. Got my boyfriend & I two on contract with Orange about a month ago & everything has been great. The phone does take a little bit of getting use to, but not very long at all. When you first get it you just want to fiddle around with everything anyway because it's so fun & snazzy! So honestly, after about half an hour you know how to use everything, & have completely adapted to it.

The features are out of this world. The touch screen is great, means you can have a much bigger screen as there's no need to save space for buttons (the keypad can be brought up on to the screen in an instant press of a button). The phone comes with a little stylus pen that can be used to tap on the screen, but using your fingertip works in exactly the same way. You work out soon which suit you best. Some people have written on their review about the phone being tricky to text with if you've got big hands, but my boyfriend over 6ft 2, & he loves the phone as much as I do, no problems with texting at all. In fact, I love texting on this phone because you can have the option of typing onto a QWERTY keyboard which makes texting really quickly. None of that pressing 1 button 4 times to get a letter!

The 5MP camera is great quality, produces beautiful images, there also an amazing panoramic feature where you can take three pictures joined on to each other, great for scenery shots. The camera also has an auto focus, which is amazing, & if an image does come out a little blurry, the sharpening tool work absolute wonders!

The BEST FEATURE ON the PHONE is definitely the video player. WOW! I have never seen video playback quality like it, it actually looks like a real video camera for image quality, the playback is so smooth, it's not clitchy at all in anyway, which even happened on my N80 which had a 3MP camera.

If you were thinking of getting an iPhone, don't! Get this instead, its smaller, slimmer & lighter than the iPhone & has better camera & video recording features. This phone truly meets very high standards. I have just purchased two micro SD memory cards for our phones too, so we can load songs on to our phones, considering you can get them free delivery at play.com £5 for 1MB or £7 for 2MB, you can make this phone capable of holding hundreds of images, songs, videos & other files. I am probably going to stop using my iPod Nano because that 2MB, I may as well just use my phone. Also, the phone comes with headphones & you can listen to the radio if you like.

All round great phone. I couldn't be happier.

I would honestly recommend this phone to anyone, I have never bothered to come & write a review about a phone before, but truly thought this deserved the praise.

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Reviewer: Thomas Coles - Edinburgh, UK
Date: 26th Mar 2008

I disagree entirely! Before I had this phone I had never used a qwerty keyboard on a mobile, only on the computer. I got quite into LG's predictive text on the chocolate, which was good.

Now, LG's viewty allows you to text at a rate of knots! This input method is the bees knees, & secondly we now have predictive sentences! Fantastic. Absolutely love it.

Plus with the touch screen scrolling to find a contact, texting is lightning quick.

Don't listen to fat fingers over there, clearly a seasoned & baked Nokia user. Coming from an existing LG user, this phone is the sleek.

The only problem I have noticed so far is that the Internet browser doesn't have qwerty input mode. WHY? ! It makes browsing slow & annoying. I am hoping to god that LG release an update, or that I can get opera mini or something which has an inbuilt qwerty keyboard or even a plug in for such onto the phone.

Can't browse with a damn ABC DEF GHI keypad.

Other than that, GORGEOUS.

Buy it now, it's a serious contender for the iPhone (an overpriced non camera iPod with a phone attached.) Plus, I already own an iPod Touch.

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Reviewer: Mike - Maidenhead, UK
Date: 24th Mar 2008

Design excellent, street cred great (everyone that's seen it was impressed), it has everything I want from a phone & hasn't broken (yet) when I've dropped it!

I am not a text freak but do send a number of messages & I can understand comments about the phone not being good for those speed texters out there- however it's not the prime reason I got the phone in the first place.

My focus was on the camera & it takes superb pictures on the screen of the phone, I saw complaints about the pictures being grainy- try using some light! Doh! Graining is certainly apparent if you download & print but only cos it reduces the quality when printed on standard photo paper.

This phone's a great all rounder, looks superb &, for me, does everything it says on the tin! I thoroughly recommend it, but not for text freaks! :-0

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Reviewer: Ashu - Reading, UK
Date: 23rd Mar 2008

Best camera phone in the world.

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Reviewer: Jakey P - UK
Date: 22nd Mar 2008

9 DAYS till I get the LG VIEWTY & I cannot wait, WOW.

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Reviewer: Danny - UK
Date: 18th Mar 2008

Have put off posting this review for months now to give the phone a chance to grow on me, & it hasn't.

I am a text fiend, & this is simply not a texters phone. I wouldn't consider myself to have fat fingers yet I am constantly having to backspace to make corrections. I know they have provided a handy wee pointer but no slot on the phone to store it.

The voice quality isn't the best. I have historically been a Nokia user (2110, 3110, 3310, 5110, 6110, 6310i, 6230i) & have gotten used to good voice quality, intuitive menus etc. The menus on the Viewty, whilst OK are not great. E.g. Changing a profile, the profile has to be selected twice to be activated. The external memory menu option works when it wants to.

If it wasn't for the other features on the phone, I would go back to using a Nokia.

Be aware, this IS a camera disguised as a phone. Avoid if you are a text fiend. It's too frustrating for words.

The poor rating on design & usability reflect the average menu layout & the poor texting.

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Reviewer: Lala Subtain - UK
Date: 17th Mar 2008

Brilliant phone. Love the features & the camera is amazing! Definitely recommend it to all.

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Reviewer: Victoria - UK
Date: 17th Mar 2008

I had this phone for two weeks but am sending it back to Vodafone today. I actually really loved the phone, it was really stylish, the camera was amazing & it had all the features that I needed, I just didn't get on with the touch screen.

The main problem was texting & if you are a quick texter with not much patience, then I think will phone is likely to frustrate you. Whilst the keys are very responsive, when you have to press the same key twice (I.e. When typing hello) you have a wait a little longer to press the key again that you do with normal phones.

Another thing I found frustrating, was that sometimes the touch screen was too sensitive & I ended up going to screens I didn't want to.

As I say previously, I really did like this phone & if you are not a really quick texter, or you have more patience that me then go for it! I am gutted to be sending it back, but just couldn't see myself with it for another 11 months!

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Reviewer: Colin - Manchester, UK
Date: 16th Mar 2008

I am a phone obsessive, I love good phones. This phone is a good effort by LG, but unfortunately Ericsson it would take 30 seconds.

The MP3 player is terrible. Poor sound quality, no bass boost or equaliser. It's great that you can get up to 8GB of music if you expand it, but its 8GB of tinny rubbish.

Camera is terrible, very low quality & grainy images. It may be 5 mega pixel but 5 mega pixel of grainy rubbish.

The touch screen is kind of fun, but once the novelty wears off you are left with an unusable phone. It is hard to scroll, even with the jerky scroll wheel on the back.

As a graphic designer I appreciate the effort they have put into designing some amazing looking visuals but the phone overall really doesn't cut the mustard.

I am hoping I will eventually grow to like the phone but so far all the above has really put me off.

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Reviewer: Tj - UK
Date: 14th Mar 2008

Hi, just wanted to add that I have had the switching off problem. I thought it was only me, as everyone else who I know who has the phone, has had no problems at all.

I had the phone for a few weeks & it started turning itself off randomly every few days. I had to take apart to restart it. I sent it off to repair, it had new software reloaded & new battery. After a few weeks I still had the same issue.

I now have a new handset & so far, so good. Besides this very annoying issue, phone is brilliant.

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Reviewer: Peter - UK
Date: 9th Mar 2008

This is a good phone generally but has a few faults like if you are on the phone to Orange they sometimes want you to key in random letters from your password, well the screen is blank during a call you have to first press the unlock button on the side & then press the icon in the lower left of the screen but the keys that come up lack letters (not good when you want to key in letters).

The next problem I have is the camera, this is my second phone already as the screen keeps freezing after taking several pictures & I have to remove the battery to restart it.

The new phone I have received from Orange does the same! The LG site is pitiful compared to other phone sites so don't expect any help from there.

If you use Apple Mac don't think you will connect as with say Sony Ericsson etc. To load your photo's it's not going to happen, you will have to set up to use mass storage & load from the storage card or Bluetooth them across. You will not be able to Bluetooth from Mac to phone, I have had to Bluetooth to Sony Ericsson then from Sony Ericsson to Viewty.

If you are willing to except these shortfalls & want good quality photos then this is a nice phone. I wish I could just sort out the screen freezing problem though.

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Reviewer: Alan - Greenwood, UK
Date: 8th Mar 2008

A delightful phone, with the best camera facility I have yet seen. Although some of the facilities are not intuitive, given a little time they become easy to use. The sound quality of incoming calls is average. Texting can only be described as brilliant. Would I recommend to a friend? Absolutely!

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Reviewer: Aahmed - UK
Date: 8th Mar 2008

I haven't got the phone yet but have heard many praises about it. I would just like to know how durable the phone is because I am pretty clumsy. Thanks in advance for any replies.

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Reviewer: Chantelle - UK
Date: 8th Mar 2008

This phone is OK put it just keeps freezing & I dropped the phone & the screen cracked. This phone is OK but I don't recommend it & it was £300.

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Reviewer: Sophie Hill - Pembrokeshire, UK
Date: 6th Mar 2008

So far I have found it easy & great to use but the sound on mine is dodgy & the first day I got it as it didn't work but then I turned up the sound & it worked but now I have had it for a week & it just won't work no matter what I do. Anyone got any tips? or should I just bring it back first thing in the morning?

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Reviewer: Rebecca - Castleford, UK
Date: 6th Mar 2008

I upgraded to this phone on Xmas eve from the k800i, I wanted it so much that I had several huge arguments with O2 as it was near impossible to get hold of, eventually on Xmas eve just before the shops shut, I picked up my lovely new phone. I tried downloading some games from the Internet for it, which if you love games on your phone for those bored moments, then you will be a bit disappointed as there's not much choice to download as most games are unavailable for this phone, even the trial game you get with it, you can't download as it says not available for this model phone :S.

Anyway, this phone is truly amazing & I loved it to pieces & the picture quality is absolutely amazing. The only thing I had some difficulties with was scrolling, but I figured out how to do it after a while & that was OK, but then after only 2 & half weeks I dropped it on the floor (it was a carpet to be exact) & it wouldn't work after that so I decided to exchange it for the Sony Ericsson k850i because I used to drop my k800i all the time outside, in the house, car anywhere (I am pretty clumsy) & the phone NEVER broke, knowing that dropping it on a carpet would break it completely put me off the phone.

The things that drew me to the phone was the touch screen, 5 mp camera & the HUGE screen, but the k850i which I got after this is a much better phone & would personally choose that over the LG viewty, but that's just me, if you like this phone then get it as it is an amazing phone, it just wasn't the phone for me, I would just recommend you have insurance on it in case you drop it.

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Reviewer: Phil Todd - New Southgate, UK
Date: 6th Mar 2008

Just got the phone a week ago, already had to charge it two twice, can anyone let me know how long their battery lasts on average?

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Reviewer: Charanpreet Singh - Ludhiana, India
Date: 6th Mar 2008

Best phone I have got from LG family.

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Reviewer: Gerald Savage - Newry, UK
Date: 5th Mar 2008

I haven't got the phone yet just reading reviews & I wanted to know what you guys thought of the reception you get on the ku990 LG wouldn't be a phone I would of bought before but the viewty looks so good.

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Reviewer: Karen - UK
Date: 3rd Mar 2008

I have the same problem when sending a text message. I am on tmobile & whenever I send a text message that is longer than 1 page it converts to an MMS! Why does it do this? I have tried changing the settings & it doesn't work, really annoying. Good phone but terrible for texting. It is almost impossible to pre read a text message before send because it is so difficult to scroll up to the top of the message. If you text all the time, I wouldn't go for this phone.

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Reviewer: Dan T - London, UK
Date: 3rd Mar 2008

Had the Viewty for about a month & no major complaints so far, I like the addition of Google maps & now I've installed Opera Mini the Internet is working pretty well too.

The lack of an internal stylus is an irritant, however I've had no problems texting even when using my monkey fingers on the QWERTY keyboard mode.

The LG phone software is pretty appalling though, uses up huge system resources & takes forever to upload stuff to the phone. If there's a way to circumvent this & use the phone as a mass storage device as per my old w300i it'd be much simpler.

I also have an issue with the volume of the phone, when using headphones the sound can barely be heard if you're say walking down a busy street. Changed the headphones for the old Sony ones, & checked that the volume controls on them & the phone were on max but no change. Any suggestions appreciated.

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Reviewer: Bb - Derry, Ireland
Date: 2nd Mar 2008

To load music or games on this phone change connectivity to mass storage device & drag all your files into the correct folder way faster, there are loads of free games out there for the ku990.

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Reviewer: Helen - Stockton On Tees, UK
Date: 2nd Mar 2008

Hi, I have had the LG viewty for a couple of days now, its took some getting used to, however the features are fantastic, camera quality brilliant & the touch screen is so quick.

I am not too keen on the fact you have to scroll up in order to go down when going through your text messages & photos. I am still not sure if I am going to take it back & swap the LG for the new Sony Ericsson.

I have yet to install the software onto the computer in order to put music etc onto the phone, but I have read it's easy to use.

I still can't get used to the size of the LG, it's quite bulky for a phone. But in comparison to its features, they win hands down. I am sure I'll get used to it & keep as touchscreen is coming far more popular.

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Reviewer: Gareth - Fochabers, UK
Date: 1st Mar 2008

Is this the best phone on the market to date?

The LG KU990 viewty has never been advertised as a rival to the iphone, focusing more on the camera & video features as opposed to the 3 inch touch screen, but it should, & believe me this phone IS the IPHONE KILLER.

Let's start with the camera, it has a 5MP Schneider Kreuznach lens with auto & manual focus, image stabiliser, xenon flash, 16x zoom, & easy capture of low light images with its ISO rating of up to 800. Personally I have seen better images taken from other camera phones like the Sony Ericsson K800i 3.2MP cybershot, on tests I have done there is a real significant difference in the image quality & that is very disappointing, I believe this to be down to the KU990's image processor which seems to be very slow in its rendering & as a result blurred images are more frequent than you would like, plus the xenon flash's ability to fill the subject with light isn't strong enough from a little distance. The answer, well LG have put an image stabilising function to the phone which helps (a little) neatly positioned next to the shutter button, however this feature deactivates the flash therefore bringing back the blurred images in any condition other then bright sunlight. LG do sell you the KU990 as a camera phone & if they are relying on this feature alone then I am afraid it's not the best phone on the market to date.

But there not just relying on the camera, they are also boasting about the video capabilities, why? Because this neat little device captures video at an impressive 120fps, which means when played back everything is in slow motion, great fun, it can of course record in normal mode & outputs in AVI format, with the quality being quite good & the ability to upload direct to YouTube, the video side of things is well catered for.

On to the best bit of all, the 3 Inch touch screen that is bright, clear & well laid out. Sensitivity of the screen has been calibrated to perfection giving you a visual indication of the area your pressing & combining it with clever vibration, it feels great & it's at this point you realise why this phone is one of the best out & why it's the iphone killer. This should have been the selling point from LG & directly put up against the iphone. Navigation & functions are well laid out & large enough to press the options you want with your finger without accidentally pressing the wrong area.

Texting on this phone is a dream with three different options to do it with.
- the most common, the simple keypad which is amazing to operate, in the same manner you would with a standard keypad phone write your text message in either the multiple pressing mode or T9 predictive text.
- QWERTY keyboard, which as it suggest is the same format to which you're using on your computer right now, great idea but the keys are a little small because of what they have to fit in the screen area & as a result you end up hitting the wrong letters & spend a lot of time correcting mistakes.
- Hand writing technology is brilliant for writing texts on the KU990, simply write the letter in the box & hay presto it appears in the message like magic.

Other features just add to the greatness of the KU990 like the built in FM Radio, document reader, flash player, games ability, web browsing, & the sleek & stylish design. All in all a great phone that when you get your hands on you'll never put down & not look at getting another phone for quite some time.

There are areas that could be improved on but they will not disappoint you in a way that's makes you feel robbed (unless it's a pure camera phone you want). Enjoy the KU990 it's a phone worth having.

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Reviewer: Abhishek - Mumbai, India
Date: 1st Mar 2008

Go & purchase one because it's better then iphone, O2 & upcoming Sony Ericsson x1. I have no issues against it. Only camera is not as good as it should be, but it's a phone not a camera. Video camera is superb. Go get one.

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Reviewer: Lauren - UK
Date: 29th Feb 2008

SOLUTION FOR BATTERY LIFE, Basically charge your battery OVERNIGHT & it will last around 2 to 3 days (Depends how much you've used it) & it should be OK. Works for me.

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Reviewer: Karl C - Ipswich, UK
Date: 29th Feb 2008

I've had mine for 2 months now. I have only a couple problems which is the occasional random resetting (T mobile say they'll sort this & give me a month free). The other is a slight gripe is with the way files are stored, sometimes folders are ignored & all tracks are displayed together.

As long as you tag mp3s properly it's not too bad. A later firmware update should sort these problems out.

The media players are great being able to output divX to TV is useful, & the headphone connection adaptor lets you plug your own ones in, I use Sony Ericsson Walkman ones for great sound!

Experimenting with the camera will give you some good results, in some cases it is better to use manual focus. Software is now becoming more available & there is plenty of support available online.

Battery life I have is around 3 days or so, depends on the use. Web browsing is easy, & displays well. I have also used my phone as the modem for my laptop, the speed isn't bad at all. Touch screen is not a p