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Review by linicx See Profile

  • Location: United State
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
  • Install: about 3 days
Great value, Blekko search engine
Limited Apps, ringtones, and games
Fast searches. Great for visually and hearing impaired.
Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

The TracFone Wireless Inc., LG 840G is not a "smart" phone, but it isn't a dumb phone either. It is a triple minute, no-contract phone that rides on AT&T network. This phone includes e-mail, Internet, browser, search engine, camera, video, text and pictures, music player, and social networking.

I am not a business customer. I am an average consumer who uses a landline and a cell phone. I do not have any use for Angry Birds, GPS or street maps. If I was in business I would use this phone for personal use because it is a pre-paid phone. The average text costs one cent for three texts. Pictures are two cents each. Talking is deducted by the minute. It would not take long for a busy employer to burn thru 1000 minutes. This person needs a heavy duty smart phone. The LG 840G includes triple minutes. IE: A 30 minute card equals 90 minutes of air time. It meets my needs as I don't want or need a phone with a two year contract.

This LG is shipped with a Micro 2GB SD chip that can be upgraded to 32GB, the manual, and a wall charger with a standard micro USB connector. A car charger with the same connector should work well. My experience for the best charge is to turn the phone off when charging.

The Form Factor is Bar. The operating system seems to be some flavor of a proprietary Unix OS with the zippy Blekko search engine-cum-browser. LG 840 does include 3M/3T and adaptive accessories for vision and hearing impaired. It does not include GPS or street maps.

The LG 840G included apps are limited to ringtones and songs provided by TracFone and a some other items. The offerings are neither the best nor the worst. GPS, etc., can be enabled thru .jar files. Not all work, or work well. There are various sites on the web with directions how to install the add-on software with resources for the .jar files. My personal experience is if you need the GPS and maps, it is best to buy a phone that offers these services pre-installed.

I like this phone. It works better than I expected. The adaptive assessors worked as I hoped. The keyboard is a dream to use. There is a small learning curve. Sending photos, text and e-mail is a bit different than when in front of a desktop. TracFone Wireless employees work hard to help users with their phones. When I bought a second phone to send to my son, I wanted to set it up and have it fully charged and working when he got it. Most users don't do this. This was a challenge I finally solved it by explaining it to the corporate office. I received the phone one day and the next it in the mail the mail. These types of thing happen when you own electronics. It was a learning experience, but a good one. I give TracFone Wirelessa lot of credit for backing their products. I will buy another phone from this company.

The Blekko search engine is fast and seems to be intuitive. When I typed in "Dish TV" the return was quick and accurate. It bypassed all advertising and junk sites. It reminds me of the days when search engines were lean and not taxed with massive, slow loading, websites vying for the #1 return position. It was written for mobile devices of all types, but I can use it on a desktop, or a laptop, too. For me this is all one big star in the Blekko plus column.

Bottom line: I've had the others. I searched for months for a phone that would met my needs. I saw the 'big button' phones, qwerty keyboard phones, slide keyboard phones, exposed on-top keyboard phones, flip phones, smart phones, and 'plain Jane' phones. The others were expensive single units. Most offered small keys with dinky letters that are hard for me to see, combination letter/number keyboard phones, contracts, and/or expensive per minute calls. The end cost of some of the phones was more than a smart phone. It did not make sense to pay more for a phone that would not meed my expectations or needs.

TracFone Wireless Inc., and Blekko is a hard combination to beat. The LG 840G cost $50 plus the initial air time which can be as low as $10; my monthly cost is $0. I spent $75 for air time on two phones in six months, and I still have 650 minutes and 90 days. Three months from now I will add $10 air time and still have 600+ minutes reserve use. I do not live on a phone; this is best reason to not have a contract phone.

I've since purchased a phone as a gift. It is plain Jane 3G/WiFi flip phone with text and pictures that works very nicely where I live.

I would like to see this phone with a louder internal volume, and a larger selection of ringtones. Despite all the handicap features it may be a challenge to users who have limited mobility in their hands.

Update. I've owned this for several months now. It is dependable. It's works as promised. It is the second LG phone I ever owned. The worst I can say is the battery charge lasts about 1/10 the charge does on my portable home phones.

If you travel a lot you will need a car charger. I like the car/home combo ac/dc charger that works for all phones via the DSL port, and it is smmaller than a golf ball in size. I use mine in the house and in the car.

member for 21.3 years, 4247 visits, last login: 7.2 years ago
updated 9.5 years ago