LG

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->

This is, by far, the absolute worst phone I have ever had the displeasure of handling, and I get to play with all of the new models when they come out. By no means would I recommend that anyone buy this phone. Nay, to the contrary, I would strongly advise against such. These are my experiences with two units of this model of phone, the total time span of which is somewhere in the range of seven months.

That said, here we go.

Features

The Features rating gets three stars because, for a while, I was somewhat satisfied with the features of the phone. Application and game loading times are about average from what I've seen, though nothing to be particularly impressed about. The phones camera advertises 2.0MP, but at that resolution, images are quite distorted and grainy. Taking pictures at the second highest resolution will yield the same image clarity. I was, and still am, very pleased with the mobile email service that's been added on many phones lately, and that's likely one of the few redeeming features of the phone. By then end of the life of the phone, I ended up replacing most of the applications with third party substitutes that were, in my opinion much better designed, faster, and (this brings me to my next point) considerably easier to use.

Ease of use.

This, along with display, is where my statement of "one star is too much credit" applies. The operating system and the supporting applications of the phone are, to say the least, bulky. To say the most, they are a plain pain to use, and often had me wanting to throw the phone against the wall and be done with it. The physical layout of the phone is even more frustrating.

Attempting to use third party applications that access the mobile web are a nightmare. Unless signed (a process required by the units firmware whose cost is beyond the grasp of many freeware and open-source application-designers) the phone will, upon each request sent by the applet to access the mobile web open a dialogue box asking the user to approve such a transmission. Now, this may not, in the context of normal usage of the phone present too much of an issue, but when one is forced to, by the poorly-designed web browser shipped with the unit to resort to other methods of web-surfing, and every link that is clicked brings up a dialogue, it gets old pretty fast, wouldnt you think? Maybe Im alone in finding the browser difficult to use, though, but perhaps theres another issue that you might wish to address. That issue is maps. Yes, I realize that if this were really an issue to me, I should probably have bought one of the models that featured this, but, stubborn mule that I am, I decided to use yet another third part applet made by a very popular search engine we all know. You can imagine how well that went, eh?

The multimedia applets on the phone are not terrible, but once again, theyre nothing special. Sound quality from the media player was mediocre. The picture editors handling performed equally as dismally.

Im not the smallest guy in the world. I have large (not fat, mind, you, simply not dainty or feminine) hands. This phone is not easy for people with large hands to use. The buttons on the keypad are very small, very shallow, and very close. The particular issue I had in this area was with accidently pushing the send or cancel button, which are quite inconveniently placed on the sliding portion of the phone with the numerals, with nothing to tactically distinguish them from the numeric keys. This is troublesome when typing text messages. One will send many messages before they are meant to be sent. Not good.

Along the same lines, the unit is somewhat inconvenient to hold in ones hand. End result: many more dropped calls (if youll pardon the pun) than any of us would like.

Next: whats up with that little nubbins instead of proper arrow buttons? Ill admit; I was wiled in at first. The thing looks cool, but thats all thats good about it. It absolutely rules out scrolling through any page, menu, or list quickly or conveniently. Any attempt to move quickly in such a manner often results in accidental key presses.

Features I did like throughout the lifespan were the perhaps unintentional flashlight in the flash function of the camera, and Ill have to come back to you on that one.

Battery

Two stars. Its a battery, not much else to it. Under what I would consider as moderate usage, the phone had to be charged nightly, or it would not last through a second day.

Display

This is where this phone and I went round and round. Both iterations that passed though my hands died here. I should have seen the warning signs, they started showing up within a month. I dont know what the issue is, Ive never seen it with any other product lines from this company, but the display on this phone is *extremely* fragile. I thought it was just my clumsiness at first, after all, the first died of a dropped call (again, please pardon the pun), but after some time, I realized there was more to it than that. Many of my colleagues and peers have had this phone, and Ive noticed the same problem with all of them. Very soon after purchasing the phone, small, about 3/16 light or dark spots start appearing on the screen. Such spots are typically the indicator of severe misuse or some bizarre type of torture, but with this phone, they are commonplace. By the time #2 died, a good part of the bottom half of the display was covered in light areas interlaced with dark. None of the units Ive seen have been mistreated, normal wear and tear is all, perhaps dings on the metal outer shell from having been dropped a time or two, but nothing that should cause such a defect. All is not terrible, though. Until the display is invaded by bruises, it is a very crisp and clean display with bright colors.

In closing, I have been terribly displeased with this phone, have little good to say about it, and would definitely not recommend it to any of my friends. Thank you for your time and the open forum.

--LG Shine Customer, AT&T

--LG Shine Owner, July '08 - February '09

--Cell phone retailer employee

--Dissatisfied.

Hi there,

At LG we appreciate all feedback that we receive on our devices. I am sorry to hear that the Shine was not such a great fit for you. Upon reading your posting it seems that there were a few key features that were not what you were looking for. LG manufactures many different models to try and suit different needs for our clients. When you are in the marketplace for a new phone let me know here, and I will assist you with finding a perfect match...Once again, thank you for taking your time to voice your concerns. Have a great day!

I have a new Shine and I'm still trying to figure out if I'll be wanting to keep it longterm. One of the worst features for me, so far, is one that Joker points out--the little toggle/joystick button thing instead of the much more functional arrow key with up, down, left and right pointing arrows. It is almost impossible to scroll very far with this toggle button without accidentally pressing it and making an unintended selection.

One question though, I have succeeded in getting rid of the keystroke tones and getting rid of the annoying power up and power off sounds, but I cannot find a way to get rid of that loud rushing sound and the associated checkmark icon that you get when you make a new selection for a particular option in one of the menus. It is apparently a confirmation tone that you have changed something. It is very lound and bothersome, please tell me how to eliminate that sound effect. Thanks.

I agree. The phone is weak. No contact management support. I'm trading out in a month and probably won't get another LG anything.

The good: The LG Shine CU720 is a very attractive slider handset with 3G support, a nice array of multimedia features, and good call quality.

The bad: The LG Shine CU720 has a tiny and very sensitive navigation joystick, plus a flat and crowded keypad.