LG Dare Review

Messaging:

The Dare is capable of sending text, picture, and video messages to other mobile phones and E-Mail addresses. Though this is nothing new, the device offers several ways of composing these messages, including multi-tap and T9 predictive text entry. Turning the phone horizontally counter-clockwise will automatically change to an on-screen QWERTY keyboard, which can show letters, number, or symbols in 3 rows, with the 4th row having a large space bar. Using the on-screen QWERTY keypad was remarkably simple and we only encountered a few mistakes while typing, but were more than we experienced when using the mechanical keyboard on the Voyager and enV2. The last option of entering a message is by using the handwriting recognition, which shows a writing pad in the center of the screen. While interesting to use, it was the most problematic and slowest method of entering in words. Out of the available choices, we found that T9 predictive and on-screen QWERTY to be the fastest and most reliable.

There is the option of downloading a program called Mobile Email so that you can connect with your own personal E-Mail accounts while on the go. However, unlike smartphones that automatically check for new messages every few minutes and push them to the phone, this program must be run manually to check for new messages. It comes preloaded with the ability to connect to Yahoo Mail, Windows Live Mail, AOL, AIM, and Verizon.net, but you can also manually configure it to connect to any other E-Mail account through means of POP or IMAP. We were able to access all of our E-Mail accounts without any problem, and could send messages through the account server. When viewing a new message, you can choose not delete it from the server, so that you can download it later when you are connected using a PC. Even though this application is not as feature-rich as Windows Mobile Outlook, it does a fairly good job for showing plain-text E-Mails. However, it cannot open attachments or properly render HTML messages, which is a disappointment. Regardless of the limitations, the application is still worth the $5/month access fee.

For people who like to use Instant Messaging, the Dare also comes preinstalled with Mobile IM, which will connect you to AIM, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo. After signing in, you can send and receive IMs, but it is basically glorified text messaging to people on your buddy list and will count on your calling plan the same as using text messages.


Connectivity and Data:

The Dare is a dual band all-digital device that operates on the 800MHz and 1900MHz CDMA Verizon Wireless network. Non-voice data, such as Web and E-mail, are transmitted using Verizon’s updated 3G EVDO Rev A network, which is said to have download speeds between 600-1400kbps and uploads between 500-800kbps. However, this can vary during the time of day and the amount of network congestion. We tested the Dare at different times downloading a 1MB file from DSLReports.com. On average we got between 400-600kbps, but on occasion would see from 900-1300kbps. While roaming, the phone is backwards compatible to the slower EVDO Rev 0 and 1X networks.

Bluetooth version 2.1 + EDR (enhanced data rate) is supported and allows up to 20 pairings. Supported profiles include: headset, hands-free, dial-up networking, stereo (A2DP/AVRC), phone book access, basic printing, object push, file transfer, basic imaging, and human interface device. We experienced some problems while using the auto-pair feature with our Motorola S9 and HT820 stereo headsets, where they would become disconnected after music would begin playback. As a workaround, we turned off the auto-pair and reconnected to the headset. We were able to get up to 45 feet of music playback on our headsets without any interference, but when used for calls with our Jabra 250v, we only got up to 30 feet since it only supports Bluetooth 1.1.

For accessing the Internet, the Dare uses Verizon’s EVDO Rev A network, since it lacks built in Wi-Fi capabilities. When launching the browser, you are taken to the VZW Today homepage, which has quick-launch icons for news, email, entertainment, sports, weather, connect, Verizon services, more, and favorites. The browser will automatically change viewing modes depending if the phone is in portrait or landscape mode. Along the bottom are icons for moving forward or back, refresh, home, zoom, www, and menu. When selecting the “www” icon, you can type in a specific web address using the on-screen QWERTY keypad, or select a previously viewed site. Since the browser is HTML compatible, most web sites are shown just as they would appear on a PC, except that Flash and ActiveX plug-ins are not supported. Due to the smaller size of the screen, there is a lot of horizontal and vertical scrolling that must be done. You can eliminate some if this by zooming out, or by choosing the Page Overview mode, which shows a red rectangle that you can move around and select the area of the page that you wish to view. Navigating through web pages can be difficult at times, since most links are shown too small to touch, with you having to zoom in to select them, and then zoom back out. Because of this, we found that using a stylus with the browser allows for greater accuracy. We are pleased that the browser is capable of streaming videos from the popular YouTube site without the problems that we experienced with both the Voyager and Glyde.

The time required for the browser to completely load graphically rich sites, such as PhoneArena.com, is 22 seconds, which is noticeably quicker than the 50 seconds required by the Voyager and Glyde. We’re sure that this is due to the device supporting the faster EVDO Rev A. More simplistic sites, such as Google, only took 3 seconds to load. Overall, the browser is the fastest that we’ve seen on a non-smartphone from Verizon.



Computer Sync:

Detaching the USB cable from the wall plug allows you to use it for connecting the Dare to a PC. When going into the settings & tools menu, there is an option for USB Auto Detection (Sync Music, Sync Data, Ask on Plug). When selecting “Ask on Plug”, each time your PC is connected to the device, the phone’s screen will ask if you want to sync music or data. If you select “Sync Music” you can use Windows Media Player, Real Player, or Verizon’s VCast music manager with Rhapsody to transfer music files to and from the phone’s internal memory or microSD card. However, if you select “Sync Data” then go to Tools and USB Mass Storage, the microSD card is shown as a Removable Storage device connected to your PC, where you can copy pictures, videos and music files. This is by far the easiest method of transferring files, as it eliminates the need of having an external card reader.