TechPunk

For any of you out there who are looking to save on smart phone data packages, Virgin Mobile is a great option. AT&Ts rates for the iPhone were around $90 a month for text, data and 600 minutes and it was killing this little TechPunk’s bottom line. I’m not making any big blog bucks here so I had to find another option. I picked up the Virgin Mobile Kyocera Loft and it was OK but I upgraded to the LG Optimus V and I am pretty satisfied with the move. I signed up for the 1200 minute, no-contract, unlimited text message plan which runs me a meager $43 per month. It uses the Sprint network and I get a great signal pretty much anywhere but the town in which I live… which blows. But anyway, on to the phone.

The LG Optimus-V is a relatively slim phone and weighs in at about 5 oz so its a bit heavier than the iPhone but around the same size. I bought it for about $200 at Best Buy which isn’t that bad when you consider how much you are paying per month for service. It comes with Android Version 2.2.1 installed so be sure to check back for my upcoming post on rooting this phone. The e-mail app is easy to use and allows setup of multiple accounts and is pretty easy to get up and running. The calendar app is pretty decent and will sync with your Google Calendar. I loaded it up with free games and it runs nice and smooth.

The 3G service is great and the browser is OK. First thing I had to do was to change the Virgin Mobile homepage to Google by pressing the settings button, clicking “more”, clicking “settings” and finally scrolling down to “Set Home Page”. there are a lot of setting for you to customize to make your browsing experience better. There is no Java support at this time.

The camera is 3.2 mega pixels with no flash and has nice video recording capabilities.

It’s been about a month and I am really digging this phone. It is not an iPhone and I’m sure you will be disappointed if you switch, but after a while you should be satisfied with the LG Optimus-V.