LG Chocolate VX8500 Cell Phone Review - Software
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Alfredo Padilla Published on March 16, 2007 Comment on this |
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OS (3.0)
The LG Chocolate runs on a proprietary operating system. The OS responds quickly with little lag. The menu system is organized in a logical fashion, with each of the major functions given its own heading and the important items listed in the main menu of that section. Some items are buried in the menu system, for example many of the tools like the alarm clock and calendar are two menus deep. Compared to other proprietary operating systems like that found on the Motorola Razr V3m we found the Chocolate’s OS to be snappier and more intuitive. Proprietary operating systems are scored between one and five points, we reserve higher scores for the much more flexible and powerful operating systems found on smart phones like Palm OS or Windows Mobile.
Home Screen Score (4.0)
The Home screen on LG Chocolate displays the basic information you would expect to see on your phone’s home screen, including signal strength, battery meter, date and time. On the bottom of the screen you see that the left soft key takes you to the message menu and the right soft key takes you to contacts. Between these two is the indicator that shows a press on the action key of the directional pad takes you to the main menu.
The 4 shortcut keys on the Chocolate (one on the left, three on the right, excluding the volume keys) also have indicators on the home screen that line up with them and show you their function. The center of the screen is taken up by whatever wallpaper is being used. There are also various icons that can appear when they are needed, for example when you have a calendar appointment a bar appears at the bottom of the screen with a calendar icon.
Although its not indicated on the home screen you also have access to 4 shortcuts by using the 4 directions of the directional pad. This is a standard feature on many phones, however because of the lack of an indicator we did not immediately realize that the Chocolate had this functionality. By default the four directions are assigned to News & Info, Pix & Flix, Calendar and Get it Now. These shortcuts can be reassigned in the phone settings menu. You can also change the wallpaper used and turn off the indicators for the shortcut keys.
We found the home screen on the LG chocolate provided a good range of options, but was a little cramped and unintuitive. For example we liked the visual
Extensibility (3.0)
Running a proprietary OS the LG Chocolate has limited opportunities for adding third party software. You can add java applications, which you can purchase from Verizon’s store or download from the internet. Compared to advanced operating systems like Windows Mobile or Palm OS that allows you to install a wide range of third party programs, the Chocolate’s operating system is fairly limited. That being said, there are some nice java applications available nowadays, such as google maps and the opera mini web browser, which can add significant value to your device.
Customizability (3.5)
The LG Chocolate provides a good range of options to customize your phone. Most of these are related to the look and feel, but a few allow you to address actual functionality. As mentioned above, you can change the shortcuts assigned to the 4 directions of the directional pad on the home screen. You can also turn off the indicators for the buttons located on the Chocolate’s left and right side, as well as change the wallpaper that is displayed on the home screen. The wallpaper can be changed to any photo or video you took, as well as one of the available animations. The ability to set a video as a wallpaper is a nice feature that is not found on most phones.
You also have themes available on the Chocolate. There are 4 basic themes that change the background color. For each of these you can choose one of six different colors for the top and bottom bars. There are also two themes that do more than just change colors. Called Rock n’ Roll and Jazz, these themes change the look of the menus as well. You can purchase additional wallpapers for the Chocolate from Verizon, however we did not find any additional themes available for download.
Overall we found the customization options on the Chocolate to be good. They were a step above those found on the Motorola Razr V3m, but not as extensive as those found on many smart phones. For example, on the Treo 700p we could change the applications viewed in the menu, assign them to new categories or create new categories ourselves. This functionality is not available on the Chocolate.
OS Responsivness (7.0)
We found the operating system on the LG Chocolate to be very responsive. Our major issue was the responsiveness of the keypad, which we shall address later. You can speed up the operating system’s responses by using one of the basic themes included with the phone. The more advanced themes that change menu structure do add some lag, although it is not significant. Even challenging applications like music or the web browser are fairly quick to launch, especially compared to a phone like the Motorola Razr V3m which displayed significant lag at times.
Gaming (1.3)
We were somewhat disappointed by the gaming options on the LG Chocolate. The phone does not come with any games installed, not even demo versions, which we found to be a penny pinching measure. There are a wide variety of java games available for download from Verizon for those who want to spend a few dollars to add some entertainment; however the touch controls on the LG Chocolate are not suited for gaming at all. Compared to other basic phones like the Motorola Razr V3m, the Chocolate is not a good gaming platform.
Browser Features (4.0)
The browser on the LG Chocolate supports basic features. HTML and WAP pages are supported, as are images, cookies and basic encryption. More advanced technologies like Javascript, RSS feeds and password management are not present. The Browser on the Chocolate does not compare well with browsers on other devices, the Motorola Razr V3m provided support for more technologies, and browsers found on smart phones are much more capable. The Chocolate’s browser is only really suited for browsing pages that are specifically designed for mobile phones.
Browser Interface(4.0)
The browsing controls on the LG Chocolate are as basic as you would expect given what we said about the features. Pages are automatically formatted for small screens, but there are no other controls available. We would have liked to see the ability to adjust fonts at the very least. The LG Chocolate does not compare well with competitors like the Motorola Razr V3m.
Bookmarks on the LG Chocolate are managed online, that is they are not saved locally. Given that you are always going to be online when you need to access them this solution works just fine, as long as you’re willing to wait while the bookmarks page is loaded every time you need it. When organizing your favorites you can delete, edit or reorder them. You can also create folders to store favorites with similar subjects or purposes, which is a nice feature that is not always found on mobile web browsers.
History on the other hand is saved onto the phone. You can see a chronological list of the sites you have visited by going to the advanced option on the right soft key menu. History is saved from session to session, so you can go back and see what you were browsing in the morning when you access your browser in the evening. You can clear your history, as well as the cache of files, cookies and items saved in autofill (which only applies to urls that you’ve entered.
Overall we found the management of favorites and history on the LG Chocolate to be a step above most phones, including the Motorola Razr V3m, and even smart phones like the Motorola Q.
Browser Access Speed (4.0)
To test how easy it is to access the browser we counted how many steps it takes to launch the browser, enter a url (we count the actual entering of the url as one step) and go to the web page. We choose to count steps rather than timing this procedure because many phones are required to interface with the network in order to launch their browsers, and we wanted to remove this variability.
The LG Chocolate took 10 steps to complete this procedure. This is good for a normal phone, for example the Motorola Razr V3m took 13 steps to access our test site. The Chocolate is helped by the fact that there is a shortcut to the browser on the home screen (press up on the directional pad). The fact that menu items are mapped to the number keys also shaves a few steps off of the Chocolate’s score. Overall we were pleased with how easy it is to get to a web page you want. Note though that long or complicated url’s can be a challenge to enter using a standard phone keypad.
Calculator (5.0)
The calculator on the LG Chocolate provides basic functionality, allowing you to do addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. D-Pad directions are assigned to each of the four functions. The only higher level functions available are the ability to group functions in parentheses and the ability to include exponents. Both of these are available under the left soft key menu. The Chocolate had no problems with our basic calculations, including the one that asks for the square root of 81 (thanks to the support of exponents). Compared to other basic calculators on mobile phones, for example the one on the Motorola Razr V3m, the Chocolate’s only really adds support for exponents. The interface is easy to use and straightforward, although once again we found the touch controls to be, well, touchy.
Alarm (6.0)
The alarm on the LG Chocolate provides good but basic functionality. You can set an alarm for any time, and choose any of the standard ring tones to go off. You are limited to 3 regular alarms, but also have the option to set a 4th alarm that plays your music instead of the standard ring tones. Recurring alarms can be set for daily, weekdays or weekends. The LG Chocolate’s alarm clock is comparable to other phones, like the Motorola Razr V3m, with the added bonus of having an alarm that can play your music.
Document Software (0.0)
The LG Chocolate does not include any software that allows you to view or edit office documents, such as pdf’s, spreadsheets or word documents. This functionality is not usually found on normal phones, being reserved for more advanced smart phones.
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