LG Prada Review - Organizer
Synchronization Ease of Use (0.0)
The LG Prada does not synchronize with your desktop software.
Alerts (5.0)
The LG Prada lacks a task management program so the only alerts you can create are for calendar appointments. When an alert sounds you will hear the tone/vibration as assigned by the currently activated profile and the screen will be filled with a graphic that shows you the appointment title and time. You can only dismiss the alert, there is no option to snooze. The alert will sound for 1 minute, after which it goes quiet, however the on screen indicator will remain until you look at your phone and dismiss it. Alerts can be set to go off at one of 6 preset times before the event. We would have liked the ability to choose our own alert tone for each appointment, and would have liked more flexibility for when the alert sounds.
Over the Air PIM Sync (0.0)
The LG Prada does not support any over the air synchronization services such as BlackBerry or Exchange Server.
Address Book
Adding Contacts (3.67)
To test how easy it is to add a contact to the Prada we timed how long it took to add each of five different contact names and their phone numbers. We take the average time for our score. The Prada took an average of 27.24 seconds to add a new contact. This is a fairly slow time for a phone, slower than the Sprint Upstage's 21.3 second time or the Helio Ocean's 21.24 second time. We found that we were slowed down when using the on screen keypad to enter names. It simply isn't as fast as a real keypad and is more prone to errors.
Looking/Sorting/Search (1.5)
The LG Prada's contacts program is very simple, without many sorting or searching options. Contacts are organized by first name, and there is no way to sort them by any other attribute. You can search through your contacts by hitting the search button at the bottom center of the screen. This allows you to search through first names using multi-tap. Overall we were not pleased with the lack of sorting and searching options on the Prada.
Fields (2.2)
When you create a new contact on the Prada you have 11 fields that you can fill. There is space for three phone numbers, email address, group, ringtone and contact photo. We were also pleased to see a memo field, where you can enter any information you like. Compared to smart phones 11 fields may seem paltry, but it is fairly standard for regular phones, for example the Sprint Upstage only allowed you to enter 9 fields. For a regular phone we were generally happy with the fields available on the Prada.
Speed Dial/Voice tags/Voice command (0.0)
The LG Prada does not support speed dial, voice tags or voice command. This is a curious oversight as speed dial is standard on almost every phone out there, even ones that use touch screen keypads like the T-Mobile Wing, and some kind of voice command software is almost as prevalent. For a phone with a touch screen interface you would have thought that some kind of voice control would be a natural fit.
Calendar
Adding Calendar Items (3.08)
To test how easy it is to add calendar items to the LG Prada we time how long it takes to go from the home screen unlocked until we have added a simple lunch appointment for the following day with a reminder 15 minutes before hand. We repeat this test five times and take the average for our score. The LG Prada took an average of 32.5 seconds to add our test appointment. This is an extremely poor time, significantly worse than the Sprint Upstage's 26.46 second time or the LG Chocolate's 22.6 second time. We were again slowed down by the Prada's touch screen interface, as well as by the fact that the calendar program is buried two menus deep.
Calendar Views (3.75)
The LG Prada has two calendar views. The default view is the monthly one, showing a single month at a time. Below the dates is a field where the first appointment of the chosen date is displayed. Below this are three buttons, a left menu button, a back button on the right and in between a view button that takes you to the daily view. In the daily view you are shown a list of all appointments on that date in chronological order. At the bottom are again three buttons that allow you to access the menu, see the selected appointment's details or go back. Each item shows the time of the appointment and title.
We found the calendar views on the Prada to be very simple, but generally usable. We liked the preview window on the monthly view, and the buttons seem well laid out. We did have a little trouble in the monthly view accurately selecting days. There are no options to filter or sort your appointments in either view, not surprising given that the Prada doesn't support appointment categories or groups. We would have liked to see more views, and perhaps the ability to view the calendar in landscape orientation.
Fields (6.0)
When you create a new message on the LG Prada you have a basic set of fields to fill. You can choose to create an all day event, or an event at a given time. Start and end times are of course available, as are title and an alarm. We were also pleased to see the ability to create recurrence, with several useful preset options including weekday and weekend. Apart from this there is no support for advanced fields like categories or notes. Still, for a regular phone the options are fairly good, and we don't expect such advanced features from such phones.
ToDo/Tasks
Adding ToDo/Task (0.0)
The LG Prada does not support tasks or to-do's, as such it will receive a zero in these sections.
ToDo/Task Sorting and Prioritizing (0.0)
See above.
Fields (0.0)
See above.
Notes
Adding Notes (2.67)
To test how easy it is to add notes to the LG Prada we time how long it takes to go from the home screen until we have created a new note reminding us about a lunch appointment the next day. We repeat this process five times and take the average for our score. The LG Prada took an average of 18.74 seconds to add our test note. This is about average for a regular phone, slightly slower than the Helio Ocean's 16.06 second time, but faster than the Sprint Upstage's 29.72 second time. We found that the lack of multiple fields made interacting with the notes application much easier than the contacts or calendar apps.
Note Interface (2.0)
The notes application on the LG Prada is called "Memo" and is very simple. Notes are organized in a simple list in the order they were created. The menu buttons allows you to create a new note or delete existing ones. We appreciate simple interfaces, especially on the Prada where the touch screen interface makes dealing with complex interfaces difficult. Not that we wouldn't have liked to see the option to categorize notes and filter views. The Prada's low score in this area reflects these lack of features.
Note Formatting (0.0)
The LG Prada does not provide you with any formatting options in notes. This includes items like changing font type, size or color. You also can't add hand drawn items to notes, which would have been a nice option for a phone with a touch screen interface.
Voice Memo (6.0)
The LG Prada includes a voice recorder program for voice notes. The interface is simple, with a menu button at the bottom left and a record button in the center. The menu allows you to set options like unlimited recording time or for MMS messages. It also allows you to choose whether to store voice records on the device or on a storage card. There are no fancy tricks here, it's a straightforward program that does a solid job of creating voice notes.
