Otterbox Commuter Series Hybrid Case for iPhone 4/4S

Everyone wants to keep their iPhone safe and that’s where the Hybrid Commuter Case from Otterbox comes in handy.  This case is a mix of soft and hard protection that covers your iPhone while not making it so bulky that it becomes hard or uncomfortable to carry.

I received the Commuter Case as a gift and used it to replace the prior case that I had for my phone.  That prior case followed the same general design, but I have found the Otterbox to be a stronger case that has lived up to my phone’s many drops and bumps better than the older case was.

Read the full review of the Otterbox Commuter Series Hybrid Case for the iPhone 4/4s

Griffin Technology (GC23090) PowerJolt SE 2010 Charger Car Adapter for iPhone

Looking for a charger for you iPhone, iPod or iPad for your car?  The PowerJolt SE 2010 from Griffin Technology is a decently priced choice.  The charger can be found for fewer than twenty dollars and it has worked well charging my iPhone in my car for some time now.

I picked up the PowerJolt because I was trying to avoid the hard sell of phone accessories at the Verizon store.  I found mine at the local Walmart for about $19 with tax.  

Read the full review of Griffin Technology's PowerJolt SE 2010 Charger on Epinions

Incipio Silicrylic Case for iPhone 4

When I recently purchased my iPhone from Verizon, I avoided the hard sell that they give you on accessories and I headed over to Walmart to check out the selection of cases and other accessories.  That's where I came across the Incipio iPhone 4 Silicrylic Dual Hard Case on Silicone with a Screen Protector.  

The included set of protective gear  provides everything you'll need to shield your iPhone - a soft, silicone sleeve, a hard plastic case and a screen protector sheet.  Plus it is decently priced and has been working well now for several months.

Check out the full review of the Incipio Silicrylic Case for iPhone 4 on Epinions

LG Cosmos (LG-VN250) Cell Phone

The LG Cosmos (LG-VN250) is not a cell phone that I would have bought myself. I received it as a work phone where we don't have data plans, but we do use the phones quite a bit for texting. I figured the Cosmos would fit the bill as it looked to be a good phone to do a lot of texting on.

I cannot say that I really love this phone, but so far, as knock around work phone, it has done okay. My work takes me all over and the phone travels with me, in a laptop case, in my pocket, in my backpack, depending on what I'm doing that day. So far in two months of heavy use, besides some scratching on the screen and the body, the phone continues to work well.


Read my full review of the LG Cosmos Cell Phone on Epinions

Motorola T215 Bluetooth Speakerphone

The Motorola T215 Bluetooth Car Speakerphone is a handy and easy to use option for those who want to be able to use their cell phone hands free and do not want to wear a headset

I have had the Motorola T215 Bluetooth Car Speakerphone for several months now and it has turned out to be a really nice accessory to have for my phone when I am driving. The Speakerphone clips on to my visor, connects to my Blackberry effortlessly and offers good speaker and microphone quality and clarity.

Read my full review of the Motorola T215 Bluetooth Speakerphone on Epinions

Samsung Intensity SCH-U450 Cell Phone

When we dropped AT&T and went back to Verizon Wireless (we should have never left!), one of my main goals for a phone for my partner was one that would make it easier for him to text since he did that more than anything else with his phone. So when we were shopping in the Verizon store and we came across this phone, I thought it would be a good choice, especially since the phone he had with AT&T had been a Samsung also, meaning that the navigation and stuff would be mostly the same and he wouldn't have to deal with relearning an entirely new phone.

Turns out that the Samsung Intensity SCH-U450 cellular phone is good, but I wouldn't say that it was great. We haven't had any serious problems with it, but there are several frustrating points that make me look forward to the day we can trade up for new phones and he can get something different.

Read my full review of the Samsung Intensity SCH-U450 Cell Phone on Epinions

AT&T Wireless Customer Service

I had honestly been expecting the worse with AT&T Customer Service. My customer service experiences with Verizon Wireless hadn't been stellar and considering the number of reviews I see here on Epinions complaining about various wireless carriers, when I switched from Verizon Wireless to AT&T I held my breath.

Turns out that I didn't really have to. I'm not sure if I managed to luck out, or AT&T has just managed to make the process fairly painless. I had thought there would be trouble since I was porting over my two phone numbers from Verizon, however it turned out to be very easy to do.

Read my full review of AT&T Customer Service on Epinions

AT&T Mobile Phone Service in Boston, Massachusetts

Having had Verizon for years, I figured I'd switch to AT&T if only because they offered some plans that would have been a bit cheaper for my partner and I to use when compared with Verizon's, especially when it came to data plans for a Blackberry that I wanted. Hence, I switched over our phones and since then I can't exactly say I've been overwhelmed by the cellular phone service in the Boston area from AT&T, but it hasn't been that bad either.

Basically both AT&T and Verizon have decent service thoughout the eastern Massachusetts and Boston region, however there are odd holes in various places, though the holes seem to be different between the two major service providers. Nowadays places where I couldn't get Verizon service, I get AT&T service, but in other places where I had a signal with Verizon, now I don't get any service with AT&T.

Read my full review of AT&T Mobile Phone Service in the Boston area on Epinions

BlackBerry Curve 8310 Smartphone

Having had a cellular phone for years, I wanted something that offered more functionality and connectivity to the internet and email. That's how I ended up getting myself a Blackberry Curve 8310 on the AT&T network.

What makes the Curve more than just an enhanced phone you ask? Well the Curve makes it easy to connect to your email accounts so that you can send and receive emails, both via personal email accounts and business accounts; it allows you to browse the internet on its web browser; lets you take photos with its 2 megapixel camera; makes it easy to organize contacts and appointments; and lets you download various applications to expand its use to name just a few of its abilities. Sure you can do some of those things on various cell phones, but the Blackberry pulls it all together and puts it in a package that's easy to use, small and lightweight. Another big plus of the Curve over a standard cell phone is the fact that it has a full keypad that makes it easy to type out text messages and emails.

Read my full review of the BlackBerry Curve 8310 Smartphone on Epinions

Motorola W385 Cellular Phone

Are you looking for a fairly straightforward cellular phone that offers all the standard features in a slim and lightweight package? The Motorola W385 might just be what you want.

This phone is slim, lightweight, easy to fit in your pocket and offers enough features to keep the average user quite content. The phone offers Bluetooth connectivity, the ability to take photos, a built-in speakerphone and plenty of standard features that you’ll find on most other comparable phones.

Read my full review of the Motorola W385 Cellular Phone on Epinions

Car Charger For Motorola W315, W370, W385, and W490 Cellular Phones

Did you forget to charge your phone at home and now you need to charge your Motorola W385 cellular phone while you’re in the car? If that’s the case, you should get yourself this car charger. It plugs into your cigarette lighter socket and it powers up your phone and lets you charge your phone while you are driving around.

Read my full review of the Car Charger For Motorola W315, W370, W385, and W490 Cellular Phones on Epinions

LG VX7000 Cellular Phone

With the ability to capture photographs and video, download games, access almost unlimited ring tones, store more contacts than you'll ever need and more, the LG VX7000 cellular phone is an all-around hand and easy to use cellular phone that should please almost all users.

I looked at several different models and I settled on the LG VX7000. To me, it offered the most features for the most reasonable price. In fact, when all was said and done, I ended up not even paying anything for it. I guess that's one of the few benefits of being a life-long Verizon Wireless customer.

Read my full review of the LG VX7000 Cellular Phone on Epinions

LG VX8700 Cellular Phone

The LG VX8700 is a stylish and functional cellular phone that should easily satisfy most users. For starters, the phone offers good reception, clear calls, camera and video capabilities, Bluetooth connectivity and a speakerphone. Not only that, there are plenty of other features and capabilities included with this phone, which packs a lot into a light, thin and easy to carry package.

Read my full review of the LG VX8700 Cellular Phone on Epinions

Motorola E815 Cellular Phone

The Motorola E815 is one of the best offerings from Verizon Wireless so far that we’ve discovered. The cellular phone offers good reception with excellent call clarity, Bluetooth functionality, picture and video capabilities, an intuitive menu system, a compact and stylish design, and the ability to add services through Verizon’s “Get It Now” service. Not only that, but the E815 has the ability to browse the web, offers a respectable speaker phone feature and has good battery life.

Overall, I’m glad I stumbled across this phone when I was looking to replace my partner’s older cell phone. Not only did it have the features that I wanted him to have, it was put together in a package that he, as a totally non-tech person, has been able to learn, use, and enjoy.

Read my full review of the Motorola E815 Cellular Phone on Epinions

One of the Best Cell Phones Overall - the LG VX4400

Looking for a practical, good looking, easy to use and up-to-date cellular phone? The LG VX4400 fits the bill with cool looks, excellent call quality, simple to operate menu system and extensive options.

Since I was already on my 3rd phone in the last 4 years and the antenna on that 3rd phone had just snapped off, I figured that it was time that I broke down and got myself a cell phone that was not offered for free when I signed up for a plan and was a bit more robust. I browsed through what was offered by Verizon at their local store (as I wasn’t changing plans or carriers, just upgrading the phone so had to stick with Verizon) and settled on the LG VX4400.

I’ll admit it, the color screen, the smooth looking silver exterior, the fact that it was a flip phone, it all attracted me to the phone. When you first see it, the phone has that cool factor that immediately makes an impression with you. The other features that I learned about as I read the VX4400’s description continued to entice me in. The phone has a lot of functions and customizations that include downloadable ring tones, games, applications, a personal organizer function (calendar and appointment functions), a fairly robust phone book option, voice activated dialing and more. In all honesty, the only thing that I wanted and the VX4400 did not have was a speakerphone.

However, after reviewing all of the other phones in the store and their various options, and prices, I kept wandering back over to the VX4400, for the money (retails at Verizon for $269 without a new service plans – the prices drop when you are renewing or starting a new service plan) I felt that it offered the most options and was the best value there.

So I did it, I broke down and got myself a new phone, all the while, my boyfriend was there rolling his eyes going “do you really need to get a new cell phone – what’s wrong with your old one?” Of course I had to have it, I needed a change, I needed a phone that flipped open, I needed that color screen.

VX 4400 Details

So you’re probably wondering about some details on the phone itself. The phone is about 3 ½ inches long and roughly doubles in size when you flip it open. It’s about ½ an inch thick when closed and about half of that when open. There’s an extendable antenna. The VX4400 has two different LCD panels. The interior panel is full color and the exterior one is grayscale. The exterior panel displays the time and when a call is being received, shows the caller ID. The exterior panel also displays messages, notices, etc. when you’ve missed a call or have a voice mail or a text message. The phone comes with a lithium-ion battery, a desktop charger and a belt clip for the phone.

Once I got it home I started the process of getting all my phone numbers into the new phone. Entries into the phone book are fairly easy to enter and the process is not too complicated. In addition to the phone number, you can enter the name of the person, their address and email address, and a voice activated dialing entry for the person.

I will admit it, I did not read the manual at first. But when I started to see all of the options that were available, I did open the manual and attempt to follow it. The manual is very poorly written and gives only a cursory review of the available options. You’re probably better off just playing with the phone and figuring out what each of the options does. There’s really no way for you to screw up the phone (except for the “system” options so don’t play with those unless you know what they are) so feel free to toggle settings and change defaults. Just about everything with the phone is customizable. From the graphics that show up on the color screen, to the color that the outer LCD panel flashes when you have a call or have a message.

One of the coolest features is that you can set up a different ring for different incoming phone calls. You can do this in a basic sense for caller ID versus non-caller ID calls and you can even go down to each entry in your phone book having a different ring tone. That way when your phone rings, you already know who it is.

I have found the talk time and the standby time on the supplied batter to be excellent. I have let the phone go for 2 days without a charge and I am still able to use it before charging. Talk time is equally good. I would imagine though if you spend lots of time working with the phone (such as games, etc) with the color screen running, battery life would probably suffer.

Charging is very quick. A drained battery will fully charge in less than a few hours.

I also purchased the battery recharge adapter for my car. As often I’m traveling and I do not want to have to carry around the desktop charger. The auto-charger plugs into the phone’s data port and also works quite quickly. I would suggest only leaving it plugged in when you need to charge the phone, not leaving the phone constantly connected. It heats the battery and while I’m not sure it hurts it too much, it cannot be good for the battery.

The belt clip is your standard belt clip accessory. The phone slips into the clip and snaps in. I find that the “snap” is helpful because you know the phone is fully in the clip and you don’t stand a chance of having it fall out.

But How Does It Work? Sound Quality and Reception

Sound Quality – I never knew that a cell phone could sound this good. The first time I used it, it sounded like I was talking on my regular phone in the house, or even better for that fact. The microphone produces crisp and clear sounds and the volume is adjustable for almost too soft to hear, to almost too loud to keep next to your head. However, this is a good thing, because as everyone knows, you might be somewhere very quiet, or you might be stuck in the middle of a construction site trying to listen to someone. People that I have been calling have mentioned the difference in the quality and they are like “you are on your cell phone?”

Reception – I’m not sure if it is because of the increased sound quality, but all of my calls sound better. There is significantly less static in the calls and I appear to be able to continue calls without breaking up in areas where my old phone would lose the signal and disconnect. In a month of use in many different areas, I have only lost the signal in a call once. The rest of the times, even in the weak signal areas, the phone is able to hold the call and I can continue to keep talking.

The “Cool” Factor

Everyone wants to have something that makes everyone go “that is cool” when they take it out. The VX4400 fulfills this requirement. Not only is it a great phone to use and carry, it makes everyone else want to look at it and see how it works. It actually got passed around my office with each new person going “wow – I wish I had this one.”

The phone will not make you the most popular person – but it sure is fun to make others jealous. When they have got that old clunky cell phone and you pull out your VX4400…just think to yourself of saying to them… “go ahead, eat your heart out.”

The Final Take

The LG VX4400 is one of the best cell phones out there with excellent sound quality and reception, quick charging capabilities, decent battery life and options and customizations galore. If you are looking to upgrade or purchase your first cell phone, this must be one phone that you have to consider.

Originally published on Epinions.com