Author Archive: Matt

LG GM750 Review

Having just reviewed the Samsung Omnia Lite, there seems little point in reviewing the LG GM750, as on the face of it they are pretty much the same device, the Omnia was overall capable and usable is there anything about the LG to set it apart and make it stand out in the crowd?

Exclusive to Vodaphone let’s see how the GM750 compares…..

The LG GM750

What’s in the box?

• The LG GM750
• User manual.
• 3.5mm connecting headset
• MicroUSB connection adaptor for the headset
• AC plug with a USB to microUSB connection lead

Take a look also at Matt’s LG GM750 unboxing video for more.

 

LG GM750 Specification:

• Operating System – Windows Mobile 6.5
• Processor – QCT MSM7200A 528MHz processor
• Memory – 250MB Internal
• Display – TFT resistive touchscreen, 262K colours, 240 x 400 pixels, 3.0 inches
• S Class Touch User Interface
• Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
• Operating Frequency – GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900  3G Network HSDPA 900 / 2100 
• 3G HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
• WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, DLNA
• Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP 
• microUSB
• GPS Integrated with A-GPS
• microSD (TransFlash), up to 32GB
• Camera – 5 MP, 2560 x1920 pixels, autofocus
• Battery – Standard battery, Li-Ion 1500 mAh
• Dimensions – 109.8 x 56.5 x 11.9 mm
• Weight – 103 grams with battery

General

On the top of the unit is the lock/ power button

LG GM750 Top View

 

Left hand side is home from top to bottom the loop for connecting the stylus or charms, followed by the covered microUSB sync/charge/headset slot, next the volume up/down rocker.

LG GM750 left side view

 

Nothing to see on the bottom

 

The right hand side, from top to bottom are a covered microSD card slot, next the ‘Multitasking’ key which is essentially a Task Manager launcher shown in the review, and finally the dedicated camera button.

LG GM750 right side view

 

On the rear of the LG there is the 5 Megapixel autofocus camera with a tiny mirror, but no flash.

LG GM750 back view

 

Around the front of the phone is an earpiece (which on the review unit has a rough edge) a proximity sensor and a forward facing ‘inner’ camera, below which is the 3″, 240 x 400 pixels touchscreen, underneath this is the call/answer key and the end/home key, which flank the optical joystick button.

LG GM750 front view

 

 

Highlights

• Simple to use
• 5 megapixel camera
• Fully customisable User Interface
• Good spec including optical joystick

Lowlights

• Build quality
• Unresponsive screen

Review

Out of the box the LG GM750 looks good and feels solid the rounded edges of the device make it feel nice in hand. I was slightly disappointed by the rough edges of the earpiece, but that could just be the review unit.

The ‘Home’ screen on the revamped LG style UI is divided into 5 separate screens similar to the android devices and also Touchflo. The first screen is for Notifications such as missed calls, text, email and also appointments. This very much does away with the traditional Windows interface and does it well, although you can always use the traditional menus of you wish.

The second screen is intended for widgets, the third for media, forth for favourite contacts and finally one for applications. Although there are a lot of choices they do appear to be easy to use and to customise, with large, clear icons.

The interface is speedy and rotations of the screens seem smooth and there is only a minimal lag in presenting the applications. After my comments about the screen on the oh so similar Omnia Lite, the LG doesn’t seem to suffer from the same screen resolution problems, I am not sure if it is the UI or the settings but this screen seems sharper and more focused, possibly due to the 262K colours?

Texting is fine when using the LG based keyboard

The phone call side of life is just as easy and there were no issues here either as long as you keep your ear off the sharp edges of the earpiece! Clarity was fine and no surprises in this area I have included the LG version of the phone keypad for your delectation.

It was good to see that LG have included the 1500 mAh battery to give that much more capacity, I had read reviews stating 1000 mAh which would have been a mistake.

This device has exactly the same annoyances as the Samsung Omnia Lite in that I found myself having to jab at the screen several times to get a response and the ‘x’ at the top of the screen more often than not brought up the appointment pop up instead of closing the screen which was the desired outcome, frustrating! The need here for a stylus is obvious but as with the Omnia it is a standalone unit that can be attached via the loop at the top of the device. Not good, for me.

I have to say that the upgraded camera appears to be better than that on the Samsung, coming in at 5 megapixels and with one of the smallest mirrors I have seen, still no flash unfortunately. The pictures are better but still no match for a dedicated camera. For some reason I did notice that there is a zoom facility on the camera but you cannot use it if the camera is set at 5 megapixels there is only a pop up that states ‘Zoom function cannot be applied at 5M pixels.’, not being a camera expert could not figure out why this would be, perhaps Matt the camera junkie could let us know?

Another demonstration of one-upmanship shown by LG is the inclusion of the optical joystick, for scrolling and entering this works well and is definitely preferable to the back button option found on the Omnia. It is also customisable with the option to have a virtual mouse if required, as well as speed options.

GPS worked well, I was unable to tell what the Vodaphone version of the Navigation was like as they did not provide a sim to be able test, no Google maps or bundled software included but N drive and Google both worked fine and where responsive and useable.

The multitasking button brings up a surprise that I haven’t seen before in a Task Manager there is either List or picture which is Windows aero stylee as seen in pictures 1 and 2. Also swiping the menu at the bottom of the Home screen brings up a new scrollable menu rows seen in picture 3 which looks confusing but proved to be really easy to use.

Conclusion

Setting aside the build quality that could be the review unit, I feel that LG and Vodaphone have done a better job with the GM750, it is a very capable device with a great spec, it has extras over and about the Samsung Omnia in the camera and optical joystick, so for me appears to be a better option to buy on that basis. The downside is that it is exclusive to Vodaphone and will mean locking yourself in to an 18 month or 24 month deal to get your hands on one of these devices.

So if you are due an upgrade or you are looking of a new high spec device, take a look at the LG GM750, you will have to deal with its small annoyances though, these I am sure can be remedied in time.

What’s next? Oh, the X2, no rest the wicked….don’t seem to be being offered the more interesting stuff lately like the Droid, Glisten from USA, or Omnia Pro B7330…..Grrumph! J Was it something I said? Perhaps I’ll have to wait for the X10?

 

Review by: Steve

[ Post Tags: LG GM750, Windows Mobile 6.5, Vodafone, smartphone, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]

Acer Liquid review

Acer Liquid (A1) (S100) Review

Acer are back again with another innovation for them in the form of their first Android based device. Is it any good and a contender in this growing popular market?

Take a look at Matt’s Acer Liquid unboxing video for the hands on view.

The Acer Liquid (Acer A1/ Acer S100)

 

What’s in the box?

• Acer Liquid (A1)
• Quick Start Guide
• Warranty booklet
• CD based User Manual
• Screen protector
• 2 Gb SanDisk memory card
• AC wall socket with MiniUSB connection
• USB to miniUSB sync charge lead
• 3.5mm Stereo headphones

Acer Liquid specification:

• Operating System: Android 1.6 (Donut)
• Processor: Qualcomm 8250 768 MHz
• Memory: ROM: 512MB / RAM: 256MB
• Display: 3.5-inch touch-sensitive screen with WVGA resolution
• Network: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
• Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 b/g
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Internal GPS antenna
• microSDHC (supports up to 32GB)
• 5.0 megapixel colour camera with auto focus
• Talk Time: Up to 300 minutes
• Standby Time: Up to 400 hours
• Battery: 1350mAh Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
• Dimensions: 115 x 62.5 x 12.5 mm
• Weight: 135 grams with battery

 

General

On the top of the device is only the 3.5mm socket, handy for playing music while keeping the phone in your pocket. The rest of the top is just shiny black plastic, but on further use there are embedded indications in the top so when charging, a battery light glows, missed events are also displayed in the black strip with notifications such as a message icon for email and text, a phone icon for missed calls and once again handy if in your pocket.

Acer Liquid top view

 

The left side is home only to the power button.

Acer Liquid left side view

 

On the right side  dedicated camera button and the up/down volume rocker.

Acer Liquid right side view

 

At the base of the Liquid can be found the miniUSB connector and a small microphone all housed in the same shiny black plastic strip.

Acer Liquid bottom view

 

The rest of the casing very plastic and very white, on the back there the 5 Megapixel autofocus camera with no flash or portrait mirror, also there is a speaker grill and battery cover.

Acer Liquid back view

 

Finally on the front there is the impressive 3.5-inch touch-sensitive screen with WVGA resolution (480×800 pixel) display, above which is the phone speaker, below which is the touch sensitive 4 button configuration of, from left to right, the ‘Home’ button, a ‘search’ button, a ‘back’ button and finally a ‘Menu’ button.

Acer Liquid front view

 

Highlights

• Fantastic screen
• Responsive and quick OS and Processor

Lowlights

• Poor battery
• For me a tad too wide
• Slippery plastic

Review

Straight out of the box (and don’t tell Matt) I dropped it. The Liquid is on the wide side at 63ish mm, and as it made of shiny, smooth plastic with rounded edges it is a little difficult to grip, I was showing friends how slippery it was and dropped it again!. It certainly does look the part with a completely smooth front due to the flush fitting screen and the touch sensitive buttons.

I was greatly impressed with the 3.5″ capacitive screen, it is bright and clear, and I found that this is one of the first devices that I have used quite a bit to watch the unboxing videos etc. That in its self speaks volumes. Over the Wifi connection this coped really well.

Web browsing also on the larger screen is also easy and a pleasure to use, which is a little confusing as I have read views that the screen is not as sharp as it could be, yet I have no complaints at all. Hopefully this can be picked up on the screenshots. I would be interested on others view in this matter.

On the subject of screen capture, and I sure Matt will bring this up as well, what a palaver! Download the SDK then the drivers that this and then that….got there in the end, but can someone develop MyMobiler for Android sooner rather than later, please.

The phone functions themselves are pretty standard the OS is Android 1.6 Donut, and as far as I can tell there are no plans for an upgrade to 2.0 Eclair let alone the upcoming 2.1, this could be a mistake on Acers part as in this day and age the ability to upgrade is becoming a must. I have to admit the dialler is not the most attractive one I have seen but it is functional and coupled with the responsive screen works well.

Texting is OK, with the onboard keypad, I did tend to use it more in landscape rather than portrait as the bigger keys did help somewhat.

The call quality I also found to be fine the conversations where clear and plenty loud enough. I have heard tell that there is an issue in that if you lose a signal the Liquid won’t reconnect automatically, hopefully Matt can give us a heads up on this as where I live I don’t lose my signal, with Matt living in the middle of nowhere he is able to replicate this problem with ease, so I await his findings, or of course anyone else who has had is experience, fortunately I can’t comment on this one.

It has been a while since I have played with Android and it was good to see the ‘Market’ is growing and moving from strength to strength, I found ‘beebplayer’ the unofficial iPlayer worked well for catching up while on the move and other newer apps like the Seesmic Twitter app for Android also released recently, all of which makes Android a ever more attractive option, I think that even the diehard Matt ‘Windows Mobile’ Davis is starting to see the benefits.

Acer has left this edition of 1.6 in a fairly standard format, there is the addition of the likes of Acer settings, Acer sync and Acer registration, but by far the joy of Android, for those who use it, is the Market to adapt and customise your device as you want it.

I have heard that the camera is supposedly poor also, it is 5 megapixel and it is autofocus, so there are no other real bells and whistles, but I wouldn’t say it was poor, it is certainly on a par with others especially the likes of most HTC devices, not great but useable and adequate for day to day use, it does seem to take an age in saving the image, in no way will it replace a dedicated digital but I am yet to see a phone camera that will.

With regard to the battery life I agree with James on this point, there are so many variances in how people use their devices that it is practically impossible to demonstrate a good and bad battery, the only thing I will say is don’t forget to charge it over night or you could well wake up to a flat battery if it has been on all day.

GPS worked exactly as expected, no bundled software but Google maps joined with the great screen and the snappy processor (no pun intended) made it great to use, if this where mine I would definitely be downloading CoPilot for Android as I am sure that would be a great all round combination.

I do have an issue with the screen lock as it seems to be on all the time, which I accept prevents accidental screen presses etc. but it did get on my nerves having to press the power and then the menu to unlock and get going.

I never noticed before that on the Android system the clock is white during the day and black at night is that new? I must have missed that in the past if it is standard.

Conclusion

I liked my time with the Acer Liquid, the overall performance of the device and the high end spec make it well worth a look in this type of field, those in the market for a larger screen in my opinion won’t be disappointed, the other issue is the price, at around the £330 mark it has to be great value for money, I can’t help feeling that the extra spent on the Motorola Milestone could be a wiser investment, but hey, not everyone wants a physical keyboard.

As I mentioned, the apparent inability to upgrade to future legitimate issues of the OS could put me off enough to disregard this device, so come on Acer do the decent thing!?

 

Review by: Steve

[ Post Tags: Acer Liquid, Acer A1, Android, Snapdragon, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]