LG VX4400 vs VX4500

[user]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Our two-year contract time will be coming up soon, so it's time
to consider upgrading from current VX4400 phones. Overall,
the 4400's have been fine. I don't need picture capability.
Reception has usually been OK. I'm considering the VX4500
as long as it's not a step backward. I assume it's got some new
features.

What are the primary differences between the 4400 and 4500?

Are the address books about the same? More characters allowed,
or more entries available in the VX4500?

Will the 4500 work with the same Datapilot software and USB
cable, or do these need to be updated?

Anything else that could be a factor?

----

Has Samsung or anyone else come up with a new phone that
would be preferrable? I think I disqualified them last time based
on short address book entries (lots of entries, but not many chars
per entry).

 

[Ron]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

I think the cable is different. The big difference is that the VX4500
is digital only, NO analog if that is important to you.

Ron

_|_ wrote:

> Our two-year contract time will be coming up soon, so it's time
> to consider upgrading from current VX4400 phones. Overall,
> the 4400's have been fine. I don't need picture capability.
> Reception has usually been OK. I'm considering the VX4500
> as long as it's not a step backward. I assume it's got some new
> features.
>
> What are the primary differences between the 4400 and 4500?
>
> Are the address books about the same? More characters allowed,
> or more entries available in the VX4500?
>
> Will the 4500 work with the same Datapilot software and USB
> cable, or do these need to be updated?
>
> Anything else that could be a factor?
>
> ----
>
> Has Samsung or anyone else come up with a new phone that
> would be preferrable? I think I disqualified them last time based
> on short address book entries (lots of entries, but not many chars
> per entry).

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

> Nothing real compelling for me so far.
>
>> - The 4500 only has a slow serial interface which makes it
>> really slow over a cable.
>
> That's the surprise. I presume you are referring to Datapilot,
> BitPim, etc? To be honest, I haven't used any external
> software yet, but I intend to. I don't understand how they
> could screw up the serial interface.

It isn't screwed up. It is just that a serial interface
is slower than a direct USB interface and can be somewhat
more finicky since things like baud rates matter.

> LG seemed to have a handle on user interface. I thought that if
> anyone could improve their existing phone that it would be LG or
> Samsung. That's disappointing. I guess they haven't even
> boosted the amount of memory for the phone book?

Ah, you are right about that. The LG phones with a model number
greater than 4400 have 500 entries. (The 3200 and 4400 only have
200).

The 7000 and 8000 are almost identical and the phonebook has been
severely crippled. They made it worse by halving the number of
types of numbers, reducing the number of email addresses, URLS
etc. The UI is also "fixed" for what number types you can
provide. ie you provide the following five numbers in this
order: cell, home, work, cell2, fax. If you have more than one
work number, or a pager number then tough. (The underlying
data storage is richer than the UI and does allow multiple
home, work etc.) They are also styled in a distinctive way.
Basically I figure people who think the Honda Element or
Toyota Scion look good will like the look of these models.

Roger

 

[user]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Tue, 31 May 2005 23:50:12 -0700, "Roger Binns"
<rogerb@rogerbinns.com> wrote:

>> _|_:
>> That's the surprise. I presume you are referring to Datapilot,
>> BitPim, etc? To be honest, I haven't used any external
>> software yet, but I intend to. I don't understand how they
>> could screw up the serial interface.
>
>It isn't screwed up. It is just that a serial interface
>is slower than a direct USB interface and can be somewhat
>more finicky since things like baud rates matter.

Well, OK. But if they eliminated USB and only have straight
serial, then I think they screwed it up. As you point out, it will
be sensitive to baud rate settings, etc. I'm not sure all laptops
have serial interfaces these days. I'd have to check mine.

This has to be purely a cost-cutting move. I can't imagine that
it will do their tech support people any good.

>> LG seemed to have a handle on user interface. I thought that if
>> anyone could improve their existing phone that it would be LG or
>> Samsung. That's disappointing. I guess they haven't even
>> boosted the amount of memory for the phone book?
>
>Ah, you are right about that. The LG phones with a model number
>greater than 4400 have 500 entries. (The 3200 and 4400 only have
>200).

Given the other changes, I'd suspect that something else has been
sacrificed. I remember thinking that the tiny Samsung (that came out
when I got my 4400) had lots of space in their phone book, but it
turned out that their entries were half as long as the 4400 (if memory
serves).

>The 7000 and 8000 ....
>....(The underlying
>data storage is richer than the UI and does allow multiple
>home, work etc.)

Not sure I follow the paren'd comment. Are more entries available
via external software as compared to straight UI-programming?
Those are probably camera phones anyway, so unless their regular
non-camera features were better than the 4400, I probably won't
bother looking at them.

 

[user]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 05:36:13 GMT, "dr.news@better.price.biz.nospam"
<dr.news@better-price.biz.nospam> wrote:

>Both great phones, but: 4500: dual mode, speaker phone, driving mode. 4400:
>tri-mode and almost as good (imho) as the startac. If analog isn't
>important, the 4500 is an awesome choice of the two. If analog is
>important, the 4400 is rock solid. For a full comparison, I'm guessing you
>looked at phonescoop.com. dr.

No, I hadn't looked at phonescoop, but I just did. Thanks for the
recommendation.

Phonescoop lists a VX4600, which, by the description, is probably the
successor to the 4500 (and hence the 4400). There are a few good
reviews of the 4600 by prior-owners of 4400's.

The description also says it has AMPS 'in some versions.' Not sure
what that means, but it would imply that it could be a decent
replacement for the 4400, no?

Phonescoop link:
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=314

Any reason it wasn't mentioned in this thread?

 

[Ron]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

I have a VX4500 and it works just fine on USB with the MOK from Verizon.

Ron

_|_ wrote:

> On Tue, 31 May 2005 23:50:12 -0700, "Roger Binns"
> <rogerb@rogerbinns.com> wrote:
>
>
>>>_|_:
>>>That's the surprise. I presume you are referring to Datapilot,
>>>BitPim, etc? To be honest, I haven't used any external
>>>software yet, but I intend to. I don't understand how they
>>>could screw up the serial interface.
>>
>>It isn't screwed up. It is just that a serial interface
>>is slower than a direct USB interface and can be somewhat
>>more finicky since things like baud rates matter.
>
>
> Well, OK. But if they eliminated USB and only have straight
> serial, then I think they screwed it up. As you point out, it will
> be sensitive to baud rate settings, etc. I'm not sure all laptops
> have serial interfaces these days. I'd have to check mine.
>
Snip

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

"Roger Binns" <rogerb@rogerbinns.com> wrote in message
news:uv20n2-c06.ln1@home.rogerbinns.com...
*snip good info re: phones*
>
> The 7000 and 8000 are almost identical and the phonebook has been
> severely crippled. They made it worse by halving the number of
> types of numbers, reducing the number of email addresses, URLS
> etc. The UI is also "fixed" for what number types you can
> provide. ie you provide the following five numbers in this
> order: cell, home, work, cell2, fax. If you have more than one
> work number, or a pager number then tough. (The underlying
> data storage is richer than the UI and does allow multiple
> home, work etc.) They are also styled in a distinctive way.
> Basically I figure people who think the Honda Element or
> Toyota Scion look good will like the look of these models.
>
> Roger
>

Ew yuck Roger. Come on. I like my 7000 (it's certainly not the most
beautiful phone but still pleasing enough to the eye) but both of those
vehicles are f-ugly!

--
JennL

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

> Well, OK. But if they eliminated USB and only have straight
> serial, then I think they screwed it up. As you point out, it will
> be sensitive to baud rate settings, etc. I'm not sure all laptops
> have serial interfaces these days. I'd have to check mine.

All the cables for the VX4500 are USB on the computer end and
serial on the phone end with a USB to serial convertor chip
in between somewhere. This isn't as big a deal as it may seem.
The VX4400 has both serial and direct USB but you can only use
the serial interface for diagnostics mode (phonebook etc).

> This has to be purely a cost-cutting move. I can't imagine that
> it will do their tech support people any good.

LG doesn't support users directly. You end up buying a kit from
somewhere that includes a cable and software. It is that vendor
that then deals with the issues. Things got so bad with BitPim
that we ultimately refuse to give support for phone connectivity
issues.

> Given the other changes, I'd suspect that something else has been
> sacrificed.

Nope. I haven't been able to find anything else where it has been
sacrificed. The embedded filesystem has just under 6MB of memory
compared to the VX4400 which has around 1MB.

>>The 7000 and 8000 ....
>>....(The underlying
>>data storage is richer than the UI and does allow multiple
>>home, work etc.)
>
> Not sure I follow the paren'd comment. Are more entries available
> via external software as compared to straight UI-programming?

No, less constraints per entry. If you use the UI on the phone
then an entry can only have the fields I listed in the order
I listed them. A piece of software talking over the cable
can supply the same number of fields, but any of the fields
can be any of the supported types.

Roger

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

I urged my friend to get the 4400 as a startac replacement. He has had
good luck and loves the phone.
I'll be hunting for another 4400 refurb/used handset. Wonder what the
going rate is?

I've been keeping my same handset, the Audiovox 9500, a LG4400
contemporary. Getting a new handset is becomming less appealing, since
I'll have to replace at least $300+ worth of accessories, including
antenna adapters, several kinds of battery chargers (CLA battery only
and desktop charger), and multiple backup batteries, data cable,
software, and several expensive cases.

On top of that I'm not too excited about the time it will take to learn
a new UI and then get comfortable with it. I really delve into the
programming and debug menus and have a huge address book. I can't count
the hours it's taken to refine network and free web settings and custom
dial strings and voicedial. Besides the loss of a load of ringtones and
wallpapers that will disappear when service is transferred to a new
handset.

For those that need more sophisticated data phones, I can see the
reason to update, but I suspect many of us have found a phone that
still does everything we require.
It's all those accessories and UI learning time that makes a new
handset far more expensive than the Cellco's renewing sticker price, at
least for me.

The one good thing about an older model phone is the prices for
batteries and every accessory can drop dramatically. New batteries can
make a big difference in talk/standby times after the originals have
been used a year or two.

I bought 4 new batteries for my AVX 9500 and one for my buddies LG
4400, for less than $15 each shipped. Lots better than $25-50+ usual
ripoff rates.
The extended battery life was immediatley apparent, since the original
Li-Ions degrade gradually, but the loss is steady over time.

Batteryuniversity.com is excellent battery reference site covering just
about any kind of battery issue.
Anyway, for those that want a good deal on new OEM LG4400/AVX 9500
batteries and a few others, check out...

http://www.andale.com/store?sid=248304&cid=12642682&mode=1&catId=1315538&pnum=1&tpages=null&psize=10&lid=&storeLayout=techno&storeTheme=techno_green&view=CAT_HOME&newStore=null&parentCatId=

Just a happy customer, trying to save others with older handsets some
money. Was concerned how long these batteries might have been sitting
and how much capacity has been lost, but they are such a big
improvement over my 2 year old ones and so cheap, that I don't have any
misgivings.

Also looking at a refurb/good used 4400... what's the going rate? on
ebay? Does VZW still have any LG4400 refurbs?

-
David

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Roger Binns, are you from the KC area; (off topic, and if so, will keep it
short)
--
dr.news Better Price? (not better than you deserve, just more than you are
used to)
If I can help: dr.news@better-price.biz.nospam or thru this notes forum.

"Roger Binns" <rogerb@rogerbinns.com> wrote in message
news:kj75n2-d9p.ln1@home.rogerbinns.com...
>> Well, OK. But if they eliminated USB and only have straight
>> serial, then I think they screwed it up. As you point out, it will
>> be sensitive to baud rate settings, etc. I'm not sure all laptops
>> have serial interfaces these days. I'd have to check mine.
>
> All the cables for the VX4500 are USB on the computer end and
> serial on the phone end with a USB to serial convertor chip
> in between somewhere. This isn't as big a deal as it may seem.
> The VX4400 has both serial and direct USB but you can only use
> the serial interface for diagnostics mode (phonebook etc).
>
>> This has to be purely a cost-cutting move. I can't imagine that
>> it will do their tech support people any good.
>
> LG doesn't support users directly. You end up buying a kit from
> somewhere that includes a cable and software. It is that vendor
> that then deals with the issues. Things got so bad with BitPim
> that we ultimately refuse to give support for phone connectivity
> issues.
>
>> Given the other changes, I'd suspect that something else has been
>> sacrificed.
>
> Nope. I haven't been able to find anything else where it has been
> sacrificed. The embedded filesystem has just under 6MB of memory
> compared to the VX4400 which has around 1MB.
>
>>>The 7000 and 8000 ....
>>>....(The underlying
>>>data storage is richer than the UI and does allow multiple
>>>home, work etc.)
>>
>> Not sure I follow the paren'd comment. Are more entries available
>> via external software as compared to straight UI-programming?
>
> No, less constraints per entry. If you use the UI on the phone
> then an entry can only have the fields I listed in the order
> I listed them. A piece of software talking over the cable
> can supply the same number of fields, but any of the fields
> can be any of the supported types.
>
> Roger
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

"dr.news@better.price.biz.nospam" <dr.news@better-price.biz.nospam> wrote in message
news:72aoe.16042$iA6.7300@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com...
> Roger Binns, are you from the KC area; (off topic, and if so, will keep it short)

Not even remotely. In fact I'd have trouble finding it on a map.

Roger