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Review GSM phone LG B2000

Standard kit:

Handset
Manual
Disk with LG PC Sync (useless due to the absence of a cable or IrDA)
Strap for a hand
Charger

LG has always tried to act the same way as Samsung and it is not accidental that the appearance of a low-end clamshell, the Samsung X140, equipped with radio, didn't pass unnoticed. LG has created the B2000 based on a low-end G1600. The model is interesting for its size 105.5 x 44 x 15.9 mm, while the weight is 73 grams. The device lies well in a hand and is thin. There are several color solutions different only in the color of the front panel available. The back of the device is made of a dark plastic.

The screen is a 65K color STN and has a resolution of 128x128 pixels that allows showing up to 5 text lines and one service line. The quality of the picture and its brightness is average. The model is comparable with the phones by LG but evidently loses to Siemens (CF62, С65 for example). The quality of the colurs is better than in Motorola C380, C650. The differences are not as significant and in general we may say the models are comparable in this parameter. The screen fades in the sun greatly but if to find a necessary viewpoint you will make something out.

The keypad has a terrace-like disposition with average sized buttons. Despite their close position, the buttons are comfortable to work with. The backlight is blue and even and the characters are well seen on all the buttons. The navi button is 4D and an OK one is absent.

There is an interface connector on the bottom end and a strap hole on the top. A headset connector closed with a rubber shutter is on the left-side surface. The shutter is thick and it peels off and gets deformed with time. The connector is not placed very comfortably, since as a rule there are no cuts in a holster in that place.

A back panel hides a 780mAh Li-Ion battery. According to the manufacturer the phone is capable of working for 250 hours in the standby mode and up to 3.5 hours in the talk mode. In Moscow the device worked for about 2 days with 25 minutes of calls and 15 minutes of using other functions and up to 2 hours of listening to the radio. Full recharging takes a bit more than 1.5 hours.

You can change profiles and call the most frequently used menu items with the help of the navigation key (to press to the left or to the right). The main menu is presented as a number of items of menus and all the submenus are lists. LG 1600 that is ideologically similar has a vertical main menu. Left press is assigned to the radio and traditionally there is a Favorites item where you can set the most frequently used functions. There is a shortcut number navigation.

Phone book. There is a possibility to save up to 200 names in internal memory, up to 5 fields for a name (4 numbers, one e-mail address). Also you may choose a users' group and an icon. The icons are preset pictures of people faces and animals. During a call the chosen picture will be displayed besides a name on the screen.

When entering your data you'll have to choose the main number and only then add others one after another, by the way, some of them may be missed. The total list may contain both numbers from SIM-card memory and from the internal one. Also, an assigned picture may be displayed opposite a name.

There are 7 user groups and it is possible to set a personal melody and a picture for each one (that is another set of pictures).

Messages. There is support for EMS that allows attaching melodies and pictures to messages, format text and send concatenated messages. The phone supports predictive text input T9 (it's possible to add your words into the dictionary). There are several dictionaries for different languages and up to 6 editable templates.

The device supports MMS and the company made it possible to format several pages and insert several pictures instead of one.

All the messages are stored in the internal memory, first SIM-card memory is filled with SMS and only then the internal one is used.

Call lists. Here one may view the standard lists of outgoing, incoming and missed calls. Each one contains 15 numbers, for some entries date and time of the call are specified. Similar numbers are summed up but not displayed in order.

There is a general call list, 20 last entries from all the lists are summed up there and it is this list that is displayed when pressing the Call button from the standby mode.

Profiles. All the sounds may be adjusted from here, from a call signal to a key press sound and alert type. Everything is traditional.

Settings. Here are the device settings, for instance, screen and call.

Organizer. It is possible to save up to 20 events in the organizer and a date and time for the alert are set. You may also set recurring events (every day, week, month, year). Calendar displays the whole month and the dates with set events are distinguished with another color and a sign indicating the type of the event (meeting or a memo) appears in the bottom. The main minus of the organizer is a limited number of entries.

Also here are alarm clocks. Each of the 5 alarm clocks may be set once, daily or weekly. The presence of these alarms will satisfy even the most demanding user.

FM-radio. The radio works only with a headset plugged in. It provides an automatic search and works quite acceptably. Up to 10 stations may be saved in the memory and fast press of a corresponding button calls this or that station. Switching the channels from the headset is impossible. A great plus of the radio is it can work in background mode. You work with the phone and the music is playing. A great difference from Samsung X140 is a stereo radio. Unfortunately, you can't name the adjusted channels and only the frequency is displayed. The radio quality is comparable to Nokia phones having no significant problems, though you may lack the antenna sensitivity (the problem is the standard earphones that may be changed, then you get better quality of sound and connection).

In the radio section you can set this or that radio frequency as an alarm signal. Then the sound is reproduced in the speakerphone mode, besides, you can listen to the radio this way.

Fun&Tools. In My Folder you can store your own melodies and pictures. One can set them as ring tones or wallpapers. All downloaded files, except applications are kept here.

In My Folder you can store your own melodies and pictures. One can set them as ring tones or wallpapers. All downloaded files, except applications are kept here.

The unit converter is quite convenient as well as the calculator.

You can view world time for selected cities.

All voice records are stored here too; you can rename, play back and delete them. The Dictaphone doesn't work during a conversation. Records are 19 seconds in duration.

Internet. The phone supports GPRS (class 10), so we recommend you to set wap over GPRS, it's cheaper. The phone is equipped with a wap-browser version 1.2.1 (AU Browser 4.1). The device doesn't understand pages with Java programs, for instance with automatic productivity text uploading, that's a disadvantage.

Java. A total of 1.65 MB of dynamic memory is available in the phone. You can download new applications if you use wap and then you'll need programs specially written for LG device. The device supports MIDP 1.0 and considering the fact the model is similar to C1100 we can surely say the speed of application execution is not high (JBenchmark 1.0), the device looses almost to all the rivals in this parameter.

Impressions

The manufacturer claims of providing 40-tones polyphony, but subjectively, the polyphony doesn't differ from the G1600, which has 16-tones polyphony. The call quality is well for the class. In a noisy room or outdoors the signal is heard badly. The power of a vibra is average.

The price forms 135-140 USD today, at the time LG has recommended the price level of 125 USD to retail distributors. The models cost like Samsung X140 though the LG model is better in the radio implementation. Considering the price priority and high prestige of the Samsung brand, we can hardly say which device the user will choose. Radio is not a determining function and it will suit youth audience. The model is passing for LG and it will be popular having no significant problems, since the solutions used are familiar by some previous devices.

Melody samples ( 338 KB, мр3)

A link on the topic:

Review Samsung X140

Eldar Murtazin ([email protected])
Translated by Maria Mitina ([email protected])

Published — 21 April 2005

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