RealTime LG DARE REVIEW

LG DARE

Now I’m sure almost everyone read all the websites on what the DARE features, I want to give you first hand common use of the DARE and all the capabilities since we all study and research the DARE months ago I won’t bore you with all its features, just experiences of using the DARE in real time as you might.

I received the DARE cell phone on Monday June 30th, it was then that I fully charge the extended battery I ordered and preceded the journey of mastering the DARE. More about how long the extended battery lasted a little later? When I ordered the DARE I ordered the extended battery, the carrying case, and car charger. The carrying case seems pretty good; it’s the landscape type that clips to your pants/belt, which works well.

My first suggestion is to be patience and refer to the user guide, I went from the razr to the DARE and I will tell that there’s a whole new sequence of events to operate the DARE. The first thing I had to get use to is unlocking the screen every time I wanted to use the phone or answer call/text. This feature is sensible due to the touch screen, and without it locking automatic or manually, the phone call activate while in your pocket or carrying case. You can lock it manually if you so desire after ending a call or use of the phone. You can find screen locking feature frustrating like I did if your upgrading from a standard non-screen phone, but don’t, after using the DARE over a week I now find it a way of life, allow yourself to make adjustment to your new phone.

Typing on the touch screen is fumbling at first, once again allow yourself time to adjust. I’m not a text person, a matter of fact I’m not bad at texting… I’m terribly poor at it. I will tell from a person without any texting habits that I prefer the vertical screen (cell phone screen) rather than the landscape (qwerty), but the landscape is not that bad, and I have big fingers, trying to punch the keys takes concentration. When you use the landscape key board (qwerty) there are two things to remember, first, when your setting up your cell phone, calibrate the touch screen for sensitivity, and take your time typing, the landscape keyboard (qwerty) is not built for speed.

The battery… I purchase the extended battery as I stated before, yes I’m a battery freak, there’s nothing worst that losing power at a crucial moment. I fully charge the extended battery on a Monday 5pm; Friday morning I had still had one bar left. You could imagine that I constantly use the phone, texting, videos, photo, Internet, emails, and just constantly exploring leaving my phone 24 hours, and setting up my Dare. I could not run the battery all the way down because I was on vacation in Atlantic City New Jersey and needed to re-charge due to being on the go.

The video Camera is Excellent, but here is an ALERT, make sure you purchase SD-card, you cannot email a high-resolution video via email/video message. I purchase a SD-card and the adapter for the SD-card to plug into my apple power book. The adapter is a flash drive (hard drive) with a slot for SD-cards to plug in. The SD-card allows you to transfer photos and videos from your phone to the SD-card and then to your computer. ALERT, the slot on the side of the DARE is small and when you push the SD-card in you will need finger nails or something small and thin to penetrate the slot so the card catches to hold in place, and the same goes for releasing it, when pressure is put onto the card it pops out of the slot for removing. If you big fingers, no nails, or something available to that effect, your dead, you’re not getting that SD-card out or back in.



The camera (3.2) takes great photos, there are many tools on the camera and video camera to play with, refer to the user guide for all your options. I took some videos of the Beach Boys concert on the beach, fireworks at the Borgota, and a photo on the boardwalk. The photo was not taken at the highest resolution but the videos were set at it highest resolution. A friend of mine allowed me to post the photo at his site.





When you are using the DARE you have to remember that the DARE is like a computer, and like using a computer you click on something, it opens and then you click on something else and then that opens and so on, it’s not a cell phone that you flip open and punch the phone number, and hit send. I was use to a standard cell phone, so I had to make the necessary adjustments, and after a week of use, it’s becoming comfortable.

Another alert, on the top of the DARE there is an opening for the headphones, it has a small rubber plug the pulls out and allows you to plug in your headphones. Now what do you do with this small plug that your bound to loose and be left with a opening on top of your DARE? What they could of did was have a plug similar to that only with firm rubber tit so if you need to write something on the scratch pad you can when your on the go.





The browser works pretty good as far as I’m concern, keep in mind your not on a 20 inch screen so adjust to it, if I had to use the internet, I’m reaching for my power book not my cell phone, if all I have is the DARE I’ll make use of it.

I set up my apple email accounts no problem, this gives me the opportunity to view my emails and see if there are any emails worth responding to.

I set my Jabra JX10 series 2 ear peace to the DARE and it works great, a hint here, when you answer the command that the phone gives you, pause a half second to respond, I found answering the command to quickly cause confusion, so pause a moment.


One thing LG should have done for scrolling is using a double tap when choosing (clicking) an app and a touch for scrolling up, down, and side ways. Getting use to touching the screen for scrolling is a adjustment, you’ll find yourself opening things when you want to scroll, keep in mind there is a difference between tapping and touching, master the difference, and life will become a little easier. Refer to the user guide for calibrating the touch screen as I mention before; this should be done before anything else. Here are some photos of the voyager, razr, DARE, and an old timer to compare sizes.






Here is a photo of the phones in the working position compared to the rest position above, the DARE is the smallest.





I’ve been using the standard battery since Sunday morning, its now Monday afternoon and I still have a full level bar without using my phone constantly. I made a few calls, two text messages, and phone on 24 hours, and took one photo, not to bad. The flash works great, I took a photo in the dark and the photo came out better then I ever seen on any cell phone and as good as any camera with a flash, maybe better.





The overview of the DARE is great, fells good in your hand, nice size for what it offers in capabilities. The DARE is becoming obsolete as we speak, technology isn’t waiting for anyone, and Christmas should bring some good stuff.



Videos from Atlantic City are on my friend’s you-tube site, you can follow the link at the bottom of this review for viewing great quality videos, not so much of what was captured but the quality of the video.

The videos and photo were not touched up or alter. When loading the videos make sure they load properly before viewing. I had to watch it twice in order for it not to stutter.






i hope this review gives you some helpful info. thanks

Certainly LG and Verizon are trying to compete with the iPhone here. Between this and the Voyager I think Verizon has a home run.

Go here to view more specs and photos on the LG Dare: Cell Phone Forums - Phone Database - LG Dare

The DARE is a great phone, and the more i use it the greater it becomes. A update on the standard battery, with lite to moderate usage, and kept on 24 hours a day, the standard battery still has 3 bars since sunday morning.

I have had a chance to play with the Dare it really is a nice phone. The friend of mine who had this reports to me that battery life is excellent. I really liked the sketch pad feature.

i just got back from the apple store (computer related) and showed a tech the video and photos from the DARE. He was stunned.

I will agree with both of you. With heavy usage, I never have to worry about not being able to go a whole day without charging the phone. All my prior phones, I have had to carry a car charger around with me because my usage drained the batteries so fast.

Update: Battery Life

it's now Wednesday night 1015pm, the standard battery on 24 hours with moderate usage yesterday and today and fully charged since sunday morning, the DARE still shows 2 bars of power. awesome.

i think i'll use the standard battery all the time and keep the extended battery as a secondary/back-up battery.


Between the battery life, camera, and video camera the DARE blows all cells phones away. Reading the reviews creeping out about the iphone, they say the battery drains quickly, and that is a pain in the butt.

The more is use the DARE the more i like, i now make ringtones on my apple computer for the DARE.

Well, the standard battery also outlasted me just like my extended battery test did, i'll be on the run tomorrow, so tonight i have to re-charge. Today i sent a few text messages, made 3 short phone calls, and a little surfing throughout the DARE apps, but i did spend 40 minutes on one phone call, and as of now 935 pm i still show 2 bars of battery strength using the standard battery. amazing.

I'm watching the iphone guided tour demonstration at the apple website, and i will tell you the iphone has some cool apps and great features, but i not trading my DARE for any other phone.

I was planning on getting a Blackberry, but was told to get an LG dare instead. If you had to pick, which would you choose?

Also, the camera really means little to me, it is convenient, but I can live without it. The Blackberry I was looking at is the Curve

My opinion.... everyone has to evaluate their needs and priorities, it's hard for me to tell you which cell is best, and which you should purchase. A service provider has to be evaluated before choosing a cell phone, which provider has the best coverage in your area, mine is verizon.

Features like camera, GPS, and video camera sway my choice, music, tv, and surfing the internet on a cell phone doesn't interest me at all. A great cell with a bad service provider ends up being a bad cell phone. good luck

ALERT:

I notice when i use the extended battery the cover protrudes out to compensate for the larger battery, this allows the speaker not to be muffled. When you lay the phone down or have the back of the phone against something, the hump exposes the speaker in the rear making the sound (ringer/music) louder and clearer.

The pen points to the speaker....










I found this review video to be pretty helpful in explaning the abc's and operating the DARE.

I went to the vzw store. I had a choice of getting voyager for $100 or Dare for $150. I chose the dare!! Its awesome, but no great as the iphone. still there are functions that mimics iphone. the bluetooth is easy to connect.

The battery life of the DARE, and insurance protection is enough to sway someone towards the DARE, and the video and camera quality slam dunks the iPhone. Although features like the camera and video may mean nothing to some, the insurance and battery life are key pro's.

How would someone feel if they purchased a iPhone and then lost it, damage it, or the phone was stolen, they'd have to come up with 499.00 to replace it. Apple offers only pro care like the coverage on their computers, the protection for the iPhone only covers repair problems and software, other than that your on your own. The DARE seems to be a no brainer, unless you want to be part of a FAB.

When i purchase the DARE i also purchase the screen protectors (3 pack) which i applied one to the DARE over a month ago and it's still holding up great.

I also want to reverberate on the standard DARE battery and want to tell you that it holds up great, and considering the power demand on such contemporary complex phone of today's technology, the DARE'S standard battery stands strong and impressive. The standard battery is now the battery i use and keep in the phone and the extended battery is use as a back-up battery.

As for the camera i been trying out the panorama shot, and getting use to lining up the three shot in accordance to what i was shooting. Works great, and remember the DARE'S features take practice practice practice.

Keep in mind I owe verizon nothing, and if the DARE was a dud i would be the first to say it with extreme prejudice, but the DARE is not a dud, the phone truly is a great phone. Yes there are things about the DARE i said to myself, why did they do, or why didn't they do certain things, all in all the DARE is the best phone out there. For More Stay Tuned Here