I had the VU30, but after exchanging it once, I actually opted to trade the second one in on a Motorola Z6tv. My reason for exchanging phones was that the volume for incoming calls on the VU30 was low ... I didn't have the phone long enough to experience the lock-ups you did, although I have read other reviews by people who did experience the problem. After reading your review, I'm glad I was able to trade mine in before the 30-day trial period was up!

There were not many reviews of this phone on the internet, so I figured I would warn anyone who was interested in buying this phone.

After my LG VX8350 (wonderful phone) died in January, I went to my cell phone distributor to get a new phone. I was eligible for an upgrade, so after much deliberation - I decided on the VU30. The manager said it was a great phone, and it was the closest thing they had to the 8350. Worst mistake of my life.

Although it looked cool and had some nice features, the phone was terrible. Whenever I dialed or texted too fast, the phone would freeze up and the battery had to be pulled out. It would also happen when I exited from MobileWeb or scrolled through the calendar.This happened between 10-15 times a day. I went to my cell phone store to get a replacement, and they helped me get a replacement. Same story. Phone was just as buggy.

I intern for a sports magazine and work as an editor for my school newspaper, so I'm in constant contact with editors, writers, athletes and pr people 24/7. Not to mention my friends. So I do a lot of texting and calling.

I went back to the cell phone store again yesterday, and they refused to swap my phone for a different one - unless I wanted to pay between $150-199. They even suggested that I drive 40 min across town to the Verizon tech store to get a replacement - which I could then exchange for a different phone. After I did it, they refused.

I asked the manager if there was any phone in the store (maybe an LG) that I could swap the phone for, and he literally banked a box of old, beat up phones on the counter. Most of them were scratched beyond belief and were missing buttons. He rudely said - "take your pick." I've never been treated this way by any store, especially after going to them for the past six years.

So, I left with my new Rapture, but after a day - the freeze ups started again. With the baseball season already started, my work is piling up and my phone is killing me.

Anyway - there are a few more reasons to stay away from this phone:

* It's slow. Especially after you add a few ring tones, pics and videos.
* It scratches really easy - especially the front. Using a case is impossible because you have to take the battery out of the phone 10 times a day.
*The speaker is not very clear.
*You can't read text messages from the front.

Throw in the freezing, and you have yourself a terrible phone. Now that my third one is acting up after one day, I'm going to call Verizon and try to swap it for a LG VX8360.