How great is the Optimus V?

[lwlamar]

Anyone want to discuss how actually great the Optimus is? I bought it as a cheap android phone to use while I was debating what to get to replace my iphone 3gs, and now I can't bring myself to commit to any of the options that have come out since February. Verizon has the best coverage where I live but all phones have their compromises. The V runs gingerbread perfectly well and with a battery conserver lasts just about all day with moderate to heavy use. My only complaint is I wish out had a bigger screen. and you can't beat the CM pricing, even at $35 a month. Thoughts? Disagree?

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk

 

[watskyhotsky]

Anyone want to discuss how actually great the Optimus is? I bought it as a cheap android phone to use while I was debating what to get to replace my iphone 3gs, and now I can't bring myself to commit to any of the options that have come out since February. Verizon has the best coverage where I live but all phones have their compromises. The V runs gingerbread perfectly well and with a battery conserver lasts just about all day with moderate to heavy use. My only complaint is I wish out had a bigger screen. and you can't beat the CM pricing, even at $35 a month. Thoughts? Disagree?

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk

I also found the V as a good alternative to the 3GS. has similar specs. 600mhz cpu, 320x480 screen, multitouch. then a month into owning it a good Gingerbread ROM was being developed, it was able to be overclocked. i was ecstatic. I use it all day, it completely replaced my laptop. I actually sold my laptop and bought a netbook but only use it for the heavy typing.

A lot of friends who were considering new phones looked at Virgin Mobile in the last few months. some of them waited, some of them went ahead and bought other phones. A few people I know had the Rumor Touch, Samsung Intercept, and that BlackBerry 8530. they HATED those phones but once I converted them to the OV with a GB rom they all said they wished they got it from the start. haha

Virgin has REALLY great coverage here, I get fast speeds and reliable service. I cant complain. Also I'm not able to pay a more costly plan right now, that was my reason for picking up the V in the first place.

I'm thinking of jumping ship to the Triumph next month, assuming its a revised hardware rollout that fixes the issues the first run Triumphs are having. also, I want to see a daily driver CM7 ROM, not just proof that the Triumph can boot into it.

Before I got an android phone I kept switching between T-Mobile Sidekicks (AMAZING phones, used to have good plans, had a lot of smartphone functionality too.) and iPhones. then I had a Galaxy S Vibrant with tmobile for a bit. liked it but hated 2.1 and 2.2 on that phone. and when I owned it it didnt have a decent CM7 rom, not a stable daily driver one at least

 

[IronWill]

It overclocks like a champ and many people are able to run them at 806Mhz and higher. It has 512MB of ram which is more than enough for pretty much anybody. It plays high end games like NFS:Shift (SnapDragon Version) with ease.
Sprint's network is amazing.
I am asked by my family who are on T-Mobile and Verizon to turn my Wifi Hotspot on whenever I visit because they love the data speed which is at about .96Mb/s.
The battery life is fantastic.

 

[Sean OGorman]

Four months in and I still love it. My previous phone was an HTC G2, which, while a great phone, I wasn't really enthusiastic about. I like this one.

 

[zires]

I love mine. Best thing I have bought in a while.

 

[anthonycr]

My Optimus is my first phone, and there's a reason its name is Optimus...because its the best. I just wish I could figure out how to overclock my phone without screwing it up, service is also not as good as verizon but hey, it works where I want it to so who cares!! It has a decent battery and you can get a ton of time out of it if you switch to airplane mode when you aren't using the phone.

 

[tony5593]

Its extremely great! I have to agree with alot of what watskyhotsky says.
Its just an awesome, cheap phone, with plans that are equally awesome and cheap. (I have the old $40 plan)
Ive had tons of phones, from an old Nokia on MetroPcs, to Moto Razr & Krazr on Tmo. And Blackberry 8100 and the Sidekick 08 (once again, AWESOME phone), but i have to say, the Optimus V, is The Greatest I've had. And of all phones, its pretty up there.
its has a good variety of Roms, btw, easy to root once you learn how, you can use it for alot. For Example, mine is my computer xD
Its my webcam for Skype on my PC, my movable Wifi hotspot. My iPod, my roving Movie player, its my Kindle, its just the best xDD
Oh, and my torrent downloader lol

 

[PetGhost]

I brag to my friends about how my phone is the best deal ever. $25 a month for unlimited data/text? My phone must be so expensive... No, it was only $150 when I bought it. Now I'll just link them to this thread and they can be jealous.

 

[jmt7les]

It's pretty good for $150, but with the GB ROM it's really good.

 

[zedorda]

I have been loving my OV since I picked it up 6 months ago. I was on a sprint contract with 2 non-smart phones for $80 per month with an avg bill in the 90s. Wanted to add a smart phone but the cheapest plan at the time was $149 plus $10 per smart phone. Well now me and my wife have OVs are still on sprints awesome coverage but only pay $50 per month with VM. With the 3000mAh battery and a GB Rom I get 2 days easy with heavy use.

 

[Eollie]

Despite what the media hype is currently, the Optimus is the best smartphone Virgin has. Hands down.
I picked it up because it was cheaper then the Intercept, and Im glad I did. I also had been looking around the various prepaid carriers and almost went with Boost. I looked around to see if I could activate a Sprint phone on either boost or virgin and nothing was 100%. So I decided Virgin had the two better prepaid phones and Headed to Best Buy.

I had a Droid X before this but fate has left me needing the cash more then a "high end" phone. There is tons of things I wish the Optimus had like led for notification. Official flash support. And the most important of all. The ability to return to bone stock via something like SBF or KDZ tools. Other then that this phone is everything I need. I have a iTouch for music just because interfacing with itunes is much easier. Otherwise when Im out and about this is my calendar,address book, clock, pc when mobile, and phone. Not much I need to do when im not home that I cant do on the phone.

As far as service, everywhere I go daily is covered. Now once every couple weeks when I go to see my kid 75 miles of a 150 mile trip is out of coverage so that sucks. But 911 still works so /shrug. The amount of minutes on a normal basis is more then enough. I use gtalk and sip clients for calls as long as I have wifi or real good 3g. Ive had no problems of people not getting texts once mms was fixed. Minor bugs here and there but they have all been ironed out and I cant be any happier.


That said, the one and only thing that will stop me from keeping my Optimus and VM service is the lack of coverage outside major cities. But that isnt looking like a possibility anytime soon so.../shrug.

 

[tony5593]

@PetGhost lmao! You should really do that. This phone is just...

 

[bdieu17]

Its extremely great! I have to agree with alot of what watskyhotsky says.
Its just an awesome, cheap phone, with plans that are equally awesome and cheap. (I have the old $40 plan)
Ive had tons of phones, from an old Nokia on MetroPcs, to Moto Razr & Krazr on Tmo. And Blackberry 8100 and the Sidekick 08 (once again, AWESOME phone), but i have to say, the Optimus V, is The Greatest I've had. And of all phones, its pretty up there.
its has a good variety of Roms, btw, easy to root once you learn how, you can use it for alot. For Example, mine is my computer xD
Its my webcam for Skype on my PC, my movable Wifi hotspot. My iPod, my roving Movie player, its my Kindle, its just the best xDD
Oh, and my torrent downloader lol

how long is your battery life, since u made your OV your computer-substitute?

 

[Eollie]

how long is your battery life, since u made your OV your computer-substitute?

That is a loaded question.
It really depends on how much you use it.
Some people only use there computer for facebook and youtube where as others use it for many other things. On average you should get atleast eight hours of battery if using IHO/CM7 roms.

 

[aaron5775]

The phone is an okay Android starter phone, but the weak processor and terrible battery life makes me want something better. For the price it's a great phone, but you do get what you pay for.

I really wish Virgin offered better choices in phones. I love not being tethered to a contract but you gotta admit for a contract at least you are offered some incredible choices.

So yea, it's a good starter into Android and considering Virgin's weak phone selection it's the best they can offer, but that really isn't saying much at all. At the very least one good point is that it's so cheap that I can root it, flash a better ROM and all this fun stuff without worrying if I brick it on accident. I'm hoping the Triumph or something else appears at a discount in the near future because I really want a faster processor and better camera. But at $300 I'm fine with the LG for now.

 

[zires]

What does the gb rom do? As far as battery life, I use green power and I get a full day of moderate use.

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk

 

[bdieu17]

That is a loaded question.
It really depends on how much you use it.
Some people only use there computer for facebook and youtube where as others use it for many other things. On average you should get atleast eight hours of battery if using IHO/CM7 roms.

i use mine for everything, so i should expect mine to have a min. of 8 hr?

 

[tony5593]

Well again, it all depends. I get from 8 hr. to more. I text the most, pretty much all day. I use the browser alot, half the day on wifi, half on 3G. Its also my only music player. I dont have/use Facebook or any other social networking app. I play games lightly and its my only camera so i use that too.
And yes, it doesnt have the best hardware, but its still really good. Its the best Pre-Paid Android.

 

[EdmundAshdown]

Well again, it all depends. I get from 8 hr. to more. I text the most, pretty much all day. I use the browser alot, half the day on wifi, half on 3G. Its also my only music player. I dont have/use Facebook or any other social networking app. I play games lightly and its my only camera so i use that too.
And yes, it doesnt have the best hardware, but its still really good. Its the best Pre-Paid Android.

The Optimus v is my first android phone. I don't really know what more I could get from a technically better phone. All I can say is I am amazed by what this phone can do. My laptop has been severely neglected ever since I go this phone. This phone can even play Dungeon Defenders which runs on the Unreal engine. That is impressive to me. Battery life is about the same as all of the dumb phones I have had in The past. I like the gingerbread Roms with overclocking capability.

 

[watskyhotsky]

im someone who uses my phone CONSTANTLY, it does not sleep when off the charger. i average 8 hours on AOSPcm7

however, in the last few days of using the newest BACKside IHO cm7 rom, ive been averaging 16 hours with the same usage pattern. its past the point where I think its a placebo effect, this rom really does just have better battery life.