I just switched to Verizon so I could get a signal at work, and I hate my phone-- a Motorola Rival. I'm past the initial learning curve and in the stage of confirming that every little thing takes 27 steps.
Spent a bunch of time looking at current phones and none of them are any better.

I get pangs of jealousy when I see someone with a simple flip phone-- my Nokia 6085 was absolutely perfect.

Just wondering if anyone has an older (maybe 1-2 years old) phone with Verizon that's simple/straightforward to use (will hunt one down on eBay or wherever). Looking for something that's not part of the current lineup.
Thanks.

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New forum user map 8/2015: [www.zeemaps.com]

We've got LG Chocolate 3 flip phones. Not too bad except each one failed within the first 6 months...

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MikeF
We've got LG Chocolate 3 flip phones. Not too bad except each one failed within the first 6 months...

Nephew went through 4 Chocolates before giving up on them.

We have 4 LG Env3's and they are definitely not the simpliest phone out
there seem fairly durable. I don't think there is a so-called simple
phone anymore.

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Grateful11

I have the Env3 as well. Had it for a year or so now. Got it for free with the new every 2 plan. I like it much better than the Moto V710 I had before it. It's good with the basic phone chores and reception but also good for texting and the camera and video are ok as well. (but just ok).

Nice thing about it for me was that it worked right out of the box with the Moto BT headset I bought with the V710.

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JoeM

My Chocolate 3 is going on 15 months without an issue except for the 2 times it has gone through the washer. The flip Chocolate 3 is nothing like the slider chocolates.

Plusses:

Reasonably simple
Gets better than most phones coverage (as in i get service where friends do not)
Pretty good camera
Ringer can be super loud

Best features:
Full size headphone jack makes it easy to listen to music with standard headphones or plug it in to a mini jack equipped car.
Built in FM transmitter makes it easy to broadcast music to a friends car, on the fly in a hotel or whatever.

Bad features
After a year I have noticed some dust has accumulated under the inside screen.


FWIW, I have never downloaded any music from verizon. I converted about 85 songs to mp3 forma and copied them on to a 2G microSD card along with a couple of episodes of South Park....

And yeah, it does great with phone calls too.

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“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2009 08:55PM by Markintosh.

The LG VX3450 phone is not advertised in the current lineup on the VZ website. But if you do a search for it it's there. My 80yo. father has one. My mom has one. And my brother has one. Great basic phone for *gasp* phone calls. Perfect reception, clarity and volume. It's kinda plasticky and dull. But it does it's purpose very simply.

[reviews.cnet.com]

I had the chocolate, but it melted in my pocket.

My best cell phone ever was the motorola e815. It's sturdy with great reception.

My wife 'upgraded' us to a POS. After about 6 months, she voluntarily called Verizon to switch back to our old phones (which we kept just in case).

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All I ever really needed to know, I learned from watching Star Trek.

The Chocolate is one of the current lineup phones that I tested and rejected fairly quickly.
The only two out of the whole store that seemed halfway simple and intuitive were this Moto and a Pearl flip phone (number in the 8000s) but the Pearl was only available for some other type of service (I think the $1200.00/mo level where you have actual live servants inside your phone).
Will look into some of these others, thanks.

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New forum user map 8/2015: [www.zeemaps.com]

Quote
3d
The LG VX3450 phone is not advertised in the current lineup on the VZ website. But if you do a search for it it's there. My 80yo. father has one. My mom has one. And my brother has one. Great basic phone for *gasp* phone calls. Perfect reception, clarity and volume. It's kinda plasticky and dull. But it does it's purpose very simply.

[reviews.cnet.com]

The VX3450 has a 300-contact address book

BZZZZZZZZZT!!!!! I do appreciate the lead-- currently at 350 contacts and climbing. 2 upgrades ago was because of a limitation to 250 on an otherwise excellent Nokia.
Plus, hate to admit it, but I have come to see a basic camera as a useful feature if not a necessity. Just don't want to have to go through 5 menu levels like on the Rival, while trying to view the screen in sunlight, and needing both hands in order to snap a quick shot.

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New forum user map 8/2015: [www.zeemaps.com]

Quote
Jimmypoo
I had the chocolate, but it melted in my pocket.

I don't think that's Chocolate.

(channeling Newt, who's apparently off having a life today)

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New forum user map 8/2015: [www.zeemaps.com]

Agree on the e815. The best. Waited a long time for what came out as the Motorola 750 "Adventure". It's supposed to be one of the Push to Talk phones, bt I do not use that feature. Has an annoying button on the side that turns on the music selection when it's in your pocket. BUT --- very loud ringer (good) quality speaker phone (good) seems to be sturdy (good) and can have a strong battery. I got it because it has software that shows a font size that "old eyes" can actually see (a request by me from Verizon and Motorola both).

Has an OK camera. Is a flip. I too would like something that is pretty much "just a hone" with a UI that can be easily read. May never see that in the future I'm afraid

Env3-- looks good, but $275-- ouch.

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New forum user map 8/2015: [www.zeemaps.com]

Quote
wowzer
My best cell phone ever was the motorola e815. It's sturdy with great reception.

My wife 'upgraded' us to a POS. After about 6 months, she voluntarily called Verizon to switch back to our old phones (which we kept just in case).

Looks promising. Can be had for $65 new/unopened.
This is a GSM phone, right? Verizon won't activate a pre-GSM phone per their website.
Only 1 GB max SD card? Or is that only because that was all that was out there in 2005?
Thx . . .

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New forum user map 8/2015: [www.zeemaps.com]

I have the Samsung flip phone SCH-U410 for personal use on Verizon.
Been quite happy with it, especially its simplicity.

I use an iPhone for business related stuff on AT&T.

Go here for reviews: [www.phonescoop.com]

I'll second/third the E815... that thing took so many tumbles out of my hands onto the pavement and just kept working. Only retired it because I switched to ATT to get an iPhone.

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Quote
jardster
I'll second/third the E815... that thing took so many tumbles out of my hands onto the pavement and just kept working. Only retired it because I switched to ATT to get an iPhone.

Stilll got it? (hint hint)

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New forum user map 8/2015: [www.zeemaps.com]

I've had the Chocolate 2 for over a year now and it's been great for me.

jitterbug.
simple.

Good news-- they said they can still activate the e815-- summn' having to do with being able to dial 911.
Probably would sit on the Rival as a backup then-- I feel like it's going to get cracked and be useless any day, trucking around with me. Already a nice scratch on the touch screen.
This thing was made more to sit on a desk than for mobile use.

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New forum user map 8/2015: [www.zeemaps.com]

My daughter got an LG VX 5500 new off eBay- a simple phone which has insane battery life. She says it goes for like a week or 10 days on the standard battery. I haven't tried it, so YMMV.

Since you probably can't get it from Verizon anymore, you could do what I did: check eBay and find out which free-or-reduced-price phone Verizon will give you for signing up that you could then resell for the best price (and then get whatever phone you want from eBay, making sure it's Verizon-capable).

When I re-upped my family for another two years, I found out that these large orange rugged-looking cell phones (I want to say they were called "Bold'r"s or somesuch) were fetching outrageous prices on eBay. I got five (yes, five) for free for reupping on the family plan, and sold them on eBay for around $1500 total. Then I bought the phones the family actually wanted for considerably less, also on eBay.

I had to spend some time on the phone with Verizon, switching our phone numbers from the Bold'rs over to the phones we ended up with, but there was no hassle from them- they told me (at the time at least) what I was doing was totally legit.

Quote
pdq
My daughter got an LG VX 5500 new off eBay- a simple phone which has insane battery life. She says it goes for like a week or 10 days on the standard battery. I haven't tried it, so YMMV.

Since you probably can't get it from Verizon anymore, you could do what I did: check eBay and find out which free-or-reduced-price phone Verizon will give you for signing up that you could then resell for the best price (and then get whatever phone you want from eBay, making sure it's Verizon-capable).

When I re-upped my family for another two years, I found out that these large orange rugged-looking cell phones (I want to say they were called "Bold'r"s or somesuch) were fetching outrageous prices on eBay. I got five (yes, five) for free for reupping on the family plan, and sold them on eBay for around $1500 total. Then I bought the phones the family actually wanted for considerably less, also on eBay.

I had to spend some time on the phone with Verizon, switching our phone numbers from the Bold'rs over to the phones we ended up with, but there was no hassle from them- they told me (at the time at least) what I was doing was totally legit.

Thanks- my intent would be to buy any phone I switch to on eBay. I could get a good $250 for my Rival, still, if I decided to ditch it.

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New forum user map 8/2015: [www.zeemaps.com]