LG 420G Review and My TracFone Experience

[strider13]

Just finished watching an infomercial (!) for TracFone. It's what you'd expect....TracFone is the greatest service ever invented and the LG420 is better than any phone out there, yada yada yada...

According to the infomercial, if you buy either the LG420 or the Samsung T301 at WalMart, you automatically receive the DMFL feature, "while supplies last". Not sure how old the infomercial is, but interesting nonetheless.

If I can find a link for the infomercial, I'll pass it along....

[25jive1]

I bought the LG420g yesterday at Target. I've spent considerable time trying to get it set up with what to me is a confusing menu. The shiny black surface shows fingerprints and smudges and the call volume seems to be rather low even set to high. There is not a large selection of ringtones and my favorite old style tone that sounds like a telephone ringing is not available. Although data is unrestricted there is not enough storage space to load a favorite website on mine.
The charger does fits my main LG Page Plus phone which is handy since I also have a car charger and the battery interchanges with my LG410 which this phone replaced.

I need more time before I decide if I like the phone.

[Greer]

I’ve had the LG420G for a month now and I still haven’t decided whether or not I like it yet. The lack of support and no manual are somewhat disappointing. The shiny black surface is very slippery and it’s easy to drop the phone attempting to open it and the phone has already been dropped a few times. The ringer volume could be louder and looks like 7 is the maximum loudness which isn’t quite as loud as I’d prefer. The other day the phone went dead in my pocket and a quick removal / replace of the battery fixed that. Good thing nobody tried to call me then and I’m wondering if this was a random event or something I should come to expect from this cheap feature restricted phone.

[CaptainColeslaw]

The other day the phone went dead in my pocket and a quick removal / replace of the battery fixed that. Good thing nobody tried to call me then and I’m wondering if this was a random event or something I should come to expect from this cheap feature restricted phone.

I had a 420G, and so did my buddy. Note I said we "had", not "have", since we both returned them. Based on our experiences (two 420s, meaning it's NOT one defective 420 but rather inherent to the design), I'd get used to it. I'd also get used to sometimes having full bars and yet having the phone not react to incoming calls, which get dropped to voicemail instead, all while the phone was mysteriously RF-chattering like crazy (discovered by holding it near computer speakers) for no apparent reason. Also get used to mediocre signal-grabbing ability, with not much call-making capability in fringe areas.

[K-L-M]

@strider 13 and 25jive1...

Congrats on the new phone.

.5 minute are deducted for every minute you actually spend on the internet.

Yes there is a web page size limit when using the 420G's browser...But I have cured that by installing Opera Mini.

If your favorite web site has flash, it won't work. +1 for simple web pages!

I would guess that all TF phones don't have manuals that tell you much. And so we are left to support it ourselves...I have been doing just that by posting what I have learned about my LG420G which is quite a lot, and should answer a lot, here:

(main thread about the LG420)
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Turk/topic/3258667/

Have fun with the new phone,

K-L-M

[strider13]

@strider 13 and 25jive1...

Congrats on the new phone.

I didn't get it yet....probably will pick it up Thursday...but thanks for the info regarding internet usage...

Other questions:

1. Do toll-free numbers and 411/911 count against the minutes?
2. If you're in the middle of a call, and you run out of minutes, are you automatically disconnected mid-call?

Thanks in advance...

[Tracfancier]

I have yet to find a Motorola phone that was released that didn`t have a complete manual. Another thread mentions the Moto W408G by Net10 as just now showing up in stores, but not available on the Net10 website. Here is a link to the phone Info. page containing a link to the user guide, under the Tutorials (yes it`s StraighTalk, but the phones are the same and ST gives extra Info/tutorials not found with Net10/Tracfone). http://tracfone.deviceanywhere.com/s...m?deviceId=679

[K-L-M]

@strider 13 - On a Tracfone, If one needs to call 911 it is free and does not deduct minutes. If you call 411 or 611, regular airtime minutes are deducted. If the call takes 1 minute, you will be deducted 1 minute. (no extra fees). If you are in the middle of a call and you run out of minutes, yes the call is disconnected mid-call.

Most, if not all phones come with some sort of 'minute minder' you can enable or disable. A beep after every minute will be heard. I dunno about everyone else but that beep tens to hurry me up after I have heard it the first time or two.

@Tracfanicer, good to know Motos come with a complete manual. I found the manual for the W408G some time ago on the Motorola website, for those interested:

http://www.motorola.com/staticfiles/...000202550A.pdf

The manual only covers phone features and not stuff about the carrier. But it is good to have still.

K-L-M

[strider13]

@strider 13 - On a Tracfone, If one needs to call 911 it is free and does not deduct minutes. If you call 411 or 611, regular airtime minutes are deducted. If the call takes 1 minute, you will be deducted 1 minute. (no extra fees). If you are in the middle of a call and you run out of minutes, yes the call is disconnected mid-call.

Most, if not all phones come with some sort of 'minute minder' you can enable or disable. A beep after every minute will be heard. I dunno about everyone else but that beep tens to hurry me up after I have heard it the first time or two.

Thanks for the info...

[jimbo20]

I have the LG 420G and really like the phone. I think you made a good choice upgrading it. Tracfone really is a good provider with quality service at quality rates. So far my Lg phone has been a dream and cannot complain one bit.

[Lisme]

There must have been a problem with some of the batches of phones and they were allowed to ship anyway.

[One2gofst]

I have the LG 420G and really like the phone. I think you made a good choice upgrading it. Tracfone really is a good provider with quality service at quality rates. So far my Lg phone has been a dream and cannot complain one bit.

That's awesome. Glad your first post could be about how without blemish TF is. Welcome to the forums. Tell all the other folks at TF I said hello, LMAO

[IsLand_BoY]

I see several people are having trouble with the LG 420G not picking up incoming calls and/or other glitches.

I bought one for $10 at Target to activate and try out before I actually transferred my minutes and phone number. I simply picked up a second one to do the transfer just so I could start out with a new SIM/phone and not have to deal with CS as far as having an already active phone and getting a new SIM card. $10 is a small price to pay.

Glitches like the menu bar appearing in the middle of the screen don't bother me. I don't have the problem with not receiving incoming calls -- which I tested many times from multiple phones by calling out with the 420G, then calling it with another phone, over and over. The phone randomly turning off would be annoying but I haven't experienced it yet. Bottom line: the phone is only $10 and I don't use it much so my tolerance for slight glitches is higher than others. My expensive BlackBerry Bold has its own glitches from time to time and I understand that's just part of owning a phone.

I'm finally retiring my tired Moto W376g. I bought it brand new when the price dropped to $29.99 and have used it for the last 2 years.. I had 2700 minutes on it when I activated it and am down to 1190 now. I replaced the battery a year ago and it's served me well. It's just horrendously slow to text message on, there's no external LCD, and battery life is declining again. It's been a good run with the Moto!

[mharris127]

That's awesome. Glad your first post could be about how without blemish TF is. Welcome to the forums. Tell all the other folks at TF I said hello, LMAO

Please. Everyone that talks good about Tracfone is not a plant. I happen to like my Net10 Samsung T201G (along with my PlatinumTel BlackBerry) but am not a Tracfone plant (and I have been here longer than PlatinumTel has been in wide circulation, so that one won't fly, either). Can't someone be enthusiastic about a service without being a plant? Also, that Samsung that I like and carry in my back pocket -- it was the second I had. The first was defective and I had to exchange it (and my poor experience doing that is on here, I posted it sometime in June IIRC).

Trac/Net10 has top-notch roaming abilities and service area while PlatinumTel has service in 98 per cent of the places I go and provides cheap talk and data (including BIS services through a custom program) and that is why I sort of shill both services myself. I would consider cancelling the Net10 line but the phone fits in my back pocket and I have had that service so long that I have 3200 minutes built up on it and don't want to lose them as they usually come in handy when you least expect it. In total I probably spend $20 a month on my cell service. $4 a month on my mother's (Boost iDen transferring to PlatinumTel later this week) and $7 a month on my father's (Tracfone -- he won't give up his Moto V60 for anything and that phone has the best signal catching abilities of any CDMA I have ever seen).

[strider13]

While I get ready to pick up an LG420 and a 60m/90d card tomorrow at Target...

Would someone with TracFone knowledge/experience please give a short primer on how games work with TracFone? I've seen discussions regarding the lack of games available from TracFone, and don't feel the need to rehash such discussions, but which games are available from TracFone and what is the "cost" for them?

Not that a lack of games would be a dealbreaker in a phone purchase, but there are inevitably times when you have time to kill, and games would be nice to have on a phone. I would particularly be interested in simple "time-waster" games like Solitaire (and other card games), Yahtzee, and Sudoku, and the like.

Thanks in advance...