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LG Rumor Black Review - Conclusion

LG Rumor Black
Published on 4/15/2008
By: Noah Kravitz, Senior Editor, Consumer Products and Services
 
Editor Rating: 4.5
4 
3 
All in all I really like Rumor.  It’s designed to do two things well — make phone calls and send messages — and it succeeds on both counts.  While power users want their handsets to do everything including high-speed Web browsing and advanced multimedia playback, Rumor isn’t for power users.  Like it’s cousin, the Alltel Scoop, Rumor is meant for budget-minded folks who text as much as they talk, if not more.  As such it packs a very usable full QWERTY keypad into a candy bar form factor that feels good in the hand and is only a bit more bulky than your standard “dialing only” phone.

Yes, Sprint could have made Rumor better by adding Power Vision (EV-DO) and Music Store access and enabling a full HTML Web browser.  But that would have jacked the phone’s price up and put it into competition with Sprint’s smartphone lineup.  Instead, with Rumor you get simplicity and ease of use and sacrifice some features and screen quality as a trade off.  You can still use Rumor to play music side-loaded onto a microSD card and access WAP sites for quick information updates, and the custom Facebook and Social Zone clients extend its reach into the mobile social networking community.  All in all I think it’s a fair exchange, and one purposefully meant to appeal to a segment of the market that wants a certain kind of SMS-based bang for as few bucks as possible.

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rumorsuck
Monday, October 06, 2008i've had this phone for about 5 months now and its starting to fall apart. it has been signing on to the internet by itself for a while and been turning off with a full battery while im in the middle of typing. now the screen is starting to get get fuzzy and it kind of looks like white noise on a tv and its supposed to say message and contacts at the bottom of the main screen but it is starting to appear at the top and im not able to see my signal or battery power. i wouldnt call this phone a wise investment.
Chaz
Sunday, October 05, 2008alright here it goes how much would a simple plan 450 wenevr unlim. txt cost after tax original price 49.99
YEAH WTF
Friday, October 03, 2008yeah its great until the bottom half of the phone keyboard, volume sliders, and camera button dont work. it went from being a fairly good phone to a POS brick
rider9
Friday, September 26, 2008I've had this phone for over a week and I like it. Its definitely different from the Treo 700p I had. I personally enjoy the media player. I don't have power vision, so I can't take advantage of all the features the Rumor has. It's a GREAT texting phone, nice and stylish.
RumourBoy53
Thursday, August 21, 2008Im getting this phone in a week im 14 im getting free texts free after 7 and 100 day time minutes is that good for the rumour? pelase reply
lolyeah
Thursday, August 14, 2008no you cant, all you ppl that are on pre paid need to get a job, and the fone is amazin btw.
Miley Cyrus
Tuesday, July 15, 2008I am the real Miley Cyrus and I really want one of these are they cool????
I?My Rumor
Monday, July 14, 2008I got a LG Rumor for Sprint yesterday and I LOVE IT! When uou have the slide out keyboard if you didnt have anything open it will go to the messaging screen, but if you just keep hitting back it will go back to that screen. I LOVE IT!! and i dont know if you can use prepaid for it
kenzie sameraie
Saturday, July 12, 2008i have a question when you slide out the keyboard are you only able to message when the keyboard is out?
Ashley Weber
Tuesday, June 17, 2008i have a question too..can i get this phone on a pre-paid plan for alltel? i also would like to know if i can just buy the phone and then get phone cards and use it..or do i have to get a plan right away..
quita bryant
Thursday, June 05, 2008I hav3 a question.....kan I us3 it pr3paid?

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Unlocked #3: LG Rumor, Billshrink.com, mystery FedEx package

Unlocked #3: LG Rumor, Billshrink.com, mystery FedEx package

On the eve of Noah, Courtney, and camera man Doug heading for CTIA in Las Vegas, Noah filmed episode 3 of his new unlocked review series. This video highlights the happenings at Motorola this wee, the new Billshrink.com website, and what did the FedEx man just deliver for Noah to review next!
Video review: LG Rumor with Sprint

Video review: LG Rumor with Sprint

Looking for a great messaging phone to use on the Sprint network? Well, Noah has found one in the LG Rumor. The bar style device come equipped with a slide out QWERTY keyboard that when opened, automatically switches the phone to messaging mode. Other key features include a 1.3 megapixel camera with 2x zoom, media player, and expandable memory card slot.
LG Rumor At a Glance

LG Rumor White in-depth review - At a Glance

What’s Good: Compact, rugged design with full QWERTY keyboard; Easy to use; Auto-rotating display; Good SMS, IM, and Email integration What’s Not Good: Limited functionality beyond voice calling and messaging; No Power Vision access makes for slow Web browsing; Reports of laggy software and keyboard issues (I encountered none); Weak camera Bottom Line: Rumor is a basic candy bar phone with a focus on messaging, and in this regard it really...

LG Rumor White in-depth review - Introduction

A growing number of consumers use their “cell phones” more for messaging than for actual voice calls.  Texting, IMing, and Emailing from handsets has become more and more popular amongst privacy-minded teenagers, business folk, and people like me who sometimes just don’t like talking on the phone.  As such, when shopping for a new handset many people now try out the keypad before holding it up to their ear - messaging-related...

LG Rumor White in-depth review - Design & Features

Rumor is, on first glance, a somewhat chubby candy bar phone with a standard dialing pad, D-Pad, display layout on the front and a camera on the back.  My review sample is finished in all-black with chromed silver plastic trim, and the soft touch paint used throughout made the handset really easy to hold onto.  Sprint also offers Rumor in white and green color schemes. What sets Rumor apart from your basic bar phone - and justifies...

LG Rumor White in-depth review - Usability & Performance

I tested Rumor on Sprint’s CDMA network in the San Francisco Bay Area with generally quite good results.  Signal strength and voice quality were very good in most cases, and callers were able to hear me loud and clear with only very occasional minor static.  The integrated speakerphone was okay in a pinch but not great, and the handset worked well with mono and stereo 2.5mm headsets (not included).  I also wired some higher...
Unlocked #3: LG Rumor, Billshrink.com, mystery FedEx package

Unlocked #3: LG Rumor, Billshrink.com, mystery FedEx package

On the eve of Noah, Courtney, and camera man Doug heading for CTIA in Las Vegas, Noah filmed episode 3 of his new unlocked review series.  This video highlights the happenings at Motorola this wee, the new Billshrink.com website, and what did the FedEx man just deliver for Noah to review next!   On Thursday Noah reported on Motorola's intentions for splitting their mobile phone division away from the rest of the company into a...
Video review: LG Rumor with Sprint

Video review: LG Rumor with Sprint

Looking for a great messaging phone to use on the Sprint network?  Well, Noah has found one in the LG Rumor.  The bar style device come equipped with a slide out QWERTY keyboard that when opened, automatically switches the phone to messaging mode.  Other key features include a 1.3 megapixel camera with 2x zoom, media player, and expandable memory card slot.    

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