Suggest a camera-phone that is compatible with Verizon wireless

January 16, 2005 7:36 AM

I want to buy a good camera-phone that is compatable with Verizon Wireless. Any suggestions?
posted by punkrockrat to Technology (6 answers total)

Verizon doesn't exactly lead the pack with camera phones. Verizon's first and likley most popular camera phone, the LG VX6000 is regarded as being "average." Reiter's Camera Phone Report is probably the best source for all things camera phone.

I'm guessing that you're under contract with Verizon and need to stick with them. If that's not the case, then consider that Verizon has been the most aggressive of the US carriers at locking you into their network and disabling handset features that let avoid paying them money. For example the only way to get your photos off your Verizon phone is to send a picture message which is aded to your bill. Other carriers offer phoens with removable memory and bluetooth support which let's you avoid making every pix you want to keep a part of their revenue stream.
posted by donovan at 9:00 AM on January 16, 2005

Verizon is CDMA, so you may want to call them and ask if you can activate a phone that they don't sell. You'll also have to keep this in mind when you look at phones.. I usually hit up phonescoop; there's a phone finder and user comments.
posted by mrg at 9:15 AM on January 16, 2005

I've been with Verizon for nearly 3 years, and have been very happy with the service...and in September I finally got a camera-phone -- the aforementioned LG VX6000 -- and I am *very* happy with it. Pictures are simple -- sending them to other users is easy -- posting to my blog is remarkably simple...and the options for games/tunes/etc is great.

YMMV.
posted by davidmsc at 12:01 PM on January 16, 2005

Yeah, I've got that VX6000, and while I agree that the phone itself if just average, I have never had a problem with service. I've never really wanted to change carriers and don't know which handset features they've locked. I hate ringtones, and have always thought the games were worthless, so maybe something about those are what donovan is talking about.
posted by SAC at 12:14 PM on January 16, 2005

I'm in the same boat as punkrockrat. I've had Verizon for years and have been happy with the voice quality and service coverage, plus most people at work are on Verizon, so I'd like to stick with them. They have a couple of LG camera phones that are supposed to be pretty good. But I'm learning that for all their service quality, other carriers offer more phones and features. For a couple years now, a friend of mine has a sweet little Sony Ericcson candybar phone with camera, memory cards, bluetooth, etc. etc. -- from T-Mobile. Verizon still doesn't offer anything comparable. Sigh.
posted by Tubes at 1:14 PM on January 16, 2005

Response by poster: Yep. I have a contract, and sorta have to stick with it. :(

Sometimes I read about people getting a new phone off Ebay or whatnot, and I'm wondering if that is an option for me.

Thanks for the tips everyone. I'll check out the links in the thread and try to figure out my best options.
posted by punkrockrat at 5:04 AM on January 17, 2005