LG Chocolate (VX 8550) Problems

Before buying my LG Chocolate, I had a gut instinct that the sliding action was going to be a bad idea. I could just see it sliding open and having the two sides fly apart!

But I got the phone anyway because it looked so sleek. And once I messed with it, it seemed pretty solid. (Since I usually leave it on my desk and don't use it much, I figured it wouldn't break.)

I wish!

Here are some big problems I have had that a number of other users have had:

The White Screen - This seems to happen to almost everyone. Eventually the screen just goes white. The problem is caused because of the internal flex ribbon cable getting worn out because it's not protected from the sliding action.

One of my friends went through four Chocolates in one year due to this!

The Reset - My phone seemed to be doing alright, until just after the one year warranty expired. At that point, whenever you would slide the phone open, it would reset like if you turned the phone on.

Unfortunately, it did that nonstop anytime you opened the phone, rendering the keypad useless! So I couldn't type in a phone number to call!

The Split - Sometimes the phone is pretty much dead from the start. I've read a few stories of these phones that simply split apart after two weeks. Apparently the phone wasn't put together properly.

Here are some things that aren't too serious, but might really annoy you...

Texting - Texting is slow on the Chocolate. That's because the "next" button is separate from the keypad, so you have to move your hand about two inches further than normal.

Just pick up a Chocolate and try to text "high bat" and see how long it takes...

Touch sensitive buttons - It sounds awesome, but the touch sensitive buttons never work as planned.

Sometimes they just break, sometimes they turn off and you have to open the phone to turn them back on, and other times they get "pushed" just from being in your pocket.

(Countless times I have pulled my phone out of my pocket to find the "are you sure you want to delete all contacts?" confirmation screen!)

It sucks - This phone just sucks. Go here and read through the comments. You'll find tons of people who have random problems with the LG Chocolate.