Excellent package. Review on LG C 2600

LG C2600 - The music station from LG

Being a heavy listener of music, and a phone update long overdue, I decided to go in for a music phone. I had shortlisted the Sony Ericsson Z-530i/Z-550i, Motorola L7 and LG C2500 and finally zeroed in on the LG unit due to its awesome features and price - performance ratio [MP3, Cam, FM for less than 6k!!].

However as I was going in for the purchase, LG revamped its lineup and launched the Dynamite range (stripped down from Chocolate?) KG200 & KG300 which had micro SD memory slots along with better quality cam's (1.3 & 2 MP respectively). Pricing too was attractive at 8000 & 10K. The C2600 too was launched with inbuilt memory of 120 MB. I decided to go in for the same due to availability of Java(not available on the dynamite series). In other markets the phone is known as KG190and recently LG India has branded both the C2500 & C2600 under PULSE.

Have had the phone for only a couple of days now. Here are my first impressions.

The phone design is a black version of its earlier CDMA avatar RD6230, and is reminiscent of Nokia 7260 / 7610 with pointed and curved ends on opposite sides. The scratch proof body looks solid and the rubberised / matt finish and square keys add to the rugged looks. Volume keys are placed on the left hand side and on the right side you can find the MP3 key which if pressed longer brings up the camera.

Camera is VGA and you have 3 resolutions / zoom upto 3X. Also on call are automatic settings or manual alongwith 9 effects. Havent tried it out much yet. You can attach photos to phonebook entries.

The 1.5' display has only 128X128 resolution and looks even tinier beneath the 0.75' provision for the speaker space.

The topmost feature for me is the MP3 capability. No problems on that count. Excellent soundclarity on the speaker mode and simply AWESOMEwith the headphones on. No Graphic Equalizer or other provisions for sound modifications is a drawback though. 120 MB space will allow you to store 20-30 songs mp3 songs of decent quality (128 - 190 kbps). I am using 100 odd MB for music and the rest for java and other files.

The FM radiooption can be heard through the speakerphone (but requires the headphones to be plugged in) unlike in C2500. There is a provision to store 10 stations.

Voice recording is there, but no video.

Got the USB connector, Stereo headphone kitand the Chargeralongwith. both the USB connectivity and recharge is through the mini USB connection port.

Upon connection to the PC, the option of Mass Storage / COM Port comes up on the display.

Choosing mass storagewill shut the phone down, upon which you can handle the device as a USB thumb drive. And charging takes place simultaneously.

Choosing the Portoption will enable you to use the device as a modem. Driversfor LG C2600 are available for download from in.lgmobile.com. However no dedicated phone management software is listed.

All in all, at least a couple of grands cheaper than other similar phones from Nokia & Sony. And being a Company distributed product, prices will be more stable rather than others more readily available in the grey market.

Guyz, thanx for your rating & feedback in advance.

Do go through the comments posted by others.

Long live the consumer !!!