Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7637 in Cell Phone Accessories
• Color: Black
• Brand: LG
• Model: CG225
• Released on: 2007-10-15

Features

• Easily pocketable clamshell phone with VGA camera, dual LCD screens, quad-band GSM connectivity
• Pay for only the calling time you use with minutes purchased from Tracfone--no annual contract required
• Features text messaging, free voice mail, free caller ID, free call waiting
• Up to 3 hours of talk time, up to 8 days of standby time
• Includes: Battery, AC Adapter and SIM Card

Amazon.com Product Description
The LG CG225 is the perfect combination of essential functionality and superior performance. Packaged within a sleek, black clamshell, the CG225's VGA camera lets you take color photos, show them off on your rich color display, or send them to friends via MMS. With its full-duplex speakerphone you can talk hands-free while on-the-go. It's also the perfect complement to Tracfone prepaid wireless service.

With the integrated VGA camera, you'll be able to store photo ID for contacts as well as send pictures using MMS messaging. See an overview of the phone's functions.

Tracfone Service
Tracfone provides nationwide prepaid wireless service using the nation's leading cellular providers to create a national footprint covering 99 percent of the U.S. population. This gives you service everywhere cellular service is available.

You can buy bundles of minutes (which must be used within a set time limit of 90 to 365 days) from the Tracfone web site on your home PC or directly from your phone's web browser. This phone ships with a number of handy Tracfone services, including free voice mail, free caller ID, and free call waiting. And perhaps most importantly, the integrated TracFone Airtime Balance Display shows you how much airtime you've used and how much is left, so you can control your costs.

Phone Features
Offering quad-band connectivity for global roaming, the LG CG225 clamshell phone has a stubby antenna and dual LCD screens. The internal display measures 1.5 inches and has a 128 x 128-pixel resolution and support for 65K colors. The external monochrome screen has a fixed color background, and it measures 96 x 64 pixels. It displays date, time, battery life, signal strength, and caller ID phone number (though no photo ID).

The internal phonebook can hold up to 255 contact entries (in addition to 250 contacts stored on your SIM card), and each contact has fields for three phone numbers and an email address. You can assign callers to groups and pair them with a picture for photo caller ID (viewed only on the internal screen). The phone features eight speed dial entries as well as a default voicemail speed dial.

The VGA camera has three resolution options (get 640 x 480, 320 x 240 and 160 x 120 pixels) and it offers a 4x digital zoom, multi-shot capability (allowing you to take 9 pictures in fast succession), brightness and white balance controls, and a self timer. You'll be able to store up to 75 photos on the phone's internal memory at the lowest resolution setting, or seven photos at the highest setting. You can also view the last 20 dialed/received calls for easy redialing.

Support for basic text messaging and multimedia messaging (MMS) are built into the CG225. When used in combination with the phone's built-in camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. The T9 predictive text entry technology is built into the unit, which makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets--a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.

Other features include:

• Multi-lingual support (English, French, Spanish)
• Personal organizer (calendar with scheduler, alarm clock, notepad)
• Calculator, world clock, unit converter, tip calculator
• Preloaded games
• WAP 2.0 browser
• Full duplex speakerphone
• 8 unique ringtones with vibrate and silent modes

Vital Statistics
The LG CG225 weighs 3.26 ounces and measures 1.89 x 3.36 x 0.9 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 3 hours of talk time, and up to 8 days of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/1900 GSM/GPRS frequencies.

Customer Reviews

Okay Phone, don't trust customer support
Okay, first off, I'll talk about the phone.

First, it's a pretty good entry level flip phone. The quad-GSM does come in handy, so you can get service just about anywhere. The pictures are okay, and the screen could be a little bigger. And real-tones are a nice touch also. However, Tracfone is notorious for locking features. The web-browser will only work on their website, and it will still charge you if you try to get to another site. You cannot get different ringtones unless you email yourself a MIDI ringtone, or get the tones from their site. And the reception is great, but note it will either run on AT&T's network, or T-Mobile's network; Tracfone doesn't have a network of it's own.

Now to customer service. It flat out SUCKS. I recently upgraded my phone to the new Motorola w376 with Bluetooth, I found out they disabled all the good features on this phone. Anyway, I tried to transfer my number and minutes over to the new phone over the website. They said it would 24-48 hours, and it's been about a week now. I called CS, they said the reason the number porting was taking so long was because one phone was a GSM phone while the other was CDMA. Total BS, both phones run off of GSM; it just sounds like they don't know what they're doing.

Overall, if you can handle the CS, by all means get a Tracfone. However, if that's one of the big selling points for you, stay away from Tracfone.

Tracfone=Customer Service Nightmare
I would have given this no stars if Amazon provided that option! I can't say enough bad things about Tracfone and its terrible customer service. I purchased a Tracfone online and tried to carry over my old cell number. It was a nightmare; the phone itself was ok, but activation was impossible. I can't even remember how many hours I spent on hold to India trying to work things out (note: the customer service reps did their best despite language issues, clearly they are not equipped to solve customer problems and are probably directed to just string customers along or inspire them to give up). After a month, I gave up, lost my old cell number, and had no phone for weeks. I had to work hard to get a refund, they really make it impossible for you if you have any problems. Spend a few more bucks and get one of the other pay as you go plans, Tracfone is not worth the headache.

TracFone Rules!!
I've used TracFone since 2003 when I was pregnant with my first child. I've never had any problems with their service and even got clear signal on vacation 400 miles away! It has been a wonderful service for us and very inexpensive since we mostly use it for emergencies or short phone conversations.

***You can buy bundles of minutes (which must be used within a set time limit of 90 to 365 days) from the Tracfone web site on your home PC or directly from your phone's web browser.***

The above sentence is NOT true. There are no limits on your minutes only your airtime. Every 90 days I buy a 90 minute card for about $20 and all of my previous minutes roll over with it. I've even switched phones and they will swap your airtime & minutes from one phone to another.

I've found the service very easy and convenient. The few times I've had to call customer service (to switch to a new phone) they have always been thorough, informative & courtious.

I have no plans to switch service from TracFone anytime in the near future and am very pleased with their service & products.