It’s odd how the cell phone market has evolved, or refused to evolve. (Or maybe it’s just odd that onsumers allow it to happen.) Imagine if the iPod only held slightly more songs that it did when first introduced, only played songs purchased from Apple (at twice the price), and didn’t come with headphones an extra charge). It wouldn’t be the hot gadget. Yet cell phone providers routinely gouge their customers in the same way.he Chocolate features a cool Flash interface to match its glossy exterior, but once you start using the phone you’ll discover it’s lousy with restrictions.
The phone’s 62 MB of storage holds only about 30 songs. To store more, you’ll need to spring for a microSD card (not included). Plan to spend about $90 for a 2GB card.
Verizon would prefer that you load music from its online V CAST store, which you can access through the
phone wirelessly. The store has a scant 1.3 million tracks, well below the iTunes Store. Songs cost $1.99 when bought through the phone, which is twice the price at other stores, and tracks are a mere 54 kbps. After buying a song through the phone, you’re allowed to download a 192kbps track of the same song
to your PC, however.
The Chocolate’s speaker is located on the rear, and its sound is surprisingly thin for a music phone.
You could listen through the mono corded earpiece that comes with the phone, but your music will sound
better through the stereo headphones included in the Music Essentials Kit. The phone has Bluetooth and
supports Bluetooth stereo headphones (although not Bluetooth file transfers, sadly).
Its physical design is lovely to look at, but a chore to use. The round dial resembles that of the iPod,
but doesn’t work the same way. You don’t scroll your finger around it, but simply press the buttons
located on each side. The dial is far too sensitive, and we found ourselves hitting wrong buttons often,
even after a week of testing.
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