Basic Features

Built on Qualcomm's MSM6050 chipset, the LG VX6100 is tri-band AMPS 800 / CDMA 800 / 1900. Several Force Modes allow users to choose which network to stay on: Cell Only, PCS Only, CDMA Only, Analog Only. Since the VX6100 is for the Verizon Wireless Network, it will not work elsewhere.

LG rated the VX6100's 1000 mAh Li-Ion battery at 150 hours of standby and 3 hours of talk time. However, those are under optimal conditions.

When handset manufacturers and mobile phone carriers list talk-time and standby-time ratings, they usually include disclaimers about variable performance and often refer to the times they publish as maximum times. Some quote expected battery life ranges, and in this case you're probably safe to assume you'll experience at least the minimum rated range. Actual talk and standby times are lower.

Screen

The external screen is a 4-level grayscale LCD. Although not in color, it does have its advantages. For one, it can be turned on much longer without draining the life of the battery as quickly as a color screen. And since the external display is mostly used for viewing quick information such as the time and caller ID, many people would prefer longer battery life to color.

Additionally, the STN (Super Twisted Nematic) external screen can be used as a viewfinder when taking self-portraits. Although the picture will be in black and white, the images taken are in color. Overall it does not make a very great viewfinder, but it does the job.

Flipped open, the VX6100 has the same color depth as the VX6000. The internal screen is capable of displaying 262K colors at 18-bit depth. The internal screen's TFT (Thin Film Transistor) LCD allows for quick response and refresh rates when compared to STN matrices.

TFT, as opposed to STN, has the circuit transistors placed on the glass at the pixel location instead of the need to scan the pixel location. This results in much clearer displays while greatly increasing the response times, allowing for very fast refresh rates. Rates needed for using the VX6100's screen as a viewfinder.

Audio

The VX6100 supports a full-duplex speakerphone for handsfree access. Additionally, its ring tones are CMX 3.0 MIDI format with support for up to 32 simultaneous chords.

Unlike other formats, MIDI is not a recording of music, but a description, which enables a local synthesizer to play tones from the file instructions. The benefit is that users are able to compose, edit, and send melodies by using sound synthesizer programs.

The CMX format is used extensively in Verizon phones due to its Get It Now service. Created by Qualcomm, CMX allows ring tones "instructions" to be transmitted over the air to the VX6100 rather than the ring tone itself. The result, less bandwidth and faster downloads. The instructions are then followed by the phone to recreate the ring tone file.

The VX6100 also supports short MP3 clips. While 32 chords is decent, for realistic music phones are moving towards "true" tones. Unlike MIDI, MP3s are straight recordings from any audio source. Thus ring tones encoded in MP3 format can be music with lyrics, voice, or any other output.

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