opinions on camera phones?

[topaz]

I get to upgrade my cell phone this week. Because I swill at Verizon's teat, they give me $100 toward one of the phones they're promoting. I really really want to get a camera phone but as usual am having trouble wandering the sea of features and price points. So I turn to you, my loyal readers, for any experience you've had with any of these phones.

My number one issue is price. We're on a severely tight budget, so I don't want to spend money out of pocket if at all possible. Other issues are relative. e.g. obviously I'd prefer a phone with a really awesome camera, but as I already have a pretty snazzy camera this is just for convenience and not worth spending lots of money on. I mean, I'd love to get a Treo but I don't think I can get a special deal out of Verizon for one. :-)

Here are my options as I understand them:

phone	camera	price	comments
Audiovox CDM8910	310Kpix w/flash	$80
LG VX6100	640x480 camera w/flash	$100
Samsung SCH-a670	"VGA" 640x480 camera w/flash	$100	no analog roaming
Motorola V265	"VGA camera", no flash?	$120
Motorola V710	1.2Mpix w/flash	$300	bad reviews
LG VX7000	300Kpixel	$150
Kyocera KX2	1.2Mpix	$220	also reviewed at http://www.livingroom.org.au/cameraphone/archives/kyocera_koikx2.php

(The prices are as listed on Verizon's web site -- I should get $100 off those prices.)

Anyone have any direct experience with these phones? I'm kinda thinking the LG VX6100 looks like the best set of features for the money, but if that one's a real lemon or if one of the others is really fabulous I want to know about it.

Comments

[lhn.livejournal.com]

I like my LG VX6000 quite a bit as a phone. I haven't used it as much as a camera as I'd expected. The lack of a flash hampers things more than I'd have thought, so getting one with a flash is probably a good idea. I also find the VGA resolution combined with lack of zoom means that I generally don't get the detail I'm trying to get a picture of-- a higher resolution camera might be a better bet. The VX6000 doesn't have analog roaming, which caused me some trepidation, but it's never caused a problem in practice, and I never used it during the two previous years when I had the capability. Since I've had good experiences with LG thus far, I'd probably be inclined to go with the VX6100 or 7000, but I don't know the other models all that well.

(I had a terrible experience with my last Kyocera phone-- I went through four phones over the course of the contract, and prilicla went through two. That may just have been that phone's design, and Verizon replaced them all with no problem, but I'm inclined to stay away from Kyocera for a while.)