For the last four months I’ve put up with mediocre Bluetooth support on my SonyEricsson T608. The T608 is basically the bastard child of Sprint PCS. They don’t talk about it, it was never publicly available on the site or through the stores. So when they announced the LG PM-325 had Bluetooth I was excited to finally have a phone to take advantage of all Bluetooth had to offer.
Yesterday I picked up an LG PM-325 at my local Radio Shack and had it activated. From the very beginning there were annoyances. The following things are just a few of them.
- When the phone is slid closed (it’s a sliding phone) you cannot scroll through your contacts, however, you can scroll through your call history.
- The default shortcut when you scroll down is to go to the menu with call history selected. It took me about five minutes to figure out how to set the shortcut to scroll through my contacts when I pressed down.
- After searching all over the web and tinkering on my own I’ve come to the conclusion that the phone doesn’t appear to support any Bluetooth functionality beyond pairing, which basically makes Bluetooth worthless in this phone. If anyone knows how to get this working with iSync or as a Bluetooth modem please contact me or post a message.
Needless to say I continue to be disappointed in what Sprint has to offer in the way of Bluetooth phones. Crappy or no DUN support (in OS X anyways) and no OBEX support. They finally tout a Bluetooth phone publicly and I can’t even sync it with my contacts or use it as a modem, much less send SMS messages through it.
Looks like it is time to “move” to Europe and switch carriers.
Having been a long time Sprint user myself until recently when I switched to Cingular, I have come to the conclusion that if you want the latest and greatest geek toys / phones / pdas to play with, go with someone else. Sprint doesn’t and has never carried anything remotely good as the other carriers.
I love Sprint’s network and their plans, but their phone selection is seriously lacking when it comes to getting the latest and greatest.
This page is not Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional!
not valid coz of alt attribut :p
I’ve fixed the XHTML. I always forget the damn alt tags on my images. So sue me! 🙂
Hey, sorry to hear about your experience. FWIW, I had no problem getting DUN set up between the phone and my laptop. I am missing the contact sync, so if you hear of a solution, please let me know.
the phone does and will pair to be used as a Dun modem, LG them selfs will refer you to Sprint. Sprint first layer of tech support have no Idea you have to ask for tear 2 tech suport. there they will read from a screen.
I had trouble paring with my Ipaq 5555 pocket pc…
But I did figure it out in the end and it does work great for me now.
Blue tooth headset (sony) also work fine.
As the the rest… sprint took it upon themselves to run the phone with out Full blue tooth programing as well as taking away the use of the speaker phone….. LG designed and manufactured the phone with both.. but sprint is so new to this I think it makes the a little unsure when it seems they have no idea what a good thing writing the program update to include all of the above could do for the end user and the service that they have the possibilities to offer.
If you need info just email me… I’ll try… it took me 3 hr on the phone with tech support before I found out they do not have a clue….
Ok,
I’m looking for a new phone and this one realy caught my eye, ive never been much for flip phones so ive always tried to go with one that isnt. So im wonderng if this phone is realy bad enough not to buy.
I called Sprint today, and they said that the LG 325 now does sync over bluetooth with iSync – I guess they updated the firmware?
Any truth to this?
I’ve been looking @ sync sites and fell apon this for my new phone. Was able to pair w/ my OSX, but then couldn’t sync. No, it will not sync w/ isync as of today since I updated all my bluetooth, etc. to give it a go. What I was told by sprint tech is that “it’s not supported” for anything but a headset. Then I was told that they have a business phone contract that supports this type of thing for additional fees (but still not for this phone). It does have the capability it looks like from the manual. If you don’t have a mac, you can get some software from futuredial.com to sync it looks like, but it only recommends sync w/ their cable and not bluetooth. Anyway, the time I’ve compulsively put into this I could have just typed all the numbers in myself!
Hope this helps some of you…
How frustrating!! who knew I needed to look for a phone that had Bluetooth (that also has OBEX!)… that’s the standard on bluetooth phones in Europe. Why WHY is Sprint so far behind!! Arghhhh.
SPRINT! Update the phone’s software to enable iSync please! SPRINT!!
I have had this phone since it was released. I have enjoyed some aspects, and abhored others. I have the latest update (via update in setup menu on phone) and my TC1100 laptop will recognize that it exists, but I get ‘pairing failure’ each time. Really bummed….
-denis
got the phone free from a friend today. called sprint to have them switch me from my sanyo 5500. took less than 20 minutes for voice to move over. kinda loving it ever since. the speaker phone was one of the first things i went for. sucks that it’s not there (rather, you can switch to speakerphone during a call but your voice is muted–‘monitor mode’) later on when i had the bluetooth connected to my laptop (toshiba p25-s509, xp pro sp2, kensington bt usb adapter), i noticed that on the stats screen, pressing the ‘ok’ button toggled a speaker icon.
i want the contact sync though. i’m sure 20 more min of searching and i’ll figure it out.
the software update feature on the phone is tight. haven’t seen that in a phone yet….and i always hated going into a sprint store. have had it get 1 update so far.
that feature alone give me hope…
screen looks good, not as big as the sanyo, but better res and smaller text. i guess i could go on, but no need. and if anyone cares, i would. it’s a pretty good phone imho..from a techy/sys admin
ha, just remembered a stupid design flaw..the fucking battery cover is just big enough/pushes in just as easy/and is place in perfect position that when i’m using the keypad, i click it in constantly…always makes a noise like the slider is loosening, when in fact that thing is MUCH more stable than i would have ever given the thing credit for.
this was cut out, i think because i had an email address in there
oohhh a challenge..
if anyone needs/wants the settings, or atleast how i have the bluetooth config’d to act as a modem…i guess reply..or email me at…..
com
gay, this is what i get for trying to help. pita. i think getting a service tech at the sprint store is easier.
this phone is cute but waaay too awkward for words. and the pieces the idiots at Sprint have disabled make it only worth it if you are desperate for a Bluetooth headset compatible phone and pay <$30 online. (price at Sprint starts >$200 but you can get it for $50 from others).
the UI suxors. one example of how brain-dead LG is: it takes minimum 10 keystrokes to BEGIN sending an SMS. another: 1/2 the functions you’d want to use are arbitrarily disabled with the slider closed. 1/2 the time, the function buttons are arbitrarily inactive instead of creatively assigned options. like i said, toooo awkward.
if you think you really want this phone, its time to get out of your Sprint contract and move to a carrier with better options.
After a year and half of a nearly busted flip sprint p.o.c. (piece of crap) i bought this little LG thing. i was contemplating the Treo but decided if this had bluetooth (which I’d never used before) I’d give it a shot and see if address books and cal might sync with isync. bought a belkin adapter and seemed to finally get the imac and phone to sync (after SEVERAL hours and a bazillion tries; I’m sure it’ll never work again) but when i clicked ‘browse’ it said the device didn’t have the correct capabilities or something. now i am reading that they’ve ‘crippled’ key bluetooth components. is this true, or am I not doing this right?
Should I return the phone and just suck it up and get a treo thing. i don’t really want a super hardcore phone but i want the ability to check email and stuff when neccessary.
T
This is soooo depressing. I just got the Pm-325 home only to find that it’s bluetooth capabilities have been dumbed down. I hated my Sony Ericsson T608. But at least it had full bluetooth support. What possible reason does Sprint have to do this? Really bizarre.
Wes: I had the same experience with Sprint and the LG 325. I was trying to pair to my Dell laptop so that I could check email while traveling. As you said they took away some bluetooth capabilities and their answer is that Sprint does not encourage using the phone as a modem. I spoke to the Futuredial folks and they told me that they have recently partnered with Sprint but even using their data cable and your LG 325 you can use only the SnapSync software not the SnapDialer. What a crock. If you know of a way to use the bluetooth to connect to your computer I would really like to have the information. I have a Kennsington bluetooth USB port and a Dell Inspirion 4150 running Windows XP Pro
Update the phones SW using the setup menu.
Then enable the DUN connection on the phone.
Then on the computer dial #777
i also have been duped by sprint having purchased the 325. i’m not so much bummed about the isync or the useability as a modem but i was really hoping to put salling clicker on it and use it as a remote for my itunes and that sort of thing.
i can get the phone to pair with my powerbook, but when i try to connect them it gives me an invalid authentication message.
frustrating as hell!
The best explaination of this whole “Crippled” bluetooth scenario:
http://www.burningdoor.com/steve/archives/000977.html
If you really need contact/cal sync, you can get the USB Data cable / software kit for ~50-60 USD. I’m still looking for a less expensive option tho.
I bought this phone immediately when it came out. I’m a Mac user as well and was incredibly disappointed how useless the Bluetooth functionality was on this phone. I was only slightly less bummed when I coworker of mine got a Motorola Razr and found he had the same problem. Er, or that at least his Razr wouldn’t sync with his Macs without a cable. Apparently his problem will be solved when Tiger comes out. Is this the case for our LG’s too?
Overall, I love this phone though. I bought mine online and was pleasantly surprised how small it was and how cool it looked in person. It looked a bit chunky and lame in photos from some angles. I’ve yet to see another one in public, but that could just be because everyone seems to have Cingular or T-Mobile here.
Do all/most of the BT headsets work with the LG at least? I’m in the market right now and I’m trying to decide what to buy. The Jabra 250 seems to get the most consistent high reviews and doesn’t break the bank. Any other suggestions?
I stumbled accross this page because it seems that I’m having similar questions/concerns as most of you. I have not bought this phone yet, but will likely buy it because its my only reasonably priced bluetooth enabled option.
This thread has seriously confused the crap out of me. It seems that there are a bunch people that are saying they have updated the firmware and it you can now use it as a modem as well as sync it with an address book. Is this true? It seems even when someone claims this, the next person on this thread still says bluetooth is is crippled, blah blah blah…
I really want to buy this sometime soon, but if i don’t have the ability to sync it with my laptop, then its a no-go for me. I currently have a busted Sanyo 8100, and would like to get rid of it, but I really want to continue using my vision network on my laptop. TIA!
I just bought this phone after finally busting my 4 year old samsung. I was excited about the bluetooth in it. I was told by sprint i could have a wireless headset and sync with address book/i-cal with the phone in my pocket. yeah whatever!
After 4 hours i finally got the bluetooth paired and when it said -there were no supported services found on your mobile phone- it was the other foot dropping…thanks for NOTHING sprint!
now if i return the phone i’ll lose money-and i had to resign a contract for this !@#$%
I stumbled accross this page because it seems that I’m having similar questions/concerns as most of you. I have not bought this phone yet, but will likely buy it because its my only reasonably priced bluetooth enabled option.
This thread has seriously confused the crap out of me. It seems that there are a bunch people that are saying they have updated the firmware and it you can now use it as a modem as well as sync it with an address book. Is this true? It seems even when someone claims this, the next person on this thread still says bluetooth is is crippled, blah blah blah…
I really want to buy this sometime soon, but if i don’t have the ability to sync it with my laptop, then its a no-go for me. I currently have a busted Sanyo 8100, and would like to get rid of it, but I really want to continue using my vision network on my laptop. TIA!
This is one of the worst phones I have ever owned. Bluetooth doesn’t work. It’s hard to hold with the slider in ‘open’ position. The user interface is horrible. The SW update feature worked at first, but now just hangs forever. And it randomly turns off for some reason. I cannot stand it.
I love the phone… I have had it for a little over a month abd everything that i want the phone to do it does it… i feel this was a very good buy… I will admit Sprint tech support can be idiets but if you tell them Hey this is what i want this phone to do and i know it can do it don’t dick me artound and just set it up.. after you get the piont across that your not an idiet they will do what you want
Gomadic has a cable + software for using the LG PM-325 as a modem. I haven’t yet tried it.