LG Optimus Elite for Virgin Mobile - $129.99 shipped (plus tax) plus free $25 Google Wallet Credit

do we need to setup a google prepaid card to get the $25 or is it automatic? i have some credit cards linked to the account. how long for the $10 + $15 to show up? also it said something about a verification code being sent to email. i never got that (apparently its for removing the $100 limit on account)

Quote from deshwasi : do we need to setup a google prepaid card to get the $25 or is it automatic? i have some credit cards linked to the account. how long for the $10 + $15 to show up? also it said something about a verification code being sent to email. i never got that (apparently its for removing the $100 limit on account)

As far as I can tell from the press release you're going to need to setup the google prepaid card. The wording seems pretty specific to me:

Quote : Then activate your Google Wallet and Google Wallet prepaid card within 7 days of activating the device on a Virgin Mobile USA Beyond Talk monthly plan.

Quote : Upon successful activation, Google™ will: (i) add a $10 credit to the Google Wallet prepaid card within 48 hours of activation; and (ii) add an additional $15.00 credit to the Google Wallet prepaid card within three weeks of successful activation and set up. No personal credit card information is required for offer to apply.

http://phandroid.com/2012/05/18/v...mus-elite/

I can confirm the $10 dollar credit so far. I'm actually really enjoying this phone coming from the OV (which I had customized and OC'ed to my liking), it actually does feel like a significant upgrade for me. I'm also seeing what people said, that the phone is clocked to 1Ghz assuming Quadrant and other benchmarking apps are accurate. Also according to Quadrant this phone somehow scored better than the Nexus S... hm.

thanks. going to activate the prepaid card now. i have the same feelings about this as you, coming from the exact same situation. i did notice phone gets quite warm sometimes based on data usage/charging. hopefully the NFC thing isnt going to make my head burst open.

edit: confirmed the offer is for activating the google prepaid card. just did it and got $10 balance immediately. hopefully the other $15 will show up at some point.

Quote from NE0tekk : Please be careful with switching over to the Elite. I have a feeling most people are in for a rude awakening. Virgin Mobile is likely to switch your plans on May 27th since the Optimus Elite technically came out after May 1st. I believe activation dates are therefore irrelevant. Plus, you won't be able to swap back to the Elite down the road once you switch over to the V again. I purchased the Elite thinking it was capable of handling the grandfathered plan but realized most of these Virgin Mobile customer service reps tend to give different answers. The Elite doesn't seem like a big enough upgrade to risk losing the grandfathered plan over...

Incorrect info. It has been confirmed by many folks you will NOT be switched to the $35 plan if you buy and activate the Elite prior to May 27th. It is shown earlier in this thread on the FB posts from VM as well. The statement from VM is very clear about it. The Elite will stay on the $25 plan for as long as you can keep the phone. Any future upgrades will cause your plan to switch though.

*****

Quote from kennyminot : Personally, I don't think this upgrade is worth the money. NFC is probably the best new feature, but it hasn't reached wide enough adoption to be important (right now, it's certainly neat, but not useful until enough merchants jump on the bandwagon). Otherwise, you get a slightly faster processor (600mhz to 800mhz), a bigger screen, and a better camera (3mp to 5mp). Reviews have stated that the screen is a little sluggish compared to the Optimus V. In other words, this is a "horizontal" upgrade - you're moving to a similar phone with slightly better specifications. If you were going to do this kind of upgrade, I'd recommend going with the HTC Wildfire, mainly because it's smaller and comes with HTC Sense (which I really like, although I know there's mixed opinions about it). Not everyone will like the Wildfire, but it's different enough to warrant the change. This phone is just basically a slicker Optimus V. Plus, it has capacitive buttons. Give me real buttons or give me death! I'd say you should pass on this one. If you're going to upgrade and risk losing your grandfathered plan, wait for the HTC Evo V that's coming out soon - that's a real upgrade. You'll get a solid HTC phone with 4G support.

No risk at losing your GF plan if you buy/activate before 5/27. The OE has also been shown to actually have a 1024MHz processor. It appears the 800MHz was incorrect. Mine as well as many others who have run benchmarks found the processor runs a 1K.

Quote from xtrabad : The Sder in you should have bought it now in-store, activated it now to ensure you're grandfathered in, then go back and return the online purchased phone once you receive it using your B&M receipt. Extra trip but worth it to not risk VM cutting you off from the $25 plan. Some report the deadline is sooner rather than later.

I actually bought it at the store when BB matched the 129 price. Now I will return the one I ordered from RS.com to the local store. No harm, no foul.

Got mine yesterday. Switch over was almost 100% smooth. Phone got stuck connecting to VM's network, so I rebooted it and it worked.

Got to keep my $25/mo. plan. Signed up for Google Wallet and I got a $10 prepaid card. Didn't have to put a real credit card on file or fund my account with one.

So far my experience with this phone is much smoother than the Optimus V by leaps and bounds. Apps don't freeze or crash. I can now run resource-intensive apps that just ran like molasses on the OV.

Just a few changes I'll have to get used to:
-The home and menu buttons are transposed
-Only the power button will wake-up the screen (used to hit the capacitive Return button on my OV)
-The pull-down shortcuts for toggling Wi-Fi/GPS/etc. are no more. I use Notification Toggle, but the pull-down menu goes away on any toggle. So toggling brightness levels means I have to pull-down, press, pull-down, press, etc., or do it from the home screen widget.
-If I pull-down too far, gliding over the return button counts as a press and I'll go back a screen. Minor gripe.

Besides calling/texting, I only use my phone for Facebook, SD, maps, and a few other apps/games. They run so much more smoothly now. I'm beginning to love this phone.

eeeh this would be a good deal if I wasn't switching to T-Mobile because Virgin Mobile made their 4G phone crazy expensive ($300) when they are just rolling out service around here.

Quote from qkumbr : Got mine yesterday. Switch over was almost 100% smooth. Phone got stuck connecting to VM's network, so I rebooted it and it worked. Got to keep my $25/mo. plan. Signed up for Google Wallet and I got a $10 prepaid card. Didn't have to put a real credit card on file or fund my account with one. So far my experience with this phone is much smoother than the Optimus V by leaps and bounds. Apps don't freeze or crash. I can now run resource-intensive apps that just ran like molasses on the OV. Just a few changes I'll have to get used to: -The home and menu buttons are transposed -Only the power button will wake-up the screen (used to hit the capacitive Return button on my OV) -The pull-down shortcuts for toggling Wi-Fi/GPS/etc. are no more. I use Notification Toggle, but the pull-down menu goes away on any toggle. So toggling brightness levels means I have to pull-down, press, pull-down, press, etc., or do it from the home screen widget. -If I pull-down too far, gliding over the return button counts as a press and I'll go back a screen. Minor gripe. Besides calling/texting, I only use my phone for Facebook, SD, maps, and a few other apps/games. They run so much more smoothly now. I'm beginning to love this phone.

Agree completely. This is a very nice improvement across the board over the Optimus V: Bigger screen, faster processor, substantially more internal memory, Gingerbread OS vs. FroYo on the Optimus V, better battery life, camera with flash. Very thin.

The phone itself feels and looks much higher-end over the V (virtually no physical buttons). That being said, the V was a workhorse that felt much more rugged - I never even bought a case for my V.

Also, I have read that you can't use the wireless hotspot feature on this phone (and may cause you to get a 67 error message which would require a full phone reset). Therefore, I haven't tried yet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa...plpp_video

All in all, I'm very pleased with this phone and its features (and the fact that I can keep my $25 plan).

Quote from geekor : Ordered from BB, my OV has been restarting like crazy on me lately, the last week it's been going nuts, restarting 6-7 times a day. Good timing IMHO.

How long have you had it for? I got my Optimus V around launch and after 9 months it was crashing and restarting multiple times a day. It wasn't the phone itself but the limited memory. If yours is that old try doing a factory reset or a custom ROM like BACKside ROM and it might solve that restarting problem.

Quote from buzz86us : eeeh this would be a good deal if I wasn't switching to T-Mobile because Virgin Mobile made their 4G phone crazy expensive ($300) when they are just rolling out service around here.

$300 is actually a good price for a new unsubsidized phone with the specs that the HTC Evo has. But I would only consider it if I had good 4G service in the area so that may not apply to you.

Quote from edplayer : $300 is actually a good price for a new unsubsidized phone with the specs that the HTC Evo has. But I would only consider it if I had good 4G service in the area so that may not apply to you.

yeah plus I save $10 by switching to tmobile

I can verify that the WiFi hotspot does not work with the stock firmware.

I enabled WiFi hotspot via Quick Settings. When selected, the device toasts an "Error 67" message and WiFi hotspot is then disabled.

Looks like a custom ROM will be required.

Didn't see any previous mention of it but Amazon has the Elite for $129.00 as well:

http://www.amazon.com/LG-Optimus-...775&sr=1-2