Virgin Mobile LG Optimus Elite $69.99 @ Radio Shack until 10/13 (in-store only)

I went a couple RS stores in south brooklyn yesterday and here's my field report. I first went one in bay ridge, and curiously they took off the price tag of the phone so I didn't bother ask sales associate. Then I went one in bensonhurst and it did have the phone with price tag of $69; no need to have activation at spot, nor anything sort of requirements. But, as others mentioned, the bar code only drops the price from 129 to 99 and the manager had to call district manager to get a permission to override. took about 10 minute to did it, but they were courteous and wasn't too aggressive try to sell insurance, air time and whatnot. so yeay $69 and your odd may increase if you visit multiple stores.

very short first impression on the phone: definitely better than optimus V. faster, has 1ghz, and runs some of latest, good looking 3d games such as asphalt 7 which runs flawlessly. internet browsing is so much better too.

for those with grandfathered plan: like many others I just changed my plan from $35 to $25 last month from that virgin mobile glitch (no longer available) that I shouldn't be qualified, and I decided to gamble and swapped my original OV to O elite, crossing my fingers that they will let me keep $25. at least good thing is that the new phone activation went smoothly and for now it appears that my plan is still $25, though i am not holding my breath and it seems really arbitrary to rely on this one. so extremely YMMV and do it at your own risk.

Quote from Arthurbliss : for those with grandfathered plan: like many others I just changed my plan from $35 to $25 last month from that virgin mobile glitch (no longer available) that I shouldn't be qualified, and I decided to gamble and swapped my original OV to O elite, crossing my fingers that they will let me keep $25. at least good thing is that the new phone activation went smoothly and for now it appears that my plan is still $25, though i am not holding my breath and it seems really arbitrary to rely on this one. so extremely YMMV and do it at your own risk.

Did you activate the new Elite over the phone with VM or on the website?
I am a $25 monther with an Opt V and would like to switch.

Quote from Zambonni : Did you activate the new Elite over the phone with VM or on the website? I am a $25 monther with an Opt V and would like to switch.

If you are doing it online, look for the "Don't see the plan your looking for? Click here" at the bottom of the plan page. That will bring up the $25 plan. Check out the thumbnail...

I saw some comments from this thread regarding the quality of this phone but am wondering if anyone can provide some more information regarding their experience with this device. My brother had an OV and basically while it was decent most of the time, it would freeze when you tried to open some applications (namely facebook) and it just got slow occasionally. It broke, and he ended up getting an HTC Wildfire and let me tell you, that thing sucks balls. I was going to get him a phone for Christmas (HTC one V or the Evo) but at this price, I would just take the plunge now. However I'm not interested in getting him another mediocre device he will be unhappy with...

Quote from adam22 : I saw some comments from this thread regarding the quality of this phone but am wondering if anyone can provide some more information regarding their experience with this device. My brother had an OV and basically while it was decent most of the time, it would freeze when you tried to open some applications (namely facebook) and it just got slow occasionally. It broke, and he ended up getting an HTC Wildfire and let me tell you, that thing sucks balls. I was going to get him a phone for Christmas (HTC one V or the Evo) but at this price, I would just take the plunge now. However I'm not interested in getting him another mediocre device he will be unhappy with...

I had the original Optimus V for a year..no problems at all and the best part was the phone was hot spot capable with a simple app add..loved it! The second generation of the V, they made a software change which blocked the hot spot.

Optimus Elite is what I got for my rep to use and it's a really good phone. It does everything pretty well for a entry level android. Very good call quality, decent battery, and good screen, although not high res. At under $100. it's a rock solid deal.

Quote from jimx200 : I had the original Optimus V for a year..no problems at all and the best part was the phone was hot spot capable with a simple app add..loved it! The second generation of the V, they made a software change which blocked the hot spot. Optimus Elite is what I got for my rep to use and it's a really good phone. It does everything pretty well for a entry level android. Very good call quality, decent battery, and good screen, although not high res. At under $100. it's a rock solid deal.

Thanks for your reply. I'm glad you haven't had issues with the V, though I know a lot of people who had that phone (not just for VM, they also have versions on T-mobile, Net10, and Verizon) and the general consensus is that while it's decent, it is slow and has a limited amount of storage which only adds to the issues. I had mine overclocked to 800 mhz and it's still not very snappy. So I'm just trying to verify that the improvements in the Elite are worthwhile, which it would appear they are.

Quote from Zambonni : Did you activate the new Elite over the phone with VM or on the website? I am a $25 monther with an Opt V and would like to switch.

I activated the Elite on the website. still i had to press the activate button on the phone and it automatically figured out and i was done with the process. uh, but don't rely on my initial good result though. while the website still shows that my next payment will be $25, but who knows what will gonna happen, so yeah again, be really cautious if you do not wanna lose your $25 plan.

I went by my Radio Shack here in North Florida for this deal. Not a car in the parking lot, so I though they were closed. Went inside and immediately one of the sales reps approached me. I found the phone but it was $129.99. I told him they were $99 on RadioShack.com. He seemed puzzled like he didn't know about the sale. I got out my phone and looked it up for him. He says let me talk to my manager. He proceeds to go over and ask the manager. The manager is standing there with five employees talking and laughing, basically holding court like a big shot. The manager mumbles something about it can happen because of some warehouse thing and I just walked out (with the Rep saying "Sir, sir, I have the answer. Anything else I can do for you?"

Unreal...

Quote from adam22 : I saw some comments from this thread regarding the quality of this phone but am wondering if anyone can provide some more information regarding their experience with this device. My brother had an OV and basically while it was decent most of the time, it would freeze when you tried to open some applications (namely facebook) and it just got slow occasionally. It broke, and he ended up getting an HTC Wildfire and let me tell you, that thing sucks balls. I was going to get him a phone for Christmas (HTC one V or the Evo) but at this price, I would just take the plunge now. However I'm not interested in getting him another mediocre device he will be unhappy with...

Not sure if I have a bad phone, but my Elite regularly turns itself off even if it has good battery life remaining. I have to take out the battery and turn it back on everytime this happens, a PITA. Service is decent when it remains on and I will bear with it since I am on the $25/month plan. Sure beats $77+ a month and 1 more year on contract with Sprint like I was before since I'm not a heavy cell phone user.

Regarding this new deal, I stopped at 3 RS stores in Queens, NYC and was told that you need to activate the phone at the store in order to get the $69.99 price, otherwise it rings up as $99.99.

I was hoping to use a $30 gift card on this deal since there seems nothing is worth picking up at RS, is there?

Quote from bruteshot : After my experience I won't be going back the Radio Shack unless there's an epic deal. Not giving the advertised price, dicking me around to buy extra stuff, and then activating the phone after repeatedly saying not to... it was terrible. RS: "Alright I'm just going to make a test call now" Me: "Test call? You f'ing kidding me? I just said not to activate it................................" RS: "Oh woops, it's too late now" f you buddy.

You should have grabbed his head by his hair, slam his forehead against the table and knock him out.

Quote from Arthurbliss : for those with grandfathered plan: like many others I just changed my plan from $35 to $25 last month from that virgin mobile glitch (no longer available) that I shouldn't be qualified, and I decided to gamble and swapped my original OV to O elite, crossing my fingers that they will let me keep $25. at least good thing is that the new phone activation went smoothly and for now it appears that my plan is still $25, though i am not holding my breath and it seems really arbitrary to rely on this one. so extremely YMMV and do it at your own risk.

alright (hopefully) my final update. my new month just started today and looks like my plan is still $25 with pending charge of $25 for Nov. 14. so good news for those who got $25 plan when they are not suppose to last month, and then wanna change the phone to the Elite while keeping that $25 plan.

again, YMMV and just don't rely on my isolated, single instance. so do it at your risk.

Quote from TheOldinOut : Not sure if I have a bad phone, but my Elite regularly turns itself off even if it has good battery life remaining. I have to take out the battery and turn it back on everytime this happens, a PITA.

Sounds like a bad phone. I think you should contact customer service for a replacement. Not sure who you have for a carrier, but there are many stories of how quickly VM will sent you a replacement.

$49 at Best Buy