LG Rumor/LG Scoop

The LG Rumor and LG Scoop are basically the same product rebranded and offered in different colors for different carriers. The Rumor is available on Sprint as well as Kajeet, a cell phone service for kids that uses the Sprint network. The Scoop is available on Alltel, a regional carrier. Both are inexpensive slider cell phones with a 2-inch display screen that rotates to landscape mode when you slide out the full QWERTY keyboard. (There's also an alphanumeric keypad on the front.) The QWERTY keyboard makes this a good choice for messaging and email enthusiasts on a tight budget, most reviews say, but one reviewer says the keyboard couldn't keep up with his typing speed and suggests that ought to be a deal-breaker unless you're a slow typist. Another review points out that there aren't dedicated keys for the comma and period, so you'll be hitting function keys to get them.

And be aware that the Rumor and Scoop are not 3G-compatible, so web browsing will be slow -- one review says it's comparable to dial-up speed. There are some other sacrifices for the cheap price -- the screen isn't very high-res (176 pixels by 220 pixels), the only music format supported is MP3, the camera is 1.3 megapixels with no flash, and there's no voice dialing. While owner reviews are generally positive, some detractors say that the screen freezes and that the phone shuts off at random.  On the other hand, most reviews say the call quality and battery life (about five hours) are good for the price, and there's a camcorder, although reviews say it's not an especially good one. Still, the most negative professional review, at InfoSync, runs a list of the best consumer (as opposed to business) QWERTY phones, and the cheapest on the list, the Palm Centro, runs about $100 with a (Verizon) contract.

Sprint has since released the Samsung Rant, which improves on the LG Rumor in several ways. Most reviews of the Rant compare it with the Rumor, and most reviewers prefer the Rant because it has more features, including Sprint TV, stereo Bluetooth, a microSD slot and a 2-megapixel camera. In March, LG announced the Rumor2 for Sprint, which has been rebranded as the LG Banter for Alltel. (See our review of the LG Rumor2/Banter.)