Cure iPhone envy with AT&T LG Vu, free with 2-year contract

Get LG's top-rated Vu free with contract. No rebates, no catches, just a smokin' deal.

(Credit: Wirefly)

Buy an LG Vu directly from AT&T and it'll cost you $300 (after rebate) with a two-year contract. Buy an LG Vu from Wirefly and it'll cost you zilch.

Well, for the phone anyway: contracts start at $39.99 monthly, not including a mandatory data plan ($15 or $35 monthly), and there's a $36 activation fee. However, you get a free Bluetooth headset and free shipping as part of the deal, and there's not a rebate in sight.

The touchscreen-powered Vu gives the iPhone a run for the money, at least in a few areas. It offers haptic feedback (meaning it vibrates when you press the screen), voice dialing, stereo Bluetooth, and AT&T's optional Mobile TV service (which is fantastic--just make sure you live or work in an area that has coverage).

I do have a few quibbles with this model, like the need to remove the battery to access the microSD slot, the nonstandard headphone jack, and the lack of GPS. That said, CNET liked the Vu quite well, as did users, who rated it four stars out of five on average.

To take advantage of this deal (which doesn't have an expiration date and therefore may end at any time), you need to be a new AT&T customer. Just head to the Wirefly.com site and search for "LG Vu."

[jpm150]

Beware of Wirefly. Do a quick search and you'll find they have a dismal history of paying the rebates that make these phone free. You'll need to meet a bunch of difficult to understand timing requirements and even then probably won't get paid. As for customer service, forget it. They offered me a $200 coupon to make up for the $200 rebate I didn't get when they last declared bankruptcy. When I tried to use it, I couldn't and the CS folks claimed to have no knowledge of such a coupon. Promises to return my calls went unanswered. It isn't worth the hassle.

[jpm150]

Beware of Wirefly. Do a quick search and you'll find they have a dismal history of paying the rebates that make these phone free. You'll need to meet a bunch of difficult to understand timing requirements and even then probably won't get paid. As for customer service, forget it. They offered me a $200 coupon to make up for the $200 rebate I didn't get when they last declared bankruptcy. When I tried to use it, I couldn't and the CS folks claimed to have no knowledge of such a coupon. Promises to return my calls went unanswered. It isn't worth the hassle.

[jpm150]

Beware of Wirefly. Do a quick search and you'll find they have a dismal history of paying the rebates that make these phone free. You'll need to meet a bunch of difficult to understand timing requirements and even then probably won't get paid. As for customer service, forget it. They offered me a $200 coupon to make up for the $200 rebate I didn't get when they last declared bankruptcy. When I tried to use it, I couldn't and the CS folks claimed to have no knowledge of such a coupon. Promises to return my calls went unanswered. It isn't worth the hassle.

[thelemurking]

Or you could buy a Samsung Instinct from Sprint for $129, pick up an 8gb card from Amazon for $35 bucks and you are still under the $199 mark of the iPhone. The $99 Simply Everything Plan kicks the hell out of the iPhone plan hands down. Unlimited voice, text, data, gps etc for $99. How much would that cost on AT&T?

[goober_nut]

Ok jmp, I get it. You're not happy with Wirefly, but does that mean you need to triple post?

[goober_nut]

Ok jmp, I get it. You're not happy with Wirefly, but does that mean you need to triple post?

[Perry_Clease]

"Ok jmp, I get it. You're not happy with Wirefly, but does that mean you need to triple post?"

I am not sure the triple post was deliberate, I see a lot of double posts on these CNET blogs.

[steelcity08]

Wow, he is tripping! Well...I found it for free up front with an instant rebate so I don't have to worry about that at http://allcelldeals.com/
The only thing is i'm not sure if I want to deal with not having an actual keyboard. Sweet phone no doubt but i'm going to have to get used to the touchscreen for emails. Also no push email like the Blackberry.

[bbains]

Bought the Vu ($59 on Amazon last month) and returned it. In general it was a good phone, but here are my gripes: (1) Can't transfer contacts unless you put them on your SIM. I have over 200 contacts. I can understand this limitation from a basic phone, but not from one marketed as an SmartPhone competitor. (2) Web browsing sucks: every time you click a link where you post data (e.g. Amazon, Gmail Mobile), you have to tell the phone that its okay to do so. (3) Phone doesn't change from portrait to landscape automatically, and the button to make it change is different depending on what app you're in.

I'm upgrading from an early Windows smartphone (Moto MPx220). I'm now looking at the iPhone vs. a Windows Treo.