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Are you ready for it? This is the part where we reach the enV2's list of weak points. No offense, Verizon Wireless, but cramming the same old software and user interface onto the enV2 does the phone no favors.

Let's start with the horrid exterior menu.

Because of the whacked out key configuration on the LG's front face, the menu system has been revised. You can unlock the phone by double tapping the OK key. Once unlocked, pressing the up key will open your contacts menu. That's it. When in this menu, you can scroll up and down, but not side to side. It is very limited. Pressing the OK key a third time will open up the main menu--pared down as it is--on the front screen. Here you have six choices listed in a simple text menu. They access applications such as calls, messaging, music, Bluetooth, etc. Each of these menus is very basic and offers just one or two options.

Pressing the down key from the home screen will bring up a stunted version of the messaging application. Why you'd want to compose a message on this tiny screen is beyond me, but the option is there.

With everyday use over time, I suppose this reduced and simplified menu set will provide quick access to some of the enV2's features, but it seems a pointless endeavor to me. In the end, I just opened the darned thing to access the phone's full functionality.

Speaking of which...

Verizon Wireless has tried very hard to disguise the fact that you're using the same basic software that's appeared on Verizon phones for well over two years now. From the home screen, hitting the center of the D-pad opens up a standard grid menu. Selecting any of the items, and the entire menu reverts to that good old tabbed system that Verizon is in love with. The icons have all been refreshed, the animations are a bit different, and the colors have been changed, but the base code is the same.

The only salvation here is the short cut key, found in the upper left corner of the keyboard. It brings up a list of short cuts to a number of different applications. I found this key to be key for quickly reaching some of the enV2's functions (puns intended).

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