LG: Dare compatibility with mac

[x13gamer]

Has anyone tried using the LG dare with a mac? I'm looking for a new phone and am curious how this one will work. are there any suggestions for any of Verizon's phones?

[lyngo]

I am asking the same questions and have the same concerns over on howardforums just to let you know.

- Jay

[gothamm]

what are you going to be doing? syncing calendar/address book/songs/ vids like the iphone?

[x13gamer]

yes, all or as many as possible.

[RobUM]

I just got the Dare today and I haven't had any luck syncing it with my mac...I was able to get a wallpaper picture onto my SD card using a card reader but it creates a duplicate unrecognizable and undeletable picture along with it... music does the same thing..

If someone figures out a better to sync please let me know :( ...I'd love to get my calendar on here as well...

(This phone is actually replacing my iPhone after I had to switch from at&t to Verizon.... very nice phone, I must say...and it helps to numb the pain a bit... but still no iPhone)

[x13gamer]

How do you like the Dare? I heard that you really need finger nails for the touch screen to work, Is that true? is it similar to the iphone with the user interface? how is it working without wi-fi? Is it a feature you miss?

[RobUM]

How do you like the Dare? I heard that you really need finger nails for the touch screen to work, Is that true? is it similar to the iphone with the user interface? how is it working without wi-fi? Is it a feature you miss?

You don't need finger nails, but using them definitely helps the screen to respond better. You have to push a bit harder if you want to use only fingertips. Even so, I've tried the LG Voyager and the Samsung Glyde as well, the Dare's touchscreen destroys theirs. In terms of UI, the Dare's is much more customizable, making it easier to "personalize" your phone (mainly through being able to change the background and all of that simple stuff). Other than that, the two UIs are very similar...you can tell LG "borrowed" a lot from Apple.
As for no WiFi, Verizon's EVDO is pretty quick. So that hasn't really bothered me.
The only thing I REALLY miss about the iPhone is the virtual voicemail...but I heard that's coming to verizon soon (even though they say it will cost $1.99 a month).

Overall I do like the Dare. But if someone offered me both phones for the same price (and same monthly cost), I'd probably take the iPhone. The fact that the Dare saves me a ton of money on a monthly basis makes it very worth it.

EDIT: This is a pretty good video depicting the UI, if you haven't seen it already:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAxI2cs1e64

[x13gamer]

Thanks I think I need to check it out to see how I like it from here.

[harris228]

Ive had the dare for about a day now and the easiest way i have found to transfer pics/etc...is to sync the two together. put the mac in dicoverable mode, go to settings>bluetooth menu>turn on>add. once the two have found each other put the files u want on the phone open the finder on the mac and drop them into the 'user name'>public>drop box folder.select the mac on the dare then open "browse/get files" select the drop box folder in which u put the files on the mac and they should all transfer over. at least thats how ive been doing it.

[thecritix]

its this lack of sync with LG which led me toward iphone... it drove me nuts, i teach guitar and to have clients in address book and ical but then not on my phone was infuriating!

I suggest seriously considering how annoying this will become to you (with a view to returning within your 14 day period) not simply overlooking it as I did.

Good Luck
Nick

[RobUM]

Ive had the dare for about a day now and the easiest way i have found to transfer pics/etc...is to sync the two together. put the mac in dicoverable mode, go to settings>bluetooth menu>turn on>add. once the two have found each other put the files u want on the phone open the finder on the mac and drop them into the 'user name'>public>drop box folder.select the mac on the dare then open "browse/get files" select the drop box folder in which u put the files on the mac and they should all transfer over. at least thats how ive been doing it.

Have you tried this with music? Does it keep artist name, album art, etc?

[harris228]

yea it works the same with music. im not sure about album art. but song title and album title are put in categories correctly. havent tried movies yet. but you'd probably better off going on the internet to watch movie clips. since they take up a lot of memory.

[rad55]

Ive had the dare for about a day now and the easiest way i have found to transfer pics/etc...is to sync the two together. put the mac in dicoverable mode, go to settings>bluetooth menu>turn on>add. once the two have found each other put the files u want on the phone open the finder on the mac and drop them into the 'user name'>public>drop box folder.select the mac on the dare then open "browse/get files" select the drop box folder in which u put the files on the mac and they should all transfer over. at least thats how ive been doing it.

i did this but the files automatically go into 'my sounds' is there a way to get them into 'my music'?
thanks!

[harris228]

Thats odd, because all of the music files i transfered went right into the my music section.....do you have a microSD card in your phone? maybe thats the problem. although i dont know y it would be any different if you didnt. ill do some checking into it.

[rad55]

no, i don't have an SD card in my phone yet.
that is weird though. maybe it has something to do with the type of file? they are mp3's
thanks though.

[harris228]

mine are mp3's also

[royallyconfused]

Ive had the dare for about a day now and the easiest way i have found to transfer pics/etc...is to sync the two together. put the mac in dicoverable mode, go to settings>bluetooth menu>turn on>add. once the two have found each other put the files u want on the phone open the finder on the mac and drop them into the 'user name'>public>drop box folder.select the mac on the dare then open "browse/get files" select the drop box folder in which u put the files on the mac and they should all transfer over. at least thats how ive been doing it.

Whenever I try to do this I get a message saying "File transfer not supported"...what could I be doing wrong?

[rad55]

Whenever I try to do this I get a message saying "File transfer not supported"...what could I be doing wrong?

this happened to me also, just re-find your mac from your phone and it should work.

[jakeOSX]

i've been looking at this phone too, so any updates on syncin?

[Griffindor73]

I had an LG Secret (for about a week)- I returned it as it didn't really like the Mac at all- I could get files on to it, but that was about all- I went back to my Sony Ericsson.

[IDontPostOften]

i've been looking at this phone too, so any updates on syncin?

BitPim has posted a test version to sync with Leopard only. I tried it with OSX 10.4.11 and no luck - error opening the .app.
Read about it at:
http://www.bitpim.org/#download-test

When there click the "notes and list of changes" - you'll see the LG-VX9700 (Dare) listed.

[pepper123]

I have the mac and the lg dare.
Though you can't sync it, you can still get your photos, music, and etc. onto the dare.

Make sure that both the LG dare and the mac bluetooth's are on and discoverable.
Once they are paired, click the performed task icon on the mac, which looks like a little mechanical wheel and click send file.
It worked for me.

[AppleNewton]

it seems alot of the verizon based phones, only seem to sync with specific media players on windows.

Or sometimes just loading up the stuff on the SD cards works.

maybe you can try parallels/crossover perhaps to sync the music from your mac through those apps? sounds like a pain but it seems they dont have a huge native support for macs.

[rcuchel]

can I download music from my macbook pro to a sd memory card and then transfer music to the dare?

[sn00pie]

I've got a LG Vu, which is pretty much the same as the LG Dare except for a few things. I don't think there is a LG PC Suite for Mac, so I guess most Mac owners are left in the dark regarding using there LG phones to sync with there computers.

[brittia0909]

i did this but the files automatically go into 'my sounds' is there a way to get them into 'my music'?
thanks!

I got my first DARE a few weeks ago, and when I transfered files via bluetooth they went into the "My Music" part. However, that phone was stolen so when I got my replacement, I have the same problem with the files going into the "My Sounds" section. Have you gotten it figured out yet??

[MiSTEVEious]

My songs are also going into the "my sounds" compartment - do you guys have any idea how to switch it to "my music?"

I got em on there by clicking on the dare in my bluetooth (on my desktop) and clicking "send file." worked, except for above.

[fredbillie]

I just got the Dare today and I haven't had any luck syncing it with my mac...I was able to get a wallpaper picture onto my SD card using a card reader but it creates a duplicate unrecognizable and undeletable picture along with it... music does the same thing..

If someone figures out a better to sync please let me know :( ...I'd love to get my calendar on here as well...

(This phone is actually replacing my iPhone after I had to switch from at&t to Verizon.... very nice phone, I must say...and it helps to numb the pain a bit... but still no iPhone)

I had the same problem and decide it might be either the Mac Resource Fork or the Metadata of the JPG. Tried both solutions with Graphic Converter but the problem persisted. I then tried Light Room and it had a feature to reduce the Metadata as much as possible when expoting the picture and when I did that the duplicate picture problem disappeared. Haven't figured out how to eliminate a similar problem with my 3g2 video exports. Also, it is hell to try to play iTunes music on the Dare. The process is very covoluted.

[Sibbs]

I found a way to do this beautifully! Ok, it takes a little while to set up but, it works well. Create a folder, call it "Dare" or whatever you like. Then go to system preferences>sharing>bluetooth sharing>folder others can browse>select the folder you created! Then put all of the music/pictures/videos you want on your phone, into that folder. Then connect your phone, goto Browse/Get Files and the folder should appear!

Try it out, and let me know! This is my first post ever on mac rumors, id appreciate some advice!

Thanks, and you are welcome if it works!

[gruffgriff]

I had the same problem with a music file I sent to the Dare, then I went into the bluetooth menu and chose Browse Device instead. Then I went into the folder on the Dare that holds the music files, MyMusic. Once in there I went ahead and sent the song I wanted and it popped up in Music instead of Sounds just fine. Give it a try!

[cbarb014]

i tried this.. and it worked for me to be able to send 2 songs to my phone. but now it keeps giving me the "bad request" error message... i can get into the mypictures, mysounds, and all of that. but the mymusic folder wont even open (on my mac.) hellppppp!!

[buffalo]

What does Verizon charge monthly to get internet on the Dare??? I was looking at the Dare and the Samsung Omnia. However, it looks like a $30 data plan on the Omnia is a requirement, so that's probably out of the question.

[iTeen]

i tried this.. and it worked for me to be able to send 2 songs to my phone. but now it keeps giving me the "bad request" error message... i can get into the mypictures, mysounds, and all of that. but the mymusic folder wont even open (on my mac.) hellppppp!!
You have to be in the bluetooth menu on your phone, with no music playing.
Also, this is quite cool to be able to send music via bluetooth. I just got this phone today, and I must say that I didn't think it would be this nice.

[run4jc]

It's been mentioned already, but to me the easiest possible solution is to simply transfer the files directly to a MicroSD card. These things are really inexpensive now, and it's a fast transfer. Just loaded up a gigs worth and all is well.

[Semiopaque]

It's been mentioned already, but to me the easiest possible solution is to simply transfer the files directly to a MicroSD card. These things are really inexpensive now, and it's a fast transfer. Just loaded up a gigs worth and all is well.

I've had the best success in quick file transfer hooking the Dare up via USB and using the USB Mass Storage option on the phone (Settings & Tools > Tools > USB Mass Storage). I've had some issues with MP3 tagging incorrectly when sending files directly to the card, creating an extra, unuseable file and leaving the MP3s on my phone stripped of some of the tags (like artist). Only one issue in 100 MP3s using the USB Mass Storage method.

No issues with Bluetooth either, but it is certainly slower, so worth doing it with wires if I'm moving a lot of data.

[leishan]

Have you tried Missing Sync (http://www.markspace.com/)? It ai compatible with the Dare (according to their site).

[robbiedub]

I've had the best success in quick file transfer hooking the Dare up via USB and using the USB Mass Storage option on the phone (Settings & Tools > Tools > USB Mass Storage).

When you do this where does the phone show up on the Mac?
I'm a new member here and using an old school eMac PowerPC G4 with OS X 10.4.11

[Semiopaque]

When you do this where does the phone show up on the Mac?
I'm a new member here and using an old school eMac PowerPC G4 with OS X 10.4.11
I haven't tried it from 10.4 yet. Using 10.5.6, I plug it in then go to Settings & Tools on the phone, then Tools, then USB Mass Storage. Only the memory card in it shows up on the computer though, on the desktop . Anything stored on the phone itself does not show.

[longball11]

My 2 year plan ends this May. I am researching for Verizon phones. I like the Env2 and Voyager best because I like to text and the qwerty board is a plus for me. Can someone give me something else to look at. Any details about the Dare? Thanks

[iTeen]

My 2 year plan ends this May. I am researching for Verizon phones. I like the Env2 and Voyager best because I like to text and the qwerty board is a plus for me. Can someone give me something else to look at. Any details about the Dare? Thanks
Really, I would go for the dare. When I bought it I also had doubts about the lack of a keyboard, but after about 3 days of use you get REALLY comfortable with it. It also is slimmer than the enV2 and voyager. The only disadvantage is that you have to look at it while your typing.

[Semiopaque]

Agree on the Dare. I've been really happy with it. It is a bit harder to text than the enV, but not overly so and it's compactness makes a difference to me. I almost went for the Storm but I didn't like the pushy thing on the Storm and the Dare does pretty much everything I need anyhow.

I only needed access and notification of my hotmail and yahoo email accounts on the go, some web access mainly for Ebay and news, Bluetooth for moving pics to my computer and a semi-decent camera for snapping photos when needed. Also use it for MP3 playback a lot and haven't had any complaints so far.

I've done some MP4 playback on it as well, especially for my son when I forget to bring his iPod and he needs a movie to watch. It's definitely not the best MP4 player out there and has some issues if the file is too large so I'm still playing with the right settings on Handbrake to get it to playback perfectly, but it works well enough to pop a couple movies onto my memory card for emergency movie viewing.

My kids also like to play with the drawing pad feature on it and the editing on the pictures is nice too. Helps me keep them busy when we end up having to wait in a long line or in traffic that I didn't plan on and only have my phone with me.

I also really like the Navigator. It's better than the GPS I got for Christmas, though phone calls interrupt it so I'm not sure I'm going to get rid of my GPS just yet entirely. The traffic info seems pretty accurate which is very useful here in LA.

Battery life is a little sporadic. I've had it go for days without needing a charge and then only last a day with approximately the same usage pattern. It seems to hold charges longer if you charge it more often. Draining the battery completely and then charging fully actually seemed to shorten the amount of time between charges for some reason so I just charge it via USB on a computer when I get to two bars.

I did look at the Samsung Omnia (I think that's what it is called) too, but I didn't notice the vibration thing on it that the Dare does when you type/click on the touchscreen and I really like that feature a lot.

[PaperQueen]

I see a lot of conversation about music transfers, but how’s the Dare in terms of calenders, address book, etc.?

I keep dreaming that someday Apple and Verizon will join forces so I can bump up from my iPod Touch to an iPhone. Alas.........not happening yet........

[Kurri]

can you at least check your email with this phone? i was thinking about getting this phone as well, but i want to be able to check my .mac email with the shortcut key.

anyone? :)

[carekerr]

I have figured out how to send/receive files, but can you help me figure out how to synch my iCal and address book with my dare? The iCal would be especially helpful. I'm using bluetooth to synch.

[cosmoshopper]

I've had the best success in quick file transfer hooking the Dare up via USB and using the USB Mass Storage option on the phone (Settings & Tools > Tools > USB Mass Storage). I've had some issues with MP3 tagging incorrectly when sending files directly to the card, creating an extra, unuseable file and leaving the MP3s on my phone stripped of some of the tags (like artist). Only one issue in 100 MP3s using the USB Mass Storage method.

No issues with Bluetooth either, but it is certainly slower, so worth doing it with wires if I'm moving a lot of data.


How did you transfer the files? I have tried the above but can't see the the phone on the Mac desktop. Like, you, when I use an adapter, dragging and dropping music files results in tons of "extra unuseable files"... which essentially jams my music player such that nothing plays. All very confusing... :)

[redsteven]

I was considering getting the LG Vu, but am not going to do so because of the lack of availability of an iSync plugin. I don't know if ANY LG phones have iSync plugins out there.

[MBuco12]

I had the same problem with a music file I sent to the Dare, then I went into the bluetooth menu and chose Browse Device instead. Then I went into the folder on the Dare that holds the music files, MyMusic. Once in there I went ahead and sent the song I wanted and it popped up in Music instead of Sounds just fine. Give it a try!

this kinda worked for me so i wanna know if this ever happened to you....when i send the songs, only the song name is recognized by the phone, so the artist and album name is blank, so it goes into the NONE folder for artists

[Semiopaque]

How did you transfer the files? I have tried the above but can't see the the phone on the Mac desktop. Like, you, when I use an adapter, dragging and dropping music files results in tons of "extra unuseable files"... which essentially jams my music player such that nothing plays. All very confusing... :)

Sorry for the delayed response. This only works if you have a memory card in your phone. The USB Mass Storage option only seems to allow access to the memory card, not the memory on the phone itself.

First I connect the phone to my Mac via USB, a sync option may pop up on the phone - I exit out of the this on the phone. Then on the phone click on Settings & Tools > Tools > USB Mass Storage. You might get a pop saying the connection failed - just wait a bit and try again, it takes a bit for the phone to establish the connection with the computer sometimes - eventually you will get it to work.

The desktop icon used to pop up relatively quickly, but now it takes a bit to actually show up on my desktop - just wait a few minutes if needed and then check Disk Utility if it doesn't come up at all. From there I navigate to to the my_music folder and copy and paste MP3s directly in that folder.

When done you may need to wait a little bit before you can eject the phone from your desktop. Once its ejected hit EXIT on the phone and you're done. Seems to keep all the proper MP3 tags and art as well if it is in a format the phone can display. None of the art I got from iTunes works that I can tell; I think it's too big to display on the phone.

This phone used to work better and faster than what I described above, but either firmware updates on it or something on my Mac was updated to make it a little more troublesome, but it does still work. Despite delays getting it connected, it still seems to be the fastest way to dump a lot of MP3s on my phone as well as MP4s.