A Sea Of Red

The government is about to give me $$$ to stimulate the economy, and I plan on doing just that by getting a new cell phone. Currently, I have a Motorola RAZR v3 with Verizon Wireless, just like every other person who was trying to look cool back in 2005. However, the battery life is crappy, literally (seriously -- I dropped the phone in the toilet once when I was taking a dump, and it took me a few days for it to start working again, although the battery won't last for a phone call).

I'm eligible for the "new every 2" deal with Verizon on March 15, which (hopefully) is when I get my government rebate check. So... if anyone wants to help me pick a new phone, I'll appreciate it.

Above all else, there are two things that I want:

#1) QWERTY keyboard. I text message all the time, and I'm sick of having to push "2" three times for a "C", wait a second, push "2" again for "A"... et cetera. My other phone has a word recognizer feature, but that's spotty at best. So -- I need to have a full keyboard.

#2) File transfer. My buddy has a T-Mobile and he can transfer MP3 files from his computer to his phone, which he can use as a ringtone. I love having specific ringtones for specific people, which my current phone lets me do. However, I can't transfer files from my computer on to it, so I'm forced to pay $$$ for a 30 second ringtone. Seriously -- I'm a poor newlywed now, I can't afford to shell out $2.99 so I can hear the "Star Wars Cantina Theme" when my buddy Mike calls. I need to be able to sync my phone with my computer, and not just for music.

I'm not particularly interested in being able to e-mail or browse the internet on the phone, largely because I don't want to pay extra for those features. However, I am not adverse to a Smart Phone / Blackberry because I think they're cool. In fact, I'd prefer one, because I want to have those features to me available on day. A camera would be cool, too (remember, the government is paying for it!). Also, I like the idea of having a stylus so I can take notes (as a journalist, I always have a notepad with me). Lastly, I would like to have a voice recorder -- you know, something that would allow me to record phone conversations (also the journalist aspect in me).

Right now, I'm leaning towards some sort of Blackberry. The Motorola Q Black is cool, too, but no stylus... In any event, I'm open to anyone with any insight or suggestions...

Ed Dantes wrote:I dropped the phone in the toilet once when I was taking a dump, and it took me a few days for it to start working again, although the battery won't last for a phone call).

Off topic but I was about to take a dump at work earlier today and I knocked my phone off of my pants and I caught it by the little stubby antenna (the one onf the phone) without looking, right before it was about to go in the toilet. It was the most amazing thing ever. I thought about it while I was sitting there, and I think I would have just flushed it if it had gone in. No way I'm putting my hand in one of the toilets here.

you oughta PM or find someont to channel SCORCHO if you want the rilll dillio on this .

I'm no help. I switched from my Star Tac a Nextel i1000 about 9 yrs ago, and had that piece until 2 yrs ago. Now I have a i730 thats been run over by various emergency vehicles, doused in blood and urine, and thrown down stairwells numerous times.

Still works- but the sharp edges and jaggedy plastic/metal pieces rip me up pretty good. Nothing like missing half the conversation due to blood in the ears.

Why don't you use a mini-SD card to transfer your music files? Was that not available on RAZR's in 05? My wife got one last year and it can take one.

LUconn wrote:No way I'm putting my hand in one of the toilets here.

Sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do...

I was sitting on the can at work, taking a dump so hard I dented the toilet, and text messaging. I put my phone in my pocket, but it didn't slide in all the way. As I pulled my pants up and went to flush, my phone flies out of my pants and lands right in the toilet. I noticed this as I was flushing... everything kind of stood still while I screamed, grabbed my phone, screamed again, and went to the sink to wash my hands and my phone...

I swear, I was like Lady Macbeth the rest of the day in the sense that my hands would not come clean.

My phone worked at first, although the #4 was broken. After a bit though, it just failed. I went to the Verizon store, told them that my phone hasn't been working. They opened the battery, saw that there was a red spot on it, and told me that my phone wasn't working because I had submerged it. I said "yeah -- i didn't finish my sentence -- my phone hasn't been working since I dropped it in the toilet." The girl told me to charge the battery and see what happens... I did, and three days later it worked. True story.

ALUmnus wrote:Why don't you use a mini-SD card to transfer your music files? Was that not available on RAZR's in 05? My wife got one last year and it can take one.

Nah, my phone doesn't have one. Verizon "crippled" the brand of RAZR that I got, meaning i couldn't download apps on to it...

This site might be able to help you choose.

www.phonescoop.com

Or you can wait for the new super phones that Sly has hinted at but won't talk about.

Do you guys not courtesy flush? Yea, a toilet's still gross, but if it's just toilet paper and no actual poop, it's not nearly as bad.

LUconn wrote:and I knocked my phone off of my pants

*snicker* nerd

SuperJon wrote:Do you guys not courtesy flush? Yea, a toilet's still gross, but if it's just toilet paper and no actual poop, it's not nearly as bad.

Ive come to realize this is a southern thing.....

Courtesy flushing is a southern thing?

I drop a bomb and get it out of there as quick as possible. It cuts down on the smell.

it depends on what it looks like....sometimes i gotta show it off....

Back to the original query, I bought a Blackberry 8830 World through Verizon about six months ago. I love everything about it other than its bulky size and the lack of a camera. Otherwise it is awesome for me. I know Verizon is pushing the touchscreen stuff pretty hard right now. For me the touch screen experience wears off in a couple of minutes. Apps are where the determining factors should be.

SuperJon wrote:Courtesy flushing is a southern thing?

I drop a bomb and get it out of there as quick as possible. It cuts down on the smell.

Cuts down on the cloggage.
Anyone seen austin powers? aren't they in vegas? tom arnold asks him for a courtesy flush.
vegas is greater than or equal to west? not south

theres a website for this i think...rate my pop .com or something like that....it's kinda gross but funny at the the same time

Blackberry's are sharp, and I'll probably go with that even though I heard my rebate check won't come in until May. Motorola Q looks nice, but I've heard bad things about it... CNET rated it a 6.

RubberMallet wrote:

LUconn wrote:and I knocked my phone off of my pants

*snicker* nerd

While yes, I am a nerd, I don't have one of those things that clips my phone onto my belt (anymore). I should have said "knocked the phone out of my pants".

Ed Dantes wrote:Blackberry's are sharp, and I'll probably go with that even though I heard my rebate check won't come in until May. Motorola Q looks nice, but I've heard bad things about it... CNET rated it a 6.

I didnt like mine...I didnt like the Moto Q either...the part i hated about the blackberry is you had to get a special "Blackberry plan" which always frustrated me....I like my treo...it'll freeze up some but that's not a huge deal

What is this Blackberry plan you speak of, HMO? I just have standard data services on my bill except for a $10/mo tethering charge.

Everywhere around here you have to have a "blackberry plan" like at AT&T i found a plan I liked with minutes and stuff but the blackberry was excluded on it you couldnt do it and at sprint you have to add $35 dollars for a blackberry data plan while the treo is $10 (for older customers) or $15 for new customers



For the record I hated my Q nobody on sprint likes there's but a few like it on Alltel but I've never heard anyone say they love it...i had a work phone and would only send 2 or 3 texts a day on my personal phone (the Q) and it couldnt make it through the day on one battery...I got about an hour of talk time (I blame a lot of that to the bluetooth zapping the battery but still it should do more than that)

For the record I hated my Q nobody on sprint likes there's but a few like it on Alltel but I've never heard anyone say they love it

I'm sorry, what?

it makes sense...yes it's about as compound and you can get and there could be some colons and commas but i'm certainly not taking that from you!

This conversation was cooler when it was about pooping.

he did refer to his colon in that last post- so...