Ocho Phone Home.

Just about 2 years ago I decided that it was stupid to pay $40 a month for a landline I barely used, so I ditched that and got a cell with that number instead.

This was my first cell phone, so it took some time to learn the various ways that the carriers work and the plans/costs.

Old Phone:

It did pretty well for me, though sending text messages and trying to "surf" on this thing was a bit of a pain, it was still better than not having any mobile Internet/communication.

I swore to myself I'd either get a smartphone or something damned close, and since I save so many minutes with most of my friends and family on Verizon, I didn't want to change over to AT&T to get the iPhone. Then just recently I found out about the new "iPhone killer" Verizon was putting out(made by LG) and did some research, was getting a couple good reviews and due out soon.

Verizon's LG Voyager(with touchscreen front):

Cut to this week, Wednesday to be specific, and I liked the features and early reviews, so I decided to go for it. I had my "New Every 2" discount ready, that shaved off a nice chunk right off.

(Opened up photo is a big blurry...guess it wasn't judging the light correctly)

So far I'm enjoying it, does nearly everything I was hoping for and has some nifty features and options. I was also really happy to find out that I can change my plan through Verizon at any time at no cost and it doesn't extend my contract. That lets me experiment with new features.

I don't see GPS as being big on the list of things I'll be using, so after toying around with it for the trial I dropped that and picked up Mobile TV, 8 streaming channels 24/7. We'll see how those are. Of course mobile Internet and unlimited messaging(for now, until I see how many I use from the mobile IM program) are in the current plan too. A little more than I was paying with the old phone, but so much more useful. And thankfully I can drop things as I deem them unnecessary.

The keyboard and touchscreen together mean it kind of fits whatever I'm doing at the time, very handy. Not being a "Smartphone" I can't put my own applications on it, and just having to find a way to get my own free ringtones on was hard enough. Working around those limitations can be frustrating, but being half the cost of a smartphone and also a cheaper monthly plan, I can live with that.

Sounds good as a phone, lot of neat features, now I just have to spend some time with it and figure out what kind of quirks it has, they never make anything perfect..otherwise you wouldn't ever need to upgrade...