My new baby.

Another update in my personal life is a recent addition of a smart phone to my arsenal of electronics.  I have been putting this purchase off for some time now, as Matt got a Droid sometime last year.  I couldn't believe that a data plan was going to cost me an extra $30 a month, and I honestly didn't see myself using it.  Since then, I've grown to love our iPod Touch, that has the Facebook App, Google Reader, and the Weather Channel (to name a few) along with a few silly games that I can play before going to bed at night.  Needless to say I'm hooked.  The only problem?  Well, just that it's not a phone, and as soon as I'm outside the reach of a wifi network I don't get to do anything online, although there's still plenty of fun things to do offline.

So, needless to say, I've been tossing around the idea of getting a smart phone for a while.  And was REALLY excited when Verizon finally got the iPhone...I mean that's HUGE!  I had decided that I was going to wait for the iPhone 5 to come out sometime this summer.  Every since Verizon's iPhone 4 has been out, which was what, Febuary(?), I started re-thinking my logic.  Granted, I love our iPod touch, however, I'm not sure I was ready to replace it - considering that it would probably go into major non-use if I were to get an iPhone.  Also, for Matt's birthday, he got an iPad, which we also love and use lots.  However, I'm also a heavy google account user, and what I love about Android phones is their tight integration with google - so my email, calender, photos, etc. load would load automatically.  And I also like that although there aren't as many apps on the Android Market, a lot of them are free, and I'm a fan of free!  Granted, the App Store has lots of free apps too, but often they are a lite version or somehow crippled until you buy the full version.

With that in mind, we went into Verizon's store (btw - I sorta hate Verizon and their antics, but since everyone in my family uses them, partly because of me, party because of the network, I must stick with them - hello free minutes!) and looked at phones.  I originally thought I really wanted the HTC Thunderbolt, however when I held it it felt massive.  It just seemed to big for my petite/dainty hands (hehe).  The next one I picked up was the Samsung Fascinate, and liked it immediately.  Just like Harry Pottery and his wand sending a warm jolt of energy to his body at first touch...ha ha ha!  Anyhoo, I really dig the swipe texting, and the look and feel of the Fascinate.  One drawback is that it does not have a front camera, so video chat isn't an option, however I'm not sure how often (if ever) I'd be in a situation where I'd only have my phone to do a video chat with someone - most likely we'd have Matt's iPad, or a laptop or some other means of doing video chat.

So far, I'm loving it - I love doing a quick check of FB, downloading 2 free versions of Angry Birds, and having the beautiful background pic sweet baby girl spread across all my home screens.  I don't like that Verizon wants to charge to tether the device to another wireless device for $20 a month, for 2 GB of data - that's highway robbery, although there HAS to be someway around that, right?  Admittedly I do have some remorse over not getting the iPhone, since I think I have been in love with the iPhone since it's conception, like 8 years ago, but beings that I'm not a mac user, or a heavy mac anything, I think I've made a decision that's right for me.