Why would I want a smart phone?

I use mine for listening to music wherever I go. I have nearly 6000 tunes stored in it. I can plug it into my car stereo for tunes while I drive. I also have a speaker dock for in the house which keeps it charged and plays music. There are also apps that let you stream TV shows and movies for free. I’m talking about major movies such as the Da Vinci Code or Men In Black. I also have the Xfinity app which shows content from HBO, Showtime, and Starz for subscribers to those networks. Some of the content is 3G, but some is also Wi-Fi only but it’s all free with some ads. I can also watch current episodes of shows like CSI or Men of a Certain Age. There is also streaming music from apps such as Pandora. I even have an app that streams the internet feeds of my local stations straight to my phone, so there’s no need to even have that much content stored on your phone, as there is much that you can stream instead. If you have a Netflix subscription, you can even stream from that.

You’re in luck - you can try out the Optimus at home or anywhere you have a Wifi network before you activate it. Connect it to your Wifi, and you can download any apps you want and play with it for awhile. See if you can type on the touchscreen. Surf the web and try downloading a book. Take a photo and upload it to Photobucket. Scan all the barcodes in your house. You can do anything you want on the phone except for calling or texting people. I did this for 3 weeks before I activated mine.

I think you might be happier with the Virgin Mobile Intercept than the Optimus. It’s almost the same, with a touch screen, the same camera and the same menus, but it slides open and has a real keyboard. The Optimus is extremely difficult to hit the keys you want. I have normal-sized female fingers and have trouble, and my teens won’t use it either because of that, including one with very small fingers. The Intercept’s screen is just slightly smaller. Using the Optimus before you activate it will let you know whether you can live with it or not.

A couple of years ago, Hallgirl (who had a iPhone) offered to buy one for me for Christmas. I thought that although I had a phone, what did I need an iPhone for? It seemed like overkill to me at the time, as all I used my phone for were brief conversations and texting.

Fast forward to today. I’m addicted to my iPhone. I use it for nearly everything. (It hasn’t however, replaced my laptop.) It has all my music (iPod & Pandora), my calendar, my alarm clock, my apps I use to lull me to sleep at night (Sleepmaker Rains Pro and Sleepmaker Storm Pro), my games (Solitaire, reMovem free, Words with Friends), my my-brain-hates-math ap (CheckPlease lite), my photos, my contacts, my weather forecast (Weatherbug) for me and both Hallgirls (one in Philly, one in Minot), my books (Kindle), my email, not to mention the apps for Craigslist, Netflix (yes, I have watched movies on it), Gas Buddy, etc., etc., etc.

Oh, yeah, and the internet, calls and texting.

I cannot imagine what I did before I got this phone. Yes, it took a bit getting used to (I’m 44 and my vision isn’t what it used to be), but I love it.

Hey, thanks for telling me this! I don’t have wireless at home but I can go get some coffee at Mickey D’s. It’s too late for me to get an Intercept, I already ordered the Optimus. Virgin gives you 30 days to send it back if you don’t like it. This is really a useful bit of info. Thanks again.

GPS is also cool. Imagine, you can go anywhere in North America and most places in the world, and your phone can direct you to where ever you are going.

The Kindle app is cool. Beware, though, it’s addictive and easy to buy “just one more book.”

You may be able to connect it to your Virgin broadband2go connection. When you search for a network on it, it should tell you if it sees it.

If the touch keys are too hard to use, you should be able to try out an Intercept at a Best Buy where they have the phones out on display.

If you do decide to return it and get an Intercept, know that you can get it for a better price at Best Buy or Walmart ($30 less), with the same 30-day return policy.

Needscoffee - the reason I even got one was to use up some of my huge cash balance on my phone account, so saving money by getting one at a store wasn’t an issue. My broadband2go is a usb modem, so I don’t see how I can use that with a phone. I don’t plan on doing much serious typing on it. I’ve got the laptop for that.

The best ebook app I’ve found is called Stanza. I think it uses the same format as Nook, and it’s really easy to connect it to various online free libraries like the Baen Library.

I like to never have to say “I don’t know” when I am around town :). What time does the museum close on Sundays? When is Joey’s birthday party? How much does a Nintendo DS cost? How far is it to that park Mary was talking about? Is there a Subway sandwich near there? I can’t decide between this hairdryer and that one, which gets better reviews? Can you make a countertop out of slate? Which way has less traffic right now? Which cut of brisket should we get? All these questions were all answered within a minute or two of being pondered or asked.