AND its a phone

You know when it's time to get a new device with which to make calls while text-ing and checking your emails. The difficult part is deciding WHICH device to buy. Want a full type pad so you can easily type or navigate online? Need a camera so you can send pics to friends or to flickr so you can use them on your blogs like this?

www.flickr.com

Or maybe you want one of those phones to use as an MP3 player.  My old phone finally broke in half in December. I knew the new Treo I thought I wanted was coming out soon, so I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a phone at that point. I went to the Verizon store to see what I could get for as little as possible just to get me to the Treo release date. Unfortunately, since I was right in the middle of my service agreement, I couldn't get any of the advertised deals. That $69.99 phone was for new customers. It was $199.99 for me, a faithful five-year subscriber.

The service rep offered me an alternative. She said to use one of my old phones until it was time to renew my service. That would only be a thirty-dollar connection fee. I had two or three old phones lying around. But since I knew I never going camera-less again, I had donated them.

I think I gave them to Keep Stamford Beautiful. The organization raises a little money by selling donted devices to a recyling company. If your old phone is still in working order, you can make a few bucks by selling it yourself.

However, as I learned, having a working back up on hand isn't a bad idea. Luckily my good pal and coworker Eric Greene had just upgraded and had a phone that was compatible with my service provider, and he let me borrow it. I also could have bought a used one on Craig's list. At least this way I knew the person to whom the information still saved on the phone belonged. Eric, I promise I didn't call any of those numbers! Actually, Eric did a good job of deleting old information. Recently there have been articles in the media warning people about the information and secrets donated old phones may still possess. However, a group that recycles phones has a website called wirelessrecycling.com and it shows you how to get rid of information that just deleting doesn't take care of.

This is a good site I found for comparing all the phones out there from the different providers. Check it out if you are in the market but aren't sure what to buy. However, beware! The latest model is always around the corner! Since I waited until my plan was ready to be renewed this past month, a phone I liked even better than the Treo came out, the MotoQ. So far so good! I can even update my blog from it. (Or at least I'm supposed to be able to - I'm still learning how to dial with it along with the 800 other features I might learn one day.)

Once you finally decide which device to buy, all you have to do is choose your ringtone. Then which ringtone for which friend, for the alarm, and for the unknown calls. Because, after all, that little PDA, MP3, texting monster and camera - is also a phone!