I know, I know. I promised you a bling post, and I’ve failed to deliver. It’s coming. I promise. I just need to take pictures of the ring and upload them.
Quite frankly work has been kicking me in the rear for the past two weeks, meaning I have done nothing but live in my monkey cube. It’s rather exhausting and leaving me in a foul mood.
But, on the bright side, I need a new phone! And that means I need advice.
Right now I have the ghetto fabulous old-school RAZR phone. It was awesome when I got it. Now? Not so much.
My model doesn’t even have auto-complete texting, Internet options, or save features. I have to punch in every freaking letter in every text message I want to send. It’s annoying, inefficient, and a royal pain in my ass.
But I digress.
I need a new phone. Every person I know says I should get an iPhone or BlackBerry. But there’s just a slight problem with these choices. I am already addicted to the Internet, e-mail, and blogging. Allowing my phone to have online capability may be the end of my marriage.
Plus, I know I’m an engineer, but technology freaks me the hell out. All those apps on the iPhone are like a child having a panic attack in a candy store. Which ones do I choose? How many do I need? Can I even work this stupid phone? AHHHHHH. And the BlackBerry is no better.
HELP! Can you give me some pros and cons about upgrading to one of these phones? Which would you recommend and why? Are they worth the investment? Or should I just stick with a phone from the Stone Age?
Hit me with it.
~*~
AND on another awesome note, I’m so excited to announce that the fabulous and talented Ashley Brooke of Ashley Brooke Designs is now a sponsor of my little home on the Interwebs. You’ll notice her logo in the right sidebar on the home page, and if you click on the “Sponsors” tab on the nav bar, you’ll see all snippet of the work that Ashley Brooke Designs has created for me (including the new design on my Mojito Maven tab)!
I feel beyond blessed to call her a friend!!
Head over to Ashley Brooke Designs and order some Valentine’s Day cards! These are my absolute favorite:
You can email Ashley Brooke at info@ashleybrookedesigns.com to place an order.
{ 55 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m struggling with this same issue right now and look forward to hearing what your readers have to say. So far everyone I’ve talked to has raved and raved and raved about their iPhone and say I absolutely must get one. Truth be told, most sound more than slightly addicted to theirs which means my marriage could get a little rocky. Good luck with your decision!
I had a BlackBerry (a few to be honest) and now have an iPhone and if given the option would go back to a BlackBerry in a heartbeat!
I have the enV Touch (through Verizon – I don’t know who your cell phone provider is.) I LOVE it. I didn’t want a Blackberry for the reasons you listed. My enV Touch, though, gives me enough access to the internet and I can tweet, check my email (and send emails), check my gossip blogs – or the news – and so much more. I really love the enV. (I had the first enV when it came out several years ago.) So if you want to stay away from the iPhone and Blackberry, you could still get a decent smartphone. Oh, and if you steer clear of the iphone and blackberry, you avoid the extra charges in those plans. (I pay under $60 for my phone bill every month, which includes unlimited texting/picture messaging/internet usage.)
I looooove my iPhone. BBy is probably better for texting, but, like you, I’m addicted to internet/email/Twitter/FB and the iPhone is fab for perusing all these. As much as it exasperates my hubby when I’m on it, he loves that I can quickly look up directions/info when we’re out doing errands…
You should get the iPhone. It’s pretty intuitive, so you don’t need to be a tech geek. The apps are fun and you might be a little obsessed with them at first, but this will fade.
I have a blackberry and I love it. The newer models are great and really easy to use. Plus the whole keyboard makes texting a breeze!
I thought I would never use the internet on my phone. That was before I got the My Touch from T-Mobile (not sure who your carrier is but it’s similar to the iPhone). The best part of having the internet with you at all times is for seaching info!!! We were at a restaurant and our waiter looked like an actor. OOO!!! I can Google it. Or arguing about which came first…the chicken or the egg. Google it. No more hoping to remember to look something up when I get home. I’m in love with having the technology at my fingertips!!! However I do hear “get off the phone” too many times a night.
XOXO
We just upgraded our phones a few weeks ago. We had the RAZR phones as well. I got the new Blackberry Curve and my husband got the whatever the fancy Google phone is. I have total phone envy over his phone, but, whatever–the Blackberry is the highest rated by businesses and so thus, I get the business phone.
I hated it at first (because I had phone envy) but, I’ve gotten used to it and I love it. Although, this does mean I am not 100% tethered to my office (bleh) it is nice to have Twitter and Weather.com at my fingertips. Oh, and GPS. Things like that.
Hope this helps!
Hope work gets better! Things have been super busy here and yet, I refuse to do any actual work. This is not smart at all.
I still have the old school, not even a camera phone, phone; which I have to say is great. However, it would make life easier on me to have a phone I could look up things quickly. My contract ends this summer, and i’m already dreaming of a crackberry. If you stive to be able to look up things immediately, then get a smart phone; if not, stick with the old school . . . just get a better texting one!
i have a bb and love it. i have heard that the iphone has a great ww app though and i’m slightly envious. i can use ww mobile though so i’m not left in the dark.
If you have/like the verizon service I recommend the Droid Eris by HTC. My brother and father both jumped the verizon ships and latched on to an att iphone – they LOOOOVE the phone but they HHHAAAAATTTTEEEE Att. So it really depends on where you live and where you go and whos going to cover it best. We planned on staying with verizon and while my husband used to have a blackberry – i hated it when he’d hand it to me and ask me to look something up – IMO not user friendly. I would look around and ask someone to borrow their iphone. But the driod’s came out and the Eris fit my fancy and now I looove it. The nice this is that it is COMEPLETELY customizable. And, if the apps are distracting – dont add them – or just add them one at a time.
I have an iPhone and I LUUUUUURVE it. I’m a total technology idiot, I can’t figure anything out. The iPhone is so user friendly and took me no time at all to get used to. My husband has a phone that “just calls people”. So we pretty much share my phone when we’re together for internet usage. I haven’t found that it took me away from any time or attention to him.
I was anti-smart phone for a while (even posted about it) and scared that it would make my internet love worse, but it actually allows you to spend less time on the computer and more time living because you can scroll through e-mails while multi-tasking. You can check Facebook, weather, etc. – I love it and couldn’t imagine not having one now. Not sure which service you are on, or if you have a contract, but there are rumors that the iPhone is going to be available through other networks outside of AT&T soon if that makes a difference. I have Verizon, but I would love an iPhone -the apps are just too cool!
We have iPhones, it’s like having a 3rd arm…but I am addicted. I am constantly staring at the screen so much so that my eye hurt. Almost all of my apps are free, so cost goes out the window, and if you don’t like an app…delete it! Plus it syncs to outlook and to your favorites. With one itunes account you both can access the purchased apps. Good luck with the choice. No other phone out there, has caught my eye like the iPhone and the Razor did…(I had a pink one).
I have resisted an iPhone for the very same reason…which means I have a super old phone that’s not internet capable. I hope someone else can chime in and help you out!
The fancy Google phone is that Ally is talking about is the Droid. I purchased mine a month ago and I LOVE IT! I have the iPod Touch, which is the iPhone without the phone capabilities, and I have to say that I would take a Droid over the iPhone hands down. It has pretty much the same apps, but you can run them all at once (you can run twitter, facebook, email, and pandora together). Plus it has the touch keypad as well as a full slide out keyboard. It even has a neat voice/search that will look up anything you ask it in google (kind of similar to google chrome if you use it).
Good luck with your phone shopping!
I totally understand the stress of a new phone relationship. My husband convinced me to move over to the iPhone last year and I honestly love it. It combines my iPod, phone and calendar into one. I love using outlook and it syncs up really nicely with my Mac at home making things really easy to update. I also LOVE the maps feature of my iPhone. It’s standard and is a gps/directional tool that I use honestly everyday.With apps? I only have like 5, although some people obsess over them. I don’t use them too often honestly but there are some cool options.
As far as it taking over your life? It’s all about boundaries girl; if you don’t obsess over it you’ll be fine. It has come in very handy when I need to know something online last-minute just to be able to pull up my phone and find it on the web or dig through an old email.
iPhone is my vote! (only from experience
) Good luck!
Lady you MUST get an iPhone. Seriously. You will love it.
I’m an internet junkie too. I got an iphone recently and it changed my life. Seriously.
I actually spend less time on the internet because I’m no longer chained to a desk. And I love so many of the features – like doing a google search for something and clicking “directions” and it tells you how to get there from where you are! And it’s not even an app.
It doesn’t have the best battery life though. But the Blackberry was very intimidating for me – too many buttons. I lurve the iphone.
Try the Droid! My husband and I both got the Driod Eris over the holidays — buy one, get one free, plus a $100 rebate. We LOVE them!
I have to tell you I only updated to an iPhone because my parents gave us their old ones. I will never go back. It is so convienent having all of it at your fingertips. I am not that into apps but found some great ones. I do have a slight internet addiction but I don’t use it anymore with my phone. My husband uses his all the time, he hasn’t got on his computer in ages! Plus our bill only went up by 20 bucks each.
I have a blackberry and when I am eligible for a new phone I will be trading it in for a normal phone. I love the Samsung Alias and will go back to that. If Verizon has the iPhone by that time, I may be tempted to try it, but I honestly feel too connected with the Blackberry and that is coming from someone who loves technology. I loved the last Alias I had because it had the full qwerty keypad which makes texting easier. So, I say stick with the basics. But I’m obviously of the unpopular vote.
YAY for sponsers. ABD is AHmazing!
I got the BB for Christmas (Curve). I was skeptical at first but now I love it. Before it, I had the ENV 2. And let me say, I loooooooved that phone. I really just wanted the ENV 3 but Adam got me the BB. If you asked him today, he would say he regrets it. I am on it way too much and honestly, until I had it I didn’t know what I didn’t have! NOW I DO! And would die without it! ha. So I would recommend the ENV 3… for marriage sake
Iphone! Hands down. The applications are amazing and it’s so much more than just a phone. While blackberries are really cool (I had one before the iphone), the applications aren’t there yet. And if your iphone messes up or anything you walk into the apple store and they give you a new one. It’s pretty neat. I literally handle so much from my phone while i’m traveling, it’s amazing! It looks overwhelming at first, but after an hour your good! Getting use to a blackberry is actually harder.
iPhone! You will love it! Not only is the internet/social networking great but the calendar and contacts are awesome! Its so easy to use! I was freaked out about the apps but what I did was read other peoples comments about them and just chose the ones I liked and I got the ones my friends liked! I love this phone and I will NEVER have anything else! Keep us up to date about what you choose to get!
Funny you bring this up, because I just let go of my Razr over the weekend and upgraded to a HTC Hero (very similar to an iPhone). I figured learning how to operate a ’smart phone’ would require hours of dedication, but the phone is extremely intuitive (the manual does come in handy though!). I’m not an internet junkie, but I do love the ability to be able to look things up when I’m out n’ about. I used it in Publix yesterday to look up the ingredients in a recipe I wanted to try. There are a million nifty apps, and so many of them are free. It has GPS. Plus having a qwerty keyboard is such a luxury, lol. I loved my little Razr, but having been using my Hero for 2 days now I’m hooked (I kind of hate to admit it)
I haven’t plunged into the world of BlackBerry or iPhone either, and I’m in PR! I have a LG Envy and I love it. Full keyboard for easy text messaging. Good luck!!! Keep holding out!
Don’t worry, you’re not the only one left with a stone age phone. I have the same one you do. Ghetto fabulous no? But anyway, from what I’ve heard, iPhones break so easily. My sister-in-law got one and within a month the screen had cracked. So if you’re like me and drop things all the time, I’d say find something a little more sturdy. Because that would be an expensive phone to replace.
My only advice is do not get a touch screen, I hate them!
I love the iphone. I will never have another phone honestly. I was always someone who would get the next new phone and I have had this one for 2 years. Get the iphone! And if you are not with ATT just wait a few more months and your carrier will prob be covered!! I am clumsy and mine has never had ANY issues.
I had an ancient phone till one of my rugrats from school stole my ipod last year and i decided to make the plunge and kill 2 birds with 1 stone and buy the iphone. Awesome purchase. It’s been so nice when we’ve been traveling and my work email is right there and personal email, not to mention the music as well. It’s an investment, but worth it!
I don’t have a smartphone, mainly because it would be too much for me to handle. It definitely overwhelms me! However my husband has the G1 (android phone from Tmobile) and he (and I) both love it. If you go with a smartphone, definitely consider it, or the similar Droid phone at Verizon!
The iPhone has made my life infinitely better. I’m not even kidding.
Go iPhone! I am an internet addict, and I was worried to take the plunge as well. Honestly, the internet fascination wears off, and you won’t be nearly as crazy as you think you will. It really comes in handy when you need it, but you definitely don’t have to worry about going crazy on it. I am a teacher and was worried I’d take too many internet breaks, and that isn’t a problem at all. You’ll love all the accessibility that comes with the phone. As a girl that swore up and down I’d never be one of THOSE people… I am a PROUD iPhone owner.
I have to say, I thought I would NEVER “crack” and get a fancy phone…and now I have a MyTouch. It.is.addicting! I don’t know what I did without it! As much as I do now spend time on it (alot of time) I like that I’m never without something to do. If I have to wait for an appt, I can get work done at the same time!
I have had both blackberry and iphone and I just currently had to switch back to my BB phone after the iphone met an unfortunate demise. I would definitely choose iPhone of the two. Blackberry has great email capabilities and I like the texting better…but I’m all about surfing the internet and apps. Once you get into apps, they aren’t scary at all…and become very helpful.
Hope you get something you like!
I am the same. I work in technology, and yet the whole iPhone app and Blackberry internetting scares me too! Plus, I’m on the computer at work all day, I’m on my netbook at home (or my desktop) so I definitely don’t feel the need to pay extra to surf the web on my phone. I ended up getting a Verizon eNV 2 with the key board for texting, keeping my plan a reasonable price. I think they’ve made a new eNV by now, but I like the keyboard for texting. Good luck!
I have the EnV3 and LOVE it.
It’s just enough internet access to be helpful when I really need it, but it’s inconvenient enough to use that I don’t want to use it all the time.
I have an iPhone and I LOVE it! For about the first week, I was overly obsessed with the internet capabilities and all of the apps but after that things simmered down. Now I mainly use my iPhone for making calls, checking e-mail, keeping up with my calendar, and using the uber-fabulous Google Maps for my directionally challenged self. I use the internet occasionally but mostly when I just need to look something up. As for apps, I made the decision early on that I would not pay for a single app and I have mostly stuck to that decision; I’ve only paid for two apps one of which was iFood which is wonderful and the other was for some sort of food diary tracker and it stunk. There are a lot of free apps so there’s really no need to buy one unless it’s something that you really, really want. As for blogging via iPhone, it would take far too much time so I don’t think that would ever be a problem. Good luck with the phone decision; the only other piece of advice I can offer is to NOT get a Samsung BlackJack, I had one and hated it!
Blackberry all the way! I don’t know if this is strictly true, but I feel like with BB it’s a little more difficult to do web stuff than with the iphone cause iphone is more like normal surfing the web, not scrolling through webpages and clicking on links that are highlighted- if that makes sense. i also love BB for blackberry messaging, which is like MSN through your phone for you and other BB users- you can send messages and pics to anywhere in the world for free! Exciting.
I recently got a Droid and I love it. I work full time and go to shool at night, so it keeps me organized without being confusing and overly burdensome. My employer also blocks most websites, so I can keep up with things during the workday. Definitely reccomend!
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE my blackberry!!!!!
I have an ENV 3. I love it. It’s perfect because I can use it for email, facebook, whatever, but it’s not so easy to do that I am on it all the time. It’s a great phone and I totally recommend it!
I have an iPhone and a Blackberry (for work) and I can honestly say, there is no comparison. The iPhone is 10x better than the BB in every category and I literally could not function without it (I wish that was an exaggeration!). There is just so much more that the iPhone can do compared to the BB.
Thanks for the post about the stationery!
my man has a Palm Pre and I love it! I seriously want to have his phone!
My second choice would be an iphone, unless you already have an ipod touch, they’re one in the same.
Blackberries are OK, I personally think they are better for people who have real business jobs and who need to book a ton of appointments, otherwise you’ll be hooked on one like my sister and constantly be checking fb and mail/ chatting. It’s a total crackberry, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. iphones are equally as addictive, but I just find some of those apps so freakin helpful. There’s a Jamie Oliver app and you just type in the main protein that you want to cook with or the type of disk and a whole variety of recipes pops up with the handy ingredient list for shopping and a step by step demonstration via photos and clever words. Excellente!
Sweetheart this is easy, iphone… go get one now.
I’ve had them all, blackjack, blackberries, and have had an iphone for about a year. I love it, and dont think I could live without it now…. the mapping on it is huge for me, so is the weather app, google app… restaurants… you wont go on overload!
Good luck!
I used to have that cool Razor too! I made the switch to the Iphone and honestly don’t know what I did before it (I know, it’s sad)! It makes everything so much easier: GPS, Twitter, even Google Reader. Every now and again, my husband will ge annoyed with me, but for the most part I use it if I’m killing time somewhere like Houston traffic! I also used to own a Blackberry, which is great too, but I do not think you will regret the Iphone! Good luck with your decicion. Love your blog & can’t wait to see your new ring pics!
I just got a BlackBerry a few months ago and had the same two fears – addiction, and that I would somehow break it. I WAS addicted for a few weeks, and I haven’t broken it. Honestly, once you get used to the fact that you’re connected so much better through your phone (not just text but bbm, gchat, and email – which is AWESOME), it really just starts to feel like a normal phone. You can surf the internet, but not as quickly easily as on a computer or iPhone, so I just don’t really do it (which is a plus for me). I’m really gald I made the switch, but if you could hold out old-school until we all have video cell phones or something, I’d be super impressed.
Get an iPhone. You don’t need any additional apps. They redefined the paradigm for mobile browsing with the pinch gesture. Then, if you WANT to play with apps, have fun.
BTW, my last phone was a Razr. And all the Msoft bigots in my software clan have switched to Apple because of the iPhone. They think it’s the next wave in computing. Like, um, big.
I used to be anti-iPhone, but now that I have one, I have to say I don’t think I could ever go back! As someone once told me: “It’s the key to your universe!”
Also, I have a question. I’m new to the bloggy world and was wondering at what point in your blogging did you decide to get sponsors?
Add my vote to the iPhone column. I’m an apple fan for years and years now, and this little phone is my favorite gadget ever!
I have a BB and he has an iPhone. Saying that I now covet his iPhone would be an understatement. It’s just easier to use and more intuitive. I’ll be switching soon, so I say: go for it!
I had a BB and an iPhone. I wanted to throw the iPhone out the window. Between the freezing, touch screen and the crappy ATT service, I was done.
The touch screen became a pain on the iPhone. I love my BB. Love Love Love.