Dilemma Solved...for Now

So that Monday came.  

With my SIL's help, I ordered my phone.

This is what I went with in the end:

the Samsung Solstice.

And it's finally here & hooked up!

It's taking some getting-used-to, but very promising...

• Multi-tap for texts if I want. 
• Only a Qwerty keyboard when I hold it horizontally.
• If I so choose, texts can be penned using my own handwriting.
• Like an old Palm Pilot.
• No slider, hurrah!
• It's so anorexic, I almost forget I'm holding it.
• If I want to mute a call or snooze an alarm I just flip it over, which.is.awesome.
• Touch-screen, but no mega-extra bells & whistles I didn't want in the iPhone.
• Sleek in black.  Definitely smitten with how chic it is.
• Plus, the camera's better than what I had.
• And it was exponentially more affordable than the Mythic I'd been eying.

All I need now is to learn my way around it's space-aged-ness and we're good!

A Love-Hate Relationship

I have this phone:

The Samsung Propel.

Let's just say, things have been better.

I do love the color.

But why wouldn't I?  It is my fave color ever!  

Mine has been nicknamed "the Lilypad."  Kinda works out well with my thing for frogs too.  ::snicker::  As far as navigating through the menu (etc.), I find it user-friendly enough.  And all phones in our house are Samsung at this point, so chargers are universal. 

What I can't stand about this cute little thing?

• Crappy battery life
• QWERTY keyboards are for texting suckers! (Despite what they'd have you believe, QWERTY does NOT make texting easier.  I used to be a marathon one-handed texting champ.  No longer the case.  Now I have to slow down to use BOTH HANDS to crank out a stupid little blurb that would've been quicker to just call & say over the phone!)
• QWERTY keys are too tiny even for my mini-fingers.
• Have to stop & LOOK at my phone since now I have no idea which keys are my number keys for when I want to dial a number and actually PLACE a call!  On a tradition keypad, at least I could always dial without looking.  And I could text that way since I knew 2-3's = e, 2-5's = k, and 3-9's = y, etc.
• The last few months, it WILL NOT keep a call going for more than a couple minutes without the phone going quiet on both ends, and all signal going out the window.  (I've even tried to update my phone with the system & it won't let it.  Crumbs!)

I have learned cute doesn't cut it. 

It's not like this is a Pantech, or an HTC by any means.  But when phones cost what they do & you're committed to them for 2 years, it's aggravating to have 'em dump on ya before you can officially say "Sayonara, Sweetheart!"

Luckily, Sunday marks the day I can upgrade.  (So I'll be ordering it on Monday.)

What am I going with?  Not sure.   

I know I don't want an iphone.  

I hear it from everyone how great they are and how I really need to get one.  But the truth is, I don't need one at all.  I don't even like cellphones.  If I didn't have a kid, I wouldn't have one.  Period.  I don't check my email constantly.  (I've got a computer at home.)  I could care less about apps.  (Just another reason to have my bank account sucked dry.)  I'm not a big facebooker, so even that doesn't matter.   

Seriously, this is how old school I am: 

I heart my big, old, HEAVY-DUTY rotary phone at home.  Yep, where making a phone call actually requires you DIAL the number (not punch it in)!  Where you actually have to HANG the phone UP!  And you never worry that you'll either break or lose the receiver from it's proper place, wedged between the jawbone & shoulder.  It just fits.  It even SMELLS like an old phone should.  And I love that, if you want & your grandma doesn't catch ya, you can unscrew the earpiece & mouthpiece just like Matthew Broderick did in WARGAMES, hello!!!    =)

One friend HIGHLY recommends the Blackberry Curve since it's a "workhorse."

 However, again, the SAHM that I am isn't worried about getting time-sensitive emails.  Though this friend SWEARS by it's exceptional reception.  And reception is a big deal to me.  Apparently the battery life on it is nice too.  Another plus.  Only other things I'm concerned about is how easy is it to actually use?  And a smart phone means paying extra $$$ for a smart phone data package.  Not keen on that.

I am considering the Samsung Mythic.  

I do like how simple it is.  There's NO SLIDER function, Hallelujiah!!!  Instead of heat-sensitive, like the iphone, it's got a pressure-sensitive touchscreen.  However I CAN text using a "traditional-style" keypad on that touchscreen.  So that's nice.  Plus its not so complicated that I feel like I'm in another country every time I have to go further than skin-deep for a feature.  Kudos that the camera is better mp's than the one I've got now!  And, it's NOT A SMARTPHONE!!!  Woot woot!

But that's as far as I've gotten on the research end of things, and there are what seems like a gajillion & one phone options out there.  Sheesh!  A girl just can't keep up, and when she tries she winds up disappointed & wishing it all could go back to the simpler days of Motorola StarTac or a good old Nokia brick w/ Snake on it for those boring afternoons stuck in the doctor's office waiting room.  (Remember those?)

 

Bottom Line: I need a good phone I can make & receive calls with, dependable reception, solid battery-life, & one-handed texting friendly.  (BTW, bigger mp's on the camera would just be icing on the cellphone cake.)  

So, what are your thoughts & recommendations?  Please pipe-up, cause I think my head my start spinning between now & Monday!

P.S. I am kinda crushin' on this Bluetooth for my car...