That's INCREDIBLE!

So a few weeks ago I got one of those PR emails…you know the ones…
I have something I think you’ll totally love! Check out this awesome product….

Well, I get a lot of those – but a lot of those just don’t fit in over here at the Gust Gab. I’m not one of those totally cool review/give-away blogger types…Not that I wouldn’t want to be one…I just want to keep the premise of this here blog what it originally started out to do…chronicle the lives of our family, so that our kids will have a record of their lives…and so that family and friends far and wide can keep up on what we are up to (at their convenience.)
Talking about/offering give aways for things that fit right in with our lives - AWESOME!
Paying me to link up to an auto body shop in Arizona that I've never been to or heard of? Not awesome!

So…when I was offered the chance to utilize Verizon’s brand spankin’ new HTC Incredible phone in exchange for my thoughts, I’ll be honest. I hesitated. Big time. What would I want to do that for? I have had no desire for an iPhone, and while I contemplated a blackberry some time back, the added data package ($29.99) a month completely turned me off of that.
Life is expensive enough!
But, Albert (the PR guy) thought it would be worth my time to check out the camera on Verizon’s Incredible, seeing as how I was just having the point and shoot debate with myself! With an 8 mega pixel camera built right into the Incredible, does a person really need to carry around a point and shoot camera?
I would soon find out…


So…when I first got my hands on the Incredible, I was all thumbs. A touch screen with cute little buttons I thought oh boy, I will NOT be able to navigate this thing. And I'll be honest - the sheer number of options scared me. Well, that didn’t last long. A few hours later I was quickly accessing the Internet via our home wi-fi connection.
You don't NEED wi fi but it sure makes it nice! Super fast connections, clear screen, easy to navigate...intuitive? Both the hubs and I have been overwhelmed by our friends' crackberrys...but this phone...even novice phone folks like us could use it with no issues!
And it was...gasp...FUN!

As someone who desperately needs wants to stay connected, using this phone couldn't of made that any easier. I have Internet access on my current phone, but let's be honest. The phone I have now is no match for a 3G phone like the Incredible.
I can clunk my way around the interwebs but I cannot stay on top of things or connected like this new phone allows.

Albert was right - the 8 mega pixel camera was pretty awesome. I took a few crystal clear Caterpillar shots - and you'd be hard pressed to tell which ones were from my camera and which were from this phone -

Stay tuned for video - I'm going to whip that out when myself and 50+ other bloggers converge on Nye's Polonaise on Thursday night!

I didn't try out too many apps...but there are thousands and thousands of apps to choose from, many of them FREE.
There's a pretty slick calendar for adding things in that I tested a little bit. Can it really be THAT easy? (I'm a paper planner in my purse kind of gal yet.)
With a simple touch of the main screen - I had access to FM Radio...HELLO! How AWESOME! Working in an office where you want to drown out the sound (yes, I know about Pandora & hello folks! This phone does that too!) Or out for a walk or a couch to 5k run and don't want to carry your phone AND your ipod? Well, ta dah! Now you are carrying one less device!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this!

In fact, I love love love this phone.

What I don't love ~ If you use this phone to access the Internet (and why on earth wouldn't you if you have it?) the battery needs to be charged daily. My google research tells me that that is common for smart phones, so while it's common, it's a big adjustment for us in our house, as we're used to our phones holding a charge for close to a week...(we aren't big phone talkers over here)
I also don't love that Verizon offers this phone to those signing up for a NEW contract for just $199.00 - but if I were to get this phone - my price is $529.00. I've been a Verizon customer for the last 16 or so years...Shouldn't loyal customers get the same specials they woo new customers in with?

I can justify the additional monthly charges, because with my current plan - it would be an additional $15.00 a month for me - an extra $30 a month for the hubs...Easily worth the extra .50 a day to play with this phone for me, and be able to stay quickly and easily connected...I don't have the hubs convinced that he needs one yet - though I'd gladly share mine with him for app usage, connecting to the web on the go, etc etc...

Seriously...SUCH a time saver.
While I love social networking - let's be honest - it can be a real time suck! Being able to check in here and there so FAST sure makes it less so!
No more sitting down with the lap top at bedtime trying to see what I might have missed...and realizing two hours have passed!

So...I guess here you have it - Three weeks ago you couldn't of paid me to upgrade to a smart phone...now, I'm wondering how I'm going to live without one.

Seriously, it's INCREDIBLE!

(And if you don't believe my lay man's review - just google the phone for yourself - there are plenty of techie reviews out there agreeing about the incredible-ness of this phone!)