It's shiny...(Part 1)

My cell phone has been going wonky for the last little while, even though it was fully charged it would just die. I have a bad habit of leaving it on and forgetting about it, I probably screwed up the battery.

Anyways, Josh and I went into a Bell Mobility store on Thursday evening so I could either:

a) get a new battery or,

b) get a new phone...

As soon as we walked into the store, a saleslady ran over to me and asked me if I needed help and I told her what the problem was. She said that it's better to get a new phone than to get a new battery since my phone was already 2 years old. I didn't think that was ancient in cell phone technology, but whatever, I let her do her shpiel (and yes, J, that link is just for you).

So, since I'm such a "valued customer" of Bell's, she told me that I could get any phone I wanted and it would be $200 off. Yeah, right. Phones are simply NOT that expensive, I'm sure it's a little bit of bait and switch, but what can you do?

She showed me a few phones that had all the bells and whistles on them, and Josh was kind of tired and just starting to come down with his cold and turned to the saleslady and said "Ok, so you can download MP3s, watch tv, use bluetooth, use it as a camera AND camcorder, but can you actually use it AS A PHONE?!" The saleslady chuckled and said "well, yes, that too". Why are phones getting so bloody complex?!

Anyways, I finally settled on the one pictured above and it's got a bunch of funky features:

* Dual mode digital phone (1.9GHz & 800 MHz)
* Internal 262K colour TFT display with 65K colour STN external display
* High speed mobile network connectivity for broadband like download speeds
* Assisted GPS (AGPS) Ready for e9-1-1, Finder Services, Seek & Find and Business Tracking Services
* Supports Stereo Bluetooth for both music and voice calls as well as mono wireless headset and hands-free Bluetooth profiles. It also supports v-card transfers to other compatible devices via Object Exchange (OBEX). Profiles supported include:
o A2DP (Stereo Headset)
o HS (Headset-mono)
o DUN (Dial-up Network
o HF (Handsfree)
o OPP (Object Push Profile)
o FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
o OBEX (Object Exchange)
* 1.3 Megapixel camera
* Camcorder
* Streaming video capable* for TV on your phone
* Media player with internal and external controls to listen to your MP3's on the go
* Download full track MP3's* wirelessly
* External memory card slot for use with TransFlash™ cards
* 30 polyphonic ring tones included with vibration alert
* Mobile browser capable*
* Picture/Video Messaging capable*
* Download capable for ringtones, screensavers, games and applications*
* Capable of 2-way SMS*/Text Messaging with T9™
* Includes built in "tools" section for Voice Memos, Alarm Clock, World Clock, Calculator, Memo's, Tasks Lists and Countdown Timers
* VoiceSignal™ software enables you to place calls and access your contacts list using just the sound of your voice
* Internal antenna
* 2-way Speakerphone

(and yes, I copied that off the Bell site...I'm too lazy to type that all out.) ;)

I ended up getting my "free phone" for $100.00, plus activation fee and plus carrying case. All tolled, it was about $150.00 including tax.

As she was going over the package I have, she told me that she couldn't manually set up my ring tune from my old phone to my new phone and I'd have to call customer service tomorrow...