A few days ago (OK, so more like 2 weeks...) I told you about my adventures with the Palm Pre Plus from Verizon. Last time, I was just trying to learn to use it and get to know it a bit. Now, I feel like I know what I'm doing.
Join me, along with these fine folks to hear more about the Verizon Palm Pre Plus (hint: they have opportunities to win, too):
This Full House
Mom Trends
Tech for Mommies
Mom Generations
The Full Mommy
Rockin Mama
Musings of a Housewife
Manic Mommies
Quirky Fusion
It takes me forever to "move in" to a new phone. I like to take my time and get things just right so I feel like the phone is doing everything it can do for me.
This week, I'll talk about the basics that most everyone looks for in a phone: phone calls, contacts, texting, calendars and e-mail.
Phone calls: the Palm Pre Plus has a large, bright phone keyboard screen. The touch area for the numbers is roomy, so even sausaged-fingered people can make calls without too much error. My calls have been good quality so far, and I live in a tough area for reception.
Additionally,it has a speakerphone, speed dial, conference calling ability, an airplane mode and a silent ringer switch.
You can search for numbers from this screen by name or number to quickly find the number you need. The screen also has quick access to recent numbers that you've received calls from or dialed, which is important to me, since I'm not good at writing down numbers.
You can easily add these numbers to your contacts right from the screen, which is great for trading numbers with someone. You can call their phone, and right away, you have their number in your phone and can add it to your contacts.
Contacts: Adding contacts is pretty straightforward. One thing I noticed right away is that the Palm Pre Plus has built-in ways to add contacts from Google, Facebook, Microsoft Exchange, Linked-In and Yahoo. It's as easy as selecting "Add an account". There are also several options to import contacts from another phone.
There are plenty of fields to add information about your contacts including the ability to add a photo for each contact as well as assign them a ring tone so you can quickly and easily see who's calling. You can also view all your contacts at once, or separate them into personal, work, etc.
Texting - The Palm Pre Plus can handle IMs, texts and multimedia messages so you can stay in touch with people lots of ways. I had no problem adding my Google Talk IM.
[Side note]
If you don't know how to text, now is the time to learn. Your kids will get older, and despite what you say now, they will be texting, and you will need to communicate with them.
Also, I promise you'll be amazed at how handy it is.
Oh, and three small words to remember: Unlimited. Texting. Plan.
Just do it, trust me.
[/Side note]
Like I said before, at first glance, the physical keyboard looks quite small and cramped-ish. Don't let that throw you, as with many things, it just takes a bit of use to find your groove.
Calendars - I admit that I am off and on about keeping my calendar in my phone. It makes sense, and I am so much more organized when I do it, but there's something off-putting about entering dates in a small phone.
I do so much better with it when I enter things online such as with Google Calendar. The Palm Pre Plus can pull all your calendars (Outlook, other work, school, personal etc.) together in one view with appointments color coded so you can see the different accounts, or you can view each calendar alone.
I had no problems adding all my Google Calendars, it was very quick and easy.
Imagine just being able to look at your phone and find out the day's agenda or figure out where your appointment is (the Palm Pre Plus also has GPS, more on that later). Give it a try, calendars aren't just for business users.
E-mail: My favorite thing about the Palm Pre Plus e-mail is that it's really easy to use, and you can see a list of all your accounts (and their folders) on the same page. No more going from website to website to sign into your e-mail. You can also view e-mails from all accounts merged into one list, but that's not been too helpful to me.
If you don't currently use a phone to check your e-mail, it's really a great way to keep in touch and have information you need right with you. How many times have you left the directions to the party at home or needed the name of that great product someone e-mailed you about while you were at the store?
So, so far I really like the basics of the Palm Pre Plus. If it's your first smart phone, you'll be amazed at all the information you can have right in your hand.
Of course, it does the "gee whiz" stuff too, like Facebook and Twitter plus a host of other things that will amaze you. We'll talk about that next time.
For now, though, let's do something even more fun:
The giveaway:
Want a chance to win a $25 gift card to Verizon Wireless? You could put it toward a new phone, or even pay a bill.
Here's how to win:
1. Tell me where you could use a cool phone like this (kids' sports practice? At the park? Long train commure?) and and leave a comment (and a valid e-mail address).
2. (Optional) For an extra entry, Tweet about this giveaway and leave a separate comment.
3. 1 winner will be picked randomly via Random.org from the comments.
4. Winner has 24 hours to get back to me, otherwise another winner will be drawn.
5. Hurry! Contest ends Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 10pm CST.
I wrote this review while working on a Verizon Palm Pre Plus campaign by TheMotherhood.com on behalf of Verizon Wireless and have been given a Palm Pre Plus (and prizes for giveaways) to facilitate my review.
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