This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for stopping by.  The winner is Janette.  Congrats!

The Friday before my husband and I were to go shopping for my belated and much-needed birthday present, I receive an email asking me if I’d like to join a group of bloggers on a test drive of the new Palm Pre Plus.  My fingers can’t type Y-E-S fast enough.  I’ve been using what I call “the dinosaur” of a phone for way too long.  I’ve been BEGGING my husband for a new phone.  My old smartphone is literally falling apart. As in…the front piece of the phone fell off several weeks ago and it no longer slides open and closed the way it used to.  But it still makes and receives calls so we’re all good (ahem!).  Since my husband likes to do a LOT of research when it comes to all things related to technology, my birthday present was to be a month late.  Not anymore!

For the next four weeks, I’ll be taking you along with me on my “test drive” of this amazing phone.  I can describe the phone that way because it does everything except clean my house (and I’m only half-joking!).  This week, I want to focus on my first impressions.  Each week I’ll highlight a different aspect (or aspects) of the phone to help you get a really good feel for how it works.  There will be pictures and videos.  And at the end, I’ll be giving one of you a Palm Pre Plus of your very own (it’s sitting neatly boxed up on my desk as I type).

So what do you look for in a cell phone?  That’s the question I’m going to be focusing on today (and the question I’d love to have you answer when we get to this week’s giveaway).  My husband and I discussed the features I would need (and want) in a phone.  Without further ado, here they are:

First, it has to be relatively easy to use (or learn to use).  Now, when I tell you what features I’d like in my ideal phone, you’ll think it’s a contradiction…to have a phone that does all that I want it to do but still be easy to use.

Second, the phone must have the ability to take decent pictures.  While I aim to bring my camera with me wherever I go, inevitably I will find myself watching my son do something amazing or my daughter look absolutely adorable sleeping and want to snap a picture…and realize my camera is sitting on my desk….at home.

Third, the phone must enable me to stay connected.  In other words, I need to be able to read and send emails, update my Facebook status (and read other’s updates), send text messages (with grocery lists) to my husband, and keep up with my friends and colleagues on Twitter.

Anything above and beyond this list is icing.  So…the question begs…does the Palm Pre Plus meet my basic expectations?

I knew when I opened the box and saw this sleek, black, shiny new phone…that I was going to like it.  But…could I use it?

The first thing I did was attempt to set it up.  Hubby has been gone on business so I was on my own.  Guess what?  I did it!  I figured out how to get my email set-up (I have gmail), go on the internet, load up apps, and take a picture AND tweet it.  Sure…I had to read…but I did it.  It felt good!

The touch screen takes a bit of getting used to.  Fortunately there is a tutorial upon set-up that guides you through the process of learning to use the touch screen.  My old phone doesn’t utilize a touch screen so I had to learn how to “gesture.”  It’s pretty sensitive so I found that sometimes I was opening applications without knowing I was doing so.  I’m still working on getting the hang of that (stay tuned!).  Overall, I do like a touch screen because my old phone had a stylus which I lost.  It’s nice not to have to keep up with something that’s bound to get lost (or taken by my toddler).

Taken with the Palm Pre Plus

Taken with the Palm Pre Plus

Next up, take a picture (you’d think making a phone call takes priority…but no…not in this household!).  The Palm Pre Plus has a built-in 3 Mega Pixel camera with flash.  My hubby tells me this is decent for a phone (since I know nothing about pixels!).  This is the first picture I took.  I’ve since gotten better.  Taking a picture is EASY!  You literally go to the menu, hit the camera button, center your subject, and snap your pictures.

I have much to write over the next several weeks with regards to staying connected. The Palm Pre Plus utilizes applications (free and paid apps are available) that can be downloaded to the phone to help you do everything from updating your Facebook and Twitter status, finding your way (via GPS), making a restaurant reservation, and keeping your toddler entertained.  What a “smart” phone!

I’m totally blogging this!

Here is a quick summary of the new Palm Pre Plus from the site:

The new Palm Pre Plus…helps you navigate your life with a vivid touchscreen, full keyboard, and the intuitive Palm webOS platform, which runs multiple apps at once. View websites and watch videos in widescreen. Slide out the keyboard to fire off a text or email. Bring work and personal events or contacts together in one simple view.

Win It! One of you will win a $25 gift card to Verizon (which is the service provider associated with this phone).  Simply leave me a comment with a feature you look for in a phone AND one of the features you like about this phone from the site.  Comments will close on February 25, 2010 at 11:59 PM PST.  One comment per person, please (unless you do the extra credit). US residents only. Duplicates and comments not including the above information will be disqualified. Comments are moderated. If you don’t see your comment in a reasonable amount of time, send me an email. Bloggers and non-bloggers may enter. If you don’t want to leave your email address, please be sure to check back for my announcement on the winner. Please note that winners must respond within 48 hours of being announced/contacted or another winner will be drawn.

Want an extra entry? Do any or all of the following and receive an extra entry for each one.

Be sure to leave me a separate comment for each additional entry.

Follow me on Twitter AND tweet about the contest.  Please use the hashtag #VerizonPalmPrePlus

Bonus:  If you come back each week and comment, you’ll get an extra entry into the Palm Pre Plus giveaway.  You must comment on each of the four posts to get the extra entry.

Subscribe to my feed via email or reader.

Blog about this giveaway. It doesn’t have to be a separate post. Just include a blurb about it when you blog about other giveaways.

Click on one of the very cute buttons below and digg, stumble, fav, etc. Just let me know what you did in the comments!

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.