Free Stuff! Verizon Service and Palm Pre Plus Giveaway

My Life List

Update: The Giveaway is closed, thank you all so much for reading and commenting. The winner announcement is over here.

Hello. Would you like a free Palm Pre Plus, and $300 worth of Verizon Wireless service? Yeah you would. Let’s discuss that further.

As you know, I’ve been partnering with Verizon this month to knock a few things off my Mighty List, and as part of the campaign, I’ve been using a Palm Pre Plus.

The idea was to see if the phone would be useful to me, and to find out whether Verizon would be better than my iPhone service provider. Of course, my iPhone service doesn’t work at my desk and garbles half my phone calls, so I’m a little angry about that. Angry in a “hurl my phone against the wall” kinda way. But I can be demanding when I’m paying through the nose for something that doesn’t work. We’ll discuss that more later.

For now, let’s talk about that giveaway. Verizon is offering a $600 Palm Pre Plus for free. It looks like this:

The winner will also get $300 of free service from Verizon, which looks like this:

Well, technically cellular service is invisible. It’s more something you sense in your soul when you don’t feel like hucking your phone out the window during a conference call. So in that way, Verizon is sort of like inner peace, but with less yoga involved.

I’m not required to review the Palm, and frankly I didn’t plan to, but a few of you said you were pondering new phone purchases and asked me what I thought. So here’s the stuff I liked:

Making calls. Primarily, I enjoy using my Palm as a telephone that will call people when I dial their numbers — people with whom I can have complete conversations until we mutually decide it is time to hang up. I carried both my iPhone and Palm with me while friends got used to my new number, and I can’t tell you how many times I called friends on the iPhone so they’d recognize my number, and then had to immediately call back on the Palm so they could hear what I was saying.

Dropping it in soup. So. Right after I activated my Palm, I kind of dropped it in soup. I was freaking out, thinking I’d have to admit I’m a terrible phone parent and ask for another phone. But then I just dried it off with my napkin and it kept on working. I did have to scrape some dried soup out of the charger port with a safety pin, but otherwise it didn’t even cough. Nice.

Taking photos. The phone takes killer photos, you guys. Here’s what a snapshot looks like straight out of the phone with no Photoshop intervention:

See what I mean? (Bryan took that, by the way. Thanks, B!)

Also, it has a flash! On the phone! Which means you can use it just like a regular point and shoot without having to lug around another gadget.

Making videos. You can record video on your phone. Do you hear me? We are living in the future, y’all:

Typing. I know not everyone agrees, but I like the tactile feedback of buttons when I’m typing. Some people find the buttons too small, but I didn’t have that problem. In fact, I actually used my phone to send email for the first time in my life because the email is so well integrated and it’s so easy to type.

Applying lipstick. Yeah. The phone has a compact on the back:


(Photo from the Palm Info Center, which has a detailed review if you’re looking for one.)

When I first saw it, I was irritated. Like, “Oh, I’m a girl! I want a girl phone that helps with my lipgloss.” Then I used that stupid mirror three times before I even activated the phone. My makeup has been flawless for the last month. Curse you, user testers and your uncanny insight into my demographically predictable needs!

Downsides? Because I use the camera and video constantly, I run the battery down pretty fast, which can be frustrating. So you might want some sort of battery backup if you’re not religious about charging your phone every night. Also, I tend to be an early adopter of mobile applications, and betas aren’t always available on the Palm. I realize that may not be a problem for… most of the world, but there it is.

All in all, this is a good phone on a great service. I actually think it’s a smart choice for bloggers because the camera and video are superior and it’s much easier to type, so you can do mobile updates easily.

The Giveaway

If you’d like a Palm Pre Plus for yourself, not to mention a lot of free service from Verizon Wireless, please leave a comment below promising that you will not use your new phone to text while driving, and that you will not drop it in soup within 24 hours of receipt.

Now for the fine print: You must be 18 or over to enter and live in the U.S. Multiple entries will be disqualified. Comments will be open until Wednesday morning March 31, 2009 at 11 a.m. PST. I’ll choose winners randomly using Random.org, and will announce later that day. Good luck! My fingers are crossed for you.

Published

1,047 thoughts on “Free Stuff! Verizon Service and Palm Pre Plus Giveaway”

  3. I have been known to text while driving. I have also been known to drop my phone in the toilet. I mean soup. But I PROMISE neither of those things will ever happen again.

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  5. I promise not to text while driving and not to drop the phone in soup.

    Amendment: For the latter, I’m just going to promise to try. Really hard.

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  6. Throwing my name in the hat as well!
    I will not not not use my phone while driving, and I will absolutely not drop it in soup!

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  7. I won’t text with my phone while driving, not only because it’s dangerous but because in D.C. it’s illegal! And I totally follow the law. 🙂 Thanks for the review, too!

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  10. I promise to not text and drive. I promise to keep the phone far from soup and other dangerous liquids. I also promise to use it for more than taking pictures of my dog.

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  11. What? A cell phone that works? I’ve never had the pleasure… let’s change that, shall we? I promise not to text while driving, and I will not drop it in soup… more than once.

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  12. No texting-driving, no soup-diving, but I cannot promise I won’t make it a snuggie and make it popcorn.

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  13. I soooooooo very promise not to text while driving! The dropping part….I will try….I do love a good challenge!

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  14. My current phone has just developed the not-so-useful habit of not allowed me to view text messages or missed call notices when they first come up unless I first remove the battery and restart it. And I was already considering the Palm Pre Plus. I promise not to text while driving and have yet to drop a phone in soup or other liquid. Thanks!

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  15. I promise to not text and drive or text and soup. I also promise to construct a large statue, possibly carved out of butter, in your honor in my living room if I win.

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  18. I promise not to text while driving. (Stopped at a traffic light isn’t considered driving, is it?) As for not dropping it in soup – I’m afraid I can’t make that promise.

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  21. Oh, I absolutely will not use it while driving as live in NYC! Won’t even text while walking. (Oh, look at me, fibbing in the comments section!) Fingers crossed!

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  23. I would soo love a fancy schmancy phone like this! It would be a real dream to win. And I would absolutely pledge to never use it while driving or partaking in soup. Cross my heart. Thanks for a great opportunity. You are super cool!

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  24. i solemnly swear not to text while driving nor to introduce a phone to soup. even if it is lovely and tasty.

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  25. I could really use a new phone! And you’ve pretty much sold me on this one. Sounds great! I would do my best to take extra special care of it too. And I drive a stick, so texting is really out of the question.
    Love your blog!

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  26. I solemnly swear not to text while driving. I can not promise so much about the soup. I would kill for a good camera on my phone. Maybe not kill, but something not too nice. I think they are that important!

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  29. Yeah, without this giveaway it’s safe to say I would never be able to own a phone like that!!! Also, I’m so ready to get rid of my current cellphone service provider. Like, SOOOOOO ready!!!!

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  30. I definitely won’t text and drive–don’t have a car, and I won’t drop it in soup. NYC puddles are still fair game though.

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  31. I promise not to text while driving, even if I don’t win the phone. And I definitely won’t take it near soup, although I can’t promise the same for my ear buds (which have often ended up in my coffee mug).

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  32. This is my dream phone! I too find touch-screen typing difficult and would love a new phone with actual buttons.

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  33. I’m definitely ready for a new phone even though my contract isn’t up until August. I loved my Samsung Omnia when I first got it, then no one supported it. Frustrating! I’ve been looking at the Palm Pre Plus, too.

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  34. I am in desperate need of a new phone (the one I have now rarely works), but I can’t financially swing it right now. This would truly make my life so much easier.

    I promise never to text and drive. I live in NYC and am getting rid of my car soon anyway, so even if I wanted to break that promise, I couldn’t 🙂

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  36. I promise I won’t text while driving (I don’t even have a car!) and I promise I will not drop it in soup (which luckily, I rarely eat, so this is relatively low-risk). Thanks for being so incredibly awesome! 🙂

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  38. Not owning a car, I can assure that it’s impossible for me to text while drive.

    Unfortunately I also don’t own a working phone and a elderly, used and well-worn lil’ Samsung is currently my only lifeline to the world. Outside of a computer, that is. This a great offer, thanks!

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  41. Girl scout promise, I will not text and drive. Nor will I text and eat soup at the same time. Thanks!

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  42. Texting whilst driving is illegal in the state of Colorado. Therefore, I promise not to text and drive….and to stay away from soup.

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  43. I’m starting nursing school in 5 weeks and I totally need a PalmPre to help me keep my life organized and my head facing the correct direction on my shoulders.

    Help!

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  44. Would love to try the Palm. Verizon has the best service. I vow to never talk or text while driving, or at the table!

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  45. Thanks for doing the review, I’ve been considering new phone/internet machines and hadn’t looked much at this one yet. The compact mirror could also be so useful for signaling rescue planes when trapped in the wilderness– safety first! (Of course I would never text and drive, and soup is far to precious to waste on a phone)

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  46. I solemnly swear I will not text while driving. And I will not drop it in soup. I have dropped my phone in a water dish and a puddle in the past so…no promises it won’t get dropped in any liquid.

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