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”

  4. I won’t text and drive (not even at a red light) and I will do my best to wait at least 36 hours before dropping it in my soup. I’ve been wanting to try one of these bad boys out.

    Like

  7. I solemnly swear not to text whilst driving, nor to precariously use my phone near any liquids for at least 48 full hours.

    Like

  8. Given that my current phone is held together with duct tape (true story), I could use a new one. One which will not (NOT!) be involved in any texting-while-driving scenarios. I’m not sure about the soup thing. I can make the promise, but I have my fingers crossed just in case….

    Like

  12. I solemnly vow not to text while driving or eating soup. I’ve never had a cell phone other than the “free” one….I’m ready for an upgrade!

    Like

  13. I dropped my now ancient blackjack into a puddle getting out of a cab once. I waited almost a week before I attempted to turn it on. It now randomly shuts off…. so I promise never to text and also to keep it away from liquids 🙂

    Like

  16. I hereby solemly swear never to text while driving (ever ever ever) and to not drop my new PalmPre in my soup (which will be easier if the Bay Area decides to commit to Spring for real this time).

    Like

  20. Was just thinking about upgrading my Verizon phone, which I have never used to text and drive. Now, I will wait until this here contest is over before I take the plunge- and not the kind of plunge into a bowl of soup, but rather the kind of purchasing plunge.

    Like

  22. It took me so long to scroll through these comments I forget what I was promising, something about Texas??

    Like

  24. Since my iPhone recently met its demise thanks to the granite steps outside my parents’ house, I would love a new phone, especially the palm pre. I can barely text while walking, never mind driving…and the only thing I’ll be dropping in my soup is a spoon. 🙂

    Like

  25. I wholeheartedly promise not to bring a new Palm Pre around liquids, soup or otherwise, within 48 hours of it’s receipt. I don’t actually drive, but I would finally be able to receive texts from my significant other, something I can’t do on my current AT&T plan, and no one seems to know why. But once I can, I promise he won’t text while driving, something he is very good about right now.

    Like

  26. This is me promising that I will not use my new phone to text while driving, and that I will not drop it in soup within 24 hours of receipt. Amen.

    Like

  27. Hmmm…no dropping in the soup, huh? Eh…who’s that picky anyway? I tend to drop mine just about everywhere. That reminds me, I should see if my employer will switch out my life insurance plan for one for my cell.

    Like

  28. Oooh, me, please! I really need a new phone and I really want one with an actual keyboard vs. the touchscreen.

    It looks amazing. What a generous prize! 🙂

    Like

  29. i girl scout promise to not drop the phone in soup. hopefully it will survive better than my last phone, which has been dropped in a flushing toilet and covered in cornstarch slime, both by my 3 year old.

    thanks for sharing your life list and kicking some goodies our way. love your blog and your closet.

    Like

  30. I promise not to text while driving, can’t make any promises about not dropping it in soup though!

    Like

  31. I promise, I promise! (I work for a State Rep in a State that just recently voted to make it illegal to text-while-driving, so I really should cut it out anyway.) (No word on the constitutionality of making it illegal to drop your phone in soup yet, but I’ll let you know what I hear.)

    Like

  32. I don’t drive, so I can’t text while driving. The soup will be a challenge…. I should be able to hold out for 24 hours, though!

    Like

  33. I absolutely will not text and drive. Nor will I drop it in soup. I will lend it to my husband so we can thoroughly compare it to my iPhone. He would love this!

    Like

  34. I will not use your new phone to text while driving. I will try not to drop it in soup within 24 hours of receipt.

    Like

  35. My sad, old, non-smart flip phone is on its last legs. I could use a sassy, shiny new phone such as this beauty!

    I don’t drive, but I do love soup. Mmmmm… soup.

    Like

  37. won’t text while driving. not a big soup eater anyway. will not drop in toilet, just for good measure. if I tell you I am working on my life list, will it earn me extra credit?

    Like

  40. I absolutely promise never to text while driving, or to drop the phone in soup. Not swearing at dropped calls sure would be a nice change!

    Like

  41. I pinky promise! i will not text, check emails, or check my lipstick…!

    I love you, maggie!
    lol!

    Pick me! Pick me!
    and about the soup… never in a million years!!

    Like

  42. I promise not to text and drive (I don’t have a car, so this will be easy!) and I promise not to drop the phone in soup. Or, smother it with yogurt similar to my Blackberri’s fate…which it didn’t quite recover from.

    Like

  43. I absolutely promise to: never to text and drive, never bring it near soup, and love the heck out of an awesome smartphone!

    Like

  44. Oh, this would be a great thing to win! I have had my phone for a long time now because I LIKE my old phone! It works without sounding like I’m calling from inside a well! But I may be willing to upgrade if it would be for a phone that worked well as a phone AND as a camera/video recorder.

    And? I use my current phone to check if I have food in my teeth, so I know that I would use the stuffing out of that back panel. Thanks for the chance to win!

    Like

  45. I promise not to text while driving from here on out…even if I don’t win. But winning would be nice, too!

    (Thanks for the review, I’ve been interested in hearing your thoughts since you were an iPhone user, and iPhone users seem to reeeeally love their iPhone, but I am on Verizon and can’t get one!)

    Like

  46. I promise not to text and drive and drop the phone in soup. (Well, maybe I can’t REALLY promise not to drop it in soup).

    Like

  48. Not owning a car, I definitely don’t text and drive…but I can’t promise I won’t text and cycle! 😉 Just kidding. I would LOVE to have this phone — I’m already with VZW and have been successfully resisting the pull of the iPhone.

    Thank you! 🙂

    Like

  49. Would love this phone. Have been eyeing it since I saw commercials of it. I need something I can do business stuff like email on.

    And no worries about driving and texting as I also don’t drive. So I won’t bicycle or rollerblade and text either 🙂

    And it has already started to be warm here in CA so soup is not on the menu anytime soon.

    Like

Comments are closed.