Up until a few weeks ago, I'd been getting by with the same cellphone for about three or four years. You know, one of those old ones. The kind with the old black and white display and monophonic ringers. It was so 2001... Seeing all these new phones with cameras, MP3 players, downloadable content, web browsing and all other kinds of goodies hit the market, I decided it was time to upgrade.

After reading some reviews and finding more details, I decided on the Motorola e815. Since I have a hard time remembering to charge my phones, the most important factor ended up being the battery life, which on this model can max out at somewhere around 12 days. That and I've always wanted a Moto phone, even though I've always heard their rep has been a little shaky at times.

So for Valentine's Day, my wife bought me one. Using Verizon's New Every Two plan, it was immediately discounted $100. Then if you order it through their website, they take off another $50. So she only had to pay about twenty bucks for it, which I thought it was a bargain. Now, you're probably saying "that's a cheap gift", and I'm saying "ya damn right!" because...well, saving money is good.

Once I got it, yeah, I took a couple of days and just played around with it, taking pictures and downloading goodies for it. By the way, am I the only one that doesn't get how you have to pay for wallpapers? I've always thought this was a strange business model—asking people to pay for what amounts to a little image file. I've since found out that, with the help of a data cable and maybe a little hacking, you can do all kinds of cool stuff with your phone.

Otherwise, so far, so good. I like the size and feel of it, even though I'm still not sure how I feel about flip-style phones. I think I still like the standard form factor a little more. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like hinges can only lead to problems. Either way, I'm satisfied with the phone so far. The speakerphone is a welcome feature, and the possibility of a Bluetooth headset is cool. Thumbs up from me!