VM510 (LG Rumor Touch) also does

Blog XX of Thirty Days – Thirty Blogs series

PROLOGUE: Continuing with the theme of making choices that one believes in, for sometime now I was planning to buy my first non-basic phone. Some of the must-haves were

• Camera (2MP atleast)
  
• GPS/navigation tool (preferably Google Maps)
  
• Media player (atleast audio)
  
• A regular Internet browser (atleast Opera)
  
• 3G access for anywhere internet access
  
• Bluetooth and PC connectivity
  
• Nationwide coverage
  
• Optional: keypad, large (touch) screen
  
• Allergic to contracts but will do if coverage is good
  
• Cheap (a default requirement)
  

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One of the first thoughts that I had was to ape everybody else and purchase the then latest Android phone HTC Droid Incredible. Verizon was an attractive option coverage-wise. However I had been allergic to contract plans all along. If the mandatory smartphone data plans and bloated prices of monthly plans and so-called subsidized phones was not enough, the fact that I was stuck with a carrier for two years with a penalty for breaking contract seemed so wrong to me (remember how you feel on hearing employment bond).

Then I decided to compare Virgin mobile plans despite the fact that I live in partial coverage area of Sprint (Virgin carrier) and was I shocked to see that Virgin was offering data+voice plans in the price that Verizon was offering voice (that too at corporate discount). And the most expensive phones on Virgin (no contract) were cheaper than similarly featured phones on other major carriers. Notably, Sprint was offering the same phone for double the price. How this is possible is beyond my comprehension except that carriers intentionally bloat the no-contract pricing for their handsets so that customers are forced to buy contracts.

As you can understand, by this time I had tipped towards purchasing LG Rumor Touch from Virgin. I had to face numerous questions about why I took a phone that was so unconventional but I am happy with it. Thank God that I did not read the faulty review here.

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EPILOGUE: The title of this post is a spin on the Google-Verizon marketing campaign of Droid Does aimed at things that Droid can do that iPhone (who else but its main competitor) does not. Here is a list of things that I have been able to achieve with a 130 $ VM510 LG Rumor Touch phone with 30$ monthly plan with no contract (in addition to must-haves above):

• watch videos on YouTube.
  
• upload photos/videos to a host of services: Blogger, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube & more.
  
• casual internet browsing, the physical keypad comes in handy in typing, a feature which would be sorely missed by most of the other smartphone users
  
• dedicated app for email/IM on Yahoo, Google, AOL & Microsoft with option for custom IMAP
  
• not that I am very active, but a social networking app for Facebook, Twitter & MySpace
  
• a paid app for voice based navigation, Google Maps is free.
  
• makes calls without dropping in partial coverage area.
  
• does not need to be held in a particular way.
  
• setup custom ringtones, wallpapers although third party apps are blocked.
  
• apps multitask (except media player, which engineer came up with this dumb idea !).
  
• access to notepad, voice memo, document viewer.
  
• unlike what is said in many reviews, has an easy touch screen (takes a little getting used to after touch calibration)
  

Agreed it is an exaggeration to compare it with Droid, but my point is can Droid do all that for 130$ ?