It was a random summer day in 2007, when Steve Jobs slashed a hundred bucks off the original IPhone. in need of a phone, I took up the offer, and took off to the Apple Store.

I felt like I had the world in my pocket, Internet, email, and a phone. Less than a year later, those punks at Apple come out with an IPhone 3G; twice the speed, twice the memory, and half the price. I didn't bite. I took the software updates, and rode my original IPhone. For the past month, my original $300 iPhone been tweaking out; lost address books, unresponsive buttons, over heating, lost reception, and an Internet that got slower and slower.

TAKE IT TO THE SHOP

This past weekend, I couldn't take it anymore, I'd receive texts 12 hours later, and other phones cannot reach my phone. I heard of $100 refurbished iPhone 3Gs at AT&T stores. I've been noticing this $50 LG Vu getting air play on TV a lot. There's a world of newer, cheaper, and just-as-efficient smart-phones. I go over to the AT&T store, ready to switch phones. IPHONE efurbs are only available online, and the $200 iPhone 3G would add another $10 a month. No way, when I'm going to be paying more for cable. Plus I didn't want Steve Jobs to get another $200 from Steve Angeles. A Blackberry Pearl with 2G speed and a cool roller-ball mouse was going for $50 also, but that also included an extra $10 in Data plans.

After hours of browsing, test driving, and inquiring about my options, this sleek red Samsung caught my eye. It was a Propel. It looked Blackberry-like, with a sliding screen. It had the 3G technology, and the data plan didn't cost as much as an iPhone or Blackberry. In fact, for an extra $5 a month added to my regular bill, it becomes a turn-by-turn GPS voice navigator. Best of all, cost after rebate...$50! Yes a phone with all the features I need is only $50. There's no iPod feature, but what the hell, I'll get that separately.

Wait a minute...the Propel did come with a free iPod after all!!! With my purchase, my iPhone now becomes a 4Gig iPod touch!!! That seems to be all it's good for lately. So I will still have my tunes when I go mashing on my bike.

TECH SPECS

I look at my 37 inch Samsung TV everyday, and I enjoy it. It's awesome. My first digital camera was a Samsung. I've had other Samsung phones in the past, and they've worked well. I know this is a brand I have been satisfied with.

Only drawback was setting up my Propel for email, Internet, and voicemail. Being a weekend, I experienced technical difficulties, and a couple hours of waiting on hold.

But once I got this badboy running, it's been great.

Web Browsing
The web browser is not as real as iPhone's Safari, but it gets me to the Internet faster. Large pages will not load completely, and page layouts are seen as one vertical column. It's one compromise I don't mind. The email system allows me to have multiple accounts. I also have the option of attaching files to the emails, something iPhone sucked at. With an iPhone, you don't have much options for streaming video. On the Propel, I could go to NBC.com and watch full episodes of the office. I can watch news clips on CNN's website. On an iPhone, I did have access to Youtube and other video sharing sites. The Propel seems to be more comprehensive, and for an extra $10 a month, I can watch Mobile TV and watch actual cable channels live from my phone. I have a big screen at home, so I probably won't bother.

Camera
Despite a lesser photo quality, the Propel has a video camera, another thing the iPhone lacked. It's handy for capturing random videos of Bart cop shootings and Rodney King beatings.

Notepad
iPhone may be one up on the notepad feature, the iPhone would let me write full blown hubs on one page. The notes and number of characters in emails are limited. I'm not sure how far 2300 character will get me writing a script, but I'm sure there's a way around it.

Address Book
iPhone wins on this one for now. On an iPhone I can add as many numbers and emails to a single contact. The Propel so far has only allowed me 2 numbers, and 1 email per person. I'm still trying to figure out if I have an option to add more.

Keypad
Of course, the cool thing about iPhone is the touch screen. The Propel has a QWERTY key board. Like any phone, the keypad will take some getting use to, especially since there is a lot of functions and shifting going on. I will miss the coolness of a touchscreen, but it's nice to feel my keys. This is also a reason I didn't go for the VU. The LG VU's touchscreen seemed very unresponsive.

Physical
The iPhone was a lone sleek bar. One home button, and a volume control on the side. The Propel is more cyborg-like with it's sliding screen, revealing the keypad. It's shorter, thicker, and lighter. I got the red and white one, it is pretty eye catching. I'm not as worried about scratching it either. The screen seems sturdier, and it's not a life or death situation if the screen was damaged.

Memory
My old iPhone was 4gigs, 3G iPhones are minimum 8gigs. With 4 gigs, I could store a full length movie, about a hundred songs, pictures, and notes. This Propel is like 256 Megabytes, not leaving me with much room, except maybe a few ring tones and wall papers. The memory is expandable because there is a Micro SD slot. I've used the Micro SD slot to transfer files from my laptop. I will be experimenting to see what kind of files the Propel supports. If it can supprt large text files, maybe Word Documents, then I'd be able to write scripts on my laptop, then transfer, and use the Propel to send while I'm on the road. As of now I don't see any way of connecting the Propel directly to my laptop via USB. There is Bluetooth capabilities as well, which I haven't tried out yet. That function may help me skip the Micro-SD file transfer part.

SO FAR SO GOOD

I'm enjoying this new gadget. Sorry iPhone, you've been demoted to iPod. With Apple's predatory tactics, I'm actually turned off by Apple. They'll release a new product at premium prices causing hysteria. 2 months later, they'll come out with a better, and sometimes cheaper version. Whether it's computers, hardware, or phones, I don't bite on Apples. I'm guessing this Propel should last me a year or two, by then maybe I will go back to an iPhone. By then iPhone will most likely be better and cheaper. For now I'm ready to Propel my phoning into an awesome world of Samsung.