If you haven't been following along, I asked readers for advice on which "smart" phone to purchase and then wrote about my final selection criteria.

When Youngest Child and I walked into the Verizon store, we headed straight for the section that had the Droids. Lo and behold, there was a new phone sitting among the Droids that had been there the other day on my visit. Immediately I noticed the camera quality seem to be better than that of the other Droids. I also noticed you could get a device called a Lapdock which allows you to “plug” your phone into what looks like a mini laptop. Thus you have a larger screen than that on the phone and the keyboard to type on! I have to say those tiny letter buttons on the Droids were driving me crazy. So after playing around with the various Droids for a few minutes I was pretty sold on this new Bionic Droid phone. And I sprung for the Lapdock too!

I was able to meet my criteria of 4G, and a good quality camera. After much discussion regarding the battery life issue I learned the following:

• The battery on the Droid simply won't last as long as the battery on my old phone (I've been known to toss my phone into my purse for three days at a time and I still have battery left).
• I will need to plug in more often than I'm used to but I think that by plugging in when I'm at home, recharging on the Lapdock, and using a charger in the car I'll be fine. I'll just need to make some habit adjustments (no more leaving my phone in my purse for a couple of days).
• Also, I was told to turn off the wi-fi, Bluetooth and GPS when I’m not using those features. Apparently they are big power drains.

Regarding my requirement to have the calendar on the Droid sync with my Outlook calendar, I'm still working on it. It looks like I need to find an app and I'm confident that I will eventually.

Really good tip for anyone with a smart phone. Get yourself a stylus. It made all the difference in the world for me.

Another really good tip for Verizon customers. Verizon offers free classes on how to use your smart phone. It was worth my time. I feel like I'm going to be a power Droid user and have joined the 21st century.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum