Droid Eris

What: Droid Eris, Motorola's new SmartPhone

Price: $50 if you do Verizon's BOGO special going on right now

Rating: 6...so far...

Non-Quantifiable Rating: Deep down, I just really want Zack Morris' phone.

I finally buckled and joined the ranks of the perpetually accessible.  The Eris is Motorola's newest offering, and it's the MUCH cheaper, sleeker younger sister of the clunky, gadgety Droid.

It's surprisingly easy to use, and oh-so pretty.  The Gmail application is fantastic, and I am also a sucker for the free ringtone app (although it will be embarrassing if someone assigned to the Lady Gaga ringtone calls me during a meeting).

However, it lost points in three areas:  one, it's touch-screen only and apparently my fingers are way too fat for the on-screen keys (is anyone else thinking about that Simpsons episode right now?).  Second, the battery life is unimpressive, although I hear that's par for the course for smartphones.  Finally, the biggest issue was that it completely froze up less than 24 hours before I bought it.  The poor sales girl had given me her cell phone number (unwise) and when I got a hold of her she instructed me to remove the battery (how old school!).  It worked, and it hasn't frozen again, but it's pretty annoying that it didn't even make it one day before I was on the phone with the company.

Now if only I could watch five minutes of television without seeing Verizon and AT&T fighting like six-year-olds...