It’s funny. The one thing that I’m all into, that I hardly ever write about is technology. It’s kinda of weird, actually. I deal with technology one way or the other every day (don’t we all though), but…I still don’t write about it much. Probably cause I don’t “participate” in technology as much as I do, say with…comics. And by “participate” I mean “purchase”.

Whatever.

As documented in the article, The Trials and Tribulations of New Phone Buying, your friendly neighborhood jman’s

spent the last few months, driving myself nuts, deciding which phone to buy. You can read all about my self abuse…here.

Spoiler alert: I got the Samsung Galaxy Note 3!

Now, before I begin, I just want to make it clear here that I’m not receiving dime one from Samsung to talk about this phone. At all. I should, but I am not. Nor did I get this phone at a discount, get to use the phone for free in exchange for this article, or anything like that. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Once again, I should…because far be it from me not to be a corporate shill. But, no. I bought the phone with my own monies, and, by putting myself under voluntary serfdom to Verizon (who I’m not getting any money from, either…but should) for the next 2 years.

Whew! So…yea. New phone! Wooooooooooo!

Bottom line…how is it? It’s not bad. In fact…it’s downright awesome!

I did have a tough adjustment period, though. Going from the iPhone 4s to the Note, was a tough transition. Not because of the OS. As far as I’m concerned, they’re all just variations of each other (please, tech nerds…don’t send me emails detailing in great length the immense differences in all the OSs. For my use, they’re all pretty much the same.) Android has all the important apps I use. Dropbox, the Twitter, Facebook, pornsearcher, Evernote, etc. So, that part of the switch was pretty smoof.

No. My problematic transition was due to the size of the phone. It’s big.

Big.

Recently, I went out to dinner with Kelly Marie and her grandmother. As we were leaving the restaurant, I put the Note 3 down on the table to help Kelly Marie’s grandmother with her coat. Upon seeing the phone, her grandmother said: “Wow! That’s a big one”

I looked over at Kelly Marie and said rather cheekily. “Yea. I get that a lot.”

That didn’t go over very well with Kelly Marie, who shot me a look. “What?” I shrugged, as she slapped my shoulder. “She didn’t even hear me.”

Anyway…the Note. It’s big, and it’s also pretty thin. Handling it, the phone feels fairly fragile. I’m sure it’s tough enough, but it feels like it might break if it’s mishandled. I haven’t tested it yet by slamming it down or throwing it across the room in a fit of rage. When I do, I’ll report back.

Long story short, you can’t handle this phone the same way you handle the iPhone. It’s really a two hand phone. Although…Samsung/Android does have this handy dandy feature: with a quick swipe the screen shrinks down to a much smaller size (which you can adjust accordingly) for one hand operation.

Still…it’s really not a one hand phone. You can’t drive and text with this phone. Not that I ever do. Nor should you. I’m just saying. Back in the day, when everyone was texting and driving willy nilly, if you tried to drive and text with this phone, you wouldn’t be very successful.

At one point, I almost gave up on it. A week into ownership, I almost gave up. I wasn’t successfully handling it. If I would’ve had access to my car (Sarah was out partying like a rock star with the van), I would’ve returned that phone for the iPhone 5s, without a doubt.

Fortunately for me, you, Samsung, Android and Verizon, I stuck it out with the Note 3. In the end, I went through 3 cases for this thing, trying to find the right amount of protection and weight to the phone.

Yea. Three flippin cases. I ended up with an overpriced Otterbox (no money from them either for the plug). I’m still not real sold on the case, but whatever. It’s a case for mercy’s sake!

The phone takes amazing pictures. And video. It’s got a ginormous screen. That’s why the phone’s so big…duh. It’s stupid fast. This phone has literally changed my life.

And, yea. It fits in my back pocket.

Kelly Marie’s still making a lot of fun of me. A lot. Walking around with my iPad to her ear. Pretending it’s a phone. Whatever. Don’t laugh at her. It’s not funny. She’s not funny. For the amount of time I spend on it as a phone, compared to the amount of time I spend on it as a mobile computer? It’s not even close. I use the phone as a phone maybe 5% of the time. So, it makes sense to have a bigger screen if I’m using it more as a mobile computer than a mobile phone. Right?

Whatever. She’s not funny.

Bottom line? The phone is awesome. The end. And, now when I have to handle an Apple product be it an iPhone or an iPod? Man! Those things are tiny! They’re so cute! I hear you can even make calls on them.