The Crapberry: The Cheapest Android Phone You Can Buy

After just blasting Microsoft for their idiotic pricing of the Surface tablet - let me bring you over to something I really like. The PCD Venture.

I call mine the "Crapberry"

Right now Virgin mobile has a pretty amazing deal going: a real Android smartphone for only $29.99. And I have one of them. As far as I know, this is the cheapest Android phone you can buy, anywhere, from anyone. And the reality is, it's not bad. 

Yes, I call it the crapberry. It's like Blackberry's cousin who never managed to graduate school and still hangs around talking about how cool it is to be a portrait keyboard phone. But, I actually really like portrait keyboards - they are the fastest texting and emailing phones out there - no flippy flippy, no slidey slidey, just type away. It reminds me of my Palm Pre: outdated screen, small buttons, slow response times... and it's adorable. 

Now, for all of you saying "I paid $0 for my phone" - no, you didn't. You signed a 2yr deal, which if it was with Verizon or AT&T reads something like this: "you give us the right to bend you over and screw you for the next two years, oh yeah, we'll throw in a phone."

The PCD really costs $29.99. You can go online, order one, and never ever get Virgin Mobile if you so choose. It has wifi so there might even be some people who do this. 

It runs android 2.3, which sadly means it is just as up to date as most android phones on the market. Even my Photon 4G is still running the same (and wildly out of date) OS. Android 4 is far far far better, but 2.3 still gives you all the apps and google integration, which is pretty much all Android is good at anyway. 

The keyboard is... small and squishy. It's like an under-baked blackberry pearl but they decided to fit all the keys in. I have big fat thumbs and typing isn't a chore (it's still faster than swype for business emails that include numbers and punctuation) but it certainly isn't a Blackberry Bold. 

Honestly, if this was going to be your primary phone, spend a little bit more and get one of the nice phones Virgin Mobile has to offer. For around $100 - there are some really good options. 

But if you, like me, like buying something which is so wildly cheap and lovingly crappily adorable, I recommend the crapberry. For $29.99 you really can't go wrong.