There was a time when my cell phone was a limited device. It didn’t have a camera. I don’t even think it could send text messages.

Of course, since then I’ve had a few more cell phones, and as time went on they got fancier. I moved up to the camera phones. I had a pink Razr for awhile — that was cute. When the loyal Razr decided it didn’t want to stay charged anymore and didn’t like receiving text messages, I moved on to a little silver sliding phone. It was loyal, it was kind. It had a camera, and it would ring — usually. And then … something wonderful happened.

My sister, who is 19 and happens to be rather concerned with the finer things in life (more so than I am, anyway,) got a really great phone when it was time for our family’s biannual contract upgrade. Because my family’s contract is with Verizon Wireless, we can’t get iPhones, so my sister elected to purchase the LG Dare, the Verizon iPhone imitator.

Due to some extenuating cell phone circumstances involving Verizon’s lack of service at her school, she wound up having to switch to another cell phone carrier. This meant that her fancy, iPhone-wannabe phone was rendered pretty much useless, doomed to sit in a drawer or gather dust on her dresser for the rest of its life.

Well, we couldn’t have that. No, that would be just plain unconscionable. Poor, sad little cell phone, wanting a home but instead doomed to live out its life in my sister’s room — which, let me tell you, is a frightening, confusing world.

So, I rescued it. Yes, I swooped in, valiantly, like the Superman of cell phones. I rescued the LG Dare from an ocean of dust, loose earrings and random cosmetic detritus. I must admit: it was fairly heroic. The LG Dare and I drove to the Verizon store, where a very nice man transferred my phone number and contacts from my boring, old phone to the exciting new phone. And it was pretty new: my sister had it only a month or two before switching out of the contract.

I, Becky Simo, rescuer of mobile telecomm gadgets, am the owner of a very fancy new phone. I’ve joined the elite ranks of Really Cool Phone Owners, and let me tell you … life on the other side is pretty great.

Actually, it’s not that different from the life I’d been leading. The only thing that’s different is that this phone is really, really cool. It’s got the touch-screen interface that the iPhone piloted. It comes equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera, with a flash. It offers the option of a full QWERTY keyboard, and while the option of a Web browser exists, I can’t partake in mobile Internet because my parents won’t spring for the data charges.

The camera was capable of taking a really great picture of the Milwaukee skyline, as seen from the top of the Milorganite building at the Port of Milwaukee. It’s captured many a picture of my friends and family doing goofy things when I didn’t have my camera with me. The picture quality is good, and features face detection and noise reduction. In short, it’s a great convenience to have a phone that also acts as a high-quality camera.

The text messaging interface is great, too. The LG Dare offers the option of T9 texting. Tilting the phone horizontally, though, activates the internal accelerometer, causing a QWERTY keyboard to cover the screen. The keys enlarge when tapped (as the iPhone’s do,) but the phone doesn’t correct spelling (an iPhone feature that those of us with lackluster spelling would appreciate).

While the QWERTY option is handy for spelling out words that T9 doesn’t recognize, it does take a while to get used to the interface: at first, I kept pressing the wrong keys and spelling out absolute gibberish.

All in all, though, it’s still just a phone. It lets me call and order a pizza when I’m too lazy to drive all the way to Pizza Shuttle. It lets me text my roommates when they’re just in the other room, or text my best friend in New York City. It’s a cell phone — a really nifty cell phone, yes, but a cell phone nonetheless — and it does what I need it to do, plus more. The convenience of this is appreciated, but I got along fine without it. I think I will continue to be okay.