Review of Virgin Mobile's Marble Phone

The Marble cell phone from Virgin Mobile is a quality buy. It can be bought at Wal-mart for under thirty dollars, but it is easily comparable to other quality cell phones. The Marble cell phone from Virgin Mobile is perfect for all members of the family, from a young teen to an elderly grandparent due to the wonderful features available. And since Virgin Mobile is everywhere that Sprint is, service is dependable.

To start with, the phone is fully customizable. Graphics can be used as wallpaper, screensavers and caller ID. Sounds, such as ringtones, alerts and other miscellaneous sound effects, can also be downloaded. A ringtone can be set to play when a particular person calls. Or the phone can be programmed by contact groups so that when a person from a set group calls a particular ringtone will play.

There is many dialing features programmed into the phone. There is voice dialing in which you say "dial" and a name. There is the frequently called list which places the ten most called numbers at the forefront of the contacts list. There is also speed dial.

When someone calls a Virgin Mobile Marble cell phone, they receive a nice treat. A song excerpt will play for them instead of the ordinary ringing sound. I was told that the song can be picked by the account holder, but so far, I have not found out how. Perhaps it is possible to do this from the Virgin Mobile website.

The phone is web capable, allowing the user to keep in touch with email accounts and read blogs or news articles. Other items that can be read off the web from the phone is jokes, horoscopes and weather. The phone has a built in feed reader, so it is possible to program exactly what feeds you receive. However, Virgin Mobile has pre-programmed a few feeds for you, most of which can be removed.

The Marble phone comes pre-programmed with two games, Race 21 and Brick Attack. Race 21 is a card game that is very similar to Blackjack. Brick Attack is a basic brick breaking game, which is very popular in pc gaming. Both games are of decent quality and has music introductions. The speakerphone feature also works to play the in-game sounds louder.

The Marble phone has many built in tools to help you. The scheduler is extremely nice aesthetically and is easy to work worth. Unfortunately, the scheduler seems to store your private information somewhere besides the phone, and requires a signal to be retrieved. More tools include voice memo recorder, alarm clock, calculator, tip calculator, timer and a stopwatch. In another area of the phone's menu is where you can schedule a rescue call.

The prepaid Marble phone appears to be very rugged. Although I wouldn't recommend trying to damage the phone on purpose, it does hold together when life happens. For instance, when I was running down a store parking lot to catch up with a friend of mine, my Marble phone flew out of my pocket. The phone's battery compartment opened and the phone flipped open. However, the phone was perfectly fine except for a couple marks on the phone case.

The way that you prepay for the phone and how much you pay is up to you. There is several monthly plans with varying minutes and cost. If you prefer to buy cards, then that is fine. But for real convenience, your account can be connected to a debit or credit card. All payment information and other account information is available online at the Virgin Mobile website. Account information can also be retrieved directly from the phone.

The Marble cell phone from Virgin Mobile is a definite good value. This is the perfect phone for me.