There a lot of toys and gadgets that could be considered "necessities" by the real estate professional, but the cell phone would have to rank right at the top.

Recently, I was looking for a new phone to replace my ancient piece of equipment and two options emerged. Staying with an "upgraded" cell phone or move into the world of mobile PC.

The kind people at Verizon offered me the opportunity to test drive a couple of their phones for a few days and see what I thought. Thought I'd pass along the information I collected in case any fellow Rainers were also looking at moving into the direction of a new phone.

The first phone was the Samsung's FlipShot which includes a 3MB digital camera, bluetooth technology and more.

The phone's biggest "selling point" is its ability to take high-resolution photos. Personally, I didn't care for the camera. Now, I'm a former professional photographer and I love using my Nikon D70 for photographs. So I personally felt that the high-resolution camera was too constricting for my purposes. All zoom on the camera was digital, which you would expect from a camera of its size and weight, and I found that to be tough to use.

However, one feature that the FlipShot is VZ Navigator which for those that still refuse to purchase a GPS unit can be a life-saver. I found myself using the Navigator a lot more than the camera in this phone.

The flip-phone did have good accoustics for conversation. I had little trouble talking outside in windy situations, which has become a challenge for a lot of phones in today's market. However that talk comes with a bit more bulky phone than many of the other options on the market today.

Personally, I didn't go for the FlipShot but the 3MB digital camera could be a great selling point for someone that is looking for a convient way to eliminate one item from their busy real estate carry kit.