I ended up getting my birthday present a couple of months early. For the last couple of months, I’ve been lurking around eBay in search of a good deal on the phone that I’ve been wanting.

For those of you who don’t know, I’ve had my eye on the Sony Ericsson s710a after some very careful consideration. Seriously! I did phone comparisons and read tons of reviews and did way more research than I normally do. Of course, me being my impressionable self, the fact that famous photographer Robert Clark uses this phone factored into the desicion making process quite heavily. Also, I like the fact that it looks more like a camera than any other phone I’ve ever seen. It will serve as a great conversation piece and ice breaker with strangers.

So anyway, the biggest hurdle has been the cost (upwards of $700 through Expansys). You all know I don’t have that kind of money because no one will friggin’ donate to my cause. What is the deal with everyone donating to sister and not to me, anyway?

But I digress.. Getting back to the phone situation..

I’m not going to sign up for Cingular phone service just so I can get my phone for cheap. I am actually quite satisfied with the service I’m receiving from T-Mobile so I’ve been looking for deals on eBay. I’ve bid on some of the s710a auctions, but since my birthday is not until the end of October (a hint to those who want to make my day and send me a surprise birthday gift) I really hadn’t been taking them seriously. I hadn’t really won any of the auctions so no big deal.

A couple of days ago I found an enticing offer for the phone on eBay. I sent an email to the seller to confirm that the phone is, in fact, “unlocked” as advertised in the description and I could, in fact, use it with my T-Mobile phone service. The seller replied, that the phone is indeed “unlocked” and all I would need to do is put my SIM card in to start enjoying my new phone.

I think the starting bid was pretty high ($299.99) because after a couple of days there were no other bidders still. These phones have been pretty popular so that struck me as a surprise. I decided to place a bid on it this morning because the auction was about to come to close. I fully expected to get out-bid by some jerk at the last ten seconds of the auction process as I have in the past with other items that I have bid on. But, much to my amazement, I found an email confirming that I had won the item when I arrived home after my waxing appointment this afternoon.

I didn’t really expect to win the auction because I didn’t really plan on buying the phone this early. However, so as not to get bad eBay karma and so as not to piss people off, I went ahead and paid. So there you have it. I should be sporting a new phone next week.

I’m excited to get my new phone and start playing with – the only downside is that since I’m getting it early, I’m not going to get anything to unwrap for my birthday. Oh, well. Maybe some nice blog reader will send me something and I will still have something to open (hint-hint). 😉