Why the $300 Verizon Droid is fantastic deal even before the rebate

I've been waiting as patiently as I could the last three years for the smart phone market to develop and I'm thrilled that my wait may finally be over. The Verizon Android based phone, the Motorola Droid is the first to deliver on all the features I've been waiting for. As I waited I never bought an mp3/media player, I didn't get a GPS, I got the most out of my 4mp point and shoot camera, I didn't get a Flip or similar mico HD camcorder, and I didn't buy a PDA. Let's see what I might have spent if I did get all these devices, and to be fair I'll only look at similar spec items. For an MP3/media player, lets go with the 4th Gen 8GB iPod nano for $120. Granted the newest can capture video for only $30 more, but this is more about being an early adopter. The Droid also has 16GB of storage, but I'm going to say that half of that will easily be consumed by other things. For GPS I chose the Magellan RoadMate 1430 with traffic for $150. Note that there is monthly fee for traffic, though I couldn't easily get a price. I'll exclude that since you'll have to have a Verizon subscription regardless. A 5mp basic point and shoot camera is pretty obsolete right now, so I'll instead go ahead and combine the camera and video functionality in the Wolverine MM100R for $100. Finally a PalmOne Zire for $150. This brings the total to $520, a full $320 more after the $100 Droid rebate. It is true that I could have had at least some of this functionality for several years now instead of waiting, but I probably would have spent even more since each device started out well over what you can get them for now. The iPhone was certainly very close to what I wanted and I was actually willing to let my Verizon contract expire, but I still wasn't quite happy with the 3G coverage and GPS aspect. When the TomTom iPhone app came out it solved one issue, but still cost even more. Now with Android 2.0 Google has rolled out a kick as turn-by-turn navigator with 3D and satellite views plus traffic and street view where available. Being web enable it's also constantly updated, no map purchases and the ability to find up to date events. Best of all, it's free. Check out the video below to see it in all its glory.