What is the Best Mobile Phone for You?
What do I mean by this? Are you more of a talker or a texter for instance?By texter,I mean would you wish to use your cell phone like the “old” pager wherein you would rather leave nessages than having perfunctory conversations? If so, then I would certainly recommend a 4-6 liner cell phone where you can leave text or SMS (Short Messaging System) messages such as reminders for the kids, husband and officemates.And yes, this is also for those who would prefer to send personal messages like,”I just want you to know that I thought about you today” or “I am so sorry, I was wrong” withhout having to say so.
Mobile phones with 4-5 liners are also good when you intend to send email messages via your cell phone.This is usually possible now in almost all cell phones, and probably in all of the latest GSM types.
If you are a more of a talker however, a mobile phone that would fit your personality would be more of the practical “user-friendly” types, with maybe about 1-3 liners and ready pro-forma text message such as : “Yes”. “I will call you back”. “Please return my call”, and the pro-forma or so called “smart” ready text backs.You are a talker if you if you still think that a mobile is for recieving and making important phone calls more than 80 percent of the time. You are also more of a talker if you have the mindset that “a phone is a phone” and you aren’t toying with the idea of buying a cell so that you can also use it for email, chat, messaging or downloading logo’s and ringtones from the internet. Most talkers consider themselves, pragmatic buyers.
Talker or texter you also have to examine your lifestyle. If you are a frequenttraveler or often do business woutside the USA, you might choose an “unlocked” GSM triband phone. GSM is the type of cell phone used in the UK, Asia and Europe that requires you to have a SIM card. A Sim card is a tiny small square chip that you purchase anywhere in the world to enable you to use your cell anywhere without having to pay exorbitant IDD rates.
“Unlocked” means a cell phone which is not “tied up” to any service perovider. You can purchase the some of the best unlocked phones and SIM cards from Ebay and the prices there are most certainly reasonable. Make sure too that you are
purchasing a triband GSM phone if you intend to make calls to the USA while you are abroad.If you are the extremely frugal type and you still want a phone, you can ask your friends for their “old” GSMs and get it “unlocked” by using unlocking codes which may likewise be found at ebay or most of the mobile phone forum sites.That would mean that all you have to buy is your SIM card which is pretty cheap for starters.
I have specified the GSM type cell phone for frequent travelers because most of the cell phones in the USA are not GSM, but CDMA. You can safely also assume that if you are buying a GSM phone in the USA it is a triband and can be used most parts of the world.To get into a technical discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of both would be boring, though the good news is that most of the big service providers in the USA are now offering both GSM and CDMA. The even better news is that most USA mobile carriers now help you unlock your phone if you are nice enough to their customer service.
My personal preference, however, would be a GSM phone or the new “worldwide” phone offered by some US service carriers. Why? Because now there is an open market for SIM cards, some costing even less than 20 dollars (yes, with instant activation and you have your instant phone number). Usually, these SIM cards also include a “free number of calls” or “free minutes” which you can reload by purchasing their prepaid phone cards which are incredibly cheaper than having to contend with a monthly bill.
You could afford having an instant functioning cell phone on a 50 dollar budget.!
Aside from Ebay, Google’s Froogle for less than 5 dollars. My latest Ebay buy was about 3 dollars and it was one of the latest Nokia models, except that I had to have it unlocked.
But why even have a cell phone at all? Because it can be used for emergencies and it’s better than having to park in front of a phone booth while you’re traveling.It also doesn’t give your kids, husband or whoever the excuse,”but I couldn’t contact you” because you carry it everywhere.Because it is THERE, and CHEAP at that – and progress means learning to use technology with ease in our everyday living.
