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Ready to start looking at new cell phones
Thanatos
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Okay, my current cell phone is dying, which means I'll probably get a new one on Black Friday or right after Christmas (some time when I can get a spectacular deal). I'd like to get a PDA that also functions as a cell phone. It doesn't have to be anything really spectacular; the ability to work as an effective day-planner, check e-mail, text, search Google, look up Google maps... yeah, that's pretty much it. I don't even need (nor really particularly want) a camera, but if it has one, meh (maybe I can get a shot of a cop beating someone up someday). I'm pretty price-sensitive, so the cheaper, the better. I currently live in Seattle, so whoever I go through has to have coverage up here. My parents live in Northern California, so it would be nice if they had coverage down there, too, but that's not really a deal-killer.
What should I be looking at? What sorts of features should I particularly be exploring? And where can I snag particularly good deals?
What should I be looking at? What sorts of features should I particularly be exploring? And where can I snag particularly good deals?
Thanatos on
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I can get you one from the U-Village Apple store with a student discount, I believe.
Then I guess you're looking at a Treo or an HTC.
Huge info dump here.
This shit is cheap. The catch is, and there's always a catch, you may have difficulty porting your number over if you're from a different carrier (but it's worth a shot) or if you convert the account you may have issues with billing (like I did) and have to watch your bills and play phone tag with customer service to make sure every thing's coming up correctly. If you're not averse to being on the phone a while as things get started, I would definitely recommend it as that shit is cheap.
Also Opera Mini is a wonderful browser, and since the Mogul has Java built in you can run all kinds of stuff. Personally I like Windows Mobile a lot more than proprietary shit as there's a larger pool of software to pull from.
500 minutes is a ridiculous amount of time. I don't think my whole family talks on the phone that much in a month. Maybe in a year.
Seriously, SERO is cheaper than any dataplan that you'd get from any other carrier, and the Mogul is one of the best PDA-phones.
Regarding the Mogul, it is a fantastic phone. Windows Mobile is a platform I like a lot as it's very versatile and you can sculpt it to do what you want. Now, keep in mind that to untap its full potential you must possess the five rings of earth, fire, wind, water and most importantly heart. You must also do some tweaking.
Out of the box the phone does not have the highest max volume, sound is a bit weak on bluetooth headsets, sometimes the screen comes out of sleep mode on its own (not that it starts running anything, it just comes out of sleep randomly.) Of course, a new patch for the phone's ROM should be coming out soon which should crush some bugs, and before then there are ways to get around or repair the first two issues. If you are not looking to be playing around with a tech device too much I would recommend one of Sprint's standard phones still with the SERO plan as you would still get the unlimited "Phoneternet" which would let you access some junk phone formatted sites and your GMail, maybe a rudimentary mapping system of some sort, I'm not sure.
However, if you're willing to dedicate a little time to the Mogul you can make it an incredibly powerful tool and fun machine on the go. Windows Live (a better version of Google Maps for Windows Mobile), Java games, regular Windows Mobile games (I have X-Com on mine, and various puzzle games like mahjong and some gem shit) and some great web browsing wherever you are. Opera Mini 2 is amazing and comparable to the iPhone's browser in terms of sexy features. You can also work around most of the current negatives of the phone.
The good far outweighs the bad, but I'm just trying to keep you aware that it's not a prance through fantasy land, but if you're willing to spend a little time and effort it can be great.
You mentioned family. There are no family plans through SERO, and depending on how many people you're looking at setting up with phones it would be $30/month for each of them. Keep that in mind when you're looking at pricing.
I really need to get a new one, but I don't have one of those $100 credit things that the providers give you. I was just wondering if the prices displayed on the Verizion website, for instance, are the price that I will pay for buying that new phone. Or is that the price that you get for the phone when you also sign up for a contract. I already have a contract, I just want to get a new phone and don't want to pay out the nose for it.
If none of these things are available it would be full retail for a phone which is fucking EXPENSIVE. The shitty phones start at 129.99 and the middle end ones start at 209.99 (RAZR, etc.) but that wouldn't affect your agreement in any way. Hope that helped.
Really though, a SERO plan sounds ideal for you.