Choose the Right Cell Phone for You

by Cassandra Heckman

The plan

Once you consider these factors, ask family members and friends about their cell-phone service. Are they happy with their provider? How good is the service? How frequently are calls dropped? How much are they paying? Take this information and shop around. Sites like letstalk.com and myrateplan.com that compare plans can be helpful, but you also can find tons of information on major providers' Web sites.

Local, regional, or national?

This can be one of the most confusing aspects of cell phone service because, depending on your plan, "local coverage area" can be a city, group of states, or the entire country. All plans, except prepaid, come with a set number of minutes to use each month. Some companies, like Cingular, let you keep leftover minutes in select plans to use the next month.

Also, most providers allow you to talk free to other plan customers, so ask friends and family members what plans they use. Shared versions of plans allow you to share minutes and billing with family members.

Local plans--A local plan is best for someone who doesn't make a lot of long-distance calls or travel far from home. This plan usually includes your local metropolitan area and its suburbs. These usually are the cheapest plans, but beware of hidden long-distance and/or roaming charges for calls made to or from outside your home area.

Regional plans--A regional plan generally covers calls made to and from a multistate region such as the Midwest. Again, calls made outside this area can incur additional charges.

National plans--This is the best plan for a frequent traveler or frequent long-distance caller. Most major companies' national plans now include service anywhere in the U.S. This means there are no long-distance or roaming fees. National plans typically cost more, but allow for much greater flexibility and fewer billing woes.

Prepaid plans--With a prepaid plan, instead of a monthly bill, you "recharge" your minutes whenever you feel like it. The advantage is that you pay only for the minutes you use, allowing you to control costs. The cost-per-minute is slightly higher than other plans but may be worth it for a phone you will use only occasionally.

The commitments

Unless you choose a prepaid phone, you'll have to sign a contract with your provider. Often the company entices you with offers of free or discounted phones. Beware that these freebies and discounts usually apply only if you're willing to sign a two-year agreement. Because phones and technology change quickly, a two-year agreement can hinder your flexibility. These agreements also have hefty cancellation fees and often charge extra to upgrade your phone early.

If you don't want to make a two-year commitment, one-year and monthly plans are available. With a one-year plan you won't get the same free or discounted phones, but you're free to switch providers and phones or upgrade technology after one year. Monthly plans, while much more flexible, also will be considerably more expensive.

The phone

The features

Another important thing to think about when choosing a phone are the features that come with it. The obvious considerations are size, weight, and battery life, but multiple new and high-tech features are available, including text messaging, multimedia messaging, cameras, Internet, voice dialing, speakerphones, polyphonic ringtones, color screens, and PDA (personal digital assistant) functions.

Text and multimedia messaging--One of the most popular new features on cell phones, especially among young people, is text messaging or SMS (short messaging service) technology. This feature allows you to send a short text message to friends' cell phones instead of calling them. If you have multimedia capability or MMS (multimedia messaging service) you also can send graphics, photos, and music. There often is an additional cost of up to 10 cents per message sent; you generally can buy unlimited monthly messaging for around $5 from most carriers.

Cameras--Almost 27 million phones today also are cameras. While the quality isn't great--usually only one to two megapixels--it can be fun to send quick snapshots to friends and family. Again, additional charges often apply. And keep in mind many places such as health clubs, spas, hospitals, workplaces, and schools are banning camera phones to protect privacy and prevent cheating.

Personalization--The hottest cell phone features among teenagers are screen graphics and ringtones. You can download ringtones, different wallpaper, and graphics for your phone directly from your provider's Web site. Stars like rapper "50 Cent" even are beginning to record shortened versions of their hit songs for use exclusively as ringtones. Ringtones and graphics are huge moneymakers for cell-phone providers. While downloading a song for your MP3 player from a site like iTunes usually costs about 99 cents, a ringtone can cost up to $3! Graphics, on the other hand, usually are around $2 each.

Smart phones

Is my phone at risk for a virus?

The more complex your phone, the more at risk it is to getting a virus. So far there are only a few cell-phone viruses and scams, but as the number of smart phones grows, so will the risk. At this point, viruses mainly target phones with Bluetooth technology--that is, the ability to establish a short-range wireless connection with other mobile devices. These viruses target phones such as the Nokia Series 60 smart phones and then use the Bluetooth capabilities to search for other devices and spread. Another type of virus searches through your phone book and sends itself to your contacts.

Two other major threats are hacking and phishing. Hacking is a problem because when you input information--to your address book, for example--that information actually is stored on your provider's server in case your phone loses power. This is what allowed hackers to steal the numbers in Paris Hilton's phone book in early 2005.

Phishing occurs when someone sends you an unsolicited message asking for your personal information. The message may claim to be from online companies such as PayPal or ebay, or from your credit union or other financial service provider, asking you to verify your account, or from someone telling you that you've won something. However, just as with e-mail you never should send personal information in response to these messages. A legitimate financial institution never will contact you in this way.

The best advice to avoid the growing threat of viruses and scams? Treat your phone just like you would your home computer. Don't open text, multimedia messages, or other files if you don't know the sender. Also, if your smart phone is able to sync with your home computer, use your virus scan software to check out any suspicious files. Finally, if you think you have a virus, contact your provider right away. It may be able to fix some problems simply by restoring the factory settings on your phone.

The future

As technology improves, new features will emerge. Already, Amber Alerts (a public notification by commercial radio, broadcast television, e-mail, or electronic traffic-condition signs, regarding a confirmed child abduction) can be sent to cell phones, as can news, sports scores, and more. PC World predicts that, before we know it, your cell phone might also be used as a television set, credit card, or even ID. Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission is working on a requirement that will allow police to use GPS (global positioning system) to track a person's cell phone in an emergency.

These new developments only emphasize the wisdom of re-evaluating your plan and phone annually. Are your provider and phone still meeting your needs? If not, you may save money by switching providers or renegotiating your contract. Or you may find that your phone lacks up-to-date features that are important to you. No matter what, remember that it's important to do a little research first. Know your needs, budget, and commitments before you buy and you'll avoid overpaying later.

September 26, 2005