Advice requested on buying one's first cell phone

[jla]

I'll be purchasing from Verizon.
What are the best brands of cell phones?
Do the speaker phones one can get as an additional option have good sound quality?
What exactly is bluetooth?
I want good audio, reliability, and I'd also like text messaging, maybe Internet access too, and photo taking feature on the phone.

I've never had a cell phone, I've thought them frivolous. But now I see the advantages of owning one.

Thank you.

[Keeper of the Turf]

Thanks

[Current Occupant]

I have Cingular for 8 years and never have had a problem with them but they can be pricey. When I went to Mexico (1300 mile trip) there very few areas the I didn't have service.

I got to agree about the Bluetooth headset, I used mine once and put it away. But the Bluetooth that connects to the PC is very cool.

FWIW I chose the Samsung D807, so far so good.

[Babu]

Wow! The Motorola "brick", affectionately named because you could talk on it, pound nails with it, what have you ... That looks like the 2nd and slimmer brick. I had both the first thicker one, and the one in your pic. Great phones!

That was in the days when few had cell phones, and so you could use them on flights. I found by experimenting, that as I was coming into a metro area, they would start working as the plane descended, about the time we hit 10,000 ft and below ...

They work great for you because you have 3 watts of power as opposed to what, about 1/2 watt with todays pocket warmers?

[SelmaLee]

I'm sorry that yours won't unlock your car, but my husband and I just tried it and it did work on mine.

Thanks HuntsvilleTxVeteran!

[Babu]

Downside of Verizon: They want a 2-year contract.

All the carriers want 1 or 2 yr contracts to sell you a new phone at a discount. You can avoid that and go month to month if you like, by either buying your phones used on ebay, or as I have for many years, find a local cell phone repair/trade-in guy, and buy a phone from him.

[RebelBanker]

According to snopes.com, most of that is not correct.

- 112 is the European equivalent of 911, so that only works if you are in Europe.

- Cell phones do not transmit the electronic signals needed to operate a remote for a car.

- There are codes for power saver modes in many phones, the code listed is not one of them.

- #06# brings up a serial number on one brand of phone (Ericsson?) which is not useful if the phone is stolen, the carrier is better with the phone number.

- Free 411 service is by subscription paid by the businesses included, so it is not the same as the phone company's directory assistance.

[USNBandit]

With cell phone companies it isn't the one you like the most, it's the one you hate the least.

[CaptainK]

Just don't purchase the Verizon maintenance plan. They tell you they will replace a lost or stolen phone with a new one. But you'll just get a refurbished one.

[PAR35]

Ask what is free with your plan. They will try to sell you features and services you don't need. They are always happy to upgrade you later on services, so start light.

Their free phone will probably be an LG, which is serviceable. All of them probably have a speakerphone option; a headset is better for handsfree operation, and you might be able to get a universal one much cheaper at WalMart.

[PAR35]

One further point. If you plan to use it in Europe or Asia, DON'T get a Verizon. Go with AT&T or TMobile. Otherwise, Verizon is fine.

[Titan Magroyne]

mark for later

[NickatNite2003]

(Personal Rant)

Well you know, I am all for more conveinient,
and easier luggable "stuff"...But i think
that the "cool factor" in making phones
ever smaller, has just gone way beyond
rediculous.

I would happily carry around a
much (relatively) bigger cellphone,
if i could get one that had a *4"
screen and a battery that held twice
the charge. They are just getting *too*
small.

Give me a bigger screen, more battery
power, add more memory, but stop
thinking that *small* is the only
factor in a phones "coolness".

Geeez!

(End rant)

[B Knotts]

I just got a RAZR with the Bluetooth headset thingy packaged in. If you are going with a contract, they're pretty much two years now. I got mine at Wal-Mart; they had the best deal on the phone.

Anyhow, I like the phone and the Verizon service. I live in a very rural area, but the service works as well as one could realistically expect.

I also like the headset more than I thought I would. It's very nice for using on a long phone call.

[Richard Kimball]

Just let me know your place of business, and I'll make sure not to come into it at all.

[cowtowney]

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/cellphones.asp

[cowtowney]

Motorola Razr or LG VX5300

[Richard Kimball]

I've got a Motorola RAZR, and really like it. It has a lot of flashy features that might be unecessary, but the call quality is great with it, and I really like taking the photos of my friends and family and storing them with their phone numbers. It might seem silly, but it helps me recognize people when they call.

If I wasn't going to get a RAZR, I'd just get the cheapest flip phone. I like being able to cover the keypad without having to lock it. On my old phone, which wasn't a flip phone, I accidentally dialed my pastor while chewing out a cadet. It was kind of embarassing.

[MarkL]

I'm gonna get me one of these!

You can get them here

Mark

[FreedomCalls]

I want it!

[RedCell]

I'll have to wait until tomorrow. Wherever I try to use the regular remote in the house, I can still unlock my truck so the test would be invalid.