How To Find The Perfect Cell Phone
There are millions of them out there, technology is constantly changing, and you want the best fit for yourself. How do you sort through the millions of options and find the one that will suit you the best? As a Best Buy Mobile Expert… let me help you.
1.) What does your Carrier offer? Most consumers don’t realize that cell phones are usually exclusive to one single carrier. If you are already subscribed to Sprint, ATT, Verizon, TMobile, etc… You must buy a phone that your carrier offers, or it won’t work with the technology. The only exceptions to this rule are some “unlocked” phones (available online and at Best Buy) which will work with the ATT/Cingular network, as well as TMobile, because these phones are “world” phones… there are lots of technological issues here that I won’t get into… The key here is that you need to stick with a cell phone provided by your carrier. If you have NOT subscribed yet to a specific carrier, see my other article on choosing the satisfactory carrier for you before you settle a cell phone.
2.) Are you going to use your cell phone exclusively to make calls? There’s so much more to use it for!!! Today, cell phones can txt, send pictures and videos, surf the internet, give weather and news updates, indicate what movies are playing in your area, provide GPS directions to anywhere in the nation, play all of your popular music (and some can download new music directly from the handset), play live TV, store your favorite movies, and do everything but wash your dishes (don’t we wish?!). If you’re going to use your cell phone to exclusively make calls, you don’t need the most expensive, coolest looking phone out there, and usually carriers and electronics store have FREE cell phones for you when you sign a new 2 year contract (or continue your existing contract for another 2 years).
3.) How much will you need a keyboard for? Many phones have full keyboards now, or what we in the industry call QWERTY keyboards. Many consumers purchase if they won’t use txt messaging, they won’t use the keyboard. However, I’ve sold many phones to business men who use email, grandparents who disappear and consume GPS, and parents who use Google on their phone constantly. A pudgy keyboard helps ALL of these features! How great is it to have a plump keyboard to type an entire email in no time, to entire a full address into your GPS on your phone, or to Google anything at all without having to use the old, numeric keypads?
4.) Music. How attached are you, or could you be, to having your entire music collection on ONE device, WITH your cell phone? Even as a salesperson, I never thought I’d use the MP3 player on my Samsung Instinct near as much as I do now. I expend it CONSTANTLY — including while I sit here typing this article. I also travel a lot… It’s great to have my music on my cell phone while I’m sitting in the airport, boarding the plane, and waiting for my hasten to pick me up after I land! I can download new music right to my phone also, so I don’t download ANYTHING on to my laptop… which saves me from viruses and bad quality tracks. If I remember while I’m waiting in line at Starbucks that I would Like to have that musty Sinatra track, I just type it in, press download, and listen to it before my double shot espresso is even made. I even listen to my jams straight from my phone while I shower and assign on make-up before work in the morning.
5.) World Phones. How much do you travel internationally? Many phones are able to be “world phones,” meaning they will work in most European countries with the service providers and techonology in London, Paris, and Rammstein. If you are retired and move, in the military, have family overseas, or go tons for business, world phones are a BLESSING.
6.) GPS. Wow! What a MIRACLE! I can now have a GPS on my PHONE! I can use my GPS while out shopping on foot in Denver to accept the closest coffee shop, hottest night club, or track my drunk butt home to a full street address. When I go on road trips, I can go all the way from Tennessee to Seattle without ever stopping to see at an atlas. If I decide to stop and eat, my GPS will reroute me, automatically. And you don’t have to carry your cell phone AND one of those bulky GPS units, AND you don’t have to worry about leaving your GPS unit in your car to be stolen. It’s all in one! Did I mention you can play music WHILE using the GPS aaannnnddddd txt messaging or making calls?
Once you decide what features (if not all) are important to you, you can go online or to any major electronics store and narrow your choices down tremendously! Most carrier websites have a “compare phones” option, and any salesperson should be trained to point you directly to a phone that will fit you perfectly!
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Filed under Small Business Cell Phone by on Nov 3rd, 2010. 