Thread: Help me shop for a new cell phone.

My contract with ATT is up and I'm possibly switching companies and even if I'm not I'm upgrading my phone. But I'm lost on all the new phones and such. What is the scoop on cell phones these days? What are the brands to stay away from, what are must have features, are reconditioned ok? Help. Thanks.

I think it really depends what you want to have and what you want to pay. iPhone and Droid are the most popular but also pretty expensive. Droid has a lot more options so there are lower priced ones too. There are so many smart phones out there to choose from. I would choose the carrier and then see what deals they have. Maybe see what the good deals are with the carrier you like and then search some reviews on line? Unless you are stuck on a certain phone (as I was when I got an iPhone) I would go w/ any smart phone that was a really good deal w/ the carrier.

I agree.... figure out what carrier you're going with, then see what deals they're offering. I've been with tmobile for about five years now and have been pretty happy for the most part. I have three lines with data, texting and all the works. We have androids. Samsung gravitys - I like it alot because I like having both the touch screen and the qwerty keyboard.

Virgin Mobile has a great no-contract option for $35/month. I recently switched from Verizon and am very happy with it so far.

brayg... Does that have data, text, etc?

Yes, unlimited data, texts and 350 minutes of talk time.

Sounds good! My contract ends in December and I want to go someplace cheaper. I have Sprint now at about $80 a month for data, unlimited text, and some large amount of minutes.

I finally got bullied into a cellphone a while [couple years?] back; because I carry an epi-pen and drive my kids alone. There's a lot of farm land between towns where we live so I absolutely have to have the best coverage. My friend had done that research already for some other reason so I was able to start from that as a non-negotiable, then factor in customer service, then cost. I started with a no-frills cheap phone because where I live most pay-by-month places have crappy coverage and we only had the big 3 where we live.

Does that help?

The library will have consumer reports, and a few websites will have reports that people have made about dead zones and where towers are and who owns them, etc.