Phones

[ksmith]

You're getting a new cellphone. What features would you look for? Which features did you think you'd use that you wound up not using? Which features have proven more useful than you thought they would?

Long story short--I have to upgrade my phones. My current phones are a couple of old candy bars, a Nokia 8200? 8600? and an even older Ericsson. I think I could text with the Nokia if I wanted to, but I never felt the need. I pretty much just use them to make calls.

One of my accounts is an old AT&T Free2Go plan that I have to convert to a Cingular pay as I go plan. They offer a bottom of the line phone, which is likely all I need. But if there's something cool and useful to be had...?

Comments

[lagringa.livejournal.com]

All I look for is battery life and does it send text messages. I've always found that the basic LG flip phones are the cheapest and last longest. IF you sign up with Verizon, they give you a free phone every two years. I haven't paid for a new phone in years.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

They offer discounted Verizon personal accounts at the day job, but the cheapest I found was about $33/month. I've been paying about $25/every 90 days for recharge with 100% rollover, and I never use all of my minutes.

[juliabk.livejournal.com]

I don't use mine for anything other than making calls. The new phones I got when I added the kid to my plan allow you to select a ring tone for the people in your phone book. I haven't done that yet (shoot, I haven't switched to the new phone yet) but kid has and she loves it. That's pretty much it. I can see the value in a camera phone but have no burning desire for one and text messaging is not only way too expensive but hard on the joints. ;-):-)

Oh, there is the standard stuff like missed call logs and phone mail and all, but I see no reason for anything fancy.

[ferragus.livejournal.com]

I resisted getting a camera phone for a long time, but eventually I had no choice is I wanted (something, can't recall what it was now :) ) after all, I have real cameras!

Granted the resolution is weak, but there are times when it's handy to just grab your phone and snap a picture of a certain beagle exploring under the dashboard of the car, or the same beagle looking out the mirror in a hotel room trying to see where his mom went to!

Texting is also great, I can Text herself while I'm on the road and know that I didn't interupt her writing as much as a call would have.

[galeni.livejournal.com]

Like Julia, my teenager uses lots more features than I do. I use texting and calling, and that's it. I have a fancy phone/PDA (I won it) but like most wireless connect devises it runs through fuel like a Hummer so I only use it to test our webpages at work (which is why work is paying the monthly charges). My regular can't-live-without PDA is smaller and lighter than the combo and does more, so I have no incentive to change. And for a walk around the block it's easier to just carry the tiny cellphone (older Motorola flip up that, golly, reminds me of a certain TOS communicator).

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

I use mine for calling and a little bit for texting. Since I commute on a train, I also use my phone for game-playing (simple games like Snood).

I like the multiple ringtone options--I can set different ringtones for different people. I can tell who is calling even when I can't see the phone.

Mine is also a basic LG flip phone, and it has great battery life, even after 3 years (yeah, I could get a new phone from Verizon, but I like this phone). I particularly like the sound quality and the fact that it picks up speech very well.

Also: I like a clamshell phone. Bar phones annoy me because (a) they feel too small, and (b) even with the keylock on, too often they accidentally dial. I have gotten calls that I can hear are my friends' phones in their purses.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Everyone at work has clamshells, and I have this urge to be different. I have activated my bar phone in my purse without realizing it, but have yet to make a call.

Online, they offer several phones with pay-as-I-go, including Razrs, with nice online discounts. I'll see what they offer me at the store--of course, they want me to go to a store to switch out my phone because they want to sell me lots of new things.

I don't object to a few new things, or even a niftier phone. I just want to see what other folks use the most.