For techies-cellphones

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I am not quite a tech geek- I like technology- I am on about my 4th laptop ( dont currently own a desktop) have an ipod/PDA/cellphone
but I don’t change them until they totally break or are stolen :(- I don’t have to have the newest thing
But I admit- that I was interested to hear that now providers have to sell unlocked phones ( although Verizon my provider, already sells unlocked phones but they have a permission list and wont cover one they don’t sell),
and I was even more interested to hear that some providers are looking at having a phone that can switch to using local wireless networks, I was bouncing in my seat to read that Apple is expect to have an iphone out next spring. ( first 6 m you can only get it through Cingular)</p>

<p>Even though I really need one NOW!-
my contract is thru march- but if I get a phone through verizon- I can get $100 per phone in January & I am looking forward toward replacing it.</p>

<p>However- I also am wondering if technology is going to improve quite a bit so that locking myself into a long term contract wouldn’t be a great idea- because unlike this guy-[I dont have a girlfriend so what else am I gonna do?](<a href=“http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6123668.html”>http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6123668.html&lt;/a&gt; ), I can think of other things to spend money on.
Still even though as a family we have only had cell phones for less than two years- I now have features that I * have* to have & I suspect I will be looking for more- but I am polling people to get a better idea of what to look for.
What sort of things do you really use?</p>

2

<p>I almost never use my phone so forgive the dumb question: what’s an unlocked phone?</p>

3

<p>it isnt a dumb question I never really knew what it was until the other day.
Ill give it a try
Say you have a Motorola V710-
Verizon services this phone so you can use it on their plan
It is also unlocked- so you can use it with other providers( but verizon will not allow you to use a phone which is not on their permission list)
But some phones have a sim card that allows it to be only used with that provider-although some companies will give you the unlock code once you have stayed with them for 3 months.
<a href=“Businessweek - Bloomberg”>Businessweek - Bloomberg;

4

<p>Thanks. So in other words if you want to switch providers you can keep the same phone, and don’t have to wait for your plan to end? I guess that would be useful for some people. I have the cheapest phone (came free with the service), no bells and whistles, and only use it occasionally. I consider myself a cell phone Luddite. :)</p>

5

<p>E, I can maybe tell you what NOT to do. LOL. I have a Samsung Blackjack, with full data, media, etc. It does everything, including allow me to get to my business and personal email. We’ve been with Cingular for years, and we seem to like/want new phones and change needs faster than the plan expires, plus, beginning in about freshman year, athletes from other countries needed service and somehow ended up on our cell phone plan, so, there are like nine people on it now, and, since they’re all graduating and some of them ending up staying in the U.S. or otherwise not returning to their home countries, their parents are inquiring can they stay on our plan? I’ve said yes to all; everyone always pays on time, the other parents are wonderful to my daughter, and every time the bill has been unusually high, it always turns out to be because of MY international calls. I don’t even know the names of the other athletes; D gets the checks and does something with them and the bill gets paid, and I write off my portion for business. We have more rollover minutes than it seems we will ever use, and the data packages seem very reasonable considering how much we communicate electronically. </p>

<p>But the telephony I really like is Skype: I have two laptops, use it on both; I can talk to anyone anywhere else in the world for free if they also have Skype, plus, for the past year, calls to landlines from Skype in the U.S. and Canada have been completely free. I also use video conferencing over Skype, which works flawlessly, and, I have a separate Skype telephone number with calls forwarding to my cell if I’m not on my computer. Plus, I can forward my office phone calls to my Skype number, which in turn can forward to my cell. Or, I can let everything terminate into Skype voicemail. I highly recommend Skype; the connectivity, reliability and call quality is awesome. </p>

<p>I also have a regular, normal home (landline) telephone, but, we never seem to use it any more. I am waiting to see what Skype does with the rates to call landlines in the U.S. and Canada - if they continue the free calls, which is the rumor, or fix it at $.02/minute, then I’ll probably finally get rid of the landline. That’s hard, though, since we’ve had that number for years, and so it’s sort of like “letting go”. </p>

<p>In terms of being locked into a contract, I wouldn’t worry about it or make it a deciding factor - as it seems like providers are willing to be flexible considering the market seems to be so competitive. I would simply get the phone you want, and enjoy it.</p>

6

<p>I’ve started using SkypeOut to call my mother. I used to pay $2.20 for a 20-minute phone call. Now I pay $0.42 :)</p>