Author: dontspendmore

By David

So the time has come for you to get a new phone. This is both a joyous and stressful time for many cellular users. Not only will getting a new phone require research, time, and review, but also possibly an expenditure of money. To help with this process, here are 3 tips for getting a new phone.

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Evaluate Necessity

The first step you will want to take when endeavoring to get a new phone is to seriously consider if you actually need a new one. Often times, our phones start running more slowly because we have too many applications installed, or perhaps we are irritated because the volume button only works half the time. Many common phone issues can either be fixed or lived with for just a bit longer, allowing you to get just a little more life out of your current phone and save up to get a new phone in the future that will be better than any you could get at the moment. Still if your old flip phone is only being held together by a thin cable connecting the two halves, and possibly your hope that it will make it a few more days until you can get a new one, that is probably a step you will want to take right away.

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Used Phone

If you do need a new phone right away, or want an upgrade from your old one, but do not want to pay a great deal for it, you can always take a look at getting a used phone. These come in two different varieties; used and factory refurbished. A used phone is exactly what it claims to be, a phone that has been used by another person that is still in good order, but is no longer needed typically due to replacement by a better phone. Often times these phones will have 1 or 2 minor issues (case cracks, damaged buttons, etc.) but nothing so major as to make them unusable. The benefit is the price. If you know where to look, you can find these “cutting edge technology of 2 years ago” smartphones for around $50. Alternatively you could opt for a factory refurbished phone. These are also used phones, but they were traded in toward the cost of an upgrade and sent back to the factory to repair any issues before being redistributed.

New Phone

By far the most expensive option for getting a new phone you can choose to get a brand new phone through the manufacturer or your cellular provider. Many providers will offer a discount on these new phones if your account is due for an upgrade. To get the discount you will likely have to agree to a contract extension (typically of about 2 years). Otherwise you will have to pay full price for your new phone

Now that you know what options are available to you, you can make an informed decision about when to get a new phone and what kind of phone to go with.

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By David

If you are shopping around for a new phone, you have probably noticed the large number of options available to you these days. However, you may be confused about how to tell what kind of phone is going to work best for you. To help you decide, here is a guide that will help you through this process:

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Type of phone

The first thing you will want to consider when doing a mobile comparison is what kind of phone you are looking to get. There are two main categories from which to choose: smartphones and regular phones. A regular phone is simply a device designed for talking, texting, and typically will include some basic applications (calculator, calendar, etc.). These types of phones are great for those who do not want to spend a great deal either on their phone or on their plan or who just do not have any interest in downloading and using apps. Smartphones on the other hand tend to be more expensive for both the unit and the plan as they are more data intensive, but their uses are, practically speaking, unlimited.

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Features

Next you will want to take a look at the different features each phone in your chosen category is offering. With a Smartphone you can download apps to make it do essentially whatever you want, so look for hardware features to compare as software can always be added later. Good metrics include processor speeds, ram size and speed, and internal storage. The more space you have available to store downloaded material or things created on the phone itself, the better off you will be. Other things to look for are wireless connection speeds, expandable memory slots, case options, warranty offers, and pc connectivity options.

Price

Once you have decided on a number of phones that have what you are looking for, you will want to take a look at price as the final step in your mobile comparison. As with most things in life, how much the phone will cost is likely going to be a deciding factor. If you are getting a phone or a discount on a phone as part of signing up for a new mobile service, you can probably go ahead and rule out many of the more economy options you have available as you will want to get the most phone you can with that offer. On the other hand, if you are fronting the money for your phone all on your own, go through your list one at a time and start removing phones from the list that just do not have quite enough for the price or are more expensive than a comparable model. Once you are down to just a few phones, you have to make the hard choices regarding how much you are willing to spend for those extra features.

Armed with the knowledge of how to begin doing a mobile comparison you will find that the task of picking what is to become your new mobile phone is not as hard as it initially seems.

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By David

Finding a cell phone plan that accommodates all your family members can be a daunting task, especially when you are trying to stick to a budget. With the average cell phone bill being around $70 per person these days, even a small family’s cell phone bills can add up quickly. There is hope to be found, however, in a family talk wireless plan offered through many of today’s best cellular providers.

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Disadvantages

While the advantages of a family talk wireless plan are many, they do also have some inherent disadvantages as well.

1)      Not for Individuals – As the name of the plan implies these types of plans are poorly suited for individuals and will typically cost as much or more than a basic one person plan.

2)      Shared Features – Because you share the plan with a group of people you will also be sharing all your features. If you have unlimited everything that is not a big deal, but if you have a limit on your minutes, texts, or amount of data you can run into problems with certain members of your family if they exceed their share.

3)      Costly Upgrades – Many family plans still only do one upgrade at a time, meaning only one member of the family will typically get an upgrade at one time, unless you decide to purchase new phones for everyone.

Advantages

Now that we have addressed some of the disadvantages of a family talk wireless plan let’s take a look at the many advantages:

1)      Discounts on Additional Lines – The best advantage of a family plan is that you will get discounts on each line typically after the first couple. The price of each line tends to drop for every two you add by a significant margin so if you have a big family, you could manage to save quite a bit.

2)      Shared Features – Assuming you went with unlimited features, you can actually turn this disadvantage into an advantage. Though unlimited features will typically cost more, that expense is only paid once for all your lines, allowing you to split that expense amongst several people.

3)      Open Interpretation of “Family” – You may not be a “family” so to speak, but perhaps a close-knit group of friends instead. You could still take advantage of a family plan and share the expense equally in order to save money.

How to Sign Up

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In order to sign your family up for a family talk wireless plan, just head to a cellular carrier’s website, choose a plan you like, and get started. You will be able to pick options and features to add along the way and you always have the option of shopping around on multiple sites to find the best and most affordable plans.

Now that you are familiar with family talk wireless plans and how they work, take a look at the different options that are available to you, decide what plans look the best, pick the plan that has what you want, and enjoy your new plan.

By David

If you have a large family, you are likely already familiar with the additional expenses that go along with it. Suddenly, a night on the town triples in price as you pay for additional meals, movie tickets, and snacks, or possibly a caretaker for younger children. Your search for the best family mobile plans does not have to be the same way. You can drastically reduce your costs by using a family mobile plan.

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Lower Bills

Using one of the many family mobile plans can in fact save you some money on your monthly bills. Typically, a family plan will charge a standard rate for the first two lines and then will offer a discount on every line added after those first two. So for instance, you might have a family of 5 whose cell phone bills would be around $70 each if you had an individual plan for each of them, adding up to $350 each month. A family plan for that same family would typically only be about $220 each month or around $44 per person.

Shared Features

The main reason for this additional savings beyond the reduced cost per line is the fact that you are sharing the features that you are paying for. For example let’s say that unlimited texting costs $10 a month. If unlimited texting is a service that each of your family members needs, it is going to be $10 for each family member on an individual plan, meaning a total of $50 each month just for texting. With any of the family mobile plans, however, it’s going to cost $10 for the whole family. This is the case for unlimited minutes as well, however data is almost always charged per line or per smartphone. This is because companies know how easy it is to go through your available data, especially when you are sharing it and thus they provide an individual pool to each user or smartphone on the plan to help ease the conflicts that can arise from trying to share resources.

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Bill Consolidation

One of the greatest features of family mobile plans is the automatic bill consolidation that naturally goes with it. If you are responsible for running your household, you are likely already managing several different accounts for utilities, various payments, and insurance. With so much already on your plate, the idea of paying 3, 4, or even more separate bills for individual cell phone plans just is not appealing. With family mobile plans you won’t have to. By their very nature they consolidate your potential cell phone bills down into one easy to manage payment that will add little more than a few extra minutes to your bill paying routine, saving both your time and your energy for other pursuits.

Now that you have been made aware of the advantages of family mobile plans, you can start looking for the best plans available on the market today and custom tailor one to fit the specific needs of you and your family.

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By David

If you have just recently gotten your hands on a smart phone, you are probably noticing that you use way more data than you imagined you would. It can be surprising to find out just how much data is used to stream even a single video or song from the internet. As such, you may be looking for an unlimited wireless data plan to offset some of those hefty overage fees. Fortunately, there are several options available to you.

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Change Plans

The first option open to you when seeking an unlimited wireless data plan is to switch to a different plan entirely. This allows you to get the unlimited data that you need and possibly some other features that you may want as well. Typically a plan that includes unlimited data will also have unlimited texting that comes with it, while others will offer unlimited minutes as well. These plans are great if you need unlimited on all these things as they are typically easy to find for an affordable rate. If you do not use all these features, you may wish to explore some of the other options.

Add or change Services

On many occasions cellular carriers will allow you to add additional services to your plan to help get you the things that you need. This is one of the best options for getting an unlimited wireless data plan without all the other stuff you won’t use. Assuming you already have a plan that works for you, just head over to the services section and tack on the unlimited data plan service to your current plan. This will cost an extra fee each month, but allows you to avoid paying for things you do not really need. Be sure to compare prices when changing plans, as there might be similarly priced plans that offer a bit more.

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Use a Wi-Fi Hotspot

Pretty much all smart phones these days are built with a wireless network adapter already hooked up and ready to go so you can access Wi-Fi hotspots at work, while getting coffee, or at home. Almost all carriers will forgo data charges as long as you are streaming your data from these wireless networks, allowing you to avoid data charges altogether. If you find yourself always or frequently being within range of one of these wireless networks you can use it as a truly unlimited wireless data plan that will not cost you anything extra and will not be subject to a speed reduction after using a certain amount of data. If you find that this is the option for you, you may still wish to add a limited data service to your plan to cover those brief times you find yourself outside the range of a wireless network.

Now that you have some strategies for gaining access to unlimited data with your smartphone, pick the one that is right for you, and start using your cool gadget for more than just calls and texts.

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By David

If you have been shopping around for a set of mobile phones for your family, you have probably come to realize that getting an individual plan for each member of your household would cost an arm and a leg. Because of this unfortunate fact, many companies have begun to offer a wireless family plan that can get you the service you need for everyone in your household and save you some money each month in the process, even if you have a small family.

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Price Breaks

The first and most obvious of the advantages to a wireless family plan are the price breaks that you get for each new line after the first two. So while you may be paying full price for the first two lines (as far as standard features go anyway) you will get a significant discount on a third, fourth, or fifth. Some plans have limitations on the number of additional lines that you can add in order to make sure your pool of shared resources (minutes, texts, and data) are not stretched too thin. All-in-all, if you have even a small family it may be worth considering switching to a family plan.

Shared Resources

Another great advantage to using a wireless family plan is the ability to share resources between several phones. If you wanted unlimited talking, texting, and the highest level of data you could get on a regular phone, you could be paying upwards of $100. That is a lot of money for one person’s phone. With a wireless family plan however, these unlimited resources are spread between several different phones so while the same features on a five line plan could cost around $220, broken down for each individual, that is $44 each for unlimited talk, text, and a large chunk of data. That seems like a much better deal.

Click here to compare wireless family plans. All major carriers in one place.

Bill Consolidation

The final advantage of note that comes with a wireless family plan is the convenience of having all the cell phone bills for your family wrapped into one easy payment each month. If you went with individual plans, using the example above of a 5 person family, not only would you be spending more money than you need to for your mobile phone service, but you would also be paying 5 separate bills, possibly to separate companies and spending hours at the kitchen table making sure you have got everything balanced and have not forgotten anyone’s payment. With a wireless family plan on the other hand you spend only a few minutes at the dinner table writing one check to pay one bill. Balancing the checkbook is a breeze, and no need to worry that you have forgotten to pay for someone’s phone.

So whether you have a small family or a big one, there are several benefits associated with setting up and using a wireless family plan. Now, all you need to do is check out what is available and decide which plan has the best features and the best price for your family’s unique personal needs.

By David

With so many different options available on the cellular market these days, it can be difficult to know which phone is going to be the right one for your personal needs. You could always go for a super high-end phone, but do you really need all the extra bells and whistles and what about that hefty price-tag? To help sift through all the available options here is a short guide to show you how to compare phone specs:

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Type

The first thing to look at when you compare phone specs is the type of phone you want to get. Phones come in two major categories; cell phones and smartphones. A cell phone is your typical phone that will offer you the ability to talk, text, and use some limited amounts of data and applications. These phones are typically inexpensive, durable, and a good option for those just entering the cellular market. The other option open to you is the smartphone. A smartphone can do everything a cell phone can (except be less expensive) and a great deal more. These devices thrive on data usage and running applications making them virtually limitless in their usefulness. Because of the greater level of internet connectivity, these devices also allow you to sync up with your many online accounts so you can keep up with contacts and social media on the go.

Click here to compare phones and plans from all major carriers. Free comparison tools allow you to compare plans in one place.

Features

Next, as you compare phone specs you will want to take a look at the features available with the phone. Regardless of the type of phone, you will typically be able to change the software (apps) you have on it to suit your needs. So as you compare, you want to take the hardest look at the hardware specs to get a good baseline. The two things that should be most important to you however are your processing speed and your storage capacity. Processing speed is simply a measure of how good your phone’s processor is and can’t be altered. Storage capacity is a measure of how much information you can fit on your phone. Many phones include an external card slot for extra memory capacity, but note that this extra storage will typically only be useful for media files (pictures, word documents, videos, etc.) that your phone is not using as part of your theme. Most often items for your theme as well as apps will have to be installed on your phone’s internal storage, so this is what you will want to look for.

Cost

Once you have compared phone specs and found a few phones that you like, you will want to do a price comparison. Eliminate phones with the same features first choosing the ones with the lower price and then make a final decision between the few (if more than one) remaining contenders.

Now that you know what to look for when shopping for your new mobile phone, you will be able to get not only what you need, but also what you want and at an affordable price.

Click here to compare phones and plans from all major carriers. Free comparison tools allow you to compare plans in one place.

By Dr. Kavita

Nowadays, the purchase of a cell phone has become a necessity rather than a luxury. Most of us cannot imagine our lives without a cell phone. But the actual dilemma sets in when we decide to finally get a cell phone for ourselves/our loved ones.

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With such a wide variety of cell phones out there, you are often left perplexed as to which of them would be the best choice. In other words, you could make use of a few cell buying tips to guide you along the process, so here they are:

Design of the cell phone

You have so many models of cell phones that come in a variety of designs. For example, you have the sliding variety, the flip open types and the simple candy bar types. There are some swivel models as well. You have got to choose the best design that appears comfortable to you.

Comfort is usually the last thing on your mind when you are choosing your cell phone design, because let us face it, cell phones are now more of a status symbol and everyone wants to have the latest style in town. But buying a cell phone that is classy to look at but quite unwieldy for you to handle can later on be a cause for regret. So focus on the comfortable designs with the best styles.

Display of the cell phone

This is an important factor, especially as you age a bit. Some phones might be very classy and comfortable to, but he display is simply illegible or too small to read comfortably without squinting one’s eyes. Select a display that puts no undue strain on your eyes.

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Buttons and keyboard

Again, as mentioned in the above section, there could be so many cell phones with great looks, comfort and display. But when you pick it up to type a message, you have to either curse your fingers for being so thick or the keypad for placing the buttons so close to each other.

Since you cannot change your finger size, you are left with just one choice and that is to choose a cell phone with comfortable amount of spaces in between the buttons and a comfy keypad that makes typing stress free.

Menu and navigation

Suppose you managed to jump through all the hurdles mentioned above. But when you try to get inside your phone, i.e. you attempt to reach a certain menu or function and you feel as if you were sucked in to a maze. After half an hour of desperate attempts, you are still unsuccessful at finding out how to assign a ringtone to your contact or something as silly as that.  That is when you suddenly realize that you paid money to get yourself a headache. Make sure that you understand the menu and the navigation is short, smooth and quick to reach, in order to avoid such headaches.

Battery life

With so many apps, internet usage and video calls to make, there is one vital thing your cell phone needs and that is a good battery life. What use is a cell phone with killer looks and style if it requires constant re-charging?

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