cell phone stores

So, a friend of yours is sporting a brand new cell phone packed with more features than you can shake a stick at. The thing looks like it just fell out of a flying saucer, or something. In fact, it's quite possibly the coolest cell phone you've ever seen. You want one just like it, or better yet, a cooler one, but you don't have that kind of dough. So, what's one to do? Instead of listing a bunch of phones that are in my opinion, "cool", I'm going to show you where to look, what to look for, and how to get it for very little, or no money.

Here's a little factoid for you. There are only three authorized retailers of cellular phones and wireless plans in the United States. I know what you're thinking. There are thousands of cellular retail websites online. True enough, but only three authorized retailers, which are the fulfillment centers for every other U.S. based cellular site online, so that cuts your places to look to three. Amazon.com, Wirefly, and Let'sTalk.

You could also go directly to a carrier website like AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-mobile or others, but if you want to save some money on a new cell phone you're better off to stick with one of the retailers mentioned, because they deal in bulk. You can still choose from any wireless carrier that services your area, it's just that by going through a retailer instead of directly through the carrier you'll have a much larger selection of wireless devices, plus be able to compare phones and plans from multiple providers.

It's best to get into a little cell phone terminology here, because getting the right kind of cell phone is going to make a difference in features available on that phone, so here is a list of a few common types of wireless devices, and short descriptions.

PDA Phones - The term PDA is an abbreviation for Personal Digital Assistant, and is used for mobile organization like phone book, calendar, daily tasks, and can be synchronized with a PC. They sometimes come with a stylus, and may require a mobile data plan.

Smart Phones - For all intents and purposes a Smart Phone or smartphone is a PDA with cell phone capabilities, and can work very much like a small computer. In the early days many PDAs did not make it possible for one to make phone calls (though most do now).


Netbooks - These are not phones at all. They're mini laptops, but some wireless carriers, and retailers make them available for use with modern mobile data networks.

Multimedia Phones - Just a cell phone, but may be able to take pictures, video or play music files like MP3.

There are a lot of other terms that can be, and are used to describe different types of cellular phones. Texting phones, data phones, qwerty phones, just to name a few. The list above is a pretty good outline of different cell phone types without writing a book about the subject. If you want a phone with a good all around set of features, a smartphone is the way to go. If you're just looking for features on a case by case basis, here are a few of the most popular.

Data Plans - These can be a bit tricky, since nearly all wireless phones today allow you to access the Internet, but if you want broadband speeds you'll need a mobile data plan, and a phone that supports modern 3G (third generation) networks and higher. Most likely a PDA or smartphone.

QWERTY Keyboard - The term "QWERTY" comes from the fact those are the first six letters on a standard English keyboard (take a look). Non PDA and smartphone phones with qwerty keyboards are ofter referred to as texting phones.


Mobile Web Browsers - Almost all phones now have some sort of mobile browser so you can surf the Internet from your cell phone, but they're not all created equal. BlackBerry has an excellent full web browser built in, as does Apple's iPhone which comes with Safari. You can always download third party mobile browsers, but you'll need a phone that will support it.

Bluetooth - This is a must have for any cell phone worth having. In short, Blutooth makes it possible for your cell phone to communicate wirelessly with other devices that have, or support it. Common applications are, hands free driving, and wireless synchronization.

Web Applications - Some phones come with software you might normally find on your computer, like email clients, messengers, calendars, or productivity suites like Documents to go, or Windows Mobile. There are also lots of other third party apps you can download. BlackBerry and iPhone have very popular app stores with a wide selection of mobile apps made for those phones.

Cameras - If you want good pictures and video from your phone, try to steer clear of VGA, QVGA or cameras with interpolated resolution. You'll want a camera with about 3 megapixel or better for nice looking pictures and video. Generally speaking, the more megapixels the better.


Touch Screens - This is still a fairly new technology. Some touch screen phones have very few buttons on the phone itself, since most tasks, including typing and dialing are done directly on the screen. A couple good examples are the BlackBerry Storm, and iPhone.

There are dozens of other features that could be discussed here, but the idea is just to outline some of the cooler features to look for, and some short explanations and examples. A cell phone with all, or most of the features listed here is going to be a really nice phone.

So how do you get one of these really cool phones without breaking the bank? By going through an authorized retailer, of course. As mentioned earlier there are only three in the U.S. you need to be concerned with. Some phones could be free or highly discounted with a service agreement of between one to two years. If you don't like contracts, I don't know what to tell you. It's that, or pay out of pocket. If you choose the later, you could still get a good deal by going through one of the big three retailers. Since they sell these phones in bulk, they are generally cheaper than what you would find in a physical store, or direct from the carrier.

Daymon Hoag is the founder of Phone TV Internet, LLC. Compare Cell Phones with plans for your area, or try no contract Unlimited Prepaid Wireless