We’ve been thinking about getting new phones for a couple years. This morning, MrsDvl’s went kaput—prompting us to put “stop by T-Mobile” on our list of afternoon chores (need answer fast!).
We’re on a Pay-as-You-Go plan with T-mobile. We rarely use our phones, and this keeps bills down to $200–$300 per year. Internet access on this plan will run $1.50 per day—expensive if we use it a lot, but overall cheaper for rare/intermittent access.
We’re looking for phones that can download and use apps but that don’t maintain an always-on connection to the Internet. USB-synching with our Mac and PC—especially the calendars—is key. I’m also hoping for the smallest form-factor I can get that’s still usable. My current Razr is perfect shape-wise (small, flat, and completely unobtrusive in a pocket).
Anyone have a humble or not-so-humble opinion to share?
Check out unlocked phones on ebay as well as tmobile locked phones. Search “unlocked Palm Pixi” or “tmobile Palm Pixi”, with Palm Pixi being whichever device you want.
Much, much cheaper than at the store. Especially if you get one used. You can get a warranty on it as well from SquareTrade that lasts much longer than a store warranty, which IIRC is only 90 days. I’ve had many friends actual claim their warranties thru Squre Trade and always had a pleasant experience with them.
Thanks! That’s the first I’ve really heard of SquareTrade–sounds great. I typically scoff at extended warranties for most things, but there are a few key items that we can’t screw around with (e.g., work computers). Phones normally wouldn’t be one of them, but the cost difference of store/ebay+ST seems like it’s definitely worth looking closer at.
We’re hoping there’s a holiday sale of some sort … but we’re in a funny you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-us situation. Our VOIP phone adapter shuffled off this electronic coil yesterday, now this. (Was there some sort of freak, localized EMP?) We are down to one phone between us and a lot of clients to talk to, so we may end up paying more for the phone than we’d like.
You can always look on ebay by location closest to you as well, and look for 2-3 day shipping options. Also, Craigslist is a possibility - you can always get a cheap, $10-20 phone on there while you weigh your options. Pop your SIM card (tmobile should provide you one for free) in there and consider Ebay or a possible Holiday deal from Tmobile as your future phone.
Of course, Craigslist doesn’t have the SquareTrade bonus that makes buying electronics on ebay an almost 0 gamble.