There is no simple answer to this because what you want a cell phone for may be a different reason than someone else's needs.

I can help you with the question if you tell me how you plan to use your cell phone. For example, will you use it locally to talk to friends and family? Will you use it only for security? Will you use your cell phone to travel around the country, using it on business, or perhaps, even internationally?

Once you decide on how you will use your phone, you can begin to narrow down your options. I'll make some assumptions so that you can see how we can proceed to make a cell phone purchase

Airtime

Let's say you want a phone to use, mostly locally, but you also take vacations, and want to have your phone with you when you go out of town. The next decision is to decide how many minutes per day you plan on using your phone. You will buy minutes based on a per-month bundle, but most people don't know how many minutes a month they will need until they've used their phone for a month. So let's make some assumptions again. You want to call your husband or office on the way to work: 5 minutes each. You call your mother during the day: 5 minutes. You call your kids on the way home from work: 6 minutes. So far we have used 21 minutes in one day.

Most cell phone carriers have unlimited night and weekend usage included in their plans, so we can deduct eight days from the 30-day month. So we now have 22 days per month times 21 minutes per day, which totals 462 minutes. A 500-minutes per month plan will give you 38 minutes of fudge time. A 600-minute per month plan will give you 138 minutes of fudge time.

• If you are long-winded, you will want to sign up for a plan with more minutes
• If this sample of usage is more than you will talk, then adjust the plan you want accordingly

You can search for a wireless phone company here by clicking on cellular phones. In the Shop For area, you can make choices if you have preferences. For instance, if all your friends have AT&T Wireless, you may want to see what AT&T Wireless is offering so that you can talk to them for free. If you want to keep your monthly cell phone bill under $30, you can enter this as search criteria.

Most carriers allow unlimited calls to other users on their network. For example, I am a Verizon Wireless customer in Cleveland, and my dad is also a Verizon Wireles customer, but he's in Florida. We can talk as much as we want any time of the day, any day of the week, because we are on the same carrier.

Equipment

Now that you've decided how much you will be talking on your phone, it's time to decide what else you want to do with your phone.

Do you want to:

• send text messages
• play music
• watch TV
• use a Navigator program

These choices will influence which phone you get.

More choices include

• prepaid or post-paid* airtime (the phones are different for these sservices
• form factor: smart phone, candy-bar shape, clam-shell shape
• price: do you want a "free" phone or how much do you want to spend?

When a cell phone service provider lists the price of the equipment, the price usually requires a length-of-term agreement, and reflects a subsidy to reduce the price of the cell phone. If this is your first phone, or you are changing carriers, ask if there is a trial period that will allow you to return the phone if the service or equipment isn't working out for you.

Referrals

A great way to get started on what phone and service to get is to ask your friends and family what carrier they use and whether or not they like the service and equipment.

Summary

The best mobile phone is the one that will do what you want it to do for the best price.   There are advantages to signing up with the same carrier that your family and friends use.  Review your monthly budget before you shop.   You will typically spend less than 5% of your two-year contract cell phone usage on hardware.   The service is a more important choice than the phone.   Cell phone rate plans are often market-specific. Equipment is carrier specific.

Good Luck!

Penny

author, The Cell Phone Handbook 

http://wirelesswhiz.com/book1.html

*Prepaid means you pay for your usage in advance, and refill your "card" when you run low. Post-paid requires credit approval, but allows you to pay for your usage after the fact. (Note: All telephone bills must be paid for at the beginning of the billing cycle, with any extra charges billed at the end of the billing cycle due the following month.)