My cell phone is dying of old age ... looking for recommendations for a new one.

Does anyone know anything about the new Kin?

Never heard of the Kin. I used to use TracPhone prepaid. I had a simple phone and didn't really understand the functions it had, but I never had a problem.

If you are wondering, I let it go due to lack of use. I only used it to give people an updated arrival time when visiting Albuquerque, and it was working out to maybe $25 per call. I figured Bob, Di, Osso, and the family could just go ahead and be surprise for that kind of money.

Let me know what you come up with, and how it worked out for you. For the right money, I may come up with another phone.

The Kin One is the new Microsoft phone. After reading a middling review from Engadget I'm so not wasting my money on the Kin.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/05/kin-one-and-two-review/


Bloody expensive plan!

If I were in your shoes I'd get a used, unlocked iPhone (I'd be looking to pay about $100-$200 for it where you are) and use that on the T-Mobile network.

But if all you need is a phone you can get a new phone that will work on the T-Mobile network for $25.

I went ahead and got the Sony Ericsson Equinox (which will be free with a 2 year contract). Though I'm paying about $50 a month (including the unlimited monthly web).

How did u choose that one, in particular ?





David

I'm guessing both your requirements and budget are a bit higher than mine. I think I might be willing to go maybe $10 or $15/month for a mobile to send and receive calls.

More if I thought it would let me get rid of the landline.

I read the review on PC Magazine (of all places) where I have a subscription and I trust their judgement. It got a Good review (3 out of stars).

I like the overall design of the phone and the 3.2 megapixel camera with the Sony tech sensibilities.

From the review:

Sorry Roger. I let the tech Geek in me get the best of me with this compromised choice.

Your best bet is to get another free prepaid phone. Try Verizon perhaps?

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phones


Virgin mobile has LG ( durable brand) phones for under 30.00 and plans that start just as low.
No contract. Y ou can change your plan every month if you choose.

Offers unlimited text, web and talk.

I have unlimited everything for 59.99 a month

oops

you already picked

didnt notice that!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/technology/personaltech/14talk.html?WT.mc_id=TE-SM-E-FB-SM-LIN-LCU-051410-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click

Cellphones Now Used More for Data Than for Calls
By JENNA WORTHAM
Published: May 13, 2010

Jodi Hilton for The New York Times

Excerpts (more at the link)

Liza Colburn and her 12-year-old daughter, Abigail, use their cellphones for many tasks, but make relatively few phone calls.

She taps out her grocery lists, records voice memos, listens to music at the gym, tracks her caloric intake and posts frequent updates to her Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The one thing she doesn’t use her cellphone for? Making calls.

“I probably only talk to someone verbally on it once a week,” said Mrs. Colburn, a 40-year-old marketing consultant in Canton, Mass., who has an iPhone.

For many Americans, cellphones have become irreplaceable tools to manage their lives and stay connected to the outside world, their families and networks of friends online. But increasingly, by several measures, that does not mean talking on them very much.

...

Instead of talking on their cellphones, people are making use of all the extras that iPhones, BlackBerrys and other smartphones were also designed to do " browse the Web, listen to music, watch television, play games and send e-mail and text messages.

The number of text messages sent per user increased by nearly 50 percent nationwide last year, according to the CTIA, the wireless industry association. And for the first time in the United States, the amount of data in text, e-mail messages, streaming video, music and other services on mobile devices in 2009 surpassed the amount of voice data in cellphone calls, industry executives and analysts say.