Guide to Buying a Mobile Phone

How web broadcasting worksAdditional memory (500MB or more) is available on
A mobile phone is no longer simply a device with whichphones dedicated to gaming and mp3 playing, and
you stay in contact with others. Today, a mobile phonesome phones also offer slots for adding additional
is a multi-function fashion accessory, as necessary tomemory cards.
your appearance as a hairstyle. From how the phoneBattery and camera
'flips' open in front of your friends, to the groove of theBattery re-charge life of a phone is determined by the
ring tone, your mobile phone is a statement about whonumber of features and the amount of talk time used,
you are and how you address the world. And asbut today's phones range between 10 and 14 days of
every parent of a thirteen year old knows, you simplystandby time and 2 to 8 hours of talk time. Obviously
are not a 'whole person' without one.memory intensive use shortens the re-charge time.
To purchase a mobile phone, you need to address aEven the most basic phones now come with an in-built
number of issues, not the least of which is who youdigital camera. Some now also have flash capacity,
will be shelling out a small fortune to each month, andauto-focus, self-timing, continuous shooting and zoom
under what conditions, and what you want from yourand macro facilities. Many offer low-resolution video
phone service. On top of that, you will want to deciderecording and can be used for video conferencing and
which handset suits best and what extras andreceiving streaming video. Optimally, a camera with
accessories you want to go along with it. au is wheremore than one mega pixel is desirable.
you can compare a range of different offers fromConnections and options
different phones and service providers very easily, andA USB port on a mobile phone enables it to be
arrive at a decision that works for you.connected to your computer to transfer files. Wireless
Mobile Phonesconnectivity using bluetooth and infra-red allows
The centre of communicationsconnection between devices such as PCs and PDAs,
Different phones suit different people, but at the heartas well as providing hands-free utilities. You may also
of the decision is the question: Is your mobile phone thewant a voice-activated dialling feature, and voice
centre of your communications. The answer to thisrecording functions that enable you to send MMS
question will mean different things to people withmessages and voice memos. Phones with polyphonic
different needs.ring tone capacity enable you to have a more musical
The studentringtone, and produce a better sound.
The student's mobile phone is very definitely at theAt au you can compare all of the features of the
centre of communications, but quite clearly studentsdifferent brand names and the prices offered by
have little money to splurge and therefore need to buydifferent vendors. This takes a lot of the difficulty out
a phone that has access to economically efficientof narrowing down exactly what you want from you
communications. The trendy phone will be important,mobile phone.
but at a low cost. It will need to have excellent textingConnection choices
facility, be able to accommodate ring tones, and beThere are essentially two choices for how you want
easy to carry. Of lesser concern are issues such asto be connected to your phone network: a usage plan
camera and video capacity.and term contract, or a pre-paid option. All service
The busy parentproviders can offer both and under Australian
Whether working out of the home or not, a busylegislation, your phone number is portable between
parent needs to be able to be in touch at odd timesservice providers. Some however may charge a fee
and in odd places. This person will be seeking afor early termination of a contract, and some may
functional handset with a good network capacity.charge a fee for transferring your number from
Photographic features are handy as are textinganother service provider, and some may charge a fee
features and long talk-time.for transferring you number to another provider. These
The executivefees are entirely at the discretion of the service
The executive is constantly on the go, and is always inprovider and have no basis in actual network cost
touch while on the go. This person's phone will havewhatsoever. If it is charged, it is charged simply
added features such as a teledex, web connectivity,because they can.
video and photographic features. AdditionalYou need to give some thought to how you intend (or
accessories will include 'hands-free' capacity anddo) use your phone. Call plan contracts are offered on
portability across travel zones.the basis of how many minutes (or in some cases, 30
The travellersecond units) of call time you use, and at what time of
The traveller's phone needs most of all to be portableday. Carriers promote higher costs for high volume
across travel zones and able to access networks intimes of the day, and often reduce costs, or offer
international zones. Long battery life, video,'free' time during low times. Other low cost offers are
photographic and web connectivity features are allmade for calls between the phones on the same
important features considered by the traveller.carrier network, while others offer discounts for
Phone choicesbundling packages of home phone, mobile phone and
At the heart of your decision, is which phone toInternet account. It's important to read the conditions
choose? Some limitations may apply according to theattached to any of these offers. Free calls between
technology you need. If you live in a rural area, or travelmidnight and six am may be of little value to you if
to the country a lot, you will likely need access to ayou're sleeping at that time.
CDMA network, and not all handsets are compatible.Pre-paid is popular choice, especially if you don't make
The majority of Australia's urban population (95%) ismany calls. It also enables a better management of
covered with GSM technology, and there are a hugelimited funds. When deciding on your plan, look at costs
number of handsets available that are compatible.such as 'flagfall' costs and the different rates at
The technologydifferent times of the day. Also check the cost of calls
Other technologies that may affect both your choicewhen you exceed your 'cap' or limit. It is often in this
of handset and your choice of service provider arearea that the carrier can make money out of
the GPRS technology, designed for sending data overunsuspecting users.
the GSM network, enabling mobile phones to accessService providers
the internet and receive email messages; and the PTTThe carriers of mobile phone services in Australia
service (Push To Talk), a technology that allows mobileinclude Telstra, Optus, 3 (Hutchinson), Orange
phones to be used like two-way radios.(Hutchinson), Vodafone, Virgin, B and a number of
The handsetsmaller carriers, or agencies who provide services on
The next step might be to decide on the type ofbehalf of other carriers.
handset you favour. Handsets come in differentEach of the major carriers can offer you the
configurations, from the 'candybar' format (long andconnection to their network on contract plan or
slim) that is able to fit into a protective carrying casepre-paid, as well as sell you a pre-packaged handset.
and be operated by one hand. The screen andQuite often a contract will include a monthly service
keypad are limited by the size and shape of theand you pay for a number of minutes of talk or sms
handset. Flip-phones and slider phones have theconnections, as well as pay for the handset. Once the
advantage of small size, but their screens andcontract is ended, you are free to change the plan to
keypads can be larger because of the use of twoa different one, or change carriers altogether.
halves of a 'clamshell' case. Some slider phones haveSometimes the plan you select is not right for your
keypads on a swivel, offering a two handed operation.usage, and you find that after a few months, you could
A smartphone has a fully functional keypad thatreduce your costs by changing to a different plan.
enables the editing of Microsoft word documents,Some carriers enable you to do this mid-contract
presentations and spreadsheets.without any extra penalty; others may charge you a
Screens and memoryfee to change your plan. Study any plan carefully and
Colour screens are now standard in most models, butimagine how you will use your phone to take best
size, resolution and colours can vary, from betweenadvantage.
101Ã-80 pixels to 353Ã-288 pixels; andYou may also need to compare the services offered
between 4000 and 262,000 colours. The better theby the different carriers, especially their capacity to
screen resolution, the better backgrounds and graphicservice your area within their network. There's not a
images can be displayed. Mobile phones also nowlot of point in being with a carrier whose network
have onboard memories from between 16MB anddoesn't enable anyone to call you when you're at
96MB (although this is a standard that changes quickly).home.