So you want a phone eh? You finally decided to fit in the picture with everyone else. You will become the one that everybody looks at when the phone starts ringing during class or in a reunion. Everyone has one so why don't you? Nowadays it's becoming rare to see someone who doesn't own one ! But if you decide to make the big purchase, it's important to take in consideration many things like the actual phone that you want, what will you do with it, the plan that fits your needs and finally the accessories that never come with it (obviously).

1. CHOOSING THE PHONE

What is a cell and what does it do? Stupid question you might ask but at least i'm starting somewhere ! First off, a cell phone is like a regular phone except that there is no wires ! It's powered by a battery and the signal is transmitted by radio waves and the great big antennas we sometimes see are the source of those signals. The antennas are place in a way that they form somewhat of a great big cellular system that connect to each other like an organism, hence the name cellular phones.

GSM or CDMA? These phones don't always work on the same antennas then others. Each phone company has a particular technology that transmit the radio waves. In Canada, where I live, there is four major cell phone companies like Bell, Telus, Rogers and Fido. Bell and Telus work on the same technology which is CDMA (code division multiple access) and the other two work on GSM (Global System for Mobile communications: originally from Groupe Spécial Mobile). In the US, the major phone companies are Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. T-Mobile and AT&T are GSM, the other ones are CDMA. I'm not gonna go into details but the main idea is that choosing a particular phone (especially if you're planning on getting it on Ebay) you must first know what kind of phone it is before choosing the service provider.

Type: Choosing which type of phone basically refers to what you're gonna do with (it's not only for calling now)

- Adventure (Connectivity, GPS)
- Business (Applications, Operating System)
- Fashion (Design)
- Fun (Gaming, Camera, Music)
- Functional (Simplicity)
- Messaging (Texting, Email)
-Trend Setter (Technology)

Navigation: An important factor in choosing a phone is how you navigate it because and it really depends on what you are going to do with the handheld. A Keypad is good for someone who only wants to call but a qwerty is good for text messaging and for further use, a touch screen is a good choice for surfing the net or just being trendy. Let's look at the few:

- Keypad: for the basic user that only wants the calling feature of a phone (huh? what's that), not good for text messaging or writing emails

- QWERTY Keypad: GREAT for text messaging, it's the same kind of layout then a normal computer keyboard so anybody that has ever used a computer can easily write a text messenge or email in no time.

- Trackwheel: Great for navigation, can sometimes get dirty and spin less freely after a year or so, not intended for the hands-on jobs for that matter. Great for the ''One-button-does-it-all'' kind of people.

- Joystick: Great for navigation, cluster is not a factor like the trackball but it's not has fun or fast in my personnal opinion.

- Touch Screen: This is the new trend, alot of phones are becoming more and more touch capable. Navigating the internet is has simple has sliding your thumb on a page, looking at pictures is a breeze etc. These kind of phones have a big screen and obviously are more fragile than your normal phone so buyer beware: If you drop it, good are the chances it will break the screen. Then again, it all depends where it drops.

Bells and whistles: Don't want to drag your phone, your camera, your mp3 player and your GPS with you at the same time? Why not put it all in the same device? For people who want alot more than juste a phone, it's a good idea to check the quality of the camera, if it has a mp3 player, if GPS is available for a particular model etc. All these things come practical in a All-in-one kind of thinking nowadays.

Things to look for:

- MP3 player: Many phones come with mp3 fonctionnality but the important thing to look for is if it comes with the connection cable for the PC, a memory card slot for adding many songs and if it has dedicated buttons for the Mpp on it.

- Camera: This comes ''stock'' on phones nowadays, it's very rare to see a phone without one. The important thing to look at is the quality of the camera. Some are 0.3 megapixels (VGA), some are 1.3 megapixels, some are 2 megapixels,some are 3.2 megapixels and the quality is only going to go up in the futur

- GPS fonction: Because of the rise of popularity in common GPS, it wasn't surprising that phones would come up with a GPS fonction. Normally you need a internet option in your plan because it doesn't directly connect with the sattelite (except for smartphone that you can buy a small GPS to hookup the phone to).

- Calendar
- Alarm
- Voice command
- Email fonction

Connectivity: Most of the phones thee days come with at least a bluetooth fonction and other more expensive phones come also with Wi-fi that enables the user to go on the internet from a hotspot without paying internet usage fees from the provider. It's also good for sharing stuff we have stored on our phones like photos, mp3s, contacts etc. Infrared also is an option for sharing things (bluetooth is predominent though).

- Bluetooth
- Infrared port
- PC sync
- Wi-fi
- High speed internet (3g+ Phones)


Design: Finally the design is not crucial for the phones fonctionnality but it's one of the most looked at aspect when buying a phone because everybody is going to see it and many companies thrive to make the most fashionable cell phones. Other than the look of the phone, the way it opens is a very important thing to consider because you'll have to open it often and choosing the most workable/convenient phone that fits you're needs

- Block
- Clamshell
- PDA / Smartphone
- Sideways
- Slide