Evaluate Mobile Phone Features

On eBay Australia, the vast selection of new and used mobile phones means that you should be able to find a phone in any shape, size and price category. If your mobile phone  needs are quite basic, you can dispense with the all the bells and whistles associated with some of the higher cost models. If cost is not an issue, you will find a one-stop-shop for all the latest and greatest in mobile phone technology from around the world.

The options to consider when shopping for a mobile phone are often confusing, and new features for mobile phones grow day by day. To narrow your search, think about the following key questions:

Do you plan to use your mobile phone outside of your local area?

If you plan on using your phone outside of Australia, you may want to choose a Tri Band  GSM phone that is able to operate across three GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) frequencies. GSM is the standard network type utilised around the world. If you are not planning using your phone internationally, then a standard GSM phone is generally sufficient within a metropolitan area.


 

 Alternatively, a CDMA  network may suit your needs. CDMA in particular is ideal for users in rural and regional areas due to its coverage over longer distances. This network is also used in North America.

Would you like access to the internet or email from your mobile phone?

Many mobile phones and service providers now offer email and internet access. If you require this functionality, ensure that the model you are interested in is email and/or web-enabled.

Additional Features

The latest model of phones now come with a host of additional features that can further simplify (or perhaps even complicate!) your search. Some features now available include:  built-in camera , rc_done="true">colour screen , PDA , Email/Web ,unlocked , MP3 players , speaker-phone, walkie-talkie, voice-activated calling  and games.

How important is your phone's size and weight?

Functionality and fashion seem to go hand in hand and we now have a vast selection of shapes, sizes and weights to choose from. The main varieties and their comparative advantages include: 

•           Candybar (Standard)  : Simplicity and durability.
• Slide : Soft slide mechanism that smoothly reveals and hides keypad of phone.
• Clamshell (flip-phone) : Portability, increased screensize, keys protected against accidental dialling.
• PDA : Larger silhouette, increased screensize and functionality.

  Select a Mobile Phone Service Provider

  Service providers work with specific mobile phone  manufacturers to produce phones that are compatible with their networks and feature offerings. On eBay Australia, you will find phones for every major service provider. There are also phones ready to be connected with a new service plan, prepaid phones  or prepaid starter kits for those who want no plan at all.
  

  Australian Service Providers

  If you already have a service contract with a carrier and are not looking to change from your service provider, then a new mobile phone that is unlocked  (ie. will work for any service provider) may be what you need.
  The major service providers within Australia that offer mobile phone plans and prepaid sim cards are:
  

  • Telstra
  • Orange
  • Optus
  • Virgin Mobile
  • Vodafone
  • 3  

  Pre-Paid Services

  If you want the convenience of a prepaid service , there are specific phone models which are available for use with prepaid phone cards. Search through the prepaid  section and find the right choice for you. You may also want to find out more about prepaid phones with SIM cards , prepaid recharge cards  or prepaid SIM starter kits .
  

  Coverage

  Once you have narrowed the search of the mobile phones that you are interested in down to just a few, you may want to confirm with your desired service provider that they can provde the coverage you require in your specific geographic area.
  
  

  Buy with Confidence

  Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay Australia and PayPal protect you.
  
  Carefully read the details in item listings.
  

  • Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.
  • If you want more information, ask by clicking the "Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.
  • Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay Australia (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay Australia are not covered by eBay Australia protection programs.
  • Never pay for your eBay Australia item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

  Know your seller

  Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.
  

  • What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?
  • What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?
  • Most top eBay Australia sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money-back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions

    
    

    Legal Disclaimer

    Buying Guides are intended merely as a guide or review for members when considering what products or services they may be interested in bidding on or purchasing. eBay Australia does not make, and nothing in these Buying Guides is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the accuracy of the information or content contained in these Buying Guides. Furthermore, eBay Australia does not make, and nothing in these Buying Guides is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the nature or performance of the products or services appearing in the Buying Guides. eBay Australia is not affiliated with nor does it endorse the use of any particular product or service.

  
  
  

Cell Phone Buying Guide 2010

We outline some of the most important factors to look into when purchasing a new cell phone.

When your old cell phone squeaks like a rusty door hinge, has more lint under the screen than your jean pockets, and lasts half an afternoon with a full charge, it’s time for a new one. But with most cell phone contracts lasting two years, a new phone shouldn’t be the type of purchase you make lightly. Check out our quick and dirty guide to your next phone purchase to make sure you cover all the bases on your shopping trip.

Choosing a carrier

Because most U.S. cell phone carriers heavily subsidize phone purchases in exchange for two-year contracts, and lock the phones to their networks, your choice of cell carrier will have more impact on which type of phone you end up with than any other factor. If you already have carrier and feel satisfied with it, the choice is easy. If not, you’ll need to choose one.

AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon dominate the cell phone market in the States. Speaking in very general terms, AT&T has a reputation for having the hottest phones but somewhat flaky service due to its overloaded towers, Verizon has the best reception but expensive rates, T-Mobile offers excellent voice plans but has very limited 3G data coverage, and Sprint sells some of the most affordable plans but typically doesn’t offer as many popular phones.

Prepaid carriers like Cricket, Tracfone, and MetroPCS often appear to offer excellent deals, but caveats like poor customer service, limited phone selection and inferior coverage have to be taken into account. Check out our guide to prepaid cellular plans for information on prepaid carriers, andour listing of some of the best if you decide to take that route.

The difference between a smartphone and a feature phone

You could divvy up cellphones into dozens of different categories, but these are the two umbrella groups that matter. Smartphones like the iPhone can serve as personal calendars, e-mail machines, Web browsers, gaming platforms, and a literally unlimited number of other purposes. They’re essentially mini computers. Feature phones are more basic, but they still offer features like cameras, text messaging, and even some limited data connectivity, like checking weather or sports scores. Although smartphones obviously have a lot to offer, they also weigh more, offer less battery life,

Different form factors

Even after choosing between a smartphone or feature phone, you have a lot of choices to make to decide what your phone will actually look like.

A full touch layout like the iPhone has become popular for smartphones, but you’ll usually forgo a hard keyboard as a result. Some smartphones like the Palm Pre or HTC Touch Pro2offer a slide-out keyboard as a compromise, but get thicker as a result, too. Many smartphones also dupe the popular BlackBerry design: small screen on top, small keyboard below.

In feature phones, the flip or “clamshell” form factor has proven especially popular because of its small size and the fact that it protects the screen and keys when closed. Phones with both the screen and keypad on a fixed rectangular slab are typically called “candybar” phones. As with smartphones, you’ll many feature phones with dedicated QWERTY keyboards, which can be handy for frequent text messagers. 

How to Buy a Cell Phone

There's no sense in denying it: For most of us, mobile phones are at the center of our universe. It's your phone, your messaging device, your on-the-go Web browser, your camera, your music player, your GPS navigation unit—and soon, with NFC technology, it could even be your wallet.

If you thought choosing a cell phone was difficult before, it's even tougher today. That's a good thing, though, because it demonstrates how innovation in the wireless industry has skyrocketed. We're seeing rapid progress across all fronts, including displays, data networks, user interfaces, voice quality, third-party apps, and even mobile gaming.

To cite just a few examples: All four major U.S. carriers now offer some variation of 4G networks, which (depending on the carrier and technology used) is anywhere from two to 10 times faster than 3G. The latest crop of Android smartphones is more diverse and powerful than ever; Android is also far and away the sales leader in the U.S. when it comes to smartphones, a result few could have predicted just two years ago. Apple's game-changing iPhone 4S—itself a technological marvel—is available on Verizon Wireless and Sprint in addition to AT&T, opening up access to another 150 million customers. Standard "feature" phones (handsets without app-based ecosystems) are beginning to fade in importance and sales are trending downward.

Taken together, these massive changes make much of the old advice about choosing a phone obsolete. So let's throw it all away and start over. The topic has become so important, and involves so many decisions, that we scrapped our existing cell phone and smartphone buying guides in favor of a single comprehensive story—the one you're reading right now.

So what should you be looking for when buying a cell phone? Here are some key points to consider:

-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">First, Choose a CarrierDespite all the recent hardware and mobile software innovation, your wireless service provider remains your most important decision. No matter which device you buy, it's a doorstop unless you have solid wireless coverage. Maybe you have friends and family on the same carrier that you talk to for free, and you don't want that to change with your next phone. Maybe you're lusting after a certain device—say, a 4G LTE-capable Android phone, or an unlocked smartphone for international travel. And of course, you want to choose a carrier that offers fair prices, and provides the best coverage in your area. These are all good reasons to put the carrier decision first.

We have two major features to help you choose a carrier. For our Readers' Choice Awards, more than 10,000 PCMag.com readers told us which carrier they prefer based on coverage, call quality, device selection, and other factors. And for our 2011 Fastest Mobile Networks feature, we sent drivers to 21 U.S. cities to scope out which smartphone carriers have the best data coverage. Because each of the national carriers sells a wide variety of phones, choosing your service provider should be your first move. Here's a quick rundown of what each one offers:

AT&T boasts nationwide coverage and a terrific selection of phones, particularly for texting. It has dramatically improved its service quality in the Northeast over the past two years, and is now powering up its 4G LTE network for the first time. It's also the worst-rated carrier by our readers. Sprint is relatively inexpensive, and offers some neat media services and a solid high-speed network. It also has the most open approach to third-party apps, letting its subscribers add a wide range of Java applications to its feature phones. Sprint has two prepaid brands, Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile, that sell phones without contracts.

T-Mobile offers mostly cutting-edge phones at relatively low monthly rates and enjoys a reputation for good customer service. It's the only carrier that offers a monthly discount in exchange for paying full price for your phone up front. But its network can be weaker than the other major carriers' in suburban and rural areas. Verizon Wireless is famed for its top-notch network quality and good customer service. Its prices can be higher than the competition, but when it comes to voice quality, Verizon phones often excel. That makes Verizon a perpetual leader in our Readers' Choice Awards. Verizon also currently has the largest 4G LTE network in the U.S.

There are also smaller, regional carriers. U.S. Cellular is only available in about half the country, yet it consistently gets great scores on our Readers' Choice Awards because of its strong commitment to customer service. Last year the carrier launched the "Belief Project," a new customer-service plan offering perks like free battery swaps and replacements for damaged phones. Meanwhile, Cricket and MetroPCS are "unlimited" carriers that offer much lower rates than their competitors and don't require contracts. But they aren't available everywhere, and have a somewhat limited, mostly lower-end selection of phones.

Tips for buying and giving a mobile device

• What does my rate plan cover?  Basically  you are going to want to know if you will have unlimited text messages (essential these days I think), how many minutes you will be allowed if there are any overage fees for going over your plan limit, etc.
• What kind of speeds/data am I getting?  Will it be important for you to get information to your phone at lightning fast speed?  Maybe you want to hook your laptop up to the phone, so you can use the internet wherever you are.  Speed will be very important for you in that case.  If you won’t be a heavy internet user on your phone, it will be less essential, obviously.  T-Mobile has a great calculator for you to check out http://www.t-mobile.com/Tools/MBCalculator.aspx 
• What is the exchange/return policy?  Sometimes a phone can be like getting married to someone you met on the internet.  You really don’t know the phone until you pick it up and actually use it.  Maybe after you’ve used it for a few days, it just doesn’t feel right in your phone, or the volume button keeps getting in your way.  Whatever it is, you should have an escape clause!

• How much will my monthly payments/charges be?  You will for sure need to know if you are going to be able to pay your bill every month!
• What are roaming charges?  Roaming charges can occur when you are out of range of your network.  Once (many years ago) I came to Utah for Thanksgiving, and my husband was still home, we chatted often on our cell phones, not realizing I was racking up some serious roaming charges.  A $500 bill later, you learn to ask about these things.
• What are your warranty/insurance policies?  I’ve dropped many-a phone.  Sometimes in the toilet, sometimes in a parking lot, and sometimes the phone just doesn’t work right out of the box.  Whatever it is, even though sometimes you can get a phone for super cheap, the actual phone is much more expensive.  Buying one while you are still within your 2 year contract can be super expensive.  Cover yourself, and make sure you know what you can do when things go wrong.

T-Mobile has some great contract free plans as well.  I know my sister’s family has been on a pre-paid plan for YEARS, and they are incredibly happy with it.  So if you don’t want to get locked into a contract, T-Mobile has great options for you, but you may have to pay a bit more for a phone up front, but if you don’t use it much, you may end up saving BIG!

Are you buying your teenager their very first phone this year?  T-Mobile has some great tools for you and for them to help make sure they aren’t abusing the privilege.

• e-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">DriveSmart Plus-Distracted driving is dangerous, especially with new drivers.  DriveSmart manages distractions by silencing incoming notifications, sending callers to voicemail and auto responding to text messages.  There is automatic driving detection and parents parental control options.  (including notification of cell phone use while driving)

Cell Phone Buying Guide

The cell phone industry is complicated because customers' needs are so complicated. Cell phoneshopping doesn't need to be painful. It can actually be a lot of fun when you're not being pressured by a pushy phone salesman! This cell phone buying guide will give you some useful information, so you can purchase the right one on your own.

What You Need to Know:

1. Sound quality and reception: The most important characteristics of any cell phone are good sound quality and reception. Nothing's worse than having to end a conversation prematurely because of bad reception, especially if you have to do it over and over again. You might want to try a mobile phone with an external antenna for the best reception. Also, signal strength depends on your signal provider, so do your research before purchasing a cell phone plan.
2. Business use: PDA cell phones, also called smart phones, are popular for professionals. They mix schedulers, e-mail and other office programs into a compact device you can use at home, in the office or on the go. Many smart phones feature qwerty keyboards, smaller versions of what you'd find on your laptop. You should also consider the appearance of a phone for business purposes. A sleek black or silver phone might look a little more professional than a bright pink discount cell phone, but then again, that all depends on your type of business.

3. Kids and teens: If you're buying mobile phones for your children or teenagers, you don't want to get cheap cell phones, but you may want to think twice about certain features. Do you want them using their phones to log on to the Internet? You'll be charged for it, usually by the minute or data downloaded, which will cost an arm and a leg if used excessively! Will cell phone games be a distraction during school? Don't get any extra features if you'd rather they didn't use them.
   
4. Make it your own: Since practically everybody has one, you need to turn your cell phone into something unique. Whether you get a hard plastic case or a padded leather case, you can protect your phone and make it look cool all at the same time.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT CELL PHONE

Even though it's tempting to just buy the coolest phone , it's more important to start with choosing a carrier. Each cell phone carrier and service provider offers a different suite of technologies. Do you need international calling? That will eliminate several carriers. Are you looking for an unlimited plan? That will narrow the field further.

When you select a carrier, you will be expected to commit to a one- or two-year contract that details the service they will provide to your phone at the rate plan that you choose. Make sure you read the fine print; once you sign the contract, there are usually hefty fees for canceling it early. Along with the contract, the carrier will provide your initial phone purchase. Many providers sell phones at a discounted rate or offer some models free with a new contract. Watch for sales and promotions, which often occur when a new model is released. While many carriers offer pre-paid services, in the long run you'll end up paying much more for your phone and your service than you would with a monthly plan.

Choose a plan

The rate plan you choose will determine how many minutes you receive each month for text and talking, additional charges for extra minutes, cost of service features and data usage and more. Each carrier offers several rate plan packages, including individual and family plans. It's important to note that, regardless of which carrier or plan you choose, your first monthly bill will be much higher than subsequent months because you pay a number of enrollment and setup fees up-front. After that first month, though, keep an eye on your bill and how many minutes you and your family are using. Your carrier should allow you to adjust your plan up or down once you get a feel for what you really need.

Choose a technology

Cell phones come in two basic types: conventional and smart. Conventional cell phones often come free with a new contract. Typically, conventional phones are smaller than smart phones and are available at lower price points. While they include the basics — calling and texting — many come with add-ons like a camera, games or an internet connection. Smart phones build on those basics with applications like email, calendar, games and more. Some smart phones support Office documents, allowing you to work in programs like Word and Excel right from your phone. In general, smart phones browse the web faster than conventional phones and can be connected to several email accounts, including your business account. With a smart phone, you can also choose from thousands of downloadable applications that include everything from card games to productivity suites.

Cell Phone Buying Guide

You’re confronted with literally thousands of choices when choosing a cell phone. Which phone should you go for? Which network should you go with? Which calling plan should you pick? Do you need the extra features the cell phone companies tempt you with? These choices may seem overwhelming, but it's not as difficult a choice  as it may appear. Here's how to make the choices to get the right network, cell phone, and calling plan for you. 

Choosing a network
The first choice might surprise you; rather than choose a cell phone, start  by deciding which cell phone network to go with. The major factor here is coverage: does the network work where you are? Each network offers maps on their websites where you can enter your address to see if their network covers it; use this feature. Don't just check your home address; check your work and the places you visit regularly, because you'll be using your phone on the road. 

If your preferred network doesn't cover your home, cross it off the list, because the carrier probably won't want to sell you a phone. But don't discount a network if one location you visit occasionally isn't covered; the networks have arrangements that let a customer of one network temporarily use another, (called roaming), although this may sometimes involve extra cost. Make a note of this and remember to check the roaming cost when you pick a calling plan.

You should also remember that loyalty is overrated; you don't have to stick with your existing network if you want to switch. If you have a cell phone and want to keep the number, you can transfer the number to a different network, a process that usually takes only a few hours. The networks call this number porting, and that way, you can switch carriers but not lose your number. The main gotcha with this is making sure your old network doesn't hit you up for an early termination fee. Because switching networks involves ending your contract with your old carrier, they will often try and charge you for ending the contract if it isn't finished (most contracts last two years). If you aren't sure, call your carrier before you switch and ask them how long the contract is, and what their early termination fee is. If they think you are planning on leaving them, they might give you a month or two of free service to persuade you to stay.

Another factor to consider is whether or not a lot of people you call use a particular network. Some networks offer free calls to phone numbers on the same network. Again, you should make sure this feature is included when you get to the calling plan if that's an important factor for you.

Choosing a phone
The first step in choosing a cell phone is deciding which type is right for you. Here are the different types and the pros and cons of each.

Candybar – The simplest phones, candybar phones such as the BlackBerry Pearl have a screen and keypad on the outside. While this simplicity means they are usually cheap, they only have keypads with number keys, which makes typing e-mails a slow process. The external screen is more prone to scratching, though. 

Flip – Flip phones, like the Motorola Razr V3, flip open to reveal the screen and keypad. Some, however, have screens on both the inside and the outside of the flip-out cover (such as the Razr2 V9), which offers the best of both worlds. The advantage of flip phones is that they are smaller and thinner than candybars, and are often more comfortable to use. However, keeping the phone small also means there is just a keypad (not a full QWERTY keyboard). In addition, the small battery often means a shorter battery life than larger phones. Flip phones are good picks if you are looking for the smallest, sleekest phone and aren't worried about battery life. However, they are a bad choice if you are looking for extended battery life or want to send a lot of e-mails or text messages. 

Slider – Putting the keypad underneath a sliding panel leaves more space for the screen, so phones like the Samsung Blast can have bigger screens than their flip cousins, and often feature larger keypads that make dialing easier. However, the sliding design is more complex than the flip approach, which makes it more likely to break or otherwise malfunction. 

Sliding QWERTY – These phones are much the same as normal sliders, but have a full QWERTY keyboard behind their sliding panel. Phones like the Helio Ocean and Verizon EnV offer full QWERTY keyboards that are great for e-mail but make the phones heavier and bulkier. 

QWERTY – Many BlackBerry and Palm Treo phones offer a QWERTY keyboard on the outside of the case. This makes the design simpler (there are no sliders for things to get caught in), but also means the keyboard is smaller, which can mean slower typing. 

There are lots of phones that don't fit into these broad categories, however. Apple's popular iPhone is a candybar, for instance, but doesn't use a physical keypad; you enter numbers on the touch screen. If you aren't sure which type is right for you, go to a store that has a selection on display and spend some time trying them out. Do a number of common tasks. How quickly, for instance, can you dial a number, look up a contact in the phone book, or send a text message? Then decide which of these features are most important for you, and pick the type that lets you do the most important things the fastest. 

Choosing a calling plan
Once you've chosen the network and the phone, it's time to look at the calling plans they offer. The main choice here is how many minutes you want. This is often difficult to work out, but the easiest way to do this is to look at your last three or four bills, if you have a cell phone already. Average the total number of calls you make, or if you are looking to get a family plan with multiple phones, total all the lines and average. Then look for a plan that includes slightly more minutes than this; that way, you will be paying a regular amount every month, but won't have to pay for minutes you don't need. Many plans (such as AT&T's Rollover plans) allow you to carry unused minutes over to the next month, but they usually come with conditions, so make sure you read the fine print. 

Each carriers also offers its own unique features that are worth considering. T-Mobile's MyFaves, for example, provides unlimited calls to five selected numbers, and Sprint's free incoming plans don't charge you for incoming calls. Choosing between these can be difficult, but they can save you a lot of money; if you only call a small set of numbers frequently, T-Mobile's MyFaves or Alltell's MyCircle could make your plan a lot cheaper. But make sure the plan you are choosing includes these features; carriers often don't offer these on their cheapest plans, so it might be worth considering a slightly more expensive plan if it ends up saving you money in the long run. 

If you are planning on using your phone a lot for e-mailing or Web browsing, you should also look at adding a data feature. Most calling plans don't include data (such as sending e-mail or Web browsing), instead charging you per kilobyte of data you receive. Most carriers allow you to add Web browsing for a small fee (T-Mobile charges $5.99 a month, AT&T charges $9.99 and up), but this often comes with limits. The AT&T $9.99 SmartPhone Connect feature, for instance, allows for 5 MB of data a month (which can quickly get used up) and doesn't include e-mail. If you start using features that aren't covered, or go over your limits, this can get very expensive very quickly. So make sure you know what the limits are.