Cheap Cellular Phones

Whether you’re looking of the most cutting edge mobile phone out there or a bargain basement handset that will fulfill your basic needs, finding cheap cellular phones doesn’t have to be that difficult.

Save Your Money: Buy Used

While most people would only consider buying new cell phones, you can find a good deal purchasing a used unit instead. There are several buy/sell websites out there, bulletin boards, newspaper classifieds and the like that you can check out, but before you do, it’d be a good idea to read up on Locked And Unlocked Phones and our guide on Buying Used Cell Phones.

Cutting Edge or Grandpa’s Old Clunker?

Arguably, cell phones become obsolete even faster than personal computers. What may be the hottest, latest, most high-tech handset today will become the most unsought-after, outdated, “can’t pay someone to take it from you” phone in a matter of months, if not sooner. Who can forget the “awesome” Nokia phones of old, where we were first introduced the now legendary “Snake” game. They were the envy of all those around you, and now you can’t even give them away.

While it’s easy to say, “Don’t get caught up in the technology and just buy what you need“, it’s much harder to actually live up to that mantra. Among the most standard features on today’s cell phones are a VGA (640 x 480 pixel) camera, speakerphone, a full color screen, and polyphonic ringtones. The next step up would include a megapixel picture taker, Bluetooth wireless technology, and MP3 ringtones. Beyond that, the sky’s the limit, including integrated music players, movie players, Windows functionality and more.

It’s up to you where you fit in the picture, but if you want to get the cheapest of the cheap, you’ll have to suck it up and buy a phone that doesn’t sport the latest features, knowing full well that you’ll be itching for a new handset in a few weeks.

Bang for the Buck

There are so many choices out there when it comes to buying cell phones, but here are a couple of choices that will give you great value for your hard earned dollar:

• T-Mobile Sidekick: If you love mobile internet, email, and instant messaging, you’d be hard pressed to find a better deal that T-Mobile’s Sidekick (currently Sidekick II, with Sidekick III just around the corner), not because the handset itself is inexpensive, but because the associated data plans are typically cheaper than regular GPRS data plans. The Sidekick is known as the Hiptop in Canada, and is offered through Fido.

• Motorola RAZR: There are several varieties of Motorola’s slim clamshell out there, including the V3, V3i, V3x, V3c, and V3m. While on the surface they may appear to be identical, they differ widely in the features that they offer. If, for you, the main appeal is the attractive form factor, then stick with the basic RAZR V3.

Where to Find the Deals

• Let’s Talk is a website that offers cell phones and wireless service plans from a number of the most popular providers, including T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. You can find brand new, well-equipped mobile phones through Let’s Talk at very affordable prices. Oftentimes, there are several handsets that are even free if you sign a contract (typically two years) and go through the song and dance involving rebates and such.

• Wirefly is similar to Let’s Talk, in that they too keep up with the latest cell phones, allowing you to choose from a number of service providers, like Verizon, as well as some hot handsets via the Motorola Store. Deals found on this site include a free Motorola RAZR V3c including a bonus Bluetooth headset. Of course, there’s a service agreement and some mail-in rebates involved.

• Amazon is not only a terrific online retailer for all your literature, music, and movie needs, but it offers a good variety of electronics as well, including cell phones. Prices are typically lower than what you may find in brick and mortar stores, and you can even enjoy free shipping most of the time.

• eBay is known as the world’s largest garage sale and for good reason. No list of websites offering great deals would be complete without at least a mention of eBay. Best of all, most eBay stores don’t require you to sign a contract to get a great deal (although these prices are still going to be quite higher than those with a contract). I don’t need to remind you to be very careful when shopping on eBay. Caveat emptor.

[tag]cell-phones,cheap[/tag]