HALP

[constintina]

My phone has awful reception. As of yesterday I am eligible for an upgrade. There are lots of decent looking phones I can get free, but I kind of really want a pda. But I'm broke. There's one that has not-great reviews that I can have for $30 after rebate.

I can also get this better-reviewed pda(but kinda fug) for $50...is it worth it

Comments

[pomo_drunkard]

Who's your carrier?

If you get an iPhone, keep in mind that your monthly phone bill is going to be, at minimum, $90 a month. Now, I love my iPhone, it's part of what kept me sane when I was in my hospital bed, but it's an expensive hunk of machinery, even if you can get the actual chunk of machinery cheap.

Any PDA you get is going to have a similar sort of charge to it. The data plans are more expensive than the phone plan. They're also the awesome part of having a PDA, but they will wind up setting you back quite a bit over the course of your lifetime with them.

[constintina]

I have AT&T so, the iPhone is extra tempting.

Yeah, I was gonna go into my misgivings about increased monthly bills in the post...I hadn't looked at the plans yet or figured out how much my bill would go up, but I think you're right. I mean, I'm not in the money. I need to pay down my debt. An extra $40+ a month could better go to my credit cards. Nice as it would be to be able to check facebook while I'm babysitting, it's not a necessity. I'm not in a goddamn hospital!

[hunterxtc]

Agree with everything in the other comment... if you are broke, getting the iPhone will be a significant decrease in your monthly revenue stream... I have Verizon, and I have an LG phone that allows me to check my email/facebook/flickr... and although I can hit up the Internet directly (I even have my ESPN gametime!) it doesn't cost me the killer amount that a crackberry or iPhone would.

[constintina]

Thanks, yeah, I've decided against a pda...which LG phone do you have? I can get a free LG shine as my upgrade and am considering it...

[hunterxtc]

I have the LG VX7800, which is the Shine's ugly stepsister. When I bought it a couple of years ago, it was the nicest LG phone... I guess if I were going with something right now, I would either go with the Shine, or mine.. I get excellent reception with it, and the 2 GB card (even though it is hard to install, behind the battery) will let you load up on plenty of music. I don't really like the earbuds that came with it, and they input for headphones is not the universal one that you can use for your iPod or mp3 player. But it has been a really nice phone for me- everytone loves the slick stainless steel exterior of it!

[constintina]

This is useful information. I'm between the shine and the pantech, and the pantech has a slight aesthetic edge, but I'm scared about reception. I should probably just go with the shine--its retail price is higher than the pantech's so...better deal, right?