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Friday, July 18, 2008

New Phone

Current Mood:
CC is listening to: I Do Remember--Hiroshima (Another Place)

I upgraded my phone this week :-). Many wireless companies in the US offer you a free phone upgrade after a certain amount of time if you're willing to extend your post-paid contract with them for an additional two years. That makes it REALLY easy to get a new phone if I feel like changing it, and I would get the phone at a discount (or even free depending on the model).

The one I got cost me an extra $70, but I'm happy with it :-). It's a Nokia 6301.


I'm not a cellphone geek by any stretch of the imagination :-). I don't have to have the latest and greatest out there, and this phone more than addresses what I need :-):

Size: 1.7 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
Weight: 1.4 ounces
Included battery: 860 mAh Lion
Talk time: up to 3.5 hours
Standby time: up to 14.5 days
Band (frequency): 850 MHz;1800 MHz;1900 MHz

Included Accessories:

Top Phone Features
Messaging
Fun
Communication
Information
Assistants
I love the fact that it comes with a 512MB memory card :-). That makes it really easy to save LOTS of things on it :-). I've already used up half of it by transferring music from my computer :-).

Now here's the biggest factor that made me get the Nokia 6301 over other models: it's a Wi-Fi enabled phone. What does that mean? It's the coolest thing. I have to subscribe to the additional service (an additional $10 a month), but let me tell you what happens: my phone can use open Wi-Fi signals (or Wi-Fi signals I know the network key to) to make phone calls, and any phone calls I make using that Wi-Fi signal will NOT be counted towards my cellphone minutes :-).

So let's say I've got a 500-minute-a-month plan and I've currenly used up 400 minutes, which means I only have 100 minutes left to use for the rest of the month.

I set up my phone to recognize my home Wi-Fi broadband internet connection and make it use THAT connection instead of the T-Mobile connection. Once I do THAT, I can place a phone call to a relative, or join a business conference call that can last 3 hours--heck, let's make it 5 :-). 5 hours, that's 300 minutes. But because I made the call using the home broadband Wi-Fi network, I would STILL have my 100 minutes left to use on to the T-Mobile network :-).

Is that not friggin' sweet :-)? Plus there's more. It automatically connects to the Wi-Fi network at T-Mobile hotspot locations such as Starbucks shops, airports, and bookstores. I walk into a Starbucks, make a call, and don't have to worry about using up my minutes :-).

Of course, that's only applicable to using the Wi-Fi network for making cellphone calls (and not things like accessing the internet on your laptop--that's a different service altogether), but that sure does come in handy :-).

Oh and here's another thing, and I was surprised to learn this: if you want your tri- or quad-phone unlocked so you can use it with a different SIM card overseas, all you have to do is call T-Mobile and they'll have it unlocked for you within 24 hours, free of charge. THAT'S cool :-).

So what I'll do is wait until I get to the point where I'm about to use up my 500 minutes on my T-Mobile plan for the month, then I'll activate the T-Mobile HotSpot@Home service :-). That way I won't end up starting to pay an extra 9.99 a month until I absolutely have to :-).

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