The Cell Phone Quest – Part 1

My 2 year cell phone contract with Verizon is coming to a close this July (which happens to be my 2 year anniversary at Gallup as well!) and it is time to start looking for a new phone.  I currently use a Motorola Q smart phone, running Windows Mobile 5 and the biggest battery I could fine.  It has been a fine phone for text and corporate email, but the mobile browsing experience leaves something to be desired.   The camera is also very bad and takes poor quality shots. 

With all the new phones that are out and are coming out of the next several months, the choices are difficult.  For the first time ever, I actually want to spend some time research and thinking about which phone would be best for me.  There are tons of options!  Browsers, applications, touch screens, GPS just to name a few.  Of course I thought, if I’m going to spend a bunch of time searching, I would share it with you.  Fair enough?

As with any new project, the first step is to discover the true requirements.  What is it that I am looking for in a phone?  Features that are must haves verses features that are just nice to haves.  What is my budget for both long (cost of the contract over 2 years) and short (first 90 days) term costs?  Do they have a solid track record or am I going to be an early adopter? 

I broke these requirements down into a simple list, ordered by priority and scored.  Each phone I review will evaluated and scored to help me determine my choice.    Follow along if you like.   If you want to add comments based on your experience, feel free.  Here is the breakdown, starting with the current phone that I am replacing.  I’ll be adding phones to the list as I review them. 

Remember, I search so you don’t have to!