The world of cell phones~ or High price hang ups....

Our old cell phone contract was up & we needed to do the cell phone update, contract renewal deal. It is all done through Kiosks, mostly these days, because any full on dedicated cell phone store is going to charge a whole lot more.  There are internet options for buying phones, but I tend to want to see & touch the thing before buying. They are always upping the ante. Lots of fine print. Any super cool, full featured phone comes with a mandatory web connection element that tacks on an extra $30 bucks a month per phone, above all the regular charges. Ka-ching Ka-ching.


I mean 30 x 2 x 12 months= $720 x a 2 year contract we're talking $1440 above whatever the monthly rates are plus maybe additional costs for the phone, then the tack on if you want a text package.... etc etc.

All that stuff really adds up. Unlike my kids who have cell phones only, I also maintain a landline w an internet broadband connection. So I have to add about $100 a month to whatever additional cell phone deal we choose to realize the total cost of phone communications in our household.
There is no doubt the so -called "Smart Phones" are super cool, and they have dazzling features- but I don't want to fork out that kind of money, just for an auxiliary phone.  But really, some of them, when seen in person, are pretty crappy pieces of cheap plastic. To read the reviews are a kick in the pants...
you get the full gambit of "I love this phone" to "No- I do not recommend & can't wait to get rid of it."
Some are phantom phones-- take pictures while in pockets & purses. Others don't hold a charge (great the one time you want to use your cell phone to save your life.... it runs out of juice!). Some, you almost need Tinkerbell to operate the keyboard, because they have teeny tiny keyboards, with slick plastic keys.

I'm sorry, really no human old enough to operate a cell phone has fingers THAT small!


But as I check out the kiosks, I feel overwhelmed with iphones, Blackberries, Droids, Touch phones, Smart Phones, 3G networks, and the plain old flip phone... which you can text on & take pictures, etc.
To make it more confusing some places fail to post prices on the phones. My mind makes it a blur... plus today we got a guy who, every question we asked he answered with "I'm new here, and I don't know"
Ok... you don't post prices & you don't have info-- thanks for wasting my time!

And here is one serious complaint I have--- most have some pretty funky ringtones. I mean seriously... a lot of rudimentary prefabbed music, it's embarrassing, really. We should not have to pay extra money to get a respectable ring tone.

I will admit up till now I had eschewed texting, but bought a phone with a nice qwerty (real keyboard) feature.  So much easier to send a quickie message & have it appear on the other person's phone screen, rather than call voicemail, punch in a password & wait for the robot to play the message.  Texting is cool. Not that I am a crazed teenager, feeling obliged to send hundreds of texts pertaining to all things adolescent, each & every minute of my life..  My messages would be more like *I'm toast, please bring home dinner*or *Have I mentioned I HATE the corporate world lately???*
Stuff like that. Less than profound reality checks & such. Keeping it both real & minimalist.

But alas to get that phone we HAD to buy the additional extra $20 buck a month internet connection, with the sucky internet connection.
Who am I that I am so effing important & such a total & complete news junkie, that I MUST have access each & every minute of every day? I mean really.
So we had 30 days in which to return the phones, and today, day 29 we returned them. Went down to a basic model. I liked the fancier phone better.... but am I wiling to pay an extra $600 bucks over a 2 year contract for it?  We're not stupid. We know they tack on the internet connectivity for more revenue... they have all that access pre purchased in bulk- more & more it seems the phones are entwined with mandatory add ons.
Why oh why can't we just have a nicer phone w/o the attached $$$ add ons?

Also, in this area a certain carrier seems to have the most towers & the best coverage, over even more major carriers like AT & T, for instance, that is why we tolerate Verizon.

So what's your deal re cell phones?
Did you go for a Smart Phone or 3G network & all it's whiz bang features? Do you love it or not?
Do you have the freebie basic & laugh all the way to the bank??
Just curious.....