The Best Phones In Life Are Free

Did you say that you are shopping for a cell phone? Great! You'll find more models with more features than ever before. But where are you doing your shopping? Visiting the retail stores? That's fine. Check out all the phones. Play with the store models. Ask questions. But whatever you do, don't buy anything.

That may sound down right un-American in these tortured economic times. Every business needs all the sales it can get. But you also need to think about yourself and your own finances. Don't you deserve a bailout as much as anyone?

The reason not to just jump in and sign the first wireless contract that some eager salesperson pushes in your face is that there are much better deals around than you may know about. How about getting your next cell phone for free? How about getting a really fancy smartphone like the BlackBerry Curve or Samsung touchscreen phone for free? And you were about to pay $100 or $200 when you saw the very same phone in the store?

So where's a better place to shop? Try online. Without the overhead of a bricks and mortar operation, high volume online sellers can offer free phones with the same variety and prices on wireless service plans. What's more, you'll often get free shipping and your phone will come to you quickly ready to use. No driving from store to store, no standing in line, no waiting for twenty minutes for someone behind the counter to do the programming.

Right now, there's an excellent selection of free cell phones waiting for your perusal at Owl Cell Phone. Not just a few models, either. I count 110 different cellphones in this category as of this writing. Page after page after page of smartphones, music phones, high resolution camera phones, and basic models you just use for conversation.

What brand of phones are available for free? There are many models by Sanyo, BlackBerry, Motorola, Palm, LG, HTC, Samsung, T-Mobile, Nokia, Pantech and Sony Ericsson. Wireless service plans to support these phones are offered by AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, Alltel, Nextel and Airlink Select.

This particular database of free phones lets you compare two or more phones side by side or view the specific features of each. Since you are browsing online, you can take your time and not be rushed. You also have access 24/7. Shop on your own schedule, not between some fixed hours.

Sound interesting? Find out why the best cell phones in life really are free. Browse, compare and order free and heavily discounted cell phones with wireless service quickly and easily online right now.

Consolidate Cell Phones Under a Family Plan

As the recession deepens and you start thinking harder on where to economize next, your eye might turn toward those considerable cell phone bills. With everyone in the family now wirelessly connected, the combined monthly costs might have grown to over a hundred dollars a month. Perhaps even several hundred dollars per month. It's so tempting to just to cut back and not renew those contracts when they expire. But, oh, the pain of going cell-less. Isn't there something that can keep everyone connected but slash the phone bills?

There is indeed, but you'll need a little discipline to make it work. It's called sharing. You may already share a car. The kids may share toys or computers. What can save your cell phones is to share the wireless plan.

Notice that I didn't say share the cell phones. The whole idea is to be able to make and receive calls when you are on the go. Unless you are always traveling in pairs or groups, a shared cell phone won't provide that instant communications ability. Somebody will always have the phone and everyone else will be wanting. Don't share phones, share the phone plan.

The trick here is to buy what is known as a family plan. It's one cellular service plan with one bill per month and a bucket of minutes. So far, that sounds like a regular wireless plan. But this is different in that there can be two or more phones on that plan, each with their own phone number. It's not like the old party line where all the neighbors are on the same phone line and can listen to each other's conversations. Each phone has private service and its own number. Just like individual service. What's shared is the monthly minutes, nothing else.

Yes, it's going to take some cooperation to make this work. If you have a blabbermouth in your family who runs out all the minutes every month, they need to be throttled. Or at least forced to take an extra job to pay the bill. But most people don't have that problem. They love their cell phone for the security and convenience it provides. Plus you have the peace of mind of knowing that you'll never miss a call because you're not home to take it. At the end of the month, most people have minutes that simply expire unused.

If that sounds like your situation, moving to a family plan could cut your phone bill dramatically with no inconvenience whatsoever. Let's take a look at some plans. AT&T has the Nation FamilyTalk 550 w/ Rollover that includes 2 lines on a 2 year contract for $59.99 a month. You get 550 minutes per month shared between two phones at a cost of roughly $30 a phone. What's even better is that you can add a 3rd phone to that plan for $9.99 more. At those prices, it makes sense to put one in junior's backpack so he'll never be stranded.

Need more minutes? Get the AT&T Nation FamilyTalk 1400 w/ Rollover for $89.99. That 700 minutes a month each for the two phones on the plan. Plus the beauty of this plan is that it can handle up to 5 phones at just $9.99 additional for each phone added. Notice also that the AT&T rollover minutes carry your unused minutes to the next month so you don't lose them. That can help you get by with a smaller family plan if you don't use every minute every month.

Verizon has similar plans, as do T-Mobile, Sprint, Alltel and Nextel. You pick the carrier you prefer and then select the plan that gives you the most minutes for the budget you are planning.

But wouldn't you save even more if you shared cell phones as well as the plan? Not necessarily. If you buy your cell phone and service online, you can easily get free phones to go with your family plan. Not just bare bones models, either. Right now you can get dozens of models free, including the LG Vu, Samsung Rant, BlackBerry Curve, Motorola RAZR, and Sony Ericsson Walkman. Order a family plan and you can get all your phones free. With free phones, there really isn't much motivation to share a handset. Unless, of course, you need to discipline someone who hogs all the minutes.

Does a family plan sound like the right solution to save you money while preserving your wireless freedom? If so, check out all the wireless plans and special phone deals available right now at Cell Phone Plans Finder.

Sanyo Katana DLX Pink Satin Deluxe

If you've liked the Katana cell phone line from Sanyo, you're going to love the new Pink Satin DLX version. DLX stands for deluxe and, in the world of personal cell phones, this one is truly deluxe. You'll get features normally reserved for business or techie type phones. But you won't have to give up style. Not one bit. This Katana is a slim, sculpted beauty in a satin pink finish. It's also soooo affordable.

The Sanyo Katana DLX Pink Satin is designed specifically for the Sprint PCS network. As such, it supports cool add-on plans including such goodies as on-demand Sprint TV and the Sprint Music Store. You can also add-on GPS navigation services such as audible turn-by-turn driving directions. It's a phone and a navigation system, right in your hand.

But the fun doesn't stop there. The Katana DLX includes a high resolution 1.3 Megapixel digital camera that takes photos good enough to print. You can also use it in camcorder mode to capture short videos up to 35 seconds long. Make your own mini-movies and share them with your friends. Don't worry that you'll run out of memory taking lots of high quality snapshots. This phone offers expandable memory using microSD/TransFlash cards up to 2 GB.

Those high-rez pictures will look really good on the large high resolution main display, as will the videos you download. There's a second color display on the outside of the phone to display valuable information with your Katana closed.

Do you enjoy music? Great. Download songs from the Sprint Music Store and enjoy them right on your phone. You have the option to stream your music wirelessly to stereo headphones or other Bluetooth A2DP enabled devices.

Of course, there are lots of other goodies such as custom ringtones with a DJ Editor pre-loaded, email client that gives you one-touch access to your MSN Hotmail, Yahoo! or AOL Email, standard text messaging or multimedia messaging, voice driven menus, voice memos, speakerphone, downloadable games, custom graphics and picture Caller ID.

But what does it look like? Oh, what a beauty. This satiny pink Katana is only 0.6 inches thin and weighs a slight 3.5 ounces. All that cool technology won't rapidly drain your battery, either. You get up to 4 hours talk time and 168 hours on standby.

You can also check out the many, many special offers on hot cell phones and service plans at Cell Phone Plans Finder.