Phones

So you want to give a new phone as your holiday present? Many children and family members have phones that are either outdated, or ready for an upgrade. How do you know which features are important and where to start in your search to find the perfect phone?

When purchasing a phone as gift, it’s important to consider many things from style, brand or even color to the types of features the phone has such as:

• Text messaging
• Data Packages
• Screen & Keyboard size
• Texting

The notion of typing a few simple words to someone for a quick, almost instant response is commonplace in most households these days. Unfortunately for the consumer, but not so for the phone company, those texts add up each month and, if you have a teenager in the house, can really get out of control. It’s vital to know and understand the text usage of the person you’re shopping for. Most cell phone companies offer a per-use fee for texting, or texting packages, including an unlimited texting package.

Data Packages

Confusing for most consumers, data packages are for those people who need to use the internet from their phone; it monitors the internet usage from the phone. Depending upon how your friend or loved one uses the phone, this might not be something to consider at all when phone shopping. However, it is a charge that, like texting, can get out of hand unwittingly.

Screen and Keyboard Size

Within the cell phone evolution phones have gotten smaller and thinner. Which phone to get for someone depends on how they will USE the phone.

For smart phone users, the popularity of the iPhone is in no small part due to its larger screen size and LCD display at 1.9 inches wide and 2. 76 inches tall and displays 480 x 320 pixels at a 3:2 aspect ratio, with superb resolution of 163 ppi (pixels per inch). The new “retina” display is unbelievably sharp.

Several other phones are coming out that have HD screens on them now.

Typing on a small keyboard, while it’s hard on the eyes, simply takes time and precision. This skill can only be acquired through actual use with the phone and the keyboard. There are phones that have the keyboards on the very face of the phone, such as the Blackberry Phone, and some that slide out a small keyboard (Motorola Droid phones) or there are those phones that literally project a keyboard on the table where the phone is resting, like the very latest iPhone.

Features

Some cool smart phone features to seek out, as they are easy to use, is the talk feature. This is a feature that allows you to tell the phone what you want it to do; such as, “Call Bob”. The latest iPhones feature “Siri”, which will answer questions that you ask it aloud, acting somewhat like a limited virtual assistant.

A GPS or navigation feature is helpful, as is speed dialing and camera functions.

Depending on who you’re buying for, a cell phone makes an easy and welcomed way to stay in touch with your friends and loved ones through the whole year.

 
2013 is projected to be a great year for giving. Check out the top Christmas gifts this season in our featured gifts section.