random ramblings

1.  Nokia 8290
My first ever cellphone.  It looked exactly like this picture.  The carrier was Voicestream.  I think it cost more than $100 .. that time cellphone was not popular here ( it was in Asia )  I think my phone number then was 765-409-4207 .. hmm yup I think that was right..  Used this for almost 2 years I think ?
Voicestream became Tmobile in 2002 ..I moved to Columbus.. the
reception here sucked !! Only worked at work because the building is
next to the Interstate.. almost no signal in my apartment.   I still have this phone till today.

2.  Made the switch to Cingular. Chose the cheapest phone I could get in BestBuy.. I think I got it for $20 or $30.  Honestly I had a hard time remembering my 2nd cellphone because I only had it for a very short time.  If I remember correctly I traded it in after just a couple of months because it was damaged (water damage too?) … I think it’s a Siemens.. and it looked an awful lot like this one .. but I don’t think it has an orange backlight .. hmm..

3.  Traded in the previous for the Moto V60 .. paid $50 or so ?
Stayed with this till the end of my 1 year contract with Cingular .. By this time the first generation of color/camera cellphones started popping up in the US.
I sold it on ebay for $20 i think   better than nothing…
I don’t even remember my Cingular number.. I think I got a local Columbus area code..

4. Samsung A530.  Switched again to Verizon… $100 for the phone.  My first color phone.  And it’s so tiny too..  Used it and abused it for a long 2+ years ..  2003-2005.. Best thing about this one is that it came with 2 batteries..which can be charged by itself..  1 regular and 1 extended..so I was almost never out of battery.. Got an Austin area code this time … and got into a family plan with Hendrik. This one was still functioning well.. no problem whatsoever when I decided it’s time to upgrade

5. My current phone. First camera phone and it’s 1.3 MP. Bluetooth (never used it).  Oh.. MP3 ringtones.. and I luv that it has a TransFlash/miniSD slot.

Got it for free because I was willing to sign another 2 year contract with VZW ! Duh ! Regrets …. I should have kept my previous phone and now I could just get out of the contract without having to pay any termination fee.

6. My future phone.. at least for the next year .. I just ordered it. should arrive in 2 days ..  FREE with 1 yr contract    This is a step down from my current one though.. Well all of the features are almost the same except that the camera resolution is only VGA.. it’s not important 

and these are the ones that are still too cool for my money : 
 
I was tempted to get the beautiful PEBL or
the super slim Samsung T809 slider  .. but I’m too cheap    I wondered how people back home could spend up 1-2 months’ salary for
a cellphone.. hehe while I’m over here won’t even spend more than $100
( +/- half a day of work ? )  ..

actually the RAZR V3 is FREE after Rebate today ..  but it comes with a 2 yr contract with Cingular .. so No Thanks ! and the RAZR is really too everywhere nowadays anyways

It has only been about 6 months since I got my current cellphone, the Motorola v710… but yday it stopped working .. I couldn’t make or receive any call.. The phone would ring, but I couldn’t hear anything and the same thing I could try to make a call, it would ring on the other end, but both of us couldn’t hear anything either.. and when I activate the camera function, it would just freeze .. Actually for a couple hours yesterday it was dead and I couldn’t even turn it on at all.. I’m pretty sure this is all caused by the heavy rain in which I was trapped in yesterday .. I was walking to my car on the parking lot and it suddenly just rained real hard..  and I was still pretty far from my car.. well the parking lot was BIG.  I was drenched from head to toe. .. well back to my cellphone story..  It’s so sad.. it’s pretty new and I love this phone ..

But it got me thinking.. maybe it’s time for me to switch to T-mobile and join Hendrik & Lung2 on their family plan..  After some calculation, it’s even worth to pay Verizon the $175 early termination fee…

OK.. so now Hendrik & Lung2 are sharing 700 mins daytime minutes, unlimited Night & Weekend minutes, unlimited txt/pic messaging and they’re paying about $80-$85 a month.  Me alone on the other hand pay $52-58/month. 

If I were to add a 3rd line (luckily these days we can keep our number) to Tmobile .. I’m guessing our monthly bill would be $100/month max.   That’s $33/line/month. If I wait until my contract expires ( 17 more months )..   I will be paying Verizon around $900 over the next year and a half..    but I switch to Tmobile now it’s gonna cost almost $400 less than that..so actually the sooner I get out the better..     even if I pay Verizon $175 to exit.. it’s gonna be worth it !

But now the question is.. will I be satisfied with the service coverage of Tmobile over here ?  The #1 reason I stayed with Verizon is because it has the best reception ( I think in the country ) ..

But the bigger question is.. why didn’t I think of all this 6 months ago ?  Why DID I RENEW MY CONTRACT FOR 2 MORE LONG YEARS WITH VERIZON then ?  Well I know the answer.. because I wanted this phone for free.. so I agreed to extend the contract … stupid stupid….