Posted by : Bill Gram-Reefer

Buying a cell phone these days is not as simple as it would first appear. Any of a dozen factors could impact your decision on which phone to purchase. Here's a quick survey of what to look for based on your preferences.

Business or pleasure?

Since most cell phones have many similar basic features including call waiting, caller ID, conference calling, calendar and camera, it's best to decide how you will use your phone. More and more people are dropping their land-based phones and going wireless altogether. Others may use their mobile phone exclusively for work. At this juncture, the ability to play MP3 tunes, pick up FM radio, download Jessica Simpson polyphonic ring-tones, game-play options, text-messaging features, or the number of pixels in the camera are secondary issues.

If you choose to have your cell be your primary phone either for home or for work, then better to concentrate on performance and basic features. Look for phones that have better-than-average battery life, at least three hours of talk time. You may also want to consider the number of contacts you can store, Bluetooth handset capabilities, and whether you'll be using your cell to handle e-mail while on the road.

Quality of speakerphones is critical, especially when driving in a car or typing at your keyboard while talking to a client. Do you want to employ GPS for those journeys into uncharted territory? Road warriors may also want to consider roaming capabilities and how mu...

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