I fear future suck...

[BookstoreEscapee]

So my phone contract was up for renewal. It is a second line on my dad's account. He got a new phone, and he got another one free for me. It's a Samsung something or other. I hate it. My dad didn't like his phone either and exchanged it for an LG eighty-something-something. I want to exchange mine for the LG5300, which is the same phone my dad got but with fewer features (his has a music player, for one thing, which I don't need). From what my dad said I should be able to just do an even exchange. We went to the Verizon store this afternoon but they didn't have the phone I wanted. They guy called the store in the mall, and they had it and said they would hold it.

My parents had to drive down to south Jersey for a funeral (my dad's aunt), so he didn't have time to go to the mall, and the CS guy said I could just go and take care of it myself, and put a note in the system in case they gave me a problem for not having my dad there. On the way home my dad repeated what the guy said (cuz apparently I'm deaf?) and said if he had to go over there later he'd cancel the account. (*cringe* please don't tell them that! cuz we both know you're not cancelling the account.)

So, yeah, I went over, and I expected if there was a difference I would pay it, but otherwise it would just be an exchange. But the phone I have was free when my dad purchased his phone - he didn't actually pay for it. So the "difference" is $129.99 less a $50 rebate. To put it a different way, the phone I want is not eligible under the free with purchase deal. I asked them if they could hold it until tomorrow, because I didn't know if my dad had been told something different, or if he just understood it wrong, or what. I am willing to pay for it; I definitely want to exchange the phone. Did I mention I hate the one I have? But I if my dad was told something else I want to let him deal with it. I just don't want to be there if he turns sucky.

I called him and told him what they said, but he was driving, and it wasn't like there was anything he could do about it from the car. So we'll go tomorrow and sort it out. I have a feeling I'll be paying for it. After the rebate it's $79.99. My last phone was $75; I can deal with that (hell, I just spent $500 on new glasses [2 pairs - not as as it sounds], so what's another $75?).

So, if you read this far, keep your fingers crossed I don't have anything add tomorrow.

[BlaqueKatt]

DO NOT switch to the LG 5300!!!!!!

it has been discontinued-which is why the first store did not have it-if anything goes wrong its not replaceable under warranty swap-and they do have a lot of issues-hence why they're discontinued.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Really...? My dad said it had a good rating. I don't know what site he was on. Gah! I hate phones.

Got any recommendations that aren't going to cost me an arm and a leg (cuz I just spent those on glasses).

[Boozy]

What is it that you don't like about your current phone?

That's where I'd start.

[BookstoreEscapee]

What is it that you don't like about your current phone?

That's where I'd start.

I don't like the display and typing in a text message, which I do a lot, is a pain. When I called my friend on it, I heard a buzzing every time I spoke. He said it was fine on his end; though I didn't hear it when I called my house on it (it actually works in my house, though, which is nice; my old phone doesn't). I've changed the ring tone for the text message alert about 6 times, and it keeps going back to the default (which I'm sure is just an issue with this particular phone, so even if I kept the same model I'd want to get a new one).

My dad showed me the LG online and I did like it when I looked at it in the store and played around with it a bit. My dad has the 8350, which has a music player, but I have my iPod and I don't need that in my phone. So far he's happy with it. He got it in exchange for what he originally ordered (not sure what that was), which wasn't working very well.

I'm really not a techie person; I don't know much about all the gadgets, and I'm not the type to keep my whole life in my phone, so I don't need anything crazy fancy.

[LemonZest]

DO NOT switch to the LG 5300!!!!!!

it has been discontinued-which is why the first store did not have it-if anything goes wrong its not replaceable under warranty swap-and they do have a lot of issues-hence why they're discontinued.

THANK YOU!!!!!

My phone is also through your company and when I went in to pay the bill, the salesdude was really pushing the LG5300. I should have cottoned on to that but I didn't, I was just looking at what was available since I haven't been inside the store in about five years. The only reason I didn't go for it right then was that I need the car charger and the travel charger and I wasn't up for spending $60 on chargers to get a new phone on a whim (you'd laugh out loud if you knew how old my current phone is).

Thanks, BlacqueKatt. You just saved me a big headache!

LZ

[jayel]

I have never been happier with a phone than I am with my Nokia 6126. It's awesome. Short battery life, but other than that no complaints.

I hate LGs. Nokia all the way!!!

[iradney]

I personally find the best site to check phone stats on is www.gsmarena.com

I reccomend anything by sony ericsson. Love my k800i!

[jb17kx]

I have never been happier with a phone than I am with my Nokia 6126. It's awesome. Short battery life, but other than that no complaints.

I hate LGs. Nokia all the way!!!

Another happy Nokia user here - the 6600 I have is great. 3 years old, but it's got a huge screen, decent software, a joystick (I prefer them over a d-pad) and even still I get people asking what it is, how long I've had it, and how much I paid for it.
Sadly it's beginning to show some neglect (big screen means more room for scratches...) and so soon I'm going to have to go through all the new-phone fuss.

Sigh. None will be as good.

[Kogarashi]

I'm actually quite happy with my LG phone (Sprint's PM-225 camera phone). The bonus was that they completely waived the activation and shipping fees, and the phone itself was free. The battery life on it is excellent, with the one exception of if I spend too long with the speaker function on. But my old phone had neither a speaker nor a camera, so this is a fun new toy.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I'm actually quite happy with my LG phone (Sprint's PM-225 camera phone). The bonus was that they completely waived the activation and shipping fees, and the phone itself was free. The battery life on it is excellent, with the one exception of if I spend too long with the speaker function on. But my old phone had neither a speaker nor a camera, so this is a fun new toy.

My old phone was an LG, also, and aside from the fact that it doesn't work in the house (which is more an issue with my house than the phone) I was happy with it. I ended up with the 5400...same display, so far it works fine. I played around with it a bit, and for what I need I think it'll be OK. It has a camera, too, which I haven't really tried out yet. But I wasn't looking specifically for a camera, and I don't expect museum-quality photos, anyway. I just have to get used to the button-placement, since the clear and speaker buttons are in a different place. But on my old phone the speaker button was on the side, right where my thumb naturally rests, so I was constantly turning it on accidentally in the middle of a call, so I won't miss that. On the upside, the speaker turns itself off after a minute if you aren't actually using the phone.

Plus, it was cheaper than the website said (only $36 after the rebate) and the store I got it from doesn't charge to transfer your contacts; the store in the mall charges 10 bucks! So that was nice too.

I am disappointed it doesn't have the flickering flame wallpaper that the 5300 had, though that was cool.

[PaRaGaS]

I personally find the best site to check phone stats on is www.gsmarena.com

I reccomend anything by sony ericsson. Love my k800i!

Yeah, why the love for crappy Motorolas and Samsungs?
LG? COME ON.

Want a decent phone, get a SonyEricsson or a Nokia (which I personally dislike, but each to his own taste).

Also, check out www.mobile-review.com
It's a Russian site, but they have an English edition available.
Lots of very detailed reviews.

Personally I'd recommend a SE k550 (basic model) or k800 (high end).
I've had a k600 for two years, and It's the neatest phone I had.
Then again, I don't switch phones too often - had three over 6 years, k600 included.

[Kogarashi]

Yeah, why the love for crappy Motorolas and Samsungs?
LG? COME ON.

Because the LG was free. Hubby and I have the cell phones as our basic phone service (didn't want to pay extra to have a landline run when we've already got the cells). Neither of us wants to pay extra for fancy stuff on our phones that our digital camera and computers do well enough, so we usually go for whatever is cheapest that will work well and serve our needs. I normally wouldn't have gotten a camera phone except that Sprint called and said, "Hey, we see you haven't changed your phone in two years and we wanted to give you this one completely free so you can stay up-to-date with our system!" All we had to do was renew our contract for another two years, which we would've done anyway. So hey! Free phone! And it treats me well!

[iradney]

Mind you, not all Samsungs are crappy. I had the opportunity to the play with i450 a few days ago, and it's not too shabby.

[Sir Spaniard the 12th]

I had a Motorola RAZR for a while. The main drawing point for me was the bluetooth... I'm not sure whether it was just an error with my phone, or a standard thing over all the same model phone, but the bluetooth wouldn't actually allow me to send from my phone to others. It would work from computer USB bluetooth attachment to phone though.

It was also just generally weak, compared to most other phones I've had. If it fell from a distance over 5 or 6 inches or so, the shock would knock the battery from the contacts or something, and the screen would start to flicker.

I'm currently on a cheap Sony Ericsson, and it's not bad but the battery life is a lot shorter than... well, every phone I've ever had.