Are you an Android phone addict? Do you want to be able to buy several Androids throughout the course of the year? Here is how you may be able to save on your Android phone purchases:
One great thing about the Android is that it is an Open Source platform. Meaning, it's not tied to the company that made it, and Google has built a business model around it that allows it to keep the platform free, open and highly customizable to whichever company wants to make use of it on their phones. Thus, if you hate the fact that there is only one and only one single form factor for the iPhone, then the Android may be a better alternative for you.
But what if you just wanna have them all?
Let's face it. Not everyone earns Php 50,000 a month. Let alone Php 35,000 or Php 20,000. Thus, it may not be realistic to keep a bad Android phone addiction. However, if you're serious on getting your phone every month or every other month, how about using these Android phone-acquisition strategies?
Buy Used. If collecting Androids is your hobby, then you honestly don't need to buy every single Android you earn, brand new. You may buy your Androids on the cheap, used, from either Sulit.com.ph, TipidCP.com, or even eBay.com/eBay.ph or other websites with User Feedback and Ratings systems. This way, you can ensure that you will be buying from a reputable, trustworthy seller.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure that you buy ONLY from sellers with 100% Positive feedback. If there are Negative feedbacks, check what the nature of the customer dissatisfaction is. If it's something you can live with, like either an isolated case or something that got resolved later, then proceed to buy from the seller. If the negative feedbacks are serious, like at least two people with defective items who were not compensated properly, then it's time to look elsewhere.
Get A Postpaid Plan. Phone plans are so affordable lately, that you can get a Samsung Galaxy Y at Plan 349 on Smart Gold, Plan 350 on Sun Cellular, and Plan 499 on Globe Telecom. Also postpaid plans are fully customizable and budget-friendly lately, so you will be able to find one that will suit your needs. When you find the perfect plan for you, you may also enjoy being able to get another phone, on retention/loyalty rewards, every 2 years, or depending on the number of months stated on your contract with your network.
Get Multiple Plans. This is a little crazy, but given the unlimited offers for the three giant networks and their sub-networks, you may find that while you need your Sun plan with the significant other, you may also need the Globe plan for your workmates or business partners, or a Smart plan for your family in the province. Given that Unlimited calls and texts are readily available on Sun for Php 350 per month, or Smart and Globe at Php 599 a month, each, getting 3 brand spanking new Android phones to have and to keep at the end of every two years may be worth the monthly billS.
Buy And Sell. This is probably the craziest notion of all. Buy a new phone, and sell it for less than the original price after a while. While this would usually mean that you would have to transfer contacts every single time you give up your phone to sell it, on an Android, you won't need to worry about the tedious task of transferring every entry. Contacts are regularly synced with your Google Account, so you will be able to retrieve your Address Book as soon as you register your next Android. All you will have to do will be to backup and then wipe out the other data on the Android you're selling.
Feeding an Android addiction may be costly, but if you think it's worth it, these four ideas will give you the spark and the excuses to fuel that Android phone addiction.
Don't blame us for your Android phone buying mania, though. :p
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The other day, I broke the news that the Nokia 3310 now retails for only Php 190 in a certain store in MaryMart Mall (the section with the Iloilo Supermart grocery) in Iloilo City. In that same article, I noted a series of questions that gadget buyers may be thinking about:
- How often should one buy a new gadget?
- At what rate/price should a buyer make that decision to get a new machine?
- How soon after release is it "safe" to buy without regret?
These questions may be considerations that a gadget consumer is thinking about, given that technology seems to upgrade at rates that consumers' wallets may not be able to keep up with. In fact, I've personally noted some bloggers getting disillusioned with Android Smartphones because of this "bad habit" that gadget manufacturers seem to be adopting.
We also discussed that gadget manufacturers have one concern: to get consumers to buy and upgrade constantly, and up to bigger and better specs, every single time. Thus, as a wise consumer, there is one thing you can do to protect yourself:
Don't believe the hype.
That's basically it. When you know what you want, and you know what you can be contented with, you won't need to get flushed out with the flood of advertising that companies can inundate you with. All you need to do is to take a stand. Don't mind, don't care.
But how do you deal with the gadget envy that plagues techies everywhere, when specs get better with every new release, which seems to happen every single month?
How about set a benchmark and refuse to budge unless the gadget meets it?
The Android Searcher has constantly noted that Androids have this "signature lag" which isn't experienced on an iPod Touch or an iPhone. Even as an Android evangelist of sorts, I would have to honestly agree. Whenever I play Pumpkins vs. Monsters, I do get that annoying "catch" and lag, but I can say that it's pretty much tolerable. I'm on a Cherry Mobile Nova, and at 256MB/600MHz, you can't expect much. But here is what I do to deal with this, when ignoring is no longer an option: remove all widgets, kill all previously opened apps, then go back to playing the game. Using Android Assistant also helps, as its "Quick Boost" button frees up the RAM itself.
This is what happens when you're on a low-spec Android. But if you're on a Samsung Galaxy SII or a Sky Vega Racer, this shouldn't be a problem.
Usually, dissatisfaction with one's gadget is the main reason that prompts users to upgrade. But for those who are limited by the amount of resources in their hands, it would be wiser to grin and bear the defects for a few months more, and then upgrade when able.
It would also make sense to just make a list of gadgets you can, and will buy for that year and stick to it. Unless you do that, you may get prone to wanting every new release that comes out on the market.
Now, to answer the three questions posed earlier:
How often should one buy a new gadget?
How about every two years?
Take the benchmark of postpaid plans: Postpaid plans will issue a new phone as a loyalty reward for its subscribers, every 24 months. That means that they will give you a new unit to use with your plan every two years. I believe this is a sensible benchmark for upgrading phones. New units may have significant hardware upgrades every 2 to 3 months, but these are not truly necessary for day to day use. You don't really need to have your Facebook load lightning-fast. It pays to get disconnected every now and then.
At what rate/price should a buyer make that decision to get a new machine?
I'd rather wait for a gadget to depreciate up to half its original price, if possible. I've always had that sick feeling to my stomach whenever I bought a machine, only to find that it's depreciated considerably, just months after. I also have a smug feeling whenever someone else (usually my significant other) made the stupid decision to buy a gadget I wanted at first-release price, only to see it depreciate to half or even a quarter of its original price, a year later. Thus, I've learned to make the purchase when the price has gone down to a comfortable level, or the lowest it can go.
How soon after release is it "safe" to buy without regret?
Frankly, I won't buy a gadget when it comes out. I'd rather wait a year or even two years before I get it. Nevermind that the market will make me think it's obsolete. It's not. It will be faster than my previous machine, and it will be exactly what I need, even though months, even years have passed since I first wanted it.
I don't and will never buy the patterns that the manufacturers will try to set for the market. While the Androids are on a race to be bigger and better in terms of months, and Apple's machines will always have a 2-year timeline for its gadgets, I will maintain that it would be better to be a wise and sensible consumer. As I said, two articles by now, manufacturers only want one thing: your money. It is your job to stand your ground and not be taken in by their wiles.
Hope this guide helps!
More on my personal experience here.
With thanks to Karen Ang for unwittingly sparking the idea for this article. :)
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Photo Credits:
Are you a n00b?
...An Android n00b, a.k.a Newbie, that is. If this is your first time to buy an Android, fear not. The decision-making process is pretty straightforward.
The dozens of Android models on the market may be intimidating for those who hate needing to compare and canvass for the best model to buy. That's why the iPhone is such a hit -- just one item on the list. The only decisions you need to worry about are whether you're getting the White iPhone or the Black iPhone, or if you're getting it in 16GB or 32GB.
With the Android, you'd have to decide which brand to refer to, which model to choose, what "flavor" Android you should get, among other crazy mind-bending questions to answer.
That being said, we created a simple process for you to filter out your Android choices:
1. Look at the tech specs before anything.
While 256MB RAM/512MB ROM/600MHz Qualcomm CPU is pretty decent and standard for an Android, higher specs will always be better, when it comes to gadgets. You'll come face to face with this truth when you're a rabid gamer and you acutely feel the micro lags during a furious session of Angry Birds or Pumpkins vs. Monsters.
Thus, first determine the tech specs that would make you happy, then start looking at the models that have this benchmark. We believe that around 768MB RAM/1GB ROM/1GHz CPU would be a decent starting point. If price is no problem, you can start looking at the Super Droids that are coming our way.
As for Android "flavor," never choose anything released earlier than Froyo (Android 2.2). That way, you will be able to move your apps to your SD Card.
Here's a quick guide to the Android Flavors in the order by which they were released:
- Cupcake -- v.1.5
- Donut -- v.1.6
- Eclair -- v.2.1
- Froyo -- v.2.2
- Gingerbread -- v.2.3.x
- Honeycomb -- 3.x.x
2. Form factor counts.
If you have big, chunky fingers (sorry), forget about the thinner and sleeker models. They'll only make you want to hurl your unit across the room. When you're checking and testing units in cellphone kiosks, try the soft keypad in portrait form. If you can type a whole 160-character message without mistyping, then you're in soft keypad heaven.
If you've reconciled with the fact that you absolutely hate touchscreen phones, forget about the models that are fully touchscreen. Think about the sliders or the Blackberry-type QWERTY models instead.
3. Now you can think about the price.
If money is not a problem, then, as we mentioned, a Super Droid would be a better buy than one of the regular droids. But if price is a major factor, then filter our your picks with this point.
Here are the low-end to mid-range Droids available on the market:
Here is the spreadsheet version of the list:
With this list, we've gotten you started on the low to mid-end Android phones with the best value for money. As you can see, Samsung has opted to keep its phone models with lower internal memory, possibly to keep price points lower. Since all of their models are on Froyo anyway, users can keep their apps in their SD Cards.
Judging from the specs, we believe that the HTC Wildfire S, Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, Sony Xperia Mini Pro, and the Cherry Mobile Magnum offer the most bang for the buck. Also, we recommend the Cherry Mobile Magnum because of its screen size: texting in portrait orientation will be a lot easier because of its screen real estate. And if you're all for dual SIM phones, the Cherry Mobile Orbit is not a bad choice, either. But if the phone's camera quality is also a consideration, Sony Ericsson is known for having the best cameras on cellphones. The Smart Netphone could also be a great buy, if you consider the SmartNet perks. SmartNet services are free until December 31, 2011. So remember, specs first, form factor second, then let the axe fall with the price. And if you care about the brand, factor that in, as well. But the bottom line really is, after you try everything that catches your fancy, it's all about the total package.
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***We didn't include Android players like LG and Acer because of the dismal specs for their products. Neither did we include the Motorola line because they're not readily available in Philippine malls, but are available via online sellers.
Photos, specs and prices are available on the links provided. Go ahead, click on!
Photo Credits: Quantrimang
When buying a cellphone, a cellphone user would usually look for these features:
- The phone's form factor: Candybar, touch screen or QWERTY
- A great camera
- Bluetooth
- Whether it has WiFi
- Whether it has 3G
- How many SIM cards it can accommodate
- Internal memory
- Expansion memory limits (maximum SD card size it can accommodate)
- Whether it has a media player or FM Radio
- Whether it has a free-to-air TV or not
For those who are concerned about the phone's stability and resistance to malware, they may consider the phone's OS as well. A lot of people choose and adhere to certain brands for that very reason. On the other hand, if you are an Android die-hard, we'd recommend that you look out for these features when looking for your next Android:
- ROM size
- RAM size
- CPU type and speed
- Maximum SD Card expansion size
After these factors, the ballgame is yours.
ROM means "Read-Only Memory." It is basically the hard-drive of your Android device. Unlike other phone models, where you can store and execute apps from your SD Card, Androids carrying the Android OS version 2.1 and below will not be able to host the App 2 SD application, which allows your Android to keep and run your apps from your SD Card. So if you're carrying an Android with versions 2.1 and below, you would have to content yourself with the ROM size that your phone came with.
You see, most Androids come with ROM sizes from 256MB to 512MB. If you're an app freak, you'd get mad at your Android when you max out the memory the moment you try to install your third Angry Birds pack. Just to illustrate, a 512MB ROM can house around 25 apps ranging from 48KB to 22MB. And you would have to leave around 20MB so that your phone won't give a warning notification that your internal disk space is getting low. The moment you leave only 15MB free, your phone will constantly "complain" that it's getting low on space. Something a power user will definitely get annoyed with.
RAM (Random Access Memory) and the CPU (Central Processing Unit) speed are crucial in determining how fast your Android will go. The CPU brands trusted by Android device makers are Qualcomm and NVIDIA. The more powerful phones use the Snapdragon model, but any phone using a Qualcomm chip is great. NVIDIA's Tegra 2 claims to be blazingly fast, on the other hand. While the higher the processor speed, the faster the unit should be, 600MHz with 256MB RAM is good enough, actually. Just keep a Task Killer handy for when you max out your RAM.
Lifehacker constantly claims that rooting your Android is the best way to go. Indeed, if you're annoyed by the apps that your manufacturer installed on your unit, rooting is a great way to delete those apps and install apps of your own preference. You get to free up ROM space and you have the privilege of installing more apps that you prefer.
Indeed, when you'll be on the prowl for your next Android, bear these features in mind, and you won't go wrong.
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