Shopping for a cell phone and service plan can be a mind-numbing experience if you don't prepare yourself with a little research beforehand. There are more service providers than there are regions, more service plans than there are cellular phone manufacturers, and more phone models than you can imagine.

To make sure you get the right equipment and plan for your needs at the best price, read on.

Choosing a wireless plan

There are several types of service plans available to you. These plans often include a few perks or incentives. To choose the plan that is best for you and your lifestyle, you should know as much about these plan elements as you can find out. These general descriptions of some of the more common perks will help you narrow down your service plan choices:

Minutes

Cell phone service plans all have one thing in common — they are based on usage minutes. Some plans are "pay as you go," which simply means that you purchase your minutes in advance and that your service will be disrupted once you have used up those prepaid minutes.

Some plans refer to minutes based on when you can use them; a popular example is "anytime minutes." The name implies that you can use these minutes in your plan any time of the day, without penalty. The most popular plans of most service providers have monthly usage limits.

There are usually several plans available, catering to various lifestyles and usage needs. Almost every plan has a usage limit, and the limits can be as low as twenty minutes per month — a typical allotment for an emergency usage plan.

The limit range is often limitless, though, as many service providers offer unlimited usage plans. These plans usually cost more, but for some people it can be well worth the cost.

Unlimited minutes

Some service providers offer cell phone plans with unlimited minutes. This generally means that you are free to use your cell phone as much as you want each month, without limit. However, there are usually limits to this type of plan, and it is important to read the details and fine print.

Some unlimited minute plans actually have stipulations such as hours of the day in which you can't benefit from your unlimited minutes (often called peak hours).

Often, unlimited minute plans start after a certain time of day or on particular days of the week; these are usually referred to as "night and weekend" minutes.

Night and weekend minutes

Many calling plans offer discounted night and weekend minutes, as cell phone usage tends to be less demanding on the service providers during these times, as opposed to regular business hours which are considered "peak" usage times. Plans differ though, on what time these minutes start, so carefully choose your plan. You can often pay a little more for an earlier start to your night and weekend plan minutes.

Knowing your typical phone use habits will help you choose the plan that is right for you. Make note of the start and end times for these minutes, as you will be billed for the minutes that surpass these preset times at a regular or higher rate, even if your phone call began during the night and weekend hours.

Family plans

If you foresee talking to members of your family a lot on your cell phone, you may want to consider a family plan. These plans are set up as incentives to get your families into the provider's network and invested in the cell phone industry. Family plans offer everything from shared monthly minutes, to unlimited minute usage in friends and family calls.

Rollover minutes

Some calling plans allow you to roll unused plan minutes over to the next billing period. This is revolutionary (no pun intended), as many cell phone carriers were charging their customers for monthly minutes, whether they were used or not. Rollover minutes means that you actually get the minutes that you pay for; the minutes that you don't use in a billing period literally roll over to the next billing period, and are still available for your use.

A variation on this plan concept is the actual usage plan. As the term suggests, you only pay for the minutes that you actually use in each billing cycle; you pay for your used minutes on a previously agreed to usage scale.

Roaming

While some plans are local-area only, and are serviced only by the service providers' cellular towers, there are many other plans that offer roaming capability. This means that you can use your cell phone to place calls using cell towers that are in areas outside of your provider's range, sometimes at a higher cost to you. Many plans now offer free roaming, so watching out for roaming charges is not as important as it used to be.

Choosing a cell phone

All cell phones are capable of making calls, but the generalities in function pretty much end there. The right cell phone for you will fit both your lifestyle and your needs. First, consider these design elements when shopping for a phone, to ensure that the one you buy is a good fit for your usage plan and lifestyle.

Size

A variety of cell phone styles are available to you in a range of sizes. There are models that are smaller than the palm of your hand, and have a hinge between the display and earpiece and the key pad. Some models are long and narrow and are ergonomically shaped to comfortably fit in your palm.

Other models are styled much like a PDA (personal digital assistant) and are wider to accommodate a larger key pad and display. The phone that you choose needs to be a good "fit" in more ways than one.

For example, if you are looking for a phone to take to work with you and you want to keep it in an inner breast pocket of your business suit, you don't want a large, bulky phone. Consider a small, sleek, thin flip-model phone. These are unobtrusive, stylish, and still very functional.

Durability

The right cellular phone choice for a construction worker may not be the right cell phone choice for a librarian. It is important to choose a phone that can keep up with your unique usage and lifestyle. Hinged cell phones are often called "flip phones" and generally fold closed to protect both the display and key pad. This is an ideal design for you if you plan on carrying your phone in your purse or backpack.

Personal preferences differ though, and many people prefer the durability of the standard non-flip styles, as they do not have a hinge that could possibly wear out or break. Some cell phone models are certainly more durable than others, and depending on your needs and usage, you may want to narrow your search with a few simple criteria. Consider phones with rubberized keys, smaller displays, and scratch and scuff resistant casings.

Keep the unexpected in mind: you will eventually drop your phone. Choose one that can survive the fall without cracking the casing, the display, or damaging the battery. Normal wear and tear can be prevented to an extent for some cell phone styles, by putting it in a protective case or cover.

Ease of use

There are some phones which seem too small to be taken seriously, but they still work. The question is, will they work for you? Make sure that the phone you buy is easy for you to use.

Keep in mind the size of the keys on the key pad, the viewable area of the display, and the overall fit of the phone in your hand. If you plan on a "hands-free" usage of your cell phone, make sure that it has a headset connector.

Ideally, the right phone for you will make sense to you: the power button will be where you expect it, menu and scroll buttons will seem intuitive, and the interface will make sense to you. If these statements aren't true, keep shopping.

Other considerations

Once you have nailed down the size, durability, and ease of use considerations, you can focus on the fun stuff—features, features, and more features.

Do you want a camera integrated into your cell phone? Perhaps you're looking for an address book or calendar management tool? What about Internet access and text messaging? Are games just the thing to pass time between classes or flights?

There are so many features to consider, when shopping for a cell phone. Today's technology allows both necessary functions and enjoyable features to coexist. Some phones feature bright and colorful vanity lighting or interchangeable faces and casings in bright colors or with cartoon characters on them; others offer stereo-quality ring tones and vibration options for silent ringing.

You can find cell phones with full QWERTY-based key pads. Many models feature a data port that you can use to synchronize your phone's address book with your personal computer.

The possibilities may seem endless, so the best thing to do is this: make a list of the features that are most important to you, and then find a phone with those features that fits you and your lifestyle, is durable, and is easy to use.

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