A few months ago my Sprint PCS cellphone died while I was on the road, and I was forced in a pinch to buy a new one. I was loathe to replace the faulty model that had stopped functioning (and had never really worked that well in the first place), but I also wasn’t too enthused about the replacement options available. They were (and still are) distressingly limited and definitely overpriced for those of us on the Sprint PCS network. I ended up getting a nice flip phone that I like well enough, but that compared to the Nokias, Ericssons, and Motorolas out there, is way overpriced.
Anyway, The New York Times has a piece about how to replace your cellphone. A lot of it is pretty obvious (I mean, who really needs to be told to shop around?), but if you’re in the market, it’s definitely worth the read.