They Buy Used Cell Phones

When you get a new cell phone and service plan, what’s the best thing to do with the phone you are no longer using?

A. Toss it in the trash. It’s worthless now.

B. Toss it in a drawer. It might come in handy someday.

C. Sell it immediately while it has maximum value.

If you answered anything but “C,” you are losing money. So run, don’t walk, to wherever you stashed that cellphone that just came out of service and bring it over here to the computer. You’re about to find out just how much of a jackpot you hit as you check the current market value of your cell phone.

Find your phone on the list and answer a few questions about what shape it’s in and the accessories you have. Hit the “calculate” button and you’ll find out how much this buyer will pay for your old cell phone. If you take the offer, they’ll send you a free postage paid mailer box and, when the condition of your phone has been verified, you’ll get a check in the mail.

Pretty easy, right? It doesn’t really get easier than this. But notice that time is of the essence. The pricing graph for your phone shows you the historical price of your used phone and a projection of how much it will be worth in the near future. As you can see, cell phones lose value with time. They’re not exactly heirlooms. There’s always a new model right around the corner that everyone’s going to want. So if you are going to sell, the best time is right when your phone goes out of service. The second best time is right now.

How about all those other electronic gadgets taking up space in your closet? Are they worth anything. You bet they are. That unwanted eBook reader, digital camera, MP3 player, camcorder, GPS device, gaming console, satellite radio home audio system, Blu-Ray player, PDA, external drive, video game, laptop or desktop computer, projector, streaming media device, camera lens, or movie is worth cash right now. Round up all your recent vintage gadgets and check their value now. You may be surprised how much it all adds up to. And you were going to throw that stuff out, why?

Daddy Wants a BlackBerry

Father's Day is fast approaching. What do you suppose he wants? Could it be a nice new tie? One of those automotive "gift" sets? No, I think what Dad's been longing for is a high technology business and personal BlackBerry device. So this year, be bold. Give him a BlackBerry Bold. Shhh. Don't let him know you got it for a huge online discount.

The BlackBerry Bold is as powerful as it is attractive. With sleek black styling, it looks like it's ready for business. Oh, it is. This BlackBerry's email client offers the amazing BlackBerry "push" email that will integrate with up to 10 accounts. It supports VPN, POP3, IMAP, & SMTP, with a spell checker onboard. The BlackBerry Messenger is also preloaded for instant messaging.

What about Internet access? He'll have full HTML Web browsing available with one touch access and BlackBerry Maps support. The GPS receiver is part of the circuitry. Wouldn't want Dad getting lost, would we?

Speed will be no issue. This BlackBerry runs on the AT&T 3G data network and has connectivity for WiFi hotspots for blazing fast downloads. It's also a world phone, with access to all 4 GSM cellular bands. Have dad take it with him on those international business trips.

The huge color display, with 480 x 320 pixels, sets this BlackBerry apart from earlier devices. That comes in handy for viewing the print quality photos he can take and share with the built-in 2 Megapixel digital camera. Some high resolution family photos would be nice, right?

Just below the color display is a backlit full QWERTY keyboard. Yes, this is the mechanical version and not a touchscreen. BlackBerry aficionados will be up to speed messaging in no time.

What are the hottest cell phone deals available right now, including free cell phones? Use the Cell Phone Plan Finder to check out the top phones and associated wireless service plans.

Amazon's Kindle Tells Bedtime Stories

Having a hard time getting to sleep on that stressful road trip? How about a nice bedtime story? Got an all-day drive ahead of you? How about using the time productively by having some popular business books read to you? Sounds like a pitch for audio tapes, doesn't it? But, no. Tapes and even CDs are yesterday's news. What you want is downloaded content that is converted from text to speech and read from a gadget the size of a paperback book.

Actually, what you want is the new Amazon Kindle 2. It's the upgraded version of the popular Kindle reader that finally made downloadable books sensible. The new Kindle2 is a major upgrade that reduces the thickness of the device to about a third of an inch, reduces the weight to just over 10 ounces, adds 25% to battery life, increases storage to 1,500 books, speeds up page turns by 20%, expands the gray scale resolution from 4 to 16 levels and makes a great cup of coffee.

No, I'm just kidding about the coffee maker feature. That will have to wait for Kindle 3 or beyond. All of the other features are included in this release, along with a new read-to-me feature that converts text to speech and talks to you via internal speakers or plug-in headphones. You can choose a male or female voice, have him or her speed up or slow down, and have whatever content you've downloaded read to you at your convenience. Strap the Kindle 2 into the car seat next to you and you have a small but loquacious traveling companion.

Sure, you already read documents and Internet content on your computer. Perhaps you've even bought a netbook computer for travel. But the Kindle is completely different. It's still smaller than whatever computer you have. Plus it won't give you eyestrain the way a computer can because it has no backlight. It's the glare from the screen that limits the time you can read online. Kindle uses a new technology called electronic ink to provide excellent contrast for black text on a white background, even outdoors or in brightly lit environments. Obviously you can't read it in the dark, but you can't read a book in the dark either. So turn on that overhead light or open a window shade.

The other thing that makes Kindle unique among electronic reading gadgets is its Whispernet 3G broadband connection that runs on the Sprint cellular network. Whispernet is automatically engaged by the Kindle when you want to buy a book or download a newspaper or magazine. In about a minute you have your reading material stored in the machine. Did I mention that it holds up to 1,500 books in the 1.4 GB user memory? Why tote a couple of heavy hardbacks when you can carry an entire library with less weight? Truly amazing.