Where In the US Can You Get Just a Cell Phone?

arakon writes "I am looking around for a cell phone for my technically challenged mother and all she wants is just a phone, and yet there seem to be no carriers in the US that carry a plain cell phone with good reception and battery life. All of them bundle cameras, PDAs, MP3 players, and a kitchen sink with a battery life of 2 hours, all for the low price of $350 or more... Having looked around, the Motorola F3 is exactly what she wants but it doesn't seem to be available in the US. If we order it online will it work on US carriers? Are there any comparable products out there with a similar feature set and price range available for US networks?"

Comments

Re:We need alternative to cellphones by monopolist

[jdigriz]

Not true, Cingular (now ATT)'s goPhone PayAsYouGo plan does allow rollover.

Nokia 6100

[lisnter]

Probably the best phone I ever had. It's several years old now but I found this on eBay though price seems a bit high for such an old device.
    http://cgi.ebay.com/Unlocked-Nokia-6100-Tri-Band-G SM-Mobile-Phone_W0QQitemZ160139013240QQihZ006QQcat egoryZ64355QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I loved that phone and would still use one if I didn't need a Smartphone to keep track of my contacts and schedule (I got tired of carrying two devices around everyplace). The 6100 has the best interface, it's small and reception/voice quality was good. I charged it every night out of force-of-habit so I don't know the battery life. It's a great phone.

I want one of those!

[massysett]

Jitterbug! Looks like just the ticket.

* No camera. I do not want something that takes crappy photos. If I want a camera I will buy a camera. Putting a camera in a phone is about as good an idea as putting a phone in a camera.

* Few buttons. Cell phones have too many buttons.

* Simple. Too many cell phones try to be cool rather than useful.

* Simple menus. My phone has too many menu choices full of crap that I do not use, and figuring out how to do simple things like add a name to the phone list is too hard.

Cell phone makers are cramming crap into phones that is not useful for making calls.

I do remember reading something in the WSJ about Sprint developing a simple phone that they would market to older people; I don't know if this is the result. Older folks aren't the only ones who would like it though. As someone who often sits in front of computers all day I get tired of gadgets that want to make things too complicated.

Re:I want one of those!

[jon_anderson_ca]

I want an operating system that's not running surveillance on me.

Done and done.

I want a car that has better gas mileage than a 1975 Honda.

Okay.

I want a health care system that won't send me into bankruptcy if I get sick.

Welcome to Canada, it's the Maple Leaf state

I want a news media that doesn't just pass along presidential press releases as God's own truth.

Gotta love the CBC (again, in Canada). I hear that Al Jazeera English is pretty impartial, too.

I want a President that has better than C- average and who cares about more than cutting taxes for the rich and not admitting he's wrong.

You have elections coming up, right?

I want a country that doesn't believe that half the population is the enemy.

Okay, that's a long-term goal.

But like your mom, tonight I'd settle for "just a phone". But the big phone companies aren't going to give it to us because the "free market" is fiction and we have become the consumables.

That's why, if I take a vacation in Europe next year, I'm probably going to buy a GSM phone, unencumbered with all of this North American market philosophy. My understanding is that, in Europe, the mobile market involves many parties competing to provide the best service at the lowest cost... I'm not sure that I really understand this "competition" thing (that's where all of the gas stations charge exactly the same thing because you have no choice but to suck it up, right?), but I hear it's good.

Re:Jitterbug is great if that's what you want

[geekoid]

Currently, many of the large companies are unsure how having unlocked phones will impact there current business practice of getting you to sign a contract. Since a contract is general as good as money in the bank they can book it as potential revenue and their budgeting is easier to do.
So the companies are afraid of change.
I do believe it will happen. If they don't fill the market, someone will.
I hope it is Steve Jobs plan to change the industries way of thinking with future iPhone negotiations. It general fits his MO.

Re:Jitterbug

[FudRucker]

i tried the JitterBug and one peeve about the JitterBug is you can not add & remove numbers from memory yourself (like a built in phonebook) you have to have Jitterbug do it for you, the jitterbug is a little too dumbed down for my personal taste, it does save a history of dialed calls which is ok, but i rather it at least have a simple menu for adding & removing numbers & clearing history & call logs...