Phone Shopping

I know, I am a glutton for punishment!  First car shopping and now we are ready to attack phone shopping.  Unlike in the United States, when you sign your first contract with a phone company you do not qualify for the great free phone deals.  You must buy your first phone outright and then when your contract expires, you can trade up (or down).  You qualify for a discount equivalent to the phone you are trading up.

We bought 20€ prepaid phones when we arrived (without residency you cannot buy any kind of contract phone).  They dial, text, and ring.  Exactly what phones were designed to do, however, living in a foreign country with another language, has caused me to think about additional phone uses and am considering a smart phone.

For example, during the car shopping escapades a dealer responded to an email I had sent by calling my cell phone.  I am pretty sure he said he had the car I was looking for.  However, I had no idea where he was nor the language skills to understand the directions he might give me.  I was already in Madrid and it would have been much easier to go see the car while there.  Unfortunately home is where I went instead.

Of course, like many I thought I needed an iPhone.  That was until I found the price - 500€ (multiply that by 1.3 to see what that is in dollars).  I get a 20€ discount because of my prepared phone and that is still so far over my budget I could only laugh.

We do not have to buy the phone from a company here, we just have to buy an unlocked version that accepts a SIMS card.  I have shopped eBay, amazon, and other places and now feel almost as overwhelmed as car shopping.

So here are my questions for you readers (and I am hoping you might actually answer me - either comment or contact me).....

• If you have a smart phone that you really like, what is it?  What makes it so great?
• If you have a smart phone that you don't like, what is it and why?
• Anybody have a smart phone with a qwerty keyboard that they really like?
• Of course older models of the iPhone are much cheaper.  For those of you who have a an iPhone 3, are you able to still get apps that work and are you content?

Can't wait to read all your help.