SMART SPENDER>TIPID TIPS

The Guerilla Guide to Cell Phone Usage

Spending too much on your phone bills? Follow these tips

By Sherwin Chan

While governments worldwide are scurrying to save their economies by spending, individuals like you and me are saving money by reducing our spending. Cutting spending – both discretionary and nondiscretionary – can be tough as this means a change in lifestyle. And there is none more difficult than modifying our mobile phone usage habits.

We send an average of 15 messages a day per person. In a month, that number sums up to 450 messages. Assuming you are using one of the two dominant providers in the country, you would have consumed your prepaid credit of 300 by the 20^th day – just on text messages. Even a postpaid plan of P500 seems inadequate when you consider that you also have to make calls from time to time.

Old numbers, new habits

It is estimated that almost half of the Philippine population already use a cell phone – prepaid or postpaid. This means that most of us are looking for ways to cut down on existing usage costs instead of looking for a new plan. The prepaid subscriber has it easier as he can just stop using his phone and save money instantly. On the other hand, the postpaid subscriber is going to be billed a monthly rate no matter what.

Apart from a monthly rate, if you’re a postpaid subscriber, you are probably still tied up with your two-year contract. You have the option to divorce, but the settlement will leave your jaw dropping. So the only choice left is to find creative ways of keeping the monthly bill at a minimum.

Here are our five guerilla tips for saving on your cell phone bills:

1. Track your calls and texts

The most obvious solution is also the most disregarded. Cell phones today can track both the total minutes of your calls and the total text messages you’ve sent. Since these features are already there, be wise enough to use them.

Moreover, make sure that you turn on the “summary after call” feature of your cell phone. Now, you don’t have to count every minute of your calls. But by being conscious about it, you’ll think twice before you make another call. When you finish a conversation, make sure that you press the end call button even if you are on the receiving end of the call.

2. Call, don’t text

While texting is still cheaper than calling, consider this scenario: ever realize how a simple question of “what you doin?” can lead to a lot of texting back and forth? If you sum it all up, you would have spent more on text than if you just called the person. Apart from that fact, there are promotional call rates out there from Globe Telecom and Sun Cellular.

Both prepaid and postpaid Globe subscribers enjoy special discounted call rates in-network. By adding one of three prefixes before your 10 digit number you can make cheaper calls Globe to Globe. With “235”, you benefit from P10 per three-minute Globe-Globe calls. With “232”, you get 10 centavos per second on Globe to Globe or Touch Mobile calls. And with “236”, you are charged P20 for 20 minutes per call between Globe to Globe or Touch Mobile.

The “235” promo will last indefinitely while the other two promos will end March 2009. To make a call using any of these prefixes assuming your Globe subscriber number is 0917-1234567, just dial – 2359171234567.

The charges applied depend on the type of postpaid plan you have. If you are a G-Plan subscriber, all your calls are charged first to your free minutes. Once your free minutes are consumed you can start enjoying these lower rates; however, they are charged on top of your fixed monthly rate. If you happen to be a G-Flex (consumable plan) subscriber, both the 232 and 235 prefixes are deducted from your bill. The 236 promo on the other hand, will be on top of your bill.

This tip is pointless for Sun subscribers as long as you and your friends are using the same network. Unfortunately, Smart’s text and call promotions are currently available only to prepaid subscribers. This brings us to our next tip.

3. Be on the same network as your friends, family and colleagues

If you happen to be out of the contract period, examine your contacts list. Among those that you frequently call, what networks do they use? Chances are you will realize that most of your friends are connected to a particular network. Maybe it’s time you switched?

You can try Smart’s Gold Lite Plan where you can get a line by just submitting a valid address-bearing ID. The benefits start when you realize that the call rate for this plan is just P2 Smart to Smart/Talk ‘n Text. The lock-in period is six months only and with a starter plan rate of P300, it is among the lowest out there. The Lite plans also come in denominations of 500, 800, 1200, 1800 and 2500. All plans do not have a free cell phone.

If you intend to get an additional plan for your family, why not look into the group plans plan offered by Smart and Sun? The Smart Trio Plan has a call rate P4 per minute for calls made among the three subscribers. With Sun Cellular, a value-minded consumer can look into their Group Plan 999. With this plan, three family members can enjoy unlimited texting and calling among themselves. Both the Smart and Sun group plans have free phones.

4. Say “no” to nonessential services and text-in promotions

Ringtones, while fancy and “cool,” costs money. Most phones today support MP3 and other music formats. These tones are readily available all over the Internet. This goes the same for wallpaper and mobile phone games if you know where to look.

Text-in promotions on the other had are very much the same as raffle promos. The odds of you winning are low. And unlike raffle promos, you are charged for sending an entry. So why bother?

5. Going abroad? Don’t bring your phone

Grab a local SIM card in your destination country. When you make calls using your Globe, Smart, or Sun phone from abroad, you will be shocked when you see your next statement. If you absolutely must bring it, use your phone to receive text messages. Your family and friends back home are only charged the regular text rate of P1 even if you are abroad.

Hopefully these tips will help you rationalize the use of your cell phone. Hard times call for tough measures. It doesn’t have to be painful though as long as you are conscious of how you use it.

By Heinz Bulos

1. Lower long distance charges. When you call friends or relatives abroad, call them at night and on weekends to save on your long distance phone bill. Avoid using directory assistance; dial direct. If only call occasionally, use a prepaid overseas phone card, which has cheaper rates. Broadband service providers also offer very cheap international rates on international calls using Voice-over-IP (VoIP). Better yet, consider alternatives such as e-mail, online chats (install a web cam even), or using Skype or Yahoo Messenger With Voice.

2. Choose the right plan. Match your plan with your usage. Whether it’s your phone or Internet access, use prepaid cards or pay-per-use plans if you’re an occasional user or you’re on a budget. Otherwise, using a monthly service will be cheaper if you’re a heavy user. If you rarely use a landline or hardly make long distance calls, use a prepaid phone card. If you use your cell phone a lot for voice calls, switch to a monthly unlimited plan. If you’re not a heavy Internet user, don’t subscribe to monthly plan. Use prepaid cards, get a per-use plan, or surf at an Internet café.

3. Compare service providers. Competition in the telecommunications sector is good for you. Compare their per-minute rates, monthly plans, extra services, area coverage, and other charges. If you don’t want to be tied down by two-year post-paid subscription plans, adopt prepaid plans so you can switch anytime.

4. Downgrade your package. Switch to a lower and cheaper package for cable television or Internet service. Maybe you can live without those extra channels or extra speed. Drop extra services you might not need from your cell phone provider.

5. Think twice about bundled services. Cable companies bundle both cable TV and broadband Internet, giving you discounts on your monthly fees. You can also get VoIP phone service for cheap international calls. But consider getting these services separately. You can subscribe to cable TV separately from broadband from a DSL provider, and it could come out cheaper.

By Carlos Gonzales

Buying a flat panel TV can be a bewildering experience. Salesmen will pitch all sorts of acronyms and numbers that can give anyone a splitting migraine. And all you really wanted was a nice big TV. Here’s all you need to know:

1. Screen size
Obviously, screen size is the first consideration. Vince Sales, Editor in Chief of T3 magazine, points out, “Size is the whole point: The bigger the better, unless you have a tiny home.” How big do you want it? Flat screens come in two most popular types: liquid crystal diode (LCD) and plasma. If you want a mid-sized screen, LCDs between 30 to 37 inches are a good bet. For bigger sizes, 42 to 63 inches, plasmas are certainly more affordable.

The room where you’ll place the set will largely dictate your choice of screen size. For mid-sized LCDs, you need to sit back six to eight feet away, making it ideal for your bedroom, where you can mount in on a wall. The bigger plasmas require a distance of 10 to 16 feet, good for your living room or home theater.

By the way, flat screens nowadays all support the wide-screen format, with a 16:9 aspect ratio used by filmmakers, giving you that movie theater-like experience. This is contrast to the narrow-screen format (4:3 aspect ratio) common to analog TVs.

2. Image quality
Next, how much quality do you want? Resolution, or picture detail, is a major consideration. The more lines and pixels are, the better. Standard-definition TVs have a resolution of 640×480 or 720×480 pixels, used for broadcast or cable TV programs. Digital content, on the other hand, is delivered in one of four formats: 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i. The i stands for interlace and p for progressive, which describes how the screen draws images (suffice it to say progressive makes for smoother viewing).

The 480i format is the same as that used for standard analog TV. Both the 480i and 480p formats are used for DVDs. For this format, you need at least enhanced-definition TV, or EDTV, which can display HDTV signals but is limited to a resolution of 852×480 pixels.

The 720p and 1080i formats, on the other hand, are used by satellite, cable, and over-the-air-broadcast high-definition content providers, as well as the latest Blu-ray and HD-DVD players. That’s where you need high-definition TVs, or HDTVs, which display 1,024×768 pixels or 1,280×720 pixels for the 720p format, and 1,920×1,080 pixels for the 1080i format.

There’s a noticeable difference from 720p to 1080i, explains Sales, but 1,280×720 pixels should suffice, and it will downscale a 1080i image well enough. He adds, “The differences are very subtle between HD resolutions. From a 480p DVD though, the difference is dramatic.”

Vince notes that a 1024×768 TV will downscale a 720p image to something like 80% high definition: “You can actually spot the difference. We did a side by side comparison here in the office. So for now 1280×720 pixels is the standard, and the consensus is that’s all you’ll ever need. But this may change.” For now, go for a high-def set that supports at least the 720p format.

It will be a few years down the road before we get to watch high-definition shows, although the government has already set a deadline and some television networks are making moves towards that direction. In the meantime, you want a set that does a decent job at image processing. “Good image processing will make standard definition more bearable. Poor image processing makes watching SD on an HDTV a nightmare,” Vince says.

The second, though less crucial, factor affecting image quality is contrast ratio. The higher the contrast ratio is, the better. LCDs have a contrast ratio from about 600:1 to more than 1000:1. Plasmas range from 1000:1 to 4000:1 or better.

3. Connectivity
What will plug to your TV? Go for the input jacks that result into the highest video quality. Most likely, you’ll be watching cable TV, so look for a jack for S-Video, which is also where you plug your game console. You’ll probably also use a progressive-scan DVD player, so look for progressive component or better yet broadband component inputs. If you’re plugging in your PC, look for an RGB connection. And for HDTV receivers, you need FireWire, DVI-D with HDCP, or HDMI.

Forget the acronyms; you really don’t have to know. Well, except maybe HDMI, since it’s expected to replace DVI altogether. It stands for High Definition Multimedia Interface, which carries audio and video on the same cable. “A year ago, HDMI connections were rare, with everyone saying that analog connections were good enough, but HDMI is the standard now,” says Vince.

4. Audio
If you’re setting up a home theater, your TV’s audio system may not be too important. However, if it will be a stand-alone unit in your room, it becomes a major consideration (more likely, the set comes with a stereo pair of speakers and a subwoofer). Look for MTS (multi-channel television sound) stereo reception and stereo speakers, which provide much better sound than a single mono speaker. Look for surround sound, which adds depth and more realistic sound without adding additional speakers. Look for logos of SRS, Cyclone Sub-Bass System, Spatializer, Dolby Pro Logic, and the like, which are audio-enhancing technologies.

5. Extras
Everything else really is gravy. You may want features such as picture-in-picture (PIP), which lets you watch a second channel in a little window. Look for a dual-tuner PIP, which has two TV tuners built-in that can display two channels on their own. Some sets have a memory stick reader that lets you view photos taken from your digital camera.

In the end, your choice of what to buy will be largely dictated by your budget. And it doesn’t end there. “HD is a black hole for money,” warns Vince. “Consider that down the road, you’ll probably buy a HD-DVD or a Blu-Ray player, a PS3 or an Xbox 360, and an HDMI-capable A/V receiver to make the most of your HDTV.” So buy wisely.