Yours isn't that told, is it? I mean, you've gotten it within the last three years or so? That's funky about the battery. It shouldn't be doing that. But I don't think it's worth fixing.

Still -- the cheapest one they have will probably both do, and be an upgrade.

And when I go they just transfer my old numbers into the new phone and then there's no worries, right? I see one that looks fine, and is free if i just pick up my contract again.

The transfer bit does depend. You may be able to beam them, or they may have another magic -- depends on the phone you have now, and the one you get.

So I should write all this shit down, then?

Do the batteries last longer, now? I find mine drains after ten minutes, right now, because you know, old.

My cellphone is ancient, but I like it. When it started not holding a charge, I went to Batteries Plus and got it a new battery and now it's fine.

I got this teeny Motorola C115 for $39.95 with $30 of call credit. Of course, Vodafone ran out of the phones within a few weeks and aren't getting any more in. Plus, in Australia, so not as much help to Allyson as one might think.

So I should write all this shit down, then?

That's safest.

And Ginger has a good point -- replacing the battery (I've never done it with a mobile, and when I did it with my cordles the phones ate the new one too anyway, so I replaced the whole thing).

The Fallacy of "Logical" Design -- or why no one changes settings on their digital cameras. The guy has a point -- some of these things are so very far away, and can't be done while you're looking through the viewfinder.

Also, if the options are hidden away in menus, you may never realize you have them. If there's a knob on the side of the camera, you at least know it must do something. Curiosity is piqued. Learning follows.

It's also makes it easier to know when you've accidently changed a setting. I used to get frustrated with my Olympus digital because the photos were often really dark. When I finally got around to investigating the menus, I discovered that on some previous foray into the menus I must have accidently changed the exposure compensation, because it was set two or three stops off normal. The knob on my Minolta SLR would've told me that at a glance.

I am looking forward to buying myself a digital SLR for Christmas/my birthday, for much of that reason. There will still be a bit of a menu hell, but being able to experiment quickly (why not take four variations on the picture quickly, especially if you can evaluate them right there?) will be great.