(cache) Tech Tips Everyone Should Know

Tech Tips Everyone Should Know

by Sean Captain — Apr 23rd 2009 at 1:59PM

22) Upgrade Your Cellphone―Now

It's hard to stay cutting edge if you're stuck with an old cell phone, which frequently happens due to the dreaded two-year contract. You can escape the early termination fee in a few ways, though. First, keep an eye on any service changes. If your provider ups the fees on text messaging, for example, that's an adverse financial impact and grounds to void the contract. Another option is to adversely affect them. Check the provider's coverage map, and make a whole bunch of calls from just outside of it to stick them with the roaming fees.

Or, if you have a data-modem tethering plan, open the floodgates on downloads (BitTorrent, perhaps). Start costing your provider money, and they'll beg you to leave. If none of these options work, try one of the contract-swapping brokers such as CellSwapper or CelltradeUSA. For 20 bucks or less, they will match you up with someone who'd like to take over your contract (so they can avoid the activation fee and get a free phone).

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