Try before you buy wireless handsets

Thinking of switching to a new cell phone plan to get the latest must-have handset? Make sure to try it out in real life before you take the plunge, because that cell phone is likely to be part of your life for nearly a year and a half, according to a new survey released this week by J.D. Power and Associates. The average wireless customer will keep their handset for 17.5 months, likely due to the high cost of ending a one or two year service contract. While the trend for the length of time that customers hold on to their handset is increasing, the cost of acquiring the devices is falling.

The average price a customer pays for a new cell phone has dropped by nearly 10% since 2002 to $93 today. The J.D. Power survey also noted several other useful trends in the wireless handset space. First, Motorola and Sanyo topped the manufacturers? overall satisfaction scores, followed by Samsung and LG. Nokia, notably, finished below the industry average in this category. Also, the survey found that customers who compared other brands and phones during the selection process were more likely to be satisfied overall with their choice. To read more about the J.D. Power survey, .