What’s the big deal about having a data plan? Surf the Web. Read and send e-mail. Check the weather and latest sports scores. Search for your favorite restaurant—all from your cell phone. Now that’s cool. Mobile versions of your favorite services make it fast, easy and convenient to get things done. And having a data plan helps get you all the information you want, when you want it—without breaking your bank account. What kinds of data plans are available? The tough part of getting a data plan is figuring out what type and size you need, so you don’t end up wasting money. Data plans come in all sizes and price points, just like regular cell phone plans. Check your mobile carrier’s web site to find out more about what they offer, and how they charge for their data plans. Some offer “all you can use” plans, plans based on the number of minutes used, or the amount of data used by your phone (such as file size that is sent to your phone). Advantages of paying by minutes — some mobile carriers allow data usage to be part of unlimited evening/weekend minutes. If your plan allows you rollover minutes, or if you have a sufficient cushion of minutes in your existing plan, you may not need to commit to an extra plan. Advantages of paying by megabytes— if you spend 20 minutes reading an article, you only pay for the data consumed, not the minutes spent. Additionally, a number of mobile carriers are starting to offer unlimited usage megabyte plans on their networks. On such plans, they provide you an unlimited amount of data usage for one monthly fixed fee, often for a low monthly rate. Get the data plan that works for you Figuring out the best data plan for you based on your usage and budget is akin to shopping for the right gear for your favorite sport. Everyday sneakers will get you around town in style and comfort, but you will probably want to invest in great-fitting athletic shoes for performance sports. Same goes for your data plan. How often do you read your e-mail on your phone, or conduct a local or Web search? For instance, how many e-mails can you read with a 1 MB plan? To view one e-mail using Windows Live Mail for Mobile you will use up approximately 25 kb of data. That’s 17kb to open the inbox view and another 8kb to open an average-size e-mail. Doing the math, factoring in that one megabyte is equal to 1,024 kilobytes, and then you should be able to read nearly 40 e-mails (if you read only about one email every time you access your inbox), or up to 90 emails...