Buying a cell phone just because it is "pretty" or "neat"  

yes, it happens with me also, Getting attracted toward cell phone or any gadgets just because of its look, and ending up bying gadgets with features, that i do not require and paying extra.
That is what is called temptation, and many time i surrender to the temptation.

Looks are important in a cell phone because of how many people will be seeing it and will probably make their initial judgement on the aesthetics of a phone, but I think it is much more important to find out what the phone can and cannot do and what features it has before making an actual purchase

When I look for cell phones I look for the features that are most important to me. Touch screen, and weather or not it requires a data plan. Other features like camera, wi-fi- and 3g are based on location. Basically where I'm located determins weather or not I have data speeds in the threeg range or not. And except for a couple of places in myapartment there really isn't much. that isn't 3g.

Mostly I look for the features I use most, and the features that are a must-have. And, the rest well yeah. If the phone is "prety" or "neat-looking". then so be it. That's just a good bonus.

I never go by the way phone looks at all. As long as it does what I need it to do, it's fine. I currently have blackberry 9700 & if I didn't need access to internet & emails, I probably change my phone to something really basic. Functionality means much more to me than the way phone looks ever will.

I hardly ever use my cell phone and I pretty much always end up with an expensive pretty one. I remember when Verizon came out with a light pink Razr phone. I am a sucker for anything pink and spent a pretty penny buying myself that phone (it was disheartening to see them practically giving them away four months after I paid so much for mine). I had actually been planning to keep using that Razr phone even after the 2 year contract was up (and I could get a new phone).. but then I was browsing the Verizon site and noticed they had pink Blackberry's for sale. I decided against the pink Blackberry (the internet plans were more than I wanted to spend) but I did end up walking out of the store that same day with a $200 LG Decoy that had just been introduced. I do use the camera feature on the phone but that is about it. There is really no need for me to have an expensive phone (although I justify it by telling myself that a "free" phone might not be as well made and could break easily if I dropped it.)

Me too. Sometimes, I'm drawn to pretty and neat phones, by their designs and outlook rather than anything else. There are lots of cheap phones out there, but they are not of the latest designs. Sometimes, I think that a phone's functionality is more important than anything else. Good topic here.

My mom gets a new phone nearly every year and the reason is usually that the old one looks boring or there is a more pretty one out. She uses her phone only for texting and calling. She can't even change settings herself so i have to do it for her. I try to tell her that she doesn't need the expensive phone because she can't even use 10% of its capabilities but she says that all the cheap ones look bad or boring.

Now this pisses me off because I don't have any money to buy a new phone and my old one is 4-5 years old and has a bad battery. She isn't using her phone to its fullest potential and I'm struggling with just basic functions. How fair is that i ask ?

I also buy phones which are neat or gorgeous looking. I feel that I am also happy looking and using the phone even if I really don't use the every feature or capability because I also feel that almost all phones are modern and they are really matching with today's standards. I must say that it is worth the price and worth the eye-candy.