Normally cell phones are priced the same at company stores such as Fido and at third party retailers such as Staples. You should check whether or not your phone supports the features you may want to use such as text messaging and internet browser access. Personally, I would avoid buying a used phone unless it was a model that is currently sold by your service provider. A used phone will need to be reprogrammed for you, and if sold by another netrwork provider, the software may be locked to that network, making it useless on Fido.
Many new phones are discounted by the service provider when you subscribe to a service plan. For reviews of specific models, a couple of good sites are
http://www.cnet.com/wireless/0-1923403-7-2950643.html and
http://www.epinions.com/elec-Comm-Mobile_Phones-Hardware-All . There is also an excellent discussion board at
http://www.howardforums.com/ that has a lot of Canadian content regarding service providers.
BTW, Fido's parent, Microcell is currently experiencing serious financial difficulties that at present have not been resolved. These problems could have an impact on their service in the future.
