If you’re like me, imaging capability is one of the main concerns when it comes to buying a refurbished cell phone. Sending and receiving picture messages is the most fun part of owning a modern cell phone, so make sure you get what you’re looking for when it comes to the camera of the phone you choose. The most important categories to consider when buying a cell phone for displaying text are the megapixels and camera features, the size of the cell phone screen, and the amount of pixel resolution the screen can handle. Here’s a breakdown of how the cameras and screens of the most popular refurbished cell phones compare. The models being compared are the Blackberry Curve, Blackberry Pearl, Palm Pre, Palm Centro, Palm 700, Palm 650, HTC Touch, Sidekick LX, and Sidekick Slide.

Taking and sending great photos from a cell phone is all about the megapixels of the camera. When it comes to cell phone camera megapixels, the Blackberry Curve is head and shoulders above the competition with a resolution of 3.2 megapixels. The Palm Pre comes in second with a 3.0 megapixel camera. Both cell phones have flashes for their cameras, but the Blackberry Curve also has image stabilization, autofocus, and digital zoom. The HTC Touch ranks third with 2.0 megapixels, and the Blackberry Pearl, Palm Treo 700, Sidekick LX, and Sidekick Slide together rank fourth with 1.3-megapixel cameras. The Palm Treo 650 ranks last in this category with a 0.3 megapixel camera.

It’s hard to see a great picture if your cell phone has a small screen. Screen sizes are measured diagonally. The Palm Pre ranks first for screen size with a 3.1-inch screen, and the Sidekick LX is close to number two with a 3.0-inch screen. Both the HTC Touch and the Palm Treo 700 have a 2.8-inch screen. Next up is the Treo 650 with a 2.7-inch screen. The Sidekick Slide comes next at 2.5 inches, followed by the Blackberry Curve at 2.44 inches. The Blackberry Pearl ranks last in screen size at 2.2 inches.

However, the size of the screen is not everything. You need a screen with a high combined resolution if you want the image to look good on your screen. Again, the Blackberry Curve takes first place with a combined resolution of 172,800 pixels. Second is a tie between the Palm Treo 650 and the Palm Pre, which have 102,400 pixels. Next up is the Sidekick LX at 96,000 pixels, followed by another tie between the HTC Touch and the Sidekick Slide at 76,800 pixels. The Blackberry Pearl has 62,400 pixels and the Palm Treo 700 has the fewest pixels at 57,600.

These are all important factors to consider when shopping for a refurbished cell phone if you’re concerned about the quality of the pictures you’ll take and how picture messages will look on the screen. Just to give you an idea of ​​how these popular refurbished cell phones (at a fraction of the price) compare to arguably the two most popular new cell phones, the iPhone and the Blackberry Storm, here are their specs:

The iPhone has a 3.0 megapixel camera with autofocus. Its screen is 3.5 inches and has 153,600 pixels. The Blackberry Storm has a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto flash and auto focus. Its screen is 3.25 inches and contains 172,800 pixels.