Cell phone & plan purchasing advice...
okay, folks, i don't know if this should be in general discussion or outsider, but it kinda deals with technology and connectivity (and i certainly use a mac), so we'll start here.
we've moved, and now need a new cell phone service. from the looks of things, the major players in our area include the following:
? alltell
? cingular
? t-mobile
? nextell (actually, on closer inspection, nextell may just peddle the hardware)
? at&t wireless
(edit) and ? verizon
anyone have any suggestions as to whom to go with for particular strengths? any glaring weaknesses or problems folks have had in the past?
for now, the primary purposes for the phone will be the following:
my wife will be working 'bout 30 minutes from home. being able to contact the house easily will be of primary concern. we live in a semi-rural area, but it is developing, and cell towers are cropping up regularly. also, we'll want use of it on our semi-regular trips from louisiana to my wife's home state of north carolina and my home state of florida (go bucs!). most calls will be short "when will you be home? where do you want to meet?" variety, but there will be the occasional 15 minute call to the parents while away from the house, too.
anyway, now that we're back in the states, it feels like there's so many providers to choose from (toronto had fido, rogers (kinda), and bell canada, and that was about it... you're choices were limited, but it made choosing pretty simple).
any advice, praises, or horror stories would be appreciated.
thanks,
rok
edit: oops, almost forgot. the cell phone itself.
does it really matter these days what kind of phone you get? any drop-dead features? my next computer will have bluetooth, but i just don't know if i (or my wife) will ever use it that much for contacts and such. we have the handspring visor edge, and it does a pretty good job all by itself. obviously, apple is pushing the ericcson whatever-it-is, and i had bad experiences with our last nokia (though it was pretty basic, too). anyway, if anyone wants to rant and/or rave on actual cell phones too, by all means...
we've moved, and now need a new cell phone service. from the looks of things, the major players in our area include the following:
? alltell
? cingular
? t-mobile
? nextell (actually, on closer inspection, nextell may just peddle the hardware)
? at&t wireless
(edit) and ? verizon
anyone have any suggestions as to whom to go with for particular strengths? any glaring weaknesses or problems folks have had in the past?
for now, the primary purposes for the phone will be the following:
my wife will be working 'bout 30 minutes from home. being able to contact the house easily will be of primary concern. we live in a semi-rural area, but it is developing, and cell towers are cropping up regularly. also, we'll want use of it on our semi-regular trips from louisiana to my wife's home state of north carolina and my home state of florida (go bucs!). most calls will be short "when will you be home? where do you want to meet?" variety, but there will be the occasional 15 minute call to the parents while away from the house, too.
anyway, now that we're back in the states, it feels like there's so many providers to choose from (toronto had fido, rogers (kinda), and bell canada, and that was about it... you're choices were limited, but it made choosing pretty simple).
any advice, praises, or horror stories would be appreciated.
thanks,
rok
edit: oops, almost forgot. the cell phone itself.
does it really matter these days what kind of phone you get? any drop-dead features? my next computer will have bluetooth, but i just don't know if i (or my wife) will ever use it that much for contacts and such. we have the handspring visor edge, and it does a pretty good job all by itself. obviously, apple is pushing the ericcson whatever-it-is, and i had bad experiences with our last nokia (though it was pretty basic, too). anyway, if anyone wants to rant and/or rave on actual cell phones too, by all means...
Comments
I've got T-Mobile. Coverage in NC is covered by Cingular and AT&T because they don't have any presence there. Roaming on Cingular and AT&T is supported and it doesn't cost any extra for voice roaming. If you're going to be doing primarily interstate driving and you'll be staying major cities (Charlotte, RTP area) T-Mobile is fine. If you're going to be up in the mountains, you're better off with either Verizon, AT&T or Cingular. Verizon is CDMA and so are some of Cingular's phones. Those would be your best bet for good coverage away from major interstates and cities (AT&T probably has CDMA phones too, but I'm not familiar with them).
So, if you're going to be doing traveling and hope to use your phone in rural, semi-rural areas, avoid GSM phones. The coverage isn't there yet. That would leave T-Mobile out of the mix because they're pure GSM. The others, like I said, have CDMA options.
That's not much help in deciding who to go with, but it may help narrow the field.
real bad.
Originally posted by torifile
A pretty important point that you forgot to mention is where you'll be using the phone. On the road? Interstate driving or rural roads? Where in NC?
the majority will be interstate driving between hammond and covington louisiana (essentially, new orleans area, north shore of the lake). the NC and florida driving will be every few months to once/twice per year.
Originally posted by torifile
So, if you're going to be doing traveling and hope to use your phone in rural, semi-rural areas, avoid GSM phones. The coverage isn't there yet. That would leave T-Mobile out of the mix because they're pure GSM. The others, like I said, have CDMA options.
wait a minute, from the reading i have done through a few google searches, they make it could like GSM will get you hooked up anywhere, whereas CDMA's coverage can tap out in remote areas. did i misread that?
so far, cingular's out for us, i think, because they have ridiculous 2-year contracts and their prices just aren't very competitive. in fact, i am hard pressed to see an advantage of cingular over anyone else, except they will roll over minutes from month-to-month. but that's only handy if you really think you'll be running under from time to time.
verizon's looking to have the most flexibility, and t-mobile has the cheapest bare bones plan of any of them (though that is still US$20 per months). man, how did i get away with US$15 per month with fido in canada??? at&t wireless also has a cheap plan of US$20, but with only 45 MINUTES PER MONTHS, it's utterly unusable for our needs.
i refuse to pay for a phone with a camera. the sales guy was like "how many times have you though 'gee, i wish i had my camera right now?' ", to whch i said, "aside from road trips and vacations when i DO have my camera, about twice a year... maybe." that shot him down.