Help me find a cell phone carrier
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For various reasons, I haven't had or wanted a cell phone since like 1999 but I think it's time to get one. I'm looking for some input from you guys about experiences with different carriers and plans.
I'm looking to spend under $60 a month. I don't travel out of town much and don't need long distance at all. I work 8-5 so daytime minutes are not a concern. I don't need text, downloads, or any other bells and whistles...just a basic line with caller id and voice mail is all I need.
I've heard mixed reviews about local unlimited plans like Rover. Without any hidden BS, this would be what I would prefer.Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?
TIA!edit
Cell One is not an option. -
personally, i think sprint has better plans...but verizon basically has a monopoly going on in this area it seems. all of my friends have it, so i went with them because its free minutes between VW customers. also, they have some good phones to choose from. the vx8100 (i have it now) is a very nice phone for $100 after a 2 year agreement...has a built in mp3 player, 1.3MP camera...up to 1 gig (i think) of memory via mini sd card...just my .02
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they have excellent plans,bad ass phones(not that it really matters).What are u intrested in knowing?How much are u willing to spend a month,what type of plan etc....
sorry,but the problem with VERIZON from what i heard, is that you guys end up roaming in hawley, thats what i've heard.SPRINT on the other hand doesnt have roaming in fact they have "free roaming"
"tell the misses that thats how you got the man and thats how you KEEP the man
words to live by from the wise one"
-weshole -
itrfan wrote:
they have excellent plans,bad ass phones(not that it really matters).What are u intrested in knowing?How much are u willing to spend a month,what type of plan etc....one problem...not very many ppl have sprint compared to verizon in this area. meaning you'll use anytime minutes quicker...where's jim to chime in on this one? im sure he has more knowledge about this than any of us.
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torbs wrote:
one problem...not very many ppl have sprint compared to verizon in this area. meaning you'll use anytime minutes quicker...where's jim to chime in on this one? im sure he has more knowledge about this than any of us.
This is true,but i also have 2000 anytime minutes,basically the "TOP" plan from sprint and i do pay outta my ass but i wouldnt go with anyone else.And on your other post,do u mean VERIZON doesnt have "roaming charges?""tell the misses that thats how you got the man and thats how you KEEP the man
words to live by from the wise one"
-weshole -
itrfan wrote:
This is true,but i also have 2000 anytime minutes,basically the "TOP" plan from sprint and i do pay outta my ass but i wouldnt go with anyone else.And on your other post,do u mean VERIZON doesnt have "roaming charges?"yes, at least i've never been charged for any...and last spring i was on tour with my school and we went all over the nation and i had service everywhere...even in flatville indiana (or IL?)which is out in the middle of fuckin nowhere...
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itrfan wrote:
they have excellent plans,bad ass phones(not that it really matters).What are u intrested in knowing?How much are u willing to spend a month,what type of plan etc....
sorry,but the problem with VERIZON from what i heard, is that you guys end up roaming in hawley, thats what i've heard.SPRINT on the other hand doesnt have roaming in fact they have "free roaming"
Read the first post :rolleyes:less than $60
don't need too many daytime minutes
I rarely ever roam
don't need bells & whistles
looking for your good experiences, bad experiences with each carrier -
Well when i first got with SPRINT i was paying about 55 a month with unlimited tex,vision,and 800minutes plus my night and weekend minutes started at 7 pm but now i think its changed since SPRINT bought NEXTEL!!!
"tell the misses that thats how you got the man and thats how you KEEP the man
words to live by from the wise one"
-weshole -
I have cell one right now (have for 6 years) and have been satisfied with their service/price. I, like jason, do not need all the bells and whistles, just an affordable plan with a decent phone. The thing I'm not too sure about with Cellular One is that they have been purchased by Alltel and I'm not sure what type of plans Alltel will be offering to their customers. I do know that they are a national carrier however, so they probably won't have as affordable of local/regional plans as cell one currently has, but they will probably be more in line with Verizon on pricing. Currently I have about 1200 anytime minutes, unlimited nights/weekends and free mobile to mobile (amongst cell one customers). I've never even come close to going over my minutes as most of my calls are in the evening/weekends anyway.
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tjamz wrote:
I have cell one right now (have for 6 years) and have been satisfied with their service/price. I, like jason, do not need all the bells and whistles, just an affordable plan with a decent phone. The thing I'm not too sure about with Cellular One is that they have been purchased by Alltel and I'm not sure what type of plans Alltel will be offering to their customers. I do know that they are a national carrier however, so they probably won't have as affordable of local/regional plans as cell one currently has, but they will probably be more in line with Verizon on pricing. Currently I have about 1200 anytime minutes, unlimited nights/weekends and free mobile to mobile (amongst cell one customers). I've never even come close to going over my minutes as most of my calls are in the evening/weekends anyway.
Thanks, Chuck! One thing I should have mentioned is that Cell One is not an option. I had a very bad experience with them years ago and can't consider them as an option.Sounds like a good plan though!
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HandoEX wrote:
Thanks, Chuck! One thing I should have mentioned is that Cell One is not an option. I had a very bad experience with them years ago and can't consider them as an option.Sounds like a good plan though!
I would have to agree with you on that man!! Before i decided to go to SPRINT i looked at all my options and all my friends told me to stay away from CELL ONE. I dunno its your choice on what you want to do,i prefer SPRINT and torbs prefers VERIZON all i have to say is "shop around before you jump in to things. GOOD LUCK with your cell phone hunt.Glad i could put my 2 cents in"tell the misses that thats how you got the man and thats how you KEEP the man
words to live by from the wise one"
-weshole -
Ok back from class... lets dispense of the opinion bullshit and get down to the facts.
We have several major carriers in our area, namely Verizon, Sprint / Nextel, Unicell, Cell One, T-Mobile and Cingular provide service here but do not provide plans for local numbers.
Verizon uses CDMA
Sprint uses PCS
Nextel uses iDen
Unicel has both CDMA and GSM plans
Cell One --- This one I do not know
Tmobile / Cingular - GSMGenerally speaking in our area, or for the entire midwest, CDMA is going to provide you with the most reliable, best coverage.
I know your looking for a good deal, so I will tell you of my experiences with all of them, and why I ended up with Verizon.
Probably the best website you'll find for doing research on cell phones is http://www.howardforums.com, so don't just take my word for it, go read the opinions of lots of other users.
Now there have been several factors for me that are really important, 1) being data services 2) customer service and 3) reliable coverage
Verizon has been incredible for the entire time that I have had it with replacing phones, removing any charges whatever, their general policy is to make the customer happy, unlike many other cell phone providers. Their billing is straight up and easy to understand and your payments are reflected through an intuitive online interface (which also lets you check usage etc...).
Thier "america's choice" plan, starts out with 450 minutes, unlimited in-calling (verizon to verizon anytime of the day), and unlimited nights and weekends... plan is 39.99, expect around $10 in bogus taxes and shit, so around $50 a month...
Current promotions include either a free LG or Motorola Camera phone.
Coverage is reliable nearly everywhere, and the data services which you arent concerned about are much more advanced at this point in time then any of the other carriers.
Unicell. I had a very bad experience with unicell, my bill was seriously fucked up all the time, so i never understood what I had to pay, it was cool that you got unlimited text messages, but it was pretty terrible reception. You'll find that you have trouble getting a good GSM signal up here, and its even a little bit shady in the twin cities. Anyway, I ended up paying whatever it cost to get out of my contract with them because I was so unsatisfied with it, switched to verizon.
After all the bogus fee's and wierd things they put on, the rover plan ends up costing damn near the same as a 600 minute plan from Verizon... Plus you roam outside of the Fargo area which sucks if you ever travel... Online Services are all but non existant
I would not reccomend them. Oh by the way, Unicel's CDMA service uses Verizon's towers, and thier Rover plan uses T-Mobiles towers... And yes, this is true despite what people will tell you (howardforums.com, research it)
Sprint, generally speaking, is not highly regaruded as a national carrier. There is a good reason they are not one of the top carriers in the USA, and it was a strategic move for them to merge with nextel to increase thier customer base...
Some of you may love your Sprint phones, but theres no way in hell I'd ever buy one.
- The plans ARE more expensive for comparable plans.
- The customer service is notoriously bad. Read on the internet about it, unlike Verizon where they will go out of thier way to take care of you.
- PCS network is not reliable. Verizon and Spring and lots of local carriers share towers, but Spring operates on a different radio band, so without going in to detail, you'll get a better signal with the CDMA verizon service.
- Vision service is old school 3G wireless, you dont have any use for it, but at this point in time, there are more advanced networks being put in place for the next generation of phones... verizon again has more widespread deployment of these.
Nextel
You'll be hard pressed to find somebody that actually likes thier nextel service / phone. It's expensive as hell, the iDen uses the lowest radio band (shortest range to towers), thier calls are dropped, thier text messages take days to be recieved, the only thing that they hvae going for them is nationwide instanteous push to talk walkie talkie feature.
Unless your going to be utilizing the Push to talk features (which are offered by verizon as well), you shouldn't even get near Nextel...
I can't speak for cell one, but from other people who have had thier service, they wouldn't touch it again....
Don't get me wrong, I'm about getting the best deal / products / service for the money. In all honesty, I would have T-Mobile / Cingular if I lived in the Twin Cities, for the unlimited GPRS, cheap plans and better texting...
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