I want a cell phone! But which service / plan should I go with?

[ETan]

I really want a cell phone, but I have never been able to afford one till now, so I have no clue about which service / plan is best for me. My girlfriend is in New York now, and I don't have long distance. I use calling cards for long calls anyway, but it's just getting hard for people to get in touch with me right away, or for me to call others conveniently.

I'm in the Pittsburgh area. I actually went to a Nextel booth and asked about info, but get the feeling that they just want me to buy something from them instead of telling me which is better for me.

Anyway... I'm sure a lot of you are experts on this. Care to shed some light on this?

Voicestream? Verizon? Sprint? Nextel? ATT? wha..?

Does it matter a lot which one I go with? And what should I look for in a plan?

I don't want to spend more than $40 / month for the plan. Is that feasible? Any ways to get the best of my bucks? I have read hot deal threads on Sprint customers getting more minutes, etc. I need about 1000 minutes a month.

I don't really care that much about which phone I'll get, as long it's decent. No games needed.

Do those AOL Instant Messenger capable phones / plans mean that it's unlimited, and is constantly "online"? Or do I have to get online first and then use that, thus using my minutes?

I'm tired of being clueless on this. Hopefully the OT answer gods will smile on me again.

 

[HiTek21]

I'm no phone expert but heres my opinion

You should try Verizon they have some pretty good service (in southern cali). I work in a building where cell phone reception isn't too good, My cingular phone only gets 1 bar usually where as my friend with Verizon always gets 4 never gets a system busy signal either. NexTel is pretty good too but they aren't very big so I dont know the coverage area they have, they also have that 2 way radio feature which is pretty cool but probably expensive. I'm sure verizon has some pretty good deals, should check into it. I know that nextel is rather expensive because its used mainly for businesses you should check their plans too.

 

[Dragnov]

Geez, how many of these threads do we get daily. But anyways heress my info in regard to cell phone services...

First and foremost, IT REALLY DEPENDS ON YOUR AREA. It oculd work the best in one area, and travel a few miles away and it may be completely useless. Best bet is see waht freinds/family have IN YOUR AREA and what works best.


Now IN GENERAL heres in regards to the major carriers.

AT&T, going downhill fast. Got several nice new phones coming (about freakin time, it's been ages) but their service and plans really suck right now. GSM technology, uses Cingular towers, but not doing so well and may merge with Team Mobile (Voicestream), which will more likely than not be Team Mobile just buying them out.

Cingular. Doing "okay" I guess. GSM technology, but thier service has been suckin (ever since they were flooded). They are being sued right now. It's pretty funny because if you see their nationwisde plan their coverage is just the entire United States... shows no marked coverage regions, lol. May merge with Team Mobile.

Sprint. Getting better slowly. CDMA technology, which gives better receptioin farther away form towers than GSM but less features usually like text messaging, AOL instant messanger, etc. However, sprints new service has A LOT of features up and they always have the best phones. Worst thing though, is the fact that they are PURE DIGITAL PCS, which really bites. You will get raped in charges for analog roaming (say traveling out in the desert or away form the cities).

Verizon. CDMA technology. The leecher of all services. They dont really have thier own towers and just use others. Phones are pretty expensive for Verizon, but in genral Verizon seems to have the best reception.


For your information, I have Verizon and I plan on keeping it. I don't liek Nokia and Motorola phones, so that why I really like Sprint phones. (The Samsung, LG, and Sanyo phones are great.)

 

[gopunk]

grimlock, you forgot one major carrier

who knows what's going to happen to t-mobile... deutsche telekom might try to get rid of it to get more money

 

[amnesiac]

There is at LEAST one thread posted on this subject every three days.
Would it kill you to search?

 

[ETan]

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
There is at LEAST one thread posted on this subject every three days.
Would it kill you to search?

No, but it sure is nice to piss people like you off.

Actually I did a search as soon as I read GrImLock's reply. It didn't occur to me that this was a popular question here. (I don't frequent OT a lot.) I think I will go with either VoiceStream or Verizon, unless other Pittsburghers here advise against it.

Anyway, thanks to HiTek21, GrImLock, and gopunk for your helpful advice / info. Sorry, but no "thanks" to you amnesiac.



calm down... just playing with ya. jeez..

 

[murphy55d]

I am in central PA, Verizon has been great for me. Got a free phone too. I have the 34.95 Americas Choice plan.