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Never had a cell phone.... HELP!

J

Jumpem

Lifer
I know very little about cellular networks, phones, or providers.

I need to get a phone this weekend though. I live in western NY if it makes a difference. I'm leaning towards Sprint service since it is the only carrier that I am sure gets service at my house. Verizon does not, and I am unsure of the others.

I really like the Motorola Mpx200 that AT&T has. But I am unsure of their coverage.

What do you guys suggest?

Thanks very much!
 
You can try AT&T for 30 days (I think other providers are 15 days) before you sign a contract, so go out and try them all and see which you like best.
 
VZW is great here in syracuse. I get great signal going through rochester and buf'lo, too.

Cell signal doesn't penetrate some buildings very well. I'll sometimes drop calls in the grocery store. maybe the same situation in your house. Both sprint and VZW use 1900 mhz .. maybe the sprint tower is closer.

For signal and service, VZW > * ... for cool phones * > VZW ... you decide what you need.

check out hofo (www.howardforums.com)
 
Shop for a carrier first, then decide on the phone. Ask around. Invite friends over to your home and ask if you can make a test call or two with their cell phones. Do the same with coworkers at your job.

Surf the coverage maps, read the plans carefully, decide whether you need a local or national plan, and make sure you know about each carrier's trial periods. Figure out how many minutes you expect to use your phone each day during peak periods, multiply by 22, and choose a plan with that many peak minutes.

Also consider whether you'll be calling many other people on their cell phones, and what companies they're signed up with because the latest promotions include unlimited (or nearly unlimited) calling between cell phones within the same company. For example, if you choose Sprint, and the people you'll need to be calling (or receiving calls from) also use Sprint, you can potentially save money by choosing a plan with fewer peak minutes because of the mobile-to-mobile promotion.
 
I wasn't aware spring got service at your house. make sure it does before hand, I know verizon works up at my house but half way down the road you'd be lucky to get any til you left our little valley.. look for a verizon or sprint phone you like and try it out for a couple days. personally i'd get verizon but I know that works at my house....you might want sprint because last I knew verizon didn't work at your house...
 
I've been to howardforums.com but am a bit overwhelmed by the wealth of information.

JDub02, I commute from Canandaigua/Rochester to Syracuse every day. My gf's Sprint phone works everywhere I've been. My dad's Verizon phone works everywhere except literally a half mile in each direction from my house.

The only reason I want to try something other than Sprint is that they have no smartphones. Does anyone know how much it costs to go online using a cell phone? Sometimes I am out and would like to be able to look up a number or go to newegg quick for a comparison or something.


 
Originally posted by: SaintGRW
I wasn't aware spring got service at your house. make sure it does before hand, I know verizon works up at my house but half way down the road you'd be lucky to get any til you left our little valley.. look for a verizon or sprint phone you like and try it out for a couple days. personally i'd get verizon but I know that works at my house....you might want sprint because last I knew verizon didn't work at your house...
Click to expand...

Yeah, Melissa's Sprint phone works there, but Verizon craps out coming into Cheshire.
 
I just going to chime in and say go with Verizon, however obviously it does depend on their coverage. It would suprise me if Verizon did not cover your area, they seem to be all over - can you hear me now?

Also, I would stay away from AT&T for the moment because of Cingular buying them out. I know some people who have Cingular who are not really that happy with them.
 
Originally posted by: Babbles
I just going to chime in and say go with Verizon, however obviously it does depend on their coverage. It would suprise me if Verizon did not cover your area, they seem to be all over - can you hear me now?

Also, I would stay away from AT&T for the moment because of Cingular buying them out. I know some people who have Cingular who are not really that happy with them.
Click to expand...

Verizon literally has no signal heading down the road to my house. Half a mile before it, and half a mile after it works fine though.
 
Originally posted by: Anubis
where in western NY, i live there also and have Verizon and it works fine
Click to expand...

I live in Canandaigua, go to school at RIT in Rochester, and work in Syracuse. What town do you live in?

 
Originally posted by: Jumpem


Verizon literally has no signal heading down the road to my house. Half a mile before it, and half a mile after it works fine though.
Click to expand...


That's odd. What phone did you test it with? Some phones are much better than others.


For internet access, there's a way to get it for free (airtime only) through VZW. Not sure about sprint.


I have yet to find a dead spot for VZW here in syracuse. I've been in rochester a few times and have done well. One thing I noticed with other carriers is that once you get off of a main highway or out of a city, there's almost no coverage at all.

Anyway, I think most carriers have a trial period. VZW is 15 days. Try it out. If you don't like it, get your money back.

I also wouldn't recommend a smartphone unless you really carry a PDA with you everywhere you go. For the same $$, you can get a nice small phone and a Dell or Palm PDA.

 
Originally posted by: Jumpem
Originally posted by: Anubis
where in western NY, i live there also and have Verizon and it works fine
Click to expand...

I live in Canandaigua, go to school at RIT in Rochester, and work in Syracuse. What town do you live in?
Click to expand...

That's quite a commute. Where do you work?
 
does it bother anyone else that people call verizon wireless verizon? everytime i hear verizon i think of my home phone... not the cell phone company...

anyways, did you try any other style of verizon wireless phones?
 
The Nokia 3000 series phone is supposed to get the best reception, but it's a brick phone.

The LG VX6000 is one of the best all digital phones and the VX4400B is supposed to be right next to the Nokia for a tri-mode phone.
 
Originally posted by: psydancerqt
does it bother anyone else that people call verizon wireless verizon? everytime i hear verizon i think of my home phone... not the cell phone company...

anyways, did you try any other style of verizon wireless phones?
Click to expand...

Verizon doesn't offer land line service where I grew up, so when Bell Atlantic Mobile was bought by Verizon Wireless, it just became Verizon.

Besides, it says "Verizon" on my phone. Still the same company since Verizon owns 55% or so of VZW.
 
I lived in Buffalo much of my life. I really only used a sprint phone out there.
Overall the coverage in the general area is the same for all the companies. Though, sprint is very evil.

My father currently lives in Canandaigua and uses sprint there as well. I believe he used verizon, at&t and one other one. Eventually ended up with Sprint because of the new trio500.

 
Originally posted by: psydancerqt
does it bother anyone else that people call verizon wireless verizon? everytime i hear verizon i think of my home phone... not the cell phone company...

anyways, did you try any other style of verizon wireless phones?
Click to expand...


No, I've only tried my dad's phone. It's at least a couple of years old.
 
Originally posted by: psydancerqt
does it bother anyone else that people call verizon wireless verizon? everytime i hear verizon i think of my home phone... not the cell phone company...

anyways, did you try any other style of verizon wireless phones?
Click to expand...

I call it Whorizon. go with whorizon, if you can live with a sh!tty phone. I am with tmo in buffalo, everything works just fine. anywhere I go will get 3 bars+. if you plan to travel to other countries and able to use a cell phone, go with a GSM carrier. you have to know that the rest of the world don't use CDMA network which sprint pos and whorizon use. you can also get the best phone in the world with a gsm carrier.
 
Originally posted by: Jumpem
Okay what Sprint phones should I look at?
Click to expand...

What kind of smartphone do you want? They've got a selection. Treo 600, Samsung i500, Hitachi G1000, Toshiba 2032 and the Treo 300. If you mean something like the Samsung i600 then I agree, there aren't any phone with the new MS phone OS.

So far I'm liking my VM4500.
 
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