Cell Phone Plans?

[cbman]

I am getting a cell phone for my business today (Yay) but I have a quick question.

I don't have any particular brand or plan in mind.

The phone will only be used for business, (AKA when my schedule changes or if I have a change in plan I can alert the head office, or they can remind me or let me know of any new developments.)

I have noticed that you can pick up a fairly inexpensive phone that uses the prepaid minutes.

My sister though as a samsung phone through the local telco and she doesn't pay all that much while having free airtime after 6:00 and on weekends.

My phone will likely be used most in the hours between 7:00 and 7:00 on weekdays and saturdays.

Going on your personal experiances with the various plans and the wide varieties of uses all you Murcers could be using them for.

What works best?

[dZeus]

if getting a cell phone, the aspects I would look at are the running time on the battery (lithium-ion or NiMh), and how well the phone is build.

I've got a Siemens C35i, which is said to be one of the sturdiest models, but it suffers from weird software errors.. I'll upgrade the firmware soon and I hope it will fix that. It particularly doesn't like some no-name lithium-ion battery I put it recently (though of course that could be just becuase the battery is junk). Some of the later/more expensive siemens models also look very nice, like the m35i.

[Wombat]

If that's when you're using your phone, you're probably going to have to pay a lot. Prime-time is much more expensive than off-hours.

Also, the brand of phone you choose depends on what's important to you. A lot of my friends own Nokia phones. They're small, sound good, and work well. But Motorola phones seem to do a better job of getting a signal in weak spots.

[GT98]

From my understanding....well Europe is light years ahead of the US Celluar market (anyway we have a better land line setup..no per minute charges for local calls )..but I degress...I currently have Verizon Wireless as my carrier and I pay about $45 a month for 250-300 minutes on their SingleRate East plan...which means that I can call from South Carloina all the way up to Maine without any roaming charges and I can call long distance for free in that area (well against my minutes per month) also. I upgraded to a new plan where they offer 3500 minutes "free" after 9PM on the weekdays and "Free" Weekends in addition to my 300 anytime minutes. After I use all this time up (which I havent yet) it runs about 40 cents a mintue after that.

I did alot of research when I got my cell phone back a couple years ago and compaired with what everyone else was offering in my area. I'm Happy so far with Verizon...I usally dont run into any problems where I can't make call etc....

Scott

[Pneumatic]

I have AT&T (yeah they have me at every end of the spectrum. I fI tick them off they can effectively cut me off from the world in EVERY way, but that's another thread ).

I pay $75 for 1,500 anytime minutes. I have a nice big calling area (bigger than I need since I don't travel) but I have to pay for long distance and all of the other stuff that some plans throw in.

My main problem is that I have at least 5 years worth of business cards out there with this number on them so if I change I will be shooting myself in the foot. As a result I haven't shopped it around.

[cbman]

All righty... I went looking and this is what I have found.

35 dollar plan. 100 Minutes - 25 cents a minute for a basic plan Plus a Ten Dollar charge for free weeknights. but it incurs extra long distance charges on top of the basic rate. It has Weekends and Weeknights free. If you sign up for the plan you can either get the Nokia 6125 or 6165 or a Ericsson R278D for 50 dollars. The plan also has a 6.95 a month access fee and a one time 35 dollar activation fee.

Or

Prepaid Minutes Cards

Buy phone for 150 Bucks... get 60 free minutes, be able to carry over minutes, long distance and local cost the same (33 cents) and its 25 dollars to pop on 75 more minutes that are good for 2 months (Plus whatever you carried over)

The phones are the same models as above.

For what I am going to be using the phone for and how little I will be using it... I am probably be going with the prepaid...

[Bohrn]

CB, go with the pay as you go type. Especially if you will only use it for a few min a day. $20 a month doesnt seem like much, but for you, (and me) it is more like $20 for 2-3 months. My wife and I both have pay as you go phones, and it is a better deal for both of us. Of course my phone will switch over to a monthly plan if I want too as well, so no loss there.

A couple of points to consider as well, get a tri-mode phone(2 digital and an analogue mode. Right now the analogue mode has alot more coverage, but later on the 2 digital modes will be more in use. If you get one or the other, it will be useless at one time or the other.

Also,like the other person said, get a Lith or NMih battery. The NMih battery in my wifes phone lasts alot longer than the one from her work with a nicad in it. And my phone lasts way longer than hers does. I charged it on Christmas day, used it alot(i had 170 min, and after the week, it was down to 45 or so) went on a long trip(8hrs each way and it was on the whole way due to bad weather), and then after the trip, i used it for another week before I recharged it. I have only charged it twice since christmas, and I am just about out of min

anyway, your choice, just make sure you don't sign your life away

[spoogenet]

First off, I'd point out to focus on the plan first, then the phone. However do consider the phone since that's what you'll be using.

I've got Sprint. I'm not sure that Sprint offers service in CA, which might be a good thing. I hate Sprint, I have lots of problems with their service (or lack thereof) and their customer service (or lack thereof). On the positive side, though, I get tons of minutes for not a lot of money. I mostly use my phone for personal use in the evening hours, which is where I get my plethora of minutes.

I've got the Samsung 8500 phone, I hate it for varying reasons, and I personally would advise anybody to think two or three times before buying a Samsung phone. I know other people, though, who like their Samsung phones.

I'm a huge fan of Nokia phones, of the ones I have used they are by far the best. My old Moto phone for GSM was horrible, huge, low battery life, crappy software. I moved up to the Nokia 6190 for GSM and loved it. I still prefer that one over some of the newer Nokias, though.

WILL YOU BE TRAVELLING???

If you will travel much with this phone and use it, then make sure you know what you're getting into with roaming agreements. Again, I'm not so sure how things are done in CA, but when I was on a GSM carrier in the US I got screwed. I was on a 'free roaming and free long distance nationwide' plan. I was halfway across the country for 3 months on an internship using my phone when I got slammed with a $130 bill, more than twice my usual bill. See, I got 600 anytime minutes/month, and I NEVER went over my limit, however I was billed for 3 MONTHS usage in 1 month. I considered this highway robbery, they claimed their system bills me when I get billed, I argued enough, they finally gave me my money and told me they'd never give me a break again. I'm not with that carrier anymore, needless to say.

If you don't plan on roaming then a regional company may be your best bet. The GSM carriers in the US offer decent plans if you don't travel, but for travelling the large national carriers will probably be your best bet.

Not to simply repeat what others have said, but if you actually won't use your phone much, then pre-paid could be your cheapest bet. Just make sure you get a plan where your minutes don't expire, if possible.

b

[Jammrock]

I don't know where in Ontario, Port Elgin is, but Sprint PCS has some coverage in South Ontario. If the Canada plans are the same as the US plans, you can get 3000 minutes for $29.99. Unfortunately this plan only gives you 200 any time minutes and 2800 night and weekend minutes. You can order everything online at www.sprintpcs.com . They have a ton of cool phones you can get, including phones with built in PDA's.

BUT...unless you fall into a digital covered area, I'd go with someone else.

Jammrock

[cbman]

Port Elgin is on the little leg of land sticking up between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. (Right hand side... Right on the water... I grew up in Southampton which is just 8 KM North and on the Shoreline as well.

I will be travelling lots but not internationally or even interprenationally, just inter-municipally

The local carrier here does Rogers/ATT. It is that or Ma Bell.

Bell has some pretty good plans.. but I think the prepaid is the best bet. And it does have minutes that expire, but only if you let the allotted time run out.. if you renew your minutes before the old ones expire the unused minutes carry over.

[spoogenet]

I probably wouldn't say Sprint has many good phones, let alone cool ones.

Samsung, well, I've already said I don't like their phones. Partially the hardware, mostly the software that I don't care for. Kyocera has terrible software, their call log is especially lacking, although the blue LED in one model is nifty.

I managed to get a hardware crash on the Samsung PDA within about 30 seconds of using it.

I hear the older Sanyo phones are pretty decent, big, but decent. I haven't used them myself, but after playing around with them in the store I decided I don't like their software either.

The newer Sanyo phones, though, are pretty nice. I'm not sure if they're good phones or not, but they certainly don't get much talk time with the standard batteries. The extended battery gives talk time comparable to the normal battery on many other phones.


Once you arrive at a plan, take your time playing around with the phones if possible. If you will use the phone much at all, an annoying phone will just make for a less pleasurable experience. The list of things I consider most when looking at phones is as follows:
- Call log: how many, what style? Nokia stores the last 10 each unique numbers (out,in,missed), Samsung stores the last 10 each calls placed (out,in,missed), Kyocera stores the last 15 of anything. I prefer Nokia's way since it stores numbers, helpful if someone calls you and you forget to call them immediately and don't have their number anywhere else.
- Ringer type/volume: the more, the merrier. Don't want to confuse my phone with others, and also want to be able to hear/feel my phone
- Profile settings: If it has them, they are nice to have
- Speaker volume: Nokias will tend to get loud, mine had something like 10 volume settings, only once or twice did I bump it above minimum. My Samsung, though, has 3. I can't hear people even in a regular restaurant with the volume on the highest setting....quite frustrating. Some Sanyo's have a speaker phone option.
- Talk time/recharge time: enough said.

I consider other things, but to me, these are the most important.

b

[DentyCracker]

What was most important to me was weight and battery life. Strangely enough in this small island we have the three major cellular technologies (GSM, TDMA and CDMA) I went with a GSM phone (the 77g Panasonic GD92) and a US$20 for 80 min plan. Once the 80 min. are up then it ranges from 8 to 30 cents US/min. I couldn't stand the inconvenience of a pay as you go system, though I may have to use one initially when I move to the UK later this year (temporarily)