Help me buy a cell phone

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OK, so, I'm thinking of biting the bullet and getting myself a cell phone. The problem is that there are so many service providers out there, I don't even know where to start researching. I hit AT&T and Sprint's websites earlier, but there's so much info, and I'm not really sure what my criteria should be.

I'm not going to be using the phone much; less than an hour a week is my guess. It's mostly going to be for local calls, although I probably will take it on vacations with me.

Anybody have any suggestions? Service provider horror stories? What should I be looking for? And do most plans come with a phone?

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2000

Answers

Not that I own one, but my ex-boyfriend and a bunch of others I know have them...

Anyway: The popular phones nowadays are Nokia (for sure) and Ericsson (I think?). About everyone I know has a Nokia (or had an Ericsson and switched to Nokia) and is really pleased with how it works- has really good sound, voice mail, address book, a couple games.

Your primary criteria is probably (a) how much you're going to use the phone/have people call you on it and (b) what area do you want cell phone service in. You're going to be charged for when you call people _and_ when people call you. My ex-boyfriend often changed his phone service plan because of how many people kept calling him (though he's never home, so it's his own fault there!). His service offered you a flat fee for however many minutes you wanted, and if you went over that allowance in a month you had to pay extra money. Unless you are going to get a lot of people calling you while you don't call much, you can probably get the smallest amount of minutes offered. I don't know of any horror stories anyone's had with a service provider.

There's two kinds of phone, digital and analog. Analog is becoming less popular (I'm not exactly sure, but I think it's the kind that others can pick up your conversations), again, most I know have digital for clearer service. However, digital does cover less distance than analog. If you tend to drive long distances often and would need a phone during those times, you really need to check out which phone service offers the best coverage. If you don't leave your area much, this isn't as important. I'm sorta stumped by what your answer is- normally you won't need long-distance coverage, but if you want to take it on vacation, it'll depend on where you're going. It probably won't be useful to you unless you stay within coverage area. As far as I could tell, coverage is about 3-4 hours worth of driving from one place to another. My ex-boyfriend lives an hour outside of Davis and loses coverage right as he gets to his house, and last year he had to spend almost every weekend in Santa Cruz and lost coverage as he arrived there. He also lost reception whenever he went up in the mountains...it really depends on where you go, distance-wise.

I think the popular thing nowadays is to offer the phone for free so long as you pay for the phone-seller's particular service.

Hope this has been helpful and that I'm not completely off on things (I refuse to get one myself, then my mom'd never stop calling me!). Good luck!

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2000


1. Ericsson phones look like voltmeters. Nokia phones look like Japanese toys. I have a Matrix phone (Nokia) and have been very happy with it. It's definitely one of the coolest things I own. I do not have a fixed phone anymore and I probably never will again. My next phone will have an internal clock and appointment book, more space for numbers and messages, and longer battery life.

2. If you don't use the phone a lot, you will probably forget you have it, and therefore forget to recharge it, so you need one with long battery life.

3. I don't know what the situation is in your part of the world, but I'm on the GSM system (digital) and I love it. GSM lets you send text messages to other GSM users around the world, look up numbers and other information from central databanks, and even use the WWW in a very primitive way. It's the most popular system outside of North America and Japan. Already in some places you can use it for micropayments (e.g. vending-machine sodas, Web downloads), which appear on your phone bill. It will be replaced by another system, which will be standard all over the world, in 5-10 years.

4. If there are data services (phone directory, plane schedules, stock info, WWW) where you live, it may be worth getting a phone that's compatible with them if you like being an early adapter. The current standard is WAP and this too will be replaced by another system in 5-10 years as phones merge with web-access palmtops that also play MP3s and other media. I'm sure someone else can post more detailed predictions.

5. The only thing that keeps people from using their North American GSM phones when traveling in the rest of the world and vice versa is the fact that they work on different frequencies. This is probably due to the way US bandwidth is allocated (many prime frequencies have been reserved for national defense since the 1940s, and everything else gets squeezed into less space - again, I'm sure someone else here can improve on my speculation) and it's a terrible shame. Write your Congressman.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2000


If you are looking for style in your phone, Nokia and Ericcson offer many customizable options. If you are just looking for something with high quality and small to fit in a pocket or a purse, i reccomment the Motorola Startec. Hacing used the Startec and the Nokia, the startec has overall had a stronger signal.

Adnvantages of digital are: Better security - tougher to listen in on and also tougher to clone Longer battery life - digital uses less power Most digital units also will switch to analog automatically if digital is not available. Cost for digital is a little higher

Ask around twon for your provider. Coverage and billing plan are the two most critical.

Good luck. Beware, once you get it one, you will start using it more and more. It becomes a much used convenience.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2000


Actually, the Nokia phones look like cool Finnish toys. :)

There are websites that reportedly help you choose the best plan for your needs and area. is one of them.

I want to get a phone that does the free long distance thing, but I already have an analog phone I can't change! (It's a car phone.)

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2000


Oops. That website once again is www.decide.com.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2000


Well, my boyfriend, my roommate, and four other of my friends work for AT&T Wireless and I've heard so many cell phone conversations I feel obligated to post a response.

Try to nail down how much you will use the phone. Obviously, if you have an idea of how many minutes you will need you will be able to select the plan that best suits you. Is this going to be an emergency phone? A "omigod I forgot to call this person and I have to do it NOW" sort of phone? If you're not planning to use this phone on a regular basis, you might consider the prepaid option. Pros and cons:

(1) the prepaid phone does not come with a contract. There are no service fees, no monthly fees, etc. You buy the minutes you want, and that's that.

(2) the prepaid phone's minutes are a bit more expensive because they include long-distance charges. So you take a bit of a bite on the cost of minutes but you don't have to worry about extra charges if you go on vacation and need your phone. it's been included.

(3) there are no services (caller id, voicemail, etc.) on the prepaid phone.

(4) the prepaid phone comes with about 90 minutes...a 60 minute mail-in rebate and a 30 minute card in the box. It's an Ericsson phone which isn't the best but if this is a little used phone it won't make any difference.

If you think you need an actual plan, I would definitely go with the Nokia phone. I like the 6160, it's comfortable (especially if you get the little leather sleeve for it) and it doesn't have that annoying flip-thing on it. It's very user friendly and they have email capabilites and web alerts--pretty neat features. You might want to consider buying the earpiece--it plugs into the phone for hands-free use and is very convenient if you HAVE to drive and talk at the same time. Plus it is rumored to nullify all of those arguments about cell phones causing brain cancer, etc.

According to Tom (the boyfriend), you'll probably want to go with a one rate plan (this is, of course, if you choose the Evil Empire and go with AT&T). These plans lump long-distance, roaming, and regular use all into one cost so you don't need to worry about long-distance or roaming charges. Around here (Northwest Louisiana), the plans start out at around $60 a month for 300 minutes, then $90 for 600 minutes, etc. They will charge you for every minute you go over your plan.

The digital phones will generally switch to analog (I know the 6160 does) if digital service is not available. And depending on where you live, the coverage might not be that great for digital service. You have to check this out in your area.

Now, as far as I know, the plans at AT&T don't come with a phone unless you get the prepaid phone. The phone will probably run you around $100. If you have any questions, I'm pretty connected in this area and I'll be glad to help if I can.

All this writing and I don't even own a cell phone. I guess I've absorbed more from those guys than I thought.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2000


I've used both Pac Bell and Sprint PCS and can say that I prefer Sprint by a long shot. The main reason being that Sprint does not require a contract and you don't need to go for the pre-paid plan to avoid a contract. I get about 500 minutes per month for $50 and rarely go over that. I can use them anytime, during the day, evenings or weekends. It also has free long distance calls - that is, anywhere that Sprint has a network, but the coverage is pretty good all over the US. Of course, we North Americans cannot use our phones overseas which is a bummer. Pac Bell told me I could if I took my SIM card out of the phone and rented one when I was in Europe, but that was too expensive an option for me, not only because of the cost of renting a phone, but any calls made while there were more expensive also.

On the topic of which type of phone to buy, I must admit I'm a sucker for packaging. Nokia by far has the best looking phones and they're pretty sophisticated on the technical end too.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2000


Well, thanks for the good advice, everyone. (That website was especially helpful, Diane -- point.com is another good one.)

I think I'm going to go with US West, and a Nokia. They offer 200 anytime minutes per month, which I think is plenty enough for me. Also, they're doing a special offer right now where they're throwing in 500 weekend minutes too, so I think I'm good to go.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2000


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