New Cell Phone?

cowmeet

So i'm in the market for a new cell phone and service. There will be two people on this service, one is just getting like a free phone, but I wanted to get something a little more flashy.

Something that plays MP3's, maybe has video, a camera, all that good stuff.

I'm looking to spend around ~350$ which includes the discount for starting a new service plan.

Mike99TA

Er....don't spend $350 on a cell phone that would be retarded - if you go buy a cell phone with a plan at amazon.com you can get phones that retail for up to $500 for free or even negative money. The last 2 times I got new cell phones I ordered them from amazon.com, with a plan, ported my number over to the new cell phone, and ended up paying -$100 (yes, negative $100) for the phone - they sent me a check for $100 and I didn't pay anything.

zero_bit

Mike99TA wrote:

Er....don't spend $350 on a cell phone that would be retarded - if you go buy a cell phone with a plan at amazon.com you can get phones that retail for up to $500 for free or even negative money. The last 2 times I got new cell phones I ordered them from amazon.com, with a plan, ported my number over to the new cell phone, and ended up paying -$100 (yes, negative $100) for the phone - they sent me a check for $100 and I didn't pay anything.

He said he needs two phones. With Amazon you can only get one free/rebated phone. I suggest using the rebate on the expensive phone and pay for the cheap one out of pocket. That's what I did with my wife and I.

I really like my Sony Ericsson. It's well built and I like the camera on it. I think Amazon has the k800i for a good price now.

cowmeet

I think I will do that.

I was thinking about the new Sony Ericsson w810i.

Is cingular that bad of a service? I was looking at the comments under the plans and they are all bad.

fightinfilipino

cowmeet wrote:

I think I will do that.

I was thinking about the new Sony Ericsson w810i.

Is cingular that bad of a service? I was looking at the comments under the plans and they are all bad.

cingular's actual service ranges from crap to good depending on your region. cingular's customer service however, is utter shit. it's not worth the hassle.

i'm personally for T-mobile. lots of folks i know go with them or Verizon. Verizon's data rates for WAP/web access are too weird for me (they charge you airtime on top of a data rate? wtf?), but that's up to you. their phone selection has also improves a little.

do not go with Sprint. just don't do it.

zero_bit

T-Mobile has awesome customer service and great plans. I had an old grandfathered 1000 anytime/unlimited nights/weekends for $39.99. I haven't seen a plan that good in a long long time.

I was sad to leave them, as they had crap reception in my area. However, I'm completely pleased with Cingular. The reception is great no matter where I go, and the customer service is satisfactory to me. They have an online chat customer service center that is scores easier than waiting on hold.

reddog

cowmeet wrote:

I think I will do that.

I was thinking about the new Sony Ericsson w810i.

Is cingular that bad of a service? I was looking at the comments under the plans and they are all bad.

I just got the w810i and I couldn't be happier. I've been with Cingular for 2 years also and I love the service (I live in NYC so that may have to do with it too). I pay my bill online, I rarly had to deal with customer service but the few times I have, they were nice and informative. I love the roll over minutes cause I can't ever go over my minutes.

As for the phone, it's pure awesome. Mine came with a 128 Memory card but i'm upgrading it to a 2 Gig one. The phone comes with in ear head phones for the mp3 player and they are also used for the handsfree. It has clear reception, the camera is great too. I used it at the museum this past weekend and the photos came out nice. It takes video with sound which is cool. The quality isn't spectacular but remember, it's a phone. I like the fact that it has a radio in it as well. The battery life hasn't been a problem either. I've used the mp3 player on my commute to and from work on the train along with using the phone to talk, and the battery hasn't failed me yet.

Two thumbs up!

ZackSchilling

If you have good coverage with Cingular and never have to deal with their customer service, they're the best provider. Huge network and no phone feature lockout bullshit (ex: if your phone has bluetooth, you can connect to it via your PC and send it an MP3 ringtone for free. This sort of thing seems so crazy to Verizon customers because they have to pay for EVERYTHING due to artificial software locks.) Plus, you can use any generic GSM phone from Japan or Europe with them. That's a big plus.

cowmeet

Thanks for all the help, I think I will go with the 810i.