New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

I have no cell phone currently, as I lost it during Katrina aftermath, and bumming off my fiancee's phone seemed to be working. I was just poking around amazon.com, and I saw that they're offering $150 rebates on already ridiculously discounted phones. linky

I've always thought the razr phone looked pretty sweet, but didn't want to actually buy it. Now that I know it's $0 (with a plan, of course) I'm tempted to pick it up. I need a service plan anyways, so that requirement doesn't seem too onerous.

Anyone have any suggestions about the phone/plan I should get? Other suggestions are very welcome.

Here's Monica Bellucci to cheer you on in giving me advice:

http://www.thebutterscotchthreshold....ellucci-08.jpg

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

Here's my advice:

DON'T get a Motorola.

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

That's a good start. What DO i get?

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

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That's a good start. What DO i get?

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Nokia.

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

Come on guys. Nokia what? I hear they sell more than one phone, for more than one service provider.

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

[ QUOTE ]
Come on guys. Nokia what? I hear they sell more than one phone, for more than one service provider.

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I'm a radio frequency engineer for one of the largest wireless companies in the US. From a technical point of view, Nokia phones are better than Motorolas.

As far a which one, that depends more on your needs and which carrier you choose to go with.

My first concern, if I were in your situation, would be which carrier to go with. After you've decided that, then you can either choose which of their phones to get, or buy one that will work with the carrier you picked. Then you can pick your plan, again, according to your needs.

But, since you were more concerned with what you could get for free, you go ahead and do what you want. Serriously, did you really expect me to recommend that you get the pink T-Mobile Razr, and the $39.99 plan or something? Do a little work on your own. How are we supposed to know what you need?

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

[quoteI'm a radio frequency engineer for one of the largest wireless companies in the US. From a technical point of view, Nokia phones are better than Motorolas.

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great stuff. exactly what i'm looking for.

[ QUOTE ]
As far a which one, that depends more on your needs and which carrier you choose to go with.

My first concern, if I were in your situation, would be which carrier to go with. After you've decided that, then you can either choose which of their phones to get, or buy one that will work with the carrier you picked. Then you can pick your plan, again, according to your needs.

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still good. very much appreciated.

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But, since you were more concerned with what you could get for free, you go ahead and do what you want. Serriously, did you really expect me to recommend that you get the pink T-Mobile Razr, and the $39.99 plan or something? Do a little work on your own. How are we supposed to know what you need?

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whoa dude. easy. I just mentioned that to get a little discussion going, nothing wrong with talking about some deals, especially compared to "nokia." "not motorola." that's like the douchebags who answer strategy posts with "fold." "call" or "worst bet ever," like they've never thought about anything for more than .5 seconds in their life. Don't be one of them, it's clear you have some useful things to say on this topic.

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

Verizon or Sprint for a carrier. CDMA > GSM. As for phones: if you must go GSM go with Nokia or Ericcson. TI makes their chips. If you go Verizon or Sprint, then make sure whatever phone you get has Qualcomm guts. Motorola, LG, and Samsung are all fine.

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

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Verizon or Sprint for a carrier. CDMA > GSM.

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Granted, CDMA is technically a more ellegant solution, in practice the competence of the designers and optimizers is far more important.

I wouldn't worry about the base technology that much.

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

Samsung

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

My sister has that phone. It is cool, but a piece of [censored]. She has sent it back and recieved a new one 7 times now. Yay

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

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GSM > CDMA.

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FYP. As for the comments regarding the Razr as a piece of [censored], the Razr is the most popular phone out there, of course it will encounter problems if it's the highest celling mobile phone out there.

Generally speaking, Nokia phones have the best reception and are the most reliable phones out there. If you go with Nokia, the 6102 is a quality phone, as well as the Nokia 3220.

Do not go with LG..they make decent phones but are not nearly as good as Nokia or Motorola in terms of quality and reliability. Stick with Nokia or Motorola.

As for carriers? Hmm..Cingular is pretty decent. Largest network in the nation, no roaming charges, no long distance (while making domestic calls), free calls to other Cingular customers, rollover minutes, yada yada yada. First rate plan available $39.99 450 Anytime minutes, Unlimited Mobile 2 Mobile, Unlimited Nights and Weekends.

Keep us updated!

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

Well I've done a little research and it seems that Verizon or Sprint are probably my best bet, around new orleans and Jacksonville at least. Reviews of the razr (god that's a stupid name) are sufficiently bad that I can't see myself getting one. The motorola v276 seems like a solid choice for Verizon. Samsung SPH-A560 looks decent for Sprint.

Any thoughts?

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

I recently switched from Verizon to T-Mobile- picked up a Nokia 6101. I love it. Does pretty much everything I need from a phone.

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

i 2nd the Nokia 6101...like many other phones like it, it has photo caller ID. have picked up a lot of numbers demonstrating this, "Here girl x, let me show you how photo caller ID works..do you mind if i take your picture?" girl, "hee hee ok" snap! k can i get your number...yada yada yada...k gimme a call....SEE! when you call your picture shows on my display! cheesy i know

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

[ QUOTE ]
Well I've done a little research and it seems that Verizon or Sprint are probably my best bet, around new orleans and Jacksonville at least. Reviews of the razr (god that's a stupid name) are sufficiently bad that I can't see myself getting one. The motorola v276 seems like a solid choice for Verizon. Samsung SPH-A560 looks decent for Sprint.

Any thoughts?

[/ QUOTE ]

i 've had a Razr for six months now, and I love it...no problems at all...light as a feather, fits perfectly in my pocket, sound quality is great and it looks snazzy.

Re: New cell phone and plan: need advice
 

T-mobile just came out with the nextgen model of the Samsung D500 which I currently use with Cingular. Great phone, not sure about t-mobile service though, never used.

Samsung E635