Just got a sidekick2 but...

I just purchased a sidekick because I found it at a real nice price. I always thought that you could get a number transfered to any phone, just maybe would have to give up some of the features you would get through a certain company. I guess that is not the case though and now I have a phone commin I cant use through my current sprint service.

My mom is trying my current phone out on the drive to work to see if she can get service and if it is ok she will take over my plan and use that phone so I can start a new one.

Right now I live in a small town that is only covered by the 850mhz coverage from tmobile. I plan to move for school in april to a bigger city which has good coverage. Would it be a good idea to start up a plan with tmobile now you think? Do they have a certain plan I could use temporary until I get down to the cities this spring? Please let me know what you think I should do.

I also have been real impressed with the new ampd phones and they are well covered in the cities as well, but not here. Please give me your thoughts on my situation and what I would be best to do. Thanks

i would definately go with tmobile and let ur mother take over the other phone, especially if ur moving to a bigger city soon. tmobile has GREAT coverage in areas sprint does not. i have BOTH companys as well, i have a sidekick with tmobile and a sanyo 9000 with spint. as i was on the train going UNDERGROUND my sprint lost service meanwile my sidekick kept 5 STRONG BARS!! full coverage! i couldnt believe it!! sprint tends to loose service in areas that tmobile doesnt, infact, tmobile has NEVER lost service ANYWHERE, since ive had it, i got mine last sunday!! and ive taken my phone everywhere with me!! to tell u the truth, id recommend tmobile cause not only does it have better coverage AND plans but.. the service and reps are GREAT!! they are the nicest people and are willing to work WITH u, whereas sprint, is only out for money, they dont care about good customer service. ive had some tragic stories with sprint, yet every single time i call tmobile for a question OR an issue, its ALWAYS resolved in a timely manner WITH great reps who have GOOD attitudes!!! so.. i must say, overall, tmobile wins this 1... go with tmobile.. =)
ps. the only reason i even have sprint is, cause ive been with them since last july ( with many problems since ) and dont want to cancel and pay the etf, i can just ride it out a few more months. i got tmobile last sunday when i became obsessed with the sidekick!! =)

Well I agree that t-mobile looks like an excellent company. I have not had any problems with sprint, but that is probably just because I see their horrible prices to use any features like pcs for $10.00 a month and just keep away so my bill is usually my $35+$6 phone protection+.10 for a few text messages.

I already have this phone comming, the only thing I worry about is that the nearest t-mobile store is 90 miles away from my current residence. Are there any stores that commonly carry tmobile like best buy or radio shack? I cant seem to find any myself. I see that calling in that 850 roaming area claims to be included in the plan, i really hope so.

When I start the plan I will also get the starting discounts on phones and I see they have buy one get one free for razrs. I will either do that or get a second sidekick and sell it. I could probably get someone a cheap razr though if anyone out there is interested.

hmm, radio shack sells sprint phones ( as far as i know )! u can try authorized dealers though.. Go to Yellowpages.com and type in your state, city and for buisness name put Tmobile. dont write anything else and there will be alot of entrys within a 50 mile radius or more if u choose more.. and authorized dealers will come up as pink T mobile logo and the others will have a grey T.. and they all sell phones! this should work, if not, i can do it for u and send u the results by pm. let me know, it should be fairly easy enough for u to do though. also.. tmobile not only looks like an excellent company but believe me, they ARE an excellent company, ive had NOT ONE complaint about them. i am EXTREMLY picky about my service provider and cell phones.. i LOVE my sidekick 2 AND tmobile! both are PERFECT!! if i told u how many phones ive gone through in the past 3-5 months, u would think i was crazi!!!!! trust me, tmobile is defiantely the way to go!! never settle.. if u settle for sprint just cause they are closer to u, or any other reason, ull regret it. go with THE QUALITY of tmobile!! u wont regret it!!!! u could also buy tmobile phones online..

Well I tried yellowpages.com, put in my address, city, state, name as tmobile. Tried setting tmobile as name and as business and added range of search and it only came back with a tmobile store in mall of america down in the cities and that is 200 miles away.

try this link to find a t-mobile store nearest to you:

http://locator.t-mobile.com/locator....storeLocations

Yeah thats how I found the one that is 80 miles away. Sprint has a real good deal on a new plan you can see in the sprint forum. I just wish I could get my sidekick working with sprint. I am sure thats not possible though?

no, u cant use the sidekick with sprint, i honestly think ur better off going with tmobile, take the initial drive, which may be long, but after that, u dont have to ever go there again, UNLESS something happens to ur phone, even then u can have a replacement shipped and ship out ur old one.. if u have a credit card to pay ur bill, ull be allset. i definately recommend tmobile to u, its far away but TOTALLY worth it. i am not trying to tell u what to do, just point u in the right direction. as far as customer service, better plans, RECEPTION, rates and pricing goes, tmobile wins! i have BOTH tmobile, and sprint.. i LOVE tmobile and wont cancel sprint cause the early termination fee, and i only got a few months left with them, then i am TOTALLY tmobiles!
thank u for the link Nickel!! =) i figured it would of been easier if he just typed yellowpages.com cause it shows any and ALL tmobiles stores in his area.. i am gonna go check out that new plan with sprint..no matter what plan they give, i STILL am with tmobile all the way! but the option is YOURS. i just want u to make sure u kno ALL of ur options before u tie urself to ONE company. believe me, i wish i reviewed sprint before just going to them.. ive been with nextel, cingular, sprint, tmobile, verizon.. out of all, i LOVE tmobile!!! =)

I really do not recommend getting your T-Mobile service activated right now. Wait until April, when you are in the bigger city. 850 Mhz is roaming for T-Mobile customers. Grant it, roaming is free, but you don't want to be doing that for 3 straight months.

Remember that roaming means your getting reception through a different provider, not through T-Mobile. If that provider happens to get an outage or a service interruption between now and April, T-Mobile will not be able to do anything about it because it is not their own network. Also, you will not be able to check your minutes accurately. T-Mobile will not know about your minute usage until the roaming partner tells us.

This was previously discussed in a similar thread
http://www.cellphoneforums.net/t198539.html

I'd like to correct Renizay about getting shipped a new Sidekick II. T-Mobile does in fact ship out a phone to a customer, then the customer ships their's back. The Sidekick II is the exception. The customer has to send their Sidekick II FIRST, and then T-Mobile ships out a replacement. The reason for this is because the Sidekick II is an expensive device. T-Mobile used to ship out working Sidekick II replacements to customers, only to receive broken or water damaged Sidekicks back from the customer. A broken or water damaged device is not covered by T-Mobile's warranty. Only devices that are in a good condition, without severely broken or cracked parts, and not water damaged, are covered by T-Mobile's warranty.

well that is too bad, now I will have to sit with a new sidekick useless then. As long as I got a working cell phone until then I am fine I guess. How did people manage to send in broken units? Dont they have different barcodes or some sort of informations stored on the unit they can check to make sure the units hadn't been swapped or anything?

im sorry if i gave out wrong information, i didnt nessesarily mean ship out ur sidekick and theyll give it back or vice versa, i just meant either way, u can get a new sidekick if its under ur warranty, etc... but hey, i guess rr is right, especially about roaming, i didnt kno that it went through a 3rd party!! hey u learn something new evertyday, especially on cpf, thats why i love it here =)

im sorry if i gave out wrong information, i didnt nessesarily mean ship out ur sidekick and theyll give it back or vice versa, i just meant either way, u can get a new sidekick if its under ur warranty, etc... but hey, i guess rr is right, especially about roaming, i didnt kno that it went through a 3rd party!! hey u learn something new evertyday, especially on cpf, thats why i love it here =)

aaron, i think i'd re-evaluate your carrier decision. rodrigo has stated that if you go w/ t-mo, you'll be on roam in your parents' town. but you'll be ok in the city.

you may want to consider a provider that's good in both areas instead. for me, cingular doesn't work at my parents, but since i go there 2-3 times a year, i can live with that.

but if you're at school, you'll probably be coming home frequently, so you might want a more reliable carrier.

just something to think about!

aaron,

You can activate your Sidekick II as pre-pay in the meantime. It costs $80 to do so, but will need to visit a T-Mobile retail store.

Details of the Sidekick II are as follows:
$1 per day charged from your $$ Balance
Unlimited internet
Unlimited text messaging
Unlimited instant messaging
Unlimited email
Calls cost .20 cents per minute

You can go up to 90 days with a ZERO $$ balance. After 90 days with a ZERO $$ balance, you would need to pay $80 to re-activate. However, you can purchase a $10 card on your 89th day, use 10 days of service, and then get a fresh new 90 days before your Sidekick II would de-activate.

What is the longest period you can go with the same prepaid number? Is there a time limit on the amount of time you use a certain phone number for? Does Tmobile activate the phone for you or is there still a 1800 number you call on your own at home and activate it?! I have sO much knowledge about Sprint and their service cause ive been with them for so long and now i feel as though i have to start ALL over again and learn every aspect about Tmobile. I dont like making decisions over my account while so unprepaired, you know? So, i am trying to learn as much as possible, so if i do decide to change my plan or anything, ill be highly knowledgeable and know the deals that are out there and how things work..