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- 06-16-2004, 06:41 PM #1Guest
I am pretty much fed up with Sprint PCS, and am getting ready
to move to another provider. So far, Cingular is leading the short
list.
I do have some questions, and if anyone can help me with these, I'd
appreciate it.
1. I travel extensively with my job, across the country. Naturally,
I'm going to need a National plan. Cingular advertises "no roaming
charges", but then, so did Sprint. Sprint's "no roaming" was
effective as long as you were on the PCS network, the second you
dropped off, roaming charges went into effect. When Cingular states
"no roaming", do they really mean it?
2. I will have 2 lines on the account, mine and my husband's. He
does not use his much at all, so probably will get him the X427. I
don't need a fancy phone, and have no interest in a camera phone, and
although I don't want an expensive phone, I would like certain
features. A flip and compact design are required. Good signal pickup
is also on the top of that list. Looking for a phone that also has
alarm clock, good phone book and easy to use, voice calling not really
needed. A nice, but not required feature would be a caller id display
on the outside of the flip. Any suggestions on a good (cheap) phone?
3. Rollover minutes, how does that work?
4. Email. On Sprint, when I get an email (primarily from the airline
with trip updates), I get a message that says I have email, and must
dial out to the web to get to my inbox. Naturally, there are charges
that apply to the web time. Does Cingular actually send the email, or
does it just send a notification that I have email as Sprint does?
Thanks,
Deb
› See More: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
- 06-16-2004, 07:36 PM #2Dave C.Guest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I am pretty much fed up with Sprint PCS, and am getting ready
> to move to another provider. So far, Cingular is leading the short
> list.
>
> I do have some questions, and if anyone can help me with these, I'd
> appreciate it.
>
> 1. I travel extensively with my job, across the country. Naturally,
> I'm going to need a National plan. Cingular advertises "no roaming
> charges", but then, so did Sprint. Sprint's "no roaming" was
> effective as long as you were on the PCS network, the second you
> dropped off, roaming charges went into effect. When Cingular states
> "no roaming", do they really mean it?
>
> 2. I will have 2 lines on the account, mine and my husband's. He
> does not use his much at all, so probably will get him the X427. I
> don't need a fancy phone, and have no interest in a camera phone, and
> although I don't want an expensive phone, I would like certain
> features. A flip and compact design are required. Good signal pickup
> is also on the top of that list. Looking for a phone that also has
> alarm clock, good phone book and easy to use, voice calling not really
> needed. A nice, but not required feature would be a caller id display
> on the outside of the flip. Any suggestions on a good (cheap) phone?
>
> 3. Rollover minutes, how does that work?
>
> 4. Email. On Sprint, when I get an email (primarily from the airline
> with trip updates), I get a message that says I have email, and must
> dial out to the web to get to my inbox. Naturally, there are charges
> that apply to the web time. Does Cingular actually send the email, or
> does it just send a notification that I have email as Sprint does?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Deb
1. On the cingular nation gsm plan, no roaming charges means no roaming
charges. If you have a signal (at least in the 48 continental states) then
the call is (at worst) charged against your anytime minutes
2. The Motorola T720 fits all your needs and wants, perfectly.
3. If you don't use all your ANYTIME minutes, whatever you don't use is
added to a pool of rollover minutes. So if you have a thousand minutes and
use 750, you have 1250 anytime minutes next month. If you only use 500
minutes next month, then you have 1750 minutes for month three (250 plus 500
plus your normal 1000). Any minutes not used in 12 months expire. Thus, if
you still had the first 250 minutes from month 1 at month 13, those minutes
have expired. (but in your rollover, you'd still have any unused minutes
from months 2 through 12 that haven't expired yet). Rollover is awesome as
you are unlikely to ever have overage charges, if you choose the right plan
to begin with.
4. Can't help you there. Don't use e-mail on a phone -Dave
- 06-16-2004, 07:41 PM #3Dick GozenuaGuest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
>
> I do have some questions, and if anyone can help me with these, I'd
> appreciate it.
>
> 1. I travel extensively with my job, across the country. Naturally,
> I'm going to need a National plan. Cingular advertises "no roaming
> charges", but then, so did Sprint. Sprint's "no roaming" was
> effective as long as you were on the PCS network, the second you
> dropped off, roaming charges went into effect. When Cingular states
> "no roaming", do they really mean it?
Yes, Cingular is the only company that I'm aware of that is "True" nation,
Doesn't matter who's towers your using, as long as your in the US you will
not receive a roaming charge
> 3. Rollover minutes, how does that work?
They good for 12 months when you get them - say for june you've got a 1000
min plan, you use 500, you've got 500 left that go into a seperate bucket.
You'll start out July with your 1000 again, if you use over 1000, it will
then take from your 500 so you don't pay overages. If you go under 1000
again you add more to your bucket. If you haven't used the first 500 by
June of 2005, then you would looose those, but you still have whatever you
accomulated in july, aug, sept, etc.
- 06-16-2004, 07:52 PM #4Guest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 20:41:59 -0500, "Dick Gozenua"
<[email protected]> wrote:
Thank you for your response.
>> 1. I travel extensively with my job, across the country. Naturally,
>> I'm going to need a National plan. Cingular advertises "no roaming
>> charges", but then, so did Sprint. Sprint's "no roaming" was
>> effective as long as you were on the PCS network, the second you
>> dropped off, roaming charges went into effect. When Cingular states
>> "no roaming", do they really mean it?
>
>Yes, Cingular is the only company that I'm aware of that is "True" nation,
>Doesn't matter who's towers your using, as long as your in the US you will
>not receive a roaming charge
Great, that is one of the "crucial" points on my list.
>
>> 3. Rollover minutes, how does that work?
>
>They good for 12 months when you get them - say for june you've got a 1000
>min plan, you use 500, you've got 500 left that go into a seperate bucket.
>You'll start out July with your 1000 again, if you use over 1000, it will
>then take from your 500 so you don't pay overages. If you go under 1000
>again you add more to your bucket. If you haven't used the first 500 by
>June of 2005, then you would looose those, but you still have whatever you
>accomulated in july, aug, sept, etc.
Again, great. Most months, I will use <300 minutes, but then will get
into a heavy month and use >700. The rollover will help alot with
that.
Thanks again.
Deb
- 06-16-2004, 10:32 PM #5Michael HerwegGuest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
[email protected] wrote:
> I am pretty much fed up with Sprint PCS, and am getting ready
> to move to another provider. So far, Cingular is leading the short
> list.
>
> I do have some questions, and if anyone can help me with these, I'd
> appreciate it.
>
> 1. I travel extensively with my job, across the country. Naturally,
> I'm going to need a National plan. Cingular advertises "no roaming
> charges", but then, so did Sprint. Sprint's "no roaming" was
> effective as long as you were on the PCS network, the second you
> dropped off, roaming charges went into effect. When Cingular states
> "no roaming", do they really mean it?
>
> 2. I will have 2 lines on the account, mine and my husband's. He
> does not use his much at all, so probably will get him the X427. I
> don't need a fancy phone, and have no interest in a camera phone, and
> although I don't want an expensive phone, I would like certain
> features. A flip and compact design are required. Good signal pickup
> is also on the top of that list. Looking for a phone that also has
> alarm clock, good phone book and easy to use, voice calling not really
> needed. A nice, but not required feature would be a caller id display
> on the outside of the flip. Any suggestions on a good (cheap) phone?
>
> 3. Rollover minutes, how does that work?
>
> 4. Email. On Sprint, when I get an email (primarily from the airline
> with trip updates), I get a message that says I have email, and must
> dial out to the web to get to my inbox. Naturally, there are charges
> that apply to the web time. Does Cingular actually send the email, or
> does it just send a notification that I have email as Sprint does?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Deb
1. Already answered in previous posts.
2. Sounds like the x427 would fit you as well. Or maybe the samsung
S307. I would have to disagree with getting the T720, I had one and I
absolutely hated it. It was slow, signal was sub-par, did not have alarm
clock, and after a year of use, it started turning off on me at random.
(Mind you, I treat my phones very well). I have since moved up to a moto
V600, which I would recommend, but you said cheap.
3. Like the poster before me said, rollover lets you keep minutes you
haven't used on your plan for a year.
4. Emails are sent directly to the phone as text messages. I get them
frequently. The only issue with this is that sometimes emails can get
split across several messages, and the worst is when that is due to
headers. But for the most part, email is reliable. I believe the address
is [email protected] or something similar to that. Reply
is also text message, and likewise, works very well. So in short, if you
don't use the web, you won't need it, but I would recommend a good text
message package.
Hope this helped
- 06-16-2004, 11:01 PM #6Jason CothranGuest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
"Michael Herweg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
| [email protected] wrote:
<snip>
|
| 2. Sounds like the x427 would fit you as well. Or maybe the samsung
| S307.
<snip>
I would stay away from the s307 if you will be in any fringe areas. There is
currently one on our family plan, and it's reception is horrible compared to
my T616 (T616=not a flip so not something you would be interested in). The
signal meter shows decent signal in low signal areas right up until you
press the call button ..... nothing. My wife can't make or receive calls
from it at our place at the lake (very low signal area). She gets voice mail
notifications, but can't make or receive any calls where my phone has no
problems. We thought it may have just been a faulty handset, but after
trying 3, we determined it was just a poorly designed phone from an RF
standpoint. It is a nice compact phone with an external caller ID display if
you plan an staying in very strong signal areas though.
As for the email question, it works using text messaging as mentioned
earlier (actually delivered to the phone), or some phones can actually
send/receive from pop3 accounts. Of course if you choose the latter,
internet charges will apply (either per data usage (GPRS) or per minute
(CSD)). It may also be set up via "mywirelesswindow" to work as it did for
you on Sprint if that is your preference.
- 06-17-2004, 04:14 AM #7Dave C.Guest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
> 2. Sounds like the x427 would fit you as well. Or maybe the samsung
> S307. I would have to disagree with getting the T720, I had one and I
> absolutely hated it. It was slow, signal was sub-par, did not have alarm
> clock, and after a year of use, it started turning off on me at random.
> (Mind you, I treat my phones very well). I have since moved up to a moto
> V600, which I would recommend, but you said cheap.
It must have been your T720. We have two of them. They are not slow,
reception is above-average compared to many cell phones of various makes I
have used, it does indeed have an alarm clock (go to datebook, hit middle
buttton). I use the alarm clock extensively. It's even programmable to
repeat, which is nice. Don't know why your 720 was turning off on you. But
if it was slow with sub-par reception, it was likely a defective unit from
the day you first got it. -Dave
- 06-17-2004, 04:26 AM #8Jack D. Russell, Sr.Guest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
======================================================================
* Reply by Jack D. Russell, Sr. <[email protected]>
* Newsgroup: alt.cellular.cingular
* Reply to: All; "Michael Herweg" <[email protected]>
* Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 04:32:38 GMT
* Subj: Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
======================================================================
MH> 2. Sounds like the x427 would fit you as well. Or maybe the
MH> samsung S307. I would have to disagree with getting the T720, I
MH> had one and I absolutely hated it. It was slow, signal was
MH> sub-par, did not have alarm clock, and after a year of use, it
MH> started turning off on me at random. (Mind you, I treat my phones
MH> very well). I have since moved up to a moto V600, which I would
MH> recommend, but you said cheap.
That's strange. My T720 (GSM) is the exact opposite. Not slow, great
signal almost everywhere, and the alarm clock (as well as reminders)
works great. I have 3 of them and they all perform well. I'd agree
with the poster that said it fits her requirements.
--
Jack
- 06-17-2004, 04:43 AM #9Robert M.Guest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] wrote:
> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 20:41:59 -0500, "Dick Gozenua"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Thank you for your response.
>
> >> 1. I travel extensively with my job, across the country. Naturally,
> >> I'm going to need a National plan. Cingular advertises "no roaming
> >> charges", but then, so did Sprint. Sprint's "no roaming" was
> >> effective as long as you were on the PCS network, the second you
> >> dropped off, roaming charges went into effect. When Cingular states
> >> "no roaming", do they really mean it?
> >
> >Yes, Cingular is the only company that I'm aware of that is "True" nation,
> >Doesn't matter who's towers your using, as long as your in the US you will
> >not receive a roaming charge
>
> Great, that is one of the "crucial" points on my list.
But if you have a GSM phone it likely doesn't have analog, so you only
have coverage along the spiderweb (with swiss cheese holes) of GSM
coverage, and no coverage in analog areas where she might currently roam.
I know of no currently sold Cingular GSM phone that has analog
capability. You'd need a TDMA phone from Cingular for that, and TDMA is
"going away". For truly national coverage that leaves only CDMA
carriers. Sprint, Alltell and Verizon.
>
> >
> >> 3. Rollover minutes, how does that work?
> >
> >They good for 12 months when you get them - say for june you've got a 1000
> >min plan, you use 500, you've got 500 left that go into a seperate bucket.
> >You'll start out July with your 1000 again, if you use over 1000, it will
> >then take from your 500 so you don't pay overages. If you go under 1000
> >again you add more to your bucket. If you haven't used the first 500 by
> >June of 2005, then you would looose those, but you still have whatever you
> >accomulated in july, aug, sept, etc.
>
> Again, great. Most months, I will use <300 minutes, but then will get
> into a heavy month and use >700. The rollover will help alot with
> that.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Deb
- 06-17-2004, 04:49 AM #10Robert M.Guest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] wrote:
> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 20:41:59 -0500, "Dick Gozenua"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Thank you for your response.
>
> >> 1. I travel extensively with my job, across the country. Naturally,
> >> I'm going to need a National plan. Cingular advertises "no roaming
> >> charges", but then, so did Sprint. Sprint's "no roaming" was
> >> effective as long as you were on the PCS network, the second you
> >> dropped off, roaming charges went into effect. When Cingular states
> >> "no roaming", do they really mean it?
> >
> >Yes, Cingular is the only company that I'm aware of that is "True" nation,
> >Doesn't matter who's towers your using, as long as your in the US you will
> >not receive a roaming charge
>
> Great, that is one of the "crucial" points on my list.
>
> >
> >> 3. Rollover minutes, how does that work?
> >
> >They good for 12 months when you get them - say for june you've got a 1000
> >min plan, you use 500, you've got 500 left that go into a seperate bucket.
> >You'll start out July with your 1000 again, if you use over 1000, it will
> >then take from your 500 so you don't pay overages. If you go under 1000
> >again you add more to your bucket. If you haven't used the first 500 by
> >June of 2005, then you would looose those, but you still have whatever you
> >accomulated in july, aug, sept, etc.
>
> Again, great. Most months, I will use <300 minutes, but then will get
> into a heavy month and use >700. The rollover will help alot with
> that.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Deb
As an existing SprintPCS customer, you should be able to get 750 minutes
for $40/month from SprintPCS' Retention group if you have a good payment
history.
Google alt.cellular.sprintpcs for the Retention FAQ
- 06-17-2004, 06:57 AM #11Røbert M.Guest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
In article <[email protected]>,
"Jack D. Russell, Sr." <[email protected]> wrote:
> ======================================================================
> * Reply by Jack D. Russell, Sr. <[email protected]>
> * Newsgroup: alt.cellular.cingular
> * Reply to: All; "Michael Herweg" <[email protected]>
> * Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 04:32:38 GMT
> * Subj: Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
> ======================================================================
>
>
> MH> 2. Sounds like the x427 would fit you as well. Or maybe the
> MH> samsung S307. I would have to disagree with getting the T720, I
> MH> had one and I absolutely hated it. It was slow, signal was
> MH> sub-par, did not have alarm clock, and after a year of use, it
> MH> started turning off on me at random. (Mind you, I treat my phones
> MH> very well). I have since moved up to a moto V600, which I would
> MH> recommend, but you said cheap.
>
> That's strange. My T720 (GSM) is the exact opposite. Not slow, great
> signal almost everywhere, and the alarm clock (as well as reminders)
> works great. I have 3 of them and they all perform well. I'd agree
> with the poster that said it fits her requirements.
No GSM phone fits her requirements, since she needs to have true
National Coverage, and without analog capability, she'd have a lifeless
phone too often.
- 06-17-2004, 06:58 AM #12Røbert M.Guest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
In article <[email protected]>,
"Dick Gozenua" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >
> > I do have some questions, and if anyone can help me with these, I'd
> > appreciate it.
> >
> > 1. I travel extensively with my job, across the country. Naturally,
> > I'm going to need a National plan. Cingular advertises "no roaming
> > charges", but then, so did Sprint. Sprint's "no roaming" was
> > effective as long as you were on the PCS network, the second you
> > dropped off, roaming charges went into effect. When Cingular states
> > "no roaming", do they really mean it?
>
> Yes, Cingular is the only company that I'm aware of that is "True" nation,
> Doesn't matter who's towers your using, as long as your in the US you will
> not receive a roaming charge
Fine, but Sprint with its roaming agreements covers 97% of the area of
the U.S., a GSM phone with no analog is closer to 20% (or is that a high
number?).
- 06-17-2004, 09:28 AM #13MEGuest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
"Røbert M." <[email protected]> wrote in news:rmarkoff-
[email protected]:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> No GSM phone fits her requirements, since she needs to have true
> National Coverage, and without analog capability, she'd have a lifeless
> phone too often.
>
Robert - people have probably asked this before, but I am curious. You seem
to post negative comments to many news groups about cell phones, but only
seem to favor Sprint. You dont' do so in a way that would actually
encourage people to try Sprint. You do it instead by bashing everything
else, which I think only pisses people off. So if you are tryint to sell
Sprint, I think you need to change your tactics. If you are just trolling
for fun, you are doinga good job.
Do you work for or sell Sprint service? I'm just curious.
Tony
- 06-17-2004, 01:45 PM #14Dave C.Guest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
>
> No GSM phone fits her requirements, since she needs to have true
> National Coverage, and without analog capability, she'd have a lifeless
> phone too often.
Do you actually travel nationally? I do. I can't imagine someone saying
GSM won't work for someone who needs national coverage. I've GOT national
coverage on Cingular nation GSM, and it works great. Nextel, on the other
hand . . . I'm ready to run that handset over with my truck. The only thing
that's stopping me is that it's company property. The truck, that is.
-Dave
- 06-17-2004, 01:49 PM #15Dave C.Guest
Re: Getting ready to change from Sprint - looking at cingular
> But if you have a GSM phone it likely doesn't have analog, so you only
> have coverage along the spiderweb (with swiss cheese holes) of GSM
> coverage, and no coverage in analog areas where she might currently roam.
> I know of no currently sold Cingular GSM phone that has analog
> capability. You'd need a TDMA phone from Cingular for that, and TDMA is
> "going away". For truly national coverage that leaves only CDMA
> carriers. Sprint, Alltell and Verizon.
>
I travel extensively. Don't let this guy scare you away from GSM. If you
don't have analog, you won't miss it. GSM coverage is great. -Dave
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