Advice for First Time Cell Phone Buyer

I'm finally about to join the 21st Century and get cell phones for my
wife and me. Folks around here have advised signing up with Verizon,
with Cingular coming in second. I think I've narrowed the phone choice
to either the Motorola E815 or the LG VX8100. So now the question...
where to purchase the phones? Is there an advantage to buying it at a
Verizon store vs. buying it at Costco? Must I always sign up for a
2-year contract or can I avoid that? Any pitfalls to avoid?

Any input is greatly appreciated.

-Fleemo

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› See More: Advice for First Time Cell Phone Buyer

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote:
>
> Per [email protected]:
> > Any pitfalls to avoid?
>
> tMobile, at least, has a trial period. 14 days if memory serves.
>
> I'd look for this and take advantage of it. You're concerned about whether a
> given carrier's coverage includes your house, your workplace, and other places
> you frequent.
>
> Coverage can vary widely depending on location and carrier. There seems tb no
> "best" carrier - only better/worse service by different carriers in different
> locales.
>
> Take the trial period seriously.

As Pete said, coverage should be your first and foremost concern.

A great looking phone, with all the bells and whistles, won't do
you a damn bit of good, without good cellular coverage.

Good Luck!

Notan

If you do not travel internationally with your phone, go with a CDMA phone
offered by Verizon or Sprint. CDMA is a more modern and sophisticated
technology than the GSM that is provided by T-Mobile and Cingular. CDMA also
provides for more call capacity and higher speed data rates if you use your
phone to access the internet.

Per [email protected]:
> Any pitfalls to avoid?

tMobile, at least, has a trial period. 14 days if memory serves.

I'd look for this and take advantage of it. You're concerned about whether a
given carrier's coverage includes your house, your workplace, and other places
you frequent.

Coverage can vary widely depending on location and carrier. There seems tb no
"best" carrier - only better/worse service by different carriers in different
locales.

Take the trial period seriously.
--
PeteCresswell

Yes, you are correct, however, it appears that you did not read my post
below so I will state it again:

'If you do not travel internationally with your phone, go with a CDMA phone
offered by Verizon or Sprint." I also had functional CDMA in Taiwan several
years ago.

It is unfortunate that other countries have adopted an inferior standard.
The same situation happened with VHS and Beta VCR Tapes. Beta was superior,
however the industry went with VHS. Illogical, but it happens.

-mij


"Cyrus Afzali" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Fri, 2 Sep 2005 20:34:44 -0700, "Mij Adyaw" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>If you do not travel internationally with your phone, go with a CDMA phone
>>offered by Verizon or Sprint. CDMA is a more modern and sophisticated
>>technology than the GSM that is provided by T-Mobile and Cingular. CDMA
>>also
>>provides for more call capacity and higher speed data rates if you use
>>your
>>phone to access the internet.
>>
>>
> And when you try to use that CDMA phone in areas outside of Asia,
> you'll be sunk. Japan and a few other Asian countries are the only
> ones that have adopted CDMA. The vast majority of the rest of the
> world is GSM.

Thanks for the input here. I really appreciate it.

So let me ask this question... does it matter *where* I purchase the
phones and service plan? I see that Amazon.com is offering the e815
for FREE with the purchase of a new service plan
(http://tinyurl.com/89usf ). Is cell phone service like my DirecTV
service, where it doesn't matter what vendor I initially purchased the
service plan from, it's still coming from DirecTV? Is there any
compelling reason to buy the phone and plan locally, or should I jump
on the free phone from Amazon.com?

Thanks.

-Fleemo

[email protected] Wrote:
> Thanks for the input here. I really appreciate it.
>
> So let me ask this question... does it matter *where* I purchase the
> phones and service plan? I see that Amazon.com is offering the e815
> for FREE with the purchase of a new service plan
> (http://tinyurl.com/89usf ). Is cell phone service like my DirecTV
> service, where it doesn't matter what vendor I initially purchased the
> service plan from, it's still coming from DirecTV? Is there any
> compelling reason to buy the phone and plan locally, or should I jump
> on the free phone from Amazon.com?
>
> Thanks.
>
> -Fleemo

Yes it doesn't really matter where you buy the phone, the supplier
should be able to offer you a tarrif to suit your needs on the service
provider you select. You just take your pick.


--
Ralph5407

> Yes it doesn't really matter where you buy the phone, the supplier
> should be able to offer you a tarrif to suit your needs on the service
> provider you select. You just take your pick.

Thanks for responding Ralph.

-Fleemo