So, who here has a cellphone?

[demae]

Which of the following fits you?

- I have a cell phone
- I don't have a cell phone, but want one
- I don't have a cell phone, and don't want one

If you have a cell phone, how much did you pay for it, and how much do you pay for month?

[singloon]

yup

4 or 5 yrs with a Nokia 5110e for AUD$99 with www.optus.com.au AUD$23.50/month with AUD$10 of free calls included per month

mobiles are cheap nowadays, my sister got a Nokia 3310 for AUD$1 and paying AUD$15/month with AUD$15 of free calls per month with Optus.com.au as well

[Lil_Red]

I gave a cell phone as a gift a few months back. The phone was free and the service plan is 29.00 through Verizon.

I no longer have a landline phone but use a cell phone for everything. I did the math and my cell works out to be cheaper than my landline phone bills used to be.

[suresk]

I have an Ericsson R280 phone, with AT&T Wireless Internet (I think they call it PocketNet or something like that). I love it

I paid about $100 for it, and about $55/month for access which includes Nationwide calling, 750 minutes and the wireless web. But, part of that $55 is the about 15 different taxes and government surcharges. Go figure.

[Rhea]

Don't have one. Don't want one. I even hate it when I come home from work and find the red-eyed monster of an answering machine blinking at me. (My typical response to it is to hiss, "Go away!")

The whole idea of 'being in touch' anywhere, any time kind of makes me queasy.

On the other hand, I sometimes think it would be nice to have a cell phone in the car in case of an emergency. My car is an 11 year old Subaru.

So, which of the following fits you?

- I have a Subaru.
- I don't have a Subaru, but want one
- I don't have a Subaru, and don't want one

This thread has been hijacked!

[demae]

So, onto the real reason that I started the thread...

For those of you who have a cellphone, how do you think your service plan compares to ClickHereForCellPhones.com (SI's new program)? I'm trying to find out if their plan is really the best like they claim.

They provide a StarTac 7797 or ERICSSON 1228 (your choice) at no extra cost. All plans have $35 one-time activation fee. Here are their plans (for Washington DC; not sure about elsewhere):

$30/mo: 250 peak minutes, 1000 off-peak minutes
$40/mo: 400 peak minutes, 2000 off-peak minutes
$70/mo: 800 peak minutes, 2000 off-peak minutes
$100/mo: 1200 peak minutes, 2000 off-peak minutes

The last three plans include free long distance, and peak time is "7:00 AM - 9:00 PM (Monday - Friday)".

I thought there were places that offer "free unlimited local airtime" cheaply...

[suresk]

Rhea - I don't have a Subaru, and don't want one

demae - The plans look very competitive, if not some of the best I've seen. My plan is actually 250 anytime/500 Night & weekend. I've never come close to using even half of that, I keep meaning to call AT&T and downgrade my plan.

The activation is a bit high - but the free phones more than make up for it. That Ericsson looks almost exactly like my R280 (which I paid $100 for), just without the Internet.

How good the deal is really depends on what they are reselling for, and that can vary from place to place. Before I used AT&T, I had a VoiceStream phone - the coverage was terrible, so I switched. I also had a friend using Verizon, and he couldn't talk more than a few minutes before he dropped the call. But there are so many variables invovled that its hard to tell until a few people actually try it

Pricing & features alone though, it looks great.

[suresk]

Oh, re: "I thought there were places that offer "free unlimited local airtime" cheaply..."

Yes, thats Cricket, I believe. Its like $35 for unlimited local calls. I haven't heard much on the quality, but for that much, you can almost get a decent nationwide plan. I don't see the point in getting a cell phone if you can't haul it with you everywhere and make calls anywhere you want. But I can see value for those who just make local calls, probably appeals to small businesses the most.

[Guava]

I have a Nokia 5190 with VoiceStream

600 weekday minutes
1000 Weekend with free long distance
for $39.99 a month

the phone was $49 I think.

Now they offer the same plan with 2000 weekend minutes for the same price.


Cricket is here and I know some people on it, basically it's for people who don't leave the city. If they get outside of the City of Albuquerque then they are out of service. No roaming fees, just no service.

We have another service here identical to Cricket called Boomerang. It's the same service as far as I can tell. Pricing may be a few pennies different but same calling area with unlimted LOCAL calls.

[Strider]

It would depend on all the other details to haveing a cell phone plan. How big is the local calling area? What is the roaming charge? What is the long distance charge?

I currently pay $29.95 a month for 250 free minutes no matter when I call in my local area. My local area covers about 4 states.

[BlazeBox]

My initial reaction would be: who doesn't have a cellphone?

Everyone I do business with and among my friends, everyone has a mobile phone. And uses it, too (Actually I think the Netherlands, along with Scandinavia has among the highest mobile phone versus population densities around).

I have a reliable and sturdy Siemens WAP phone for daily use, and a Nokia tri-band for special occassions (since it looks so good) and for travel (since it's tri-band). But, admitted, I am a techno-gadget nut.

As to information on how expensive calling is, I have no clue I don't mind though, since I know whatever calls I make are needed, so it's an expense I'd have to take ... and, since we're a small country, all fees are country-wide, not just for a selected number of states as I read earlier in this thread.

I just wish I could use those Blackberry-like devices in Europe ... I'd love to have one of those, especially since WAP is far behind of expecations, and using the small amount of features it has certainly isn't very user-friendly

[Lil_Red]

One of the problems is the Startac 7797 is a PCS phone which is generally free with any service plan.

To me, the lack of information on the website would scare me away. You go from seeing the rates to a fill in all your personal information page but I couldn't find anywhere that gave you detaied information regarding what you were buying.

[Strider]

I agree with Lil_Red, there is very little information on their site about the plans. I know if I followed a link to that site I would not fill out the form. Unless affiliates are sending traffic to another site or something I am unaware of.

[Jan]

Even though this 'free phone' offer is only open to USA residents, it still sounds very expensive to me.

I bought my very first mobile phone in December 2000 for $48 ($USD24.42) with a free $25 worth of calls. And since then have spent $100 ($USD50.88) on calls. Okay I don't use it a lot.

But to have set rates per month I would feel obliged to use up all that time.

$30/mo: 250 peak minutes, 1000 off-peak minutes
$40/mo: 400 peak minutes, 2000 off-peak minutes
$70/mo: 800 peak minutes, 2000 off-peak minutes
$100/mo: 1200 peak minutes, 2000 off-peak minutes


And what happens if you go over this amount? What are the rates then?

I will stick to my prepaid plan so I don't get any surprises

[Meowser]

I have one, but I killed it in Hershey Park a few weeks ago - it didn't like the water rides I hate carrying the phone though I'm sure if I ever had an emergency I'd be very glad to have it.

Don't know what the deal was when we got the phones. The husband takes care of all those details - I was just ordered to carry it.