Do you like your Cell Phone?

My contract is up with AT&T and my phone is on it's last legs. I can get a variety of new phones for free or dirt cheap through Amazon.com since I'd be signing up for a new contract. Sadly they don't sell iPhones. I'd have to pay $100 even with a new contract for one. Sooooo... who likes their phone? Who likes their cell provider? And who hates the piece of crap that their provider pretends is a cell phone?

I hardly ever use up my minutes or surf the web from my phone. I just use it so the kids can find me in an emergency or so I can get help if my car breaks down or so someone can call me and let me know we're out of milk and save me from an extra trip into town. And I rarely text but I have a 13 year old girl in the house so I probably need to plan for that eventuality. I'm not hung up on having a particular brand, but I hear good things about Samsung and I had one of their a few years ago and it held up well for me.

Oh, and I forgot to add that I can get other smartphones free or cheap, just not the iPhone. So I could get Motorola's Droid which is their version of an iPhone for only $25.

I have a samsung ... impression? its the one with the keyboard that slides- and the top is touch screen.

I like it okay- I'd much rather have my blackberry back. I LOVE my blackberry. But couldnt afford to pay for internet on it and can this one.

Thats your biggest thing, make sure the phone you are getting will allow you thtat 10.00 a month (or I think its 20.00 for a family) unlimited interent. Instead of being one that has to have its OWN plan. like the blackberry has a 40.00 a month plan for ONE phone.

and you might want to fiquire out if you are going to get extra lines for the kids, or make them get gophones and pay themselves. But plans will differ with differnt companies.

I have AT&T like you do- all calling TO my house or anyother AT&T house is free, all AT&T cell phone calling is free, I pay 69.00 a month for my phone, then pay 9.99 for 2 other lines (my mother has one-) and I think we have like 1700 minutes. Plus rollover- but since most calls are free (unless to a verizon phone) we usually loose rollover. LOL

then I have unlimited text for like 15.99 for all phones (one charge), and unlimited 'net for 20.00.

Karen, do you get MyPoints Bonus emails? They sent me one about a week ago where I could have received a free Droid and received a bunch of points by signing up with whichever service it was (possibly Verizon? Did anyone else get that mail?) I started looking at reviews of the Droid and was pretty impressed. One of my kids has an iphone so we're tied to AT&T, but I keep telling DH to dump him and switch to someone else. I hate that a company can have your business guaranteed and doesn't need to compete for it. I have a hate/hate relationship with cell phones. Still hate them. But admit that I'm impressed with what smart phones can do.

I have Tmobile, have had Tmobile for over 10 years. I am happy with them, and I love my phone. I am a die hard Samsung user. I have a Gravity, with a Slide out Qwerty Keybard, a COmeback, and a Behold. I swap phones from time to time. I LOVE them all!!! The Comeback is a bit large and square, but it is a great phone.

We have unlimited minutes, unlimited Text For me, Mike has Unlimited minutes also, NO text...it is $89 and change for both of us.
Tmobile also has no contract plans, Kristin pays $62 for unlimited minutes, text and internet

Bayleys "emergency phone" has 1000 minutes a month, NO text, no internet and we pay $15

I have Page Plus . It uses the Verizon network. They have two plans 29.95 (there are discounts) for 1,200 minutes, 1200 texts & 50 mb of web. The unlimited plan for $39.95 for minutes & texting plus 30mb of web.

There are referrals, discounts for the plans (or discounts if you want to buy just "minutes").

I am so glad we went this route. We paid before with Verizon 71.xx for 2 lines and only 550 minutes.

My phone is a Samsung U740. It's a double flip and I love it! I don't have a text plan, but I do use it to read the news online if I'm killing time at a doctor's appointment. Other than that it's mostly for emergencies or when I'm at the store wondering if we need milk or not. I didn't think I'd ever use the camera, but I do actually pull it out from time to time when I've forgotten my real camera and want a pic or two. It's actually a nice camera for a cell phone!
It's funny how the features I never thought I'd use like the scheduler and the alarm are the things I use most often.

i have att and t also and my contract was up in october.I'm lost as to what to do as well.I'd love to get a new phone but did you all notice almost all the new phone require data service? meaning you must add date service to get the phone.I refuse to pay for something I won't use.
My brother has t-mobile and it really sucks in my area.I n order to make or receive a call he has to go to the back corner of his apartment and not move.Seriously if he moves an inch the call drops lollllllllll

I do... but I have basic service... pay as you go with Virgin.... I pay $15 every 3 months... 10 cents a minute... for me, it's strickily for calling Chuck from Walmart about what kind of yogart he wants me to by, or when we're traveling, our way to stay in touch with those we're going to see. I can text, but don't... I can't get on the internet.. and don't care. It's strickly a utility phone service that has worked well for me for 3 years. Because I don't make many calls (but do use it when I need long distance, because we don't have a long distance land line) I currently have over $50 balance, which translates to over5 hours of conversation.

Do I wish I had one of the fancy phones that connect to the internet, download aps, and tickle my fancy? sure... but not willing to put out $70 or more a month for something I probably wouldn't use enough to pay for it!

agaphmou wrote:i have att and t also and my contract was up in october.I'm lost as to what to do as well.I'd love to get a new phone but did you all notice almost all the new phone require data service? meaning you must add date service to get the phone.I refuse to pay for something I won't use.

Try ordering through Amazon.com. They have a ton of phones that are 1 cent each with a new contract (you pick the contract), and most are the same price if you are staying with the same server and extending your contract.

Chelle, I hadn't remembered that some phones have that extra charge each month. I'm going to have to look into it.

Dee, I'm half thinking of trying what you're doing. I use the phone some, but not a lot. I may end up paying more during certain months, but in the long run I'd probably save money doing it that way. I'm just considering my options at this point.

One thing I have been looking at is the Consumer Reports website. I can view their pages for free through my library's website if I put in the number on my library card. I don't trust most online reviews because some companies pay people to make good review for their products and bad reviews for the competition. You never know if the person raving about a new product is just an ad exec trying to boost sales. That's why I wanted input from some people I know and from Consumer Reports since they're unbiased.

WOW, am I the only one who uses my cell as my primary? We have aland line, but I cannot remeber the last time I got a call on it...I used over 3000 minutes last month. DH used close to 4000

i use my cellphone primarily,but i still don't talk on it as much as you edbson lol

thebigscott wrote:

agaphmou wrote:i have att and t also and my contract was up in october.I'm lost as to what to do as well.I'd love to get a new phone but did you all notice almost all the new phone require data service? meaning you must add date service to get the phone.I refuse to pay for something I won't use.

Try ordering through Amazon.com. They have a ton of phones that are 1 cent each with a new contract (you pick the contract), and most are the same price if you are staying with the same server and extending your contract.

Chelle, I hadn't remembered that some phones have that extra charge each month. I'm going to have to look into it.

Dee, I'm half thinking of trying what you're doing. I use the phone some, but not a lot. I may end up paying more during certain months, but in the long run I'd probably save money doing it that way. I'm just considering my options at this point.

One thing I have been looking at is the Consumer Reports website. I can view their pages for free through my library's website if I put in the number on my library card. I don't trust most online reviews because some companies pay people to make good review for their products and bad reviews for the competition. You never know if the person raving about a new product is just an ad exec trying to boost sales. That's why I wanted input from some people I know and from Consumer Reports since they're unbiased.

I would be wary of ordering through Amazon myself. I am not sure what kind of service you would get if you have issues. It is tough enough to get good service when you bought the phone through them. As far as better prices when ordering through Amazon, I just looked at my account with AT&T and there are a ton of phones for free or for a penny. I would really suggest you not go through Amazon though and look under upgrades available in your account with AT&T. I have had AT&T for so long I forget how long. Dh and I are on it, as well as 3 adult children (kids pay me their portion of bill each month). They can use the phones at college or where ever they are with no problem. So we have 5 phones on 1 bill. We share 1400 minutes, have unlimited texting, & 2 of the kids have iphones. For all of that, we pay about $230 a month. There is so much free calling with AT&T, that we have never even come close to using up our minutes. There are no roaming fees either and no home territory crap to deal with.

I definately don't use my cell as my primary phone -- the cell phone rates here are too high for that.

I've gone the Amazon route before with no problems. In fact, I think Amazon has better customer service than my cell company, LOL. Plus the phones are nicer models with Amazon. But I will definitely check out AT&T's site just to see what's available.

thebigscott wrote:I've gone the Amazon route before with no problems. In fact, I think Amazon has better customer service than my cell company, LOL. Plus the phones are nicer models with Amazon. But I will definitely check out AT&T's site just to see what's available.

Our local store isn't so great either, but I order online. I believe they have exactly the same phones as Amazon, but AT&T gives you free shipping. It says 2 day shipping, but we almost always receive them overnight. I might be wrong, but do check it out before you order anything. Just be sure to sign into your account and then go to upgrade device. If you just browse phones without being signed in, the deals will not be as good. Amazon does have good customer service, but they are not the cell service provider, so I think no need to involve them in my opinion. Telling them you are going to cancel your cell service has no effect what so ever, if you know what I mean. There have been times we have gotten phones and/ or batteries replaced, just for complaining to AT&T and pointing out what good customers we are.