Cell Phone Pondering
Jun. 26th, 2006 02:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brynndragonMy 2-year cell phone contract runs out is slightly less than two weeks. At which point I'll be entirely free to contemplate new plans, new phones for almost nothing (which is good, I put my phone through hell and it's beginning to show it), and even a new cell phone company.
So, those who are in the area, any recommendations or negations for your provider? I've currently got Sprint and while overall they work well for me, I'm starting to get really annoyed by the fact that I can't get signal in my house or my office (although this is a recent issue - signal used to be just fine in the office and mildly dodgy at my house; I'm not sure if this is a battered phone issue or what). However, if someone can give me a fairly minimal plan (say, 50-100 minutes/month with unlimited nights/weekends or 100-200 minutes/month total) with no roaming charges for less than $45/month, I'd gladly jump ship. My only worry with that is providers tend to drag their feet on releasing numbers for switch-over - after all, they have less than no incentive to make it convenient for you.
Also, any suggestions for a phone to get? My phone has worked out pretty well, but I'm thinking it'd be nice to have a phone that flips closed (mainly to prevent ass-dialing - I don't think there's a modern cell phone that won't fit in my BDU pocket, flip or not). I hesitate slightly because that reduces its durability, and durability is by far my largest concern (see above about putting my phone through hell). My second largest concern is that it be as cheap as possible (preferably costing nothing after rebate-with-contract). Next in the list is battery life, the longer the better. I'd rather it didn't have cameras or internet access or a PDA, mostly because I don't want to pay for functionality I'd never use (or worse, get addicted to that functionality - I've got more than enough computers and electronic distractions as it is).
So, those who are in the area, any recommendations or negations for your provider? I've currently got Sprint and while overall they work well for me, I'm starting to get really annoyed by the fact that I can't get signal in my house or my office (although this is a recent issue - signal used to be just fine in the office and mildly dodgy at my house; I'm not sure if this is a battered phone issue or what). However, if someone can give me a fairly minimal plan (say, 50-100 minutes/month with unlimited nights/weekends or 100-200 minutes/month total) with no roaming charges for less than $45/month, I'd gladly jump ship. My only worry with that is providers tend to drag their feet on releasing numbers for switch-over - after all, they have less than no incentive to make it convenient for you.
Also, any suggestions for a phone to get? My phone has worked out pretty well, but I'm thinking it'd be nice to have a phone that flips closed (mainly to prevent ass-dialing - I don't think there's a modern cell phone that won't fit in my BDU pocket, flip or not). I hesitate slightly because that reduces its durability, and durability is by far my largest concern (see above about putting my phone through hell). My second largest concern is that it be as cheap as possible (preferably costing nothing after rebate-with-contract). Next in the list is battery life, the longer the better. I'd rather it didn't have cameras or internet access or a PDA, mostly because I don't want to pay for functionality I'd never use (or worse, get addicted to that functionality - I've got more than enough computers and electronic distractions as it is).
