OT Any cell phone advice?

My wife decided to get a cell phone a few years back, decided that a certain Nokia phone was " The Phone ". I forget exactly what the deal was, But she had to sign up with AT&T to use that phone. ( I think it was a GSM only phone ). She found out the coverage was poor around Seattle/ Bainbridge Island so gave up the super phone and switched to Verizon.

She is now with Cell For Less out of Olympia. Cell For Less uses the Verizon network, but charges less money. You have to buy the phone, but they have no contracts. So when I went on a trip, I got a phone for a couple of months, and then canceled as I don't need a cell phone most of the time. Oh yeah, you can find cell phones at the St. Vincent de Paul and Value village. Just remember that the phone has to match the service. Different companies use different frequencies and modulation systems.

Dan

My business is 99.9% conducted via my cell phone. I have Nextel, and a plan that features nationwide long distance, Free incoming, etc etc. However it is an older plan and I dont have free nights and weekends. It costs me about $90 a month, with the taxes and all coming to around $100 per month, with 600 minutes of outgoing per month.

I have to do a lot of trouble shooting over the phone. Sometimes a half hour or more. If the customer calls me, he pays only his normal long distance rate if any, and I pay nothing. This works out well for me as I can have over 1000 minutes per month Incoming alone.

I browsed the Nextel plans, and I see one now that is cheaper, with the same features and unlimited nights and weekends, so Ill probably change within a month.

My wife has a prepaid phone from Verizon. She gets a very good rate, but is charged for incoming and outgoing. I think a $50 card gets her a bunch of minutes and even more night and weekend minutes

She "recharges" her phone at Walmart and gets even a better price as they heavily discount the phone "recharge". She also gets a much longer amount of talk time if the other party is also a Verizon wireless user. Which is why my son also has the same thing. They can talk nearly unlimited time.

Something else to consider..is the phones themselves. I have the old heavy and cumbersome Nextel/Motorola i390 phone. Compared to todays phones, its practicly stone age. However..its rugged as hell, heavy enough to know when its in the holster. etc. My truck has a hard wired car kit that includes speaker phone, visor mic, rechargeing, external antenna, etc etc. I simply snap it into the pedistal and drive. I like a heavy phone. I want something substancial in my hand with good sound and ruggedess.

I also bought a couple extras off of Ebay, for $5. Along with extra home chargers, as I maintain two dwellings. When I do suceed in demolishing a phone, I simply grab a new phone out of the box, call Nextel, give them the EIN number under the battery, and within 5 minutes Im back up and running again. Ive replaced the phone twice in

5 yrs because I repair machine tools..and there is nothing soft about them when you drop a phone off the top of a Bridgport on the concrete floor.

While Im not enamoured of Nextel's service, they do offer some damned rugged phones..including some rubberized "contractors" phones.

I guy gave me a Nextel i1000, and if I can find a hard install car kit, I may..may change over as they have "missed call" redial feature. But its a flip phone and doesnt weigh much...so would like to find one of the Contractor phones..but even on Ebay they dont come very cheap,and I would need two new home chargers, hardwired car kit, extra batteries (I have 6 for my current phone, though when new they go for about 120 hours standbye)

Here is a good rugged Nextel phone :

one in black Most Nextel phones have the DirectConnect feature, which is a walkitalki like option. If your wife has the same service..you can simply push a button and it works like a two way radio. Tends to be mighty handy for work or going to the grocery store

Bleepbleep...Honey..was that regular or Grey Poupon you wanted? Bleepbleep...it was toilet paper I sent you after. Bleepbleep..sigh..ok

Gunner

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there. - George Orwell

Skipping school, I decide to respond to what Gunner fosted Sat, 15 May 2004 07:15:46 GMT in rec.crafts.metalworking , viz:

Dad decided the "expense" of cell phones for Wife & Daughter was more than made up by the "free long distance" when the daughter was in Hawaii at school, and Mom & Daughter would talk for at least twenty minutes _every_ night.

I've the prepaid plan myself. Works out to about 16.35 a month for me ($30 card, good for sixty days). For "round the Sound" it serves my purposes.

I hope that tow truck operator didn't feel too flattered by that proposition.

Considering what the last tow job I got cost me, I can well understand what that lady was up to...

Jeff

Get one with a large display. I have one of the smallest phones, it will fit in a shirt pocket along with glasses, pens, etc. but I can't read it without my glasses and then it's a strain. There is a slip on magnifier lens available, just haven't got it yet.

I have one of the cheapest plans but have to watch going over the allotted number of minutes per month or its gets expensive fast.

When you get one, charge the battery all the way and then leave it on until its dead then repeat. That will condition it for longer lifespan.

Nice to have on a trip. Dialing 411 will get all kinds of info. Also a real plus if you break down.

ff

Heh.....

If your gonna get screwed anyways, ya might as well try and enjoy it ???

Thanks to all for your outstanding input. Some of the information is likely to never be of use to me because I'm not prone to travel, but I enjoyed reading of the experiences of others.

I'd like to offer special thanks to John N, who took time to contact me on the side and to provided me with a special link to get some additional free minutes for the phone we selected after considering our usage pattern, or at least the one we project at the moment. I expect that just like with computers, once you get hooked on a cell phone you can always justify using it in ways that you had not planned. For our immediate use, we decided that a TracFone would most likely serve our needs without unnecessarily burdening us with a monthly bill, something we try to avoid. While the cost per minute is rather high, the cost per year should be within reason, especially for our intended purpose.

Again, thanks to all for your excellent contributions.

Harold

Yep, that will require a little re-think of our normal procedures! Thanks for the tip.

Harold

Buy yourself a phone card at SAM's Club, ( if you have one locally ) and use it. The convenience of a cell phone is highly overrated and far more expensive. The only reason I carry a cell phone is because the outfit I work for pays for it.

Then buy yourself an answering machine for your home that you can access from another phone to retrieve your messages.....you will never miss a call and you will have more money every month to spend on tools!

Jesse

I have to second the SAM's Club phone card advice, and take it a step further. The SAM's card is the cheapest I have found

I got rid of the long distance carriers (ATT, Sprint, MCI, etc.) on my home phones and went with the local phone company. SWB in my case. This saved me about $4 per month in taxes and other charges, on each of my two lines. I programmed the speed dial on my phones with the SAM's calling card numbers, and now use the card for all long distance calls. Between the card and the reduced taxes and fees, I am saving between $15 and $20 a month on phone charges.

This more than pays for my pre-paid cell phone (Tracfone) which is used only sparingly.

John Normile

I found a nice phone smashed into the sand on a job site and called home and told the guy the whole story. He's like "How did you get this No.?" He just wasn't listening , I would think everyone would like their phone back. I had to mention all his contacts and I was going to toss it within a half hour to get his attention. He didn't even say thank you 20 mins. later.