And now, my faithful readers, comes another exercise in audience participation.
I’m possibly looking for a new cell phone. It’s a lot tougher than I thought.
I currently have Nextel; which is nice if you’re using it for business, but for my use it’s too expensive and the Direct Connect function, while cool, is hardly suited for a conversation – and impossibly dangerous to use when driving.
My new car, which is set to arrive in December, includes built-in Bluetooth for hands-free phone use. So, whatever new phone I get needs to have Bluetooth (Toyota only lists a couple phones as being compatible with the phone). And if I’m gonna get Bluetooth, I should get a phone that’s also compatible with Apple iSync so I can sync it with my Powerbook.
It seems that all the Bluetooth phones work on the GSM system, so that is another limiting factor. Add in my desire for a phone that has cool rings rather than beeps (I dig the one that sounds like an old telephone), and you have a pretty narrow range of phones. I keep coming back to the Sony Ericsson T616, which is offered by AT&T and Cingular. (There’s also a Z600 coming soon evidently, which also seems nice, but I don’t like the flip-open phone style very much – I’ve found that, with my Nextel phone, it’s such a pain to open, close, and generally deal with the big fat thing. I want a small phone that I don’t have to juggle. I don’t want it hanging on my belt like the Nextel, I wanna leave it in my pocket or my bag.)
Now, the plan. I travel at least once a year, so I want a national plan so I don’t pay for roaming or long distance. I’m not thrilled with the GSM coverage of either of those two companies, and the rates are not the lowest. At least Cingular has “roll over,” which allows me to accumulate minutes not used in prior months. But they now require a 2 year contract. Ick.
So, here’s where you come in: do you have a cool phone that fits the bill? If so, what carrier are you using? How’s the reception – in your house, in your office, all around town? Do they have good customer service?
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Gene,
I use T-Mobile. I don’t know about all its features but here’s the link to their website:
http://www.t-mobile.com/
I like them. I have the family plan, which gives me 2 phones, 1200 shared minutes and national calling ability for a little over $100 a month.
There’s free calling on weekends after 9 pm Friday up to 9 pm Sunday (Ithink it’s 9 pm on Sunday)…AND if you have friends or family who also use T-Mobile, all your calls to and from them are free. I don’t know anything about Bluetooth, so you’ll have to search their site for info if any.
Hope this helps.
Kat