Buying a new Cell Phone.

[scrivener]

Re: Buying a new Cell Phone.

With a retro handset, you'd at least be doing something interesting while talking, rather than looking simply obnoxious. Though I guess "interesting" and "obnoxious" are quite relative.

Plus, people would know what it is you're up to. You're not just talking; you're talking on the phone, which anyone can see!

So, Scriv, did you get the wireless Bluetooth one featured on ThinkGeek, or the wired one linked at Amazon? ... If you can't keep the one you got propped at your neck, you could always get those stick-on shoulder rests that were designed for those old phones. It'd make your handset even more uncool-ly cool.

I got the ThinkGeek one, first pointed out to me by your shared feed from Google Reader, via Gizmodo (I'm a Gizmodo reader, but I read your link first). And that shoulder thing is a GREAT idea!

[tutusue]

Re: Buying a new Cell Phone.

I still need to get a new phone and, possibly, a new provider. I currently use Cingular and the plans come with the following extra fees, a direct quote from their promotional material:
"Cingular also imposes monthly a Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge of up to $1.25 to help defray costs incurred in complying with State and Federal telecom regulation; State and Federal Universal Service charges; and surcharges for customer-based and revenue-based state and local assessments on Cingular. These are not taxes or government-required charges." (emphasis is mine)

My question is...Do all cell phone providers charge the same non-tax, non-government required fees?

[Hellbent]

Re: Buying a new Cell Phone.

i recall a report that said most of them do charge that, except tmobile. now, however there are more carriers so others may not.
ive got hawaiian telcom, its not bad. phones are a bit older but the great thing is that hitel rents from sprint and verizon, so you get double coverage. during the earthquake when my friends tmobile and cingulars went out, my phone and my nephews mobi worked.
check out www.hawaiiantelecom.com and if you like the phones there, check with my friends honolulu wireless and tell them albert sent you. they got stores in kaimuki and pearl city.

[tutusue]

Re: Buying a new Cell Phone.

[...]check out www.hawaiiantelecom.com and if you like the phones there, check with my friends honolulu wireless and tell them albert sent you. they got stores in kaimuki and pearl city.

Hmmm...I like Hawaiian Telcom's plans and rates and I don't need a high tech phone. I'll give Honolulu Wireless a call next week and check their fees. Thanks, Albert.

[anapuni808]

Re: Buying a new Cell Phone.

Sue - I should mention that on the day of the great earthquake blackout, all my neighbors were using my Cingular phone because none of theirs (especially T-Mobile) could get a signal. Plus, Cingular has more "cells" around the islands than the other companies. Not that I'm really plugging for them - I was happy with my AT&T plan til I was forced over to Cingular. However - I argued with them enough that they ended up giving me my old AT&T plan, plus rollover, plus upgraded my phone considerably. I've got the $39.95 plan and its working out fine.

[shaveice]

Re: Buying a new Cell Phone.

blue, i don't know if you're still looking but have you run a search on ebay? doc's posting about his motorola v635 got me thinking about the motorola line and after doing a search on the web, it seems that the v360 model has some good reviews. to make a long story short, i finally bought a new, unlocked v360 quad band phone which will allow me to use my sim card here as well as overseas (japan, thailand, mongolia, etc).

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...tSearch=Search

if the v360 meets your phone needs, you might consider some of those phones on ebay.

[tutusue]

Re: Buying a new Cell Phone.

[...]I was happy with my AT&T plan til I was forced over to Cingular. However - I argued with them enough that they ended up giving me my old AT&T plan, plus rollover, plus upgraded my phone considerably. I've got the $39.95 plan and its working out fine.

Thanks, Fran. I, too, am being forced from the AT&T plan to Cingular. I've been with that company for 16 years (Hon. Cell.>AT&T>Cingular) and, for the first time, they're refusing to negotiate. The $39.95 plan comes with 450 anytime minutes. The $59.95 plan comes with 900 anytime minutes. There is no plan in between, which I currently have at $49.95 with 1100 minutes! I use approx. 800 min./mo. The upside of Cingular is it's rollover minutes. However, Hawaiian Telcom's $39.95 plan comes with 1000 minutes. I need to make sure reception is strong in Makaha.

BTW...my Cingular phone (AT&T based plan) didn't work during the earthquake. I heard some did and some didn't. Doesn't make sense to me but...

[Hellbent]

Re: Buying a new Cell Phone.

I'm trying to decide on weither to upgrade to a sanyo 6600 "katana" or a KX-5 On one hand I like the razor-like dimensions of the katana, but the kx-5 has the features I want (memory card, mp3 player, better camera) but is larger.

http://hawaiiantel.com/Wireless_ComparisonChart.htm

Looks like I posted the wrong url too, its http://hawaiiantel.com/

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Buying a new Cell Phone.

BTW...my Cingular phone (AT&T based plan) didn't work during the earthquake. I heard some did and some didn't. Doesn't make sense to me but...

Probably depends on how specific towers behaved. If backup power failed, then those towers went down. Or they might have been overloaded. But had you been near a different tower, you might have been OK.

[tutusue]

Re: Buying a new Cell Phone.

Probably depends on how specific towers behaved. If backup power failed, then those towers went down. Or they might have been overloaded. But had you been near a different tower, you might have been OK.

Well, that makes sense! Thanks for the explanation, GG. Fortunately I didn't have to rely on my cell phone post-quake. I had a cheapo land line phone plugged directly into the wall. It was the only thing that worked during the 16 hours my electricity was out.