My first cell phone

[Petro-Sooner]

So I'm going to have to break down and buy one of these devil machines. Any specific brand of phone to stay away from or one you recommend? I'm going to find the cheapest package I can find. Only getting it for work.

[SoonerBorn68]

As much as I hate to say this, get Cingular. My Sprint service sucks out in the boonies. I've also heard Alltell & US Cellular :succs: too. The only other service besides Cingular might be T-Mobile.

I haven't had too much trouble with Sprint down here by Coalgate but I'm roaming. I had my highest bill evar last month at $225 (that includes my wife's phone too).

Bells & whistles don't really matter. The only options I'd get are a camera & speaker phone.

[sanantoniosooner]

As much as I hate to say this, get Cingular. My Sprint service sucks out in the boonies. I've also heard Alltell & US Cellular :succs: too. The only other service besides Cingular might be T-Mobile.

I haven't had too much trouble with Sprint down here by Coalgate but I'm roaming. I had my highest bill evar last month at $225 (that includes my wife's phone too).

Bells & whistles don't really matter. The only options I'd get are a camera & speaker phone.
I've got Cingular and would usually recommend it, but I've heard good stuff about Verizon. There's a lot NOT to like about all of them.

[OUDoc]

These work AWESOME!

http://www.sfgate.com/blogs/images/sfgate/culture/2005/08/26/phone250x195.jpg

[Okla-homey]

Here's what you do. Go to Wallly-world and buy a pre-paid phone. No contracts, and if you lose it or drop it in the toilet, no biggy. You can add hours as you need them. No hidden charges, no amazingly complex billing statements from the cell phone company that are practically impossible to decipher and if you do protest a particular charge -- you gotta go to one of their branches, wait in line and perhaps they'll write it off.

I honestly think that is what I'm gonna do after this Cingular contract I'm on runs out in a couple months.

Other than that, I am also of the opinion that Cingular is the best of the bunch doing bidness in OK

[springs sooner]

Stay far far away from T-Mobile. I like cingular. they have treated me well, no hidden charges on the bill and the coverage is pretty good.

just make sure you get a nicer model phone with the new technology as the old phones will still drop calls like no other

[Petro-Sooner]

I am considering getting what Paul Harvey advertises on his show. Trac phone. Pre paid phone. If you dont use it in a couple months, fine, you minutes are still there.

[frankensooner]

I hate Cingular/now AT&T and Love T-Mobile. The throwaways are a pretty good deal too. I think the Net10 ones are the best deal as far as price per minute. I also have a throwaway trac phone that we keep in the work car just for emergencies. It costs about 10 bucks a month to keep active. You will have to add a new card every two months to the tracphone to keep it active. The cards are like 20 bucks for 60 minutes.

[frankensooner]

http://www.net10.com/home_page.jsp

http://www.tracfone.com/home_page.jsp

[SoonerBorn68]

Here's what you do. Go to Wallly-world and buy a pre-paid phone...I honestly think that is what I'm gonna do after this Cingular contract I'm on runs out in a couple months.



We got my daughter a Net 1o phone for Christmas. It's really cool. So far she's had service in places I can't. I'm thinking of getting one "just in case".

The only bad thing about the phone is you do have to buy minutes every couple of months to continue service. I think for Net 10 it's a minimum of $30 every other month.

[Boomer.....]

I have been with Cingular for years and years. Never had a complain and gotten better service than anyone else I know with other major phone companies.

[Osce0la]

I've always been very happy with Verizon. I very rarely lose my signal (and when I do I am usually on a road that dips down into a valley and is sorrounded by trees).

Pre-paid phones are also a very good idea...

[slickdawg]

Cingular has been berry berry good to me.

You can get a cingular go-phone prepaid thing at wal-mart.

[frankensooner]

I think the cingular prepaid requires a monthly payment.

tracfone or Net1o is probably the way to go if you are not going to use it too much.

[StoopTroup]

For those of you recommending service in this thread...

You might want to consider what state and region they are in where they are having good or bad service.

In Tulsa...

Cingular is getting the most votes right now.

[setem]

Are you going to be using a bunch of mins or are you just going to be on it every now and then for a casual chat. I know you said it is for work but I use mine for work and I spend forever on the phone.

Virgin Mobile pay-as-you go in not bad. I top up 20 dollars 2x a month. My phone also only cost 70 dollars and it has a camera.

I am sure you will find something good if you just shop around.

[Petro-Sooner]

It wont be used much at all. Only for car emergencies and when people at work need to get a hold of me.

Are you saying that you only spend $20 for two months?

I'll check out the net1o when I get a second.

[Boomer.....]

Here is Cingulars coverage map. All the orange is areas that are covered.
http://www.cingular.com/coverageviewer/images/Cing_NatlCov.gif

[sanantoniosooner]

It wont be used much at all. Only for car emergencies and when people at work need to get a hold of me.
famous last words.

You never know how much you will use something until you have it.

[setem]

It wont be used much at all. Only for car emergencies and when people at work need to get a hold of me.

Are you saying that you only spend $20 for two months?

I'll check out the net1o when I get a second.

I spend 40 a month.

20 dollar top up every 15 days. Sometimes I top up at the start of the month. I add 20 dollars on most of the time to keep the mins up. I do not want to be in mid convo and run out of mins.

It is not a bad plan if you do not use your cellphone a bunch. If you use it a bunch then it is not a very good deal.

[SoonerBorn68]

It wont be used much at all. Only for car emergencies and when people at work need to get a hold of me.

Are you saying that you only spend $20 for two months?

I'll check out the net1o when I get a second.

Yeah right. You're in the oilfield. Everybody will need to talk to you. ;)

[Chuck Bao]

I find it amazing how expensive cellphone service is in the US.

It seems to me that you good people are being ripped off.

[soonersweetie]

I love Verizon. Ok, love might be a strong word. But overall, their service is good and their customer service (which is extremely important) has always been very good. Of course I'm here in So Cal, so not sure what coverage is like there in Tulsa area.

[GottaHavePride]

Consumer Reports rated Verizon as the best service in ALMOSt every part of the country. The exceptions were Chicago (apparently US Cellular is VERY good there) and Oklahoma - because Verizon doesn't exist in Oklahoma.

Cingular is probably next best, although I've been on Sprint for about 10 years now and have never had a problem.

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

I've been with Cingular since it was Southwestern Bell and my phone was in a suitcase. I've never had a problem.

[GottaHavePride]

The best way to avoid having complaints about your phone company?

1. Research their coverage area before picking a company.
2. Read the details about the plans they offer and pick one that matches your usage patterns.
3. Read ALL the terms of the contract - roaming charges, fees, cancellation penalties, all that stuff.
4. Don't get mad at the company when they won't make exceptions for you when you don't do numbers 1-3.
5. Don't drop, sit on, run over, lose, or let your dog eat your phone.
6. Set your phone to never flip to any sort of roaming unless you authorize it.

follow all of those and you'll never have a complaint about a phone company's customer service again. Seriously, most complaints about companies I've heard from people are about things that were in the contract that they didn't read. A very very small percentage of them actually involve billing errors and the like.

[DustySooner]

Whatever you do don't walk around with a bluetooth thing in your ear. :D

[Okla-homey]

The best way to avoid having complaints about your phone company?

1. Research their coverage area before picking a company.
2. Read the details about the plans they offer and pick one that matches your usage patterns.
3. Read ALL the terms of the contract - roaming charges, fees, cancellation penalties, all that stuff.
4. Don't get mad at the company when they won't make exceptions for you when you don't do numbers 1-3.
5. Don't drop, sit on, run over, lose, or let your dog eat your phone.
6. Set your phone to never flip to any sort of roaming unless you authorize it.

follow all of those and you'll never have a complaint about a phone company's customer service again. Seriously, most complaints about companies I've heard from people are about things that were in the contract that they didn't read. A very very small percentage of them actually involve billing errors and the like.

That's all well and good, but those contract terms aren't negotiable no matter how closely you read them. That means you get hosed every single time you dispute something. The fact you read them and therefore expected it doesn't make you feel better about it -- unless you're a sheep or enjoy getting hosed by nameless, faceless corporate behemoths.

Bottomline is, when you sign a cell phone contract, you have essentially given that company your expressed permission to stick it to you however they please. And please, don't lose or let the dog eat your dang phone because unless you buy their flippin' insurance offered by a third party insurer at ridiculous rates, you are hosed.

I still think the pre-paid Tracfone dealio makes a lot of sense and may well be better than obligating yourself for a couple years when the other party to the contract has all the power and won't make exceptions for even compelling extenuating circumstances. Heck, even if you lease a car for several year term, you can get out of it by selling the danged car. Not so with cellie contracts.

[soonerboomer93]

actually, cingular will let you transfer you contract :D

[soonerboomer93]

sk telecom works well for me, never been anywhere that i haven't had service (well unless you count the middle of the ocean)

[mdklatt]

I'm also looking into getting a cell phone, but I would hardly ever use it. If I'm reading the the Cingular GoPhone plan correctly, there's a $1 charge for days that you actually use the phone, plus 10 cents/minute. TracFone doesn't charge a daily fee, but the minutes are between 25 and 33 cents. So unless you're using the phone less than 3-4 minutes/day, Cingular is a better deal, right? Or am I missing something? GoPhone also comes with free Cingular M2M minutes...does M2M include text messages or just phone calls?

[garland sooner]

I have had this phone for a long time. It's almost indestructible.

http://www.nokiausa.com/images/phn/126x126/ph_3520_lrg.gif

Now i have a Motorola razor... I just wanted something thinner.

Oh... and go with Cingular.

[Newbomb Turk]

I'm also looking into getting a cell phone, but I would hardly ever use it. If I'm reading the the Cingular GoPhone plan correctly, there's a $1 charge for days that you actually use the phone, plus 10 cents/minute. TracFone doesn't charge a daily fee, but the minutes are between 25 and 33 cents. So unless you're using the phone less than 3-4 minutes/day, Cingular is a better deal, right? Or am I missing something? GoPhone also comes with free Cingular M2M minutes...does M2M include text messages or just phone calls?

I have a pay as you go plan, cause I rarely use my phone. I think there are two Cingular plans. One has a $1 per day charge, but lower charge per minute. the other has no daily charge, but a slightly higher per minute charge. I chose the later.

The thing I like about Cingular pay-as-you-go is that you only have to buy minutes every 90 days, vs. 60 days with TracFone - whether you use you minutes or not. Virgin Mobile has a similar 90 pay minimum.

[mdklatt]

I have a pay as you go plan, cause I rarely use my phone. I think there are two Cingular plans. One has a $1 per day charge, but lower charge per minute. the other has no daily charge, but a slightly higher per minute charge. I chose the later.


So I guess you use the phone four minutes or less a day when you use it? Otherwise it seems like you'd be better off if the other plan (plus you'd also get M2M).

[Newbomb Turk]

So I guess you use the phone four minutes or less a day when you use it? Otherwise it seems like you'd be better off if the other plan (plus you'd also get M2M).

yeah - I make 3 or 4 calls a week. Usually 1-2 minutes per call. I don't usually carry my phone with me and just leave it in my car. When I do use the phone, I get to the point.

[goingoneight]

I've got Nextel, and I'm changing it to the hybrid Sprint phone soon, my contract expired in February. Nextel's radio is awesome if you want to get on family plans or have friends whop sport the two-way radios, themselves. Their phone reception, not so much. That's why I'm switching to the Sprint hybrid, for more towers.

Just my $.02 for the day... my dad was standing on Christ Mountain in Brazil and he was talkign to me on the radio like he was standing right next to me.

[OU-HSV]

So I'm going to have to break down and buy one of these devil machines. Any specific brand of phone to stay away from or one you recommend? I'm going to find the cheapest package I can find. Only getting it for work.
My current plan is w/Cingular. It's a "shared minute" plan w/me and my wifes phone on the plan. I'm very happy w/cingular and the way they seem to be organized on their billing and so on. The phone I've got right now is a sony ericsson VGA 4x digital zoom camera phone (model #z520a) and seems to be one of the best phones I've had. And I've had several different phones, some for jobs and some for leisure...samsung, sanyo, nokia, etc. If I were to rank the phones I've had as far as durabilty and reception...it would probably be like this: Sony Ericsson, samsung, nokia and then sanyo. However, reception probably has more to do with your service provider than it does the cell phone itself.
I would highly recommend staying away from Sprint. They (pardon my french) screwed me pretty bad a little over a year ago. It's a long story, I won't waste your time with it...but lets just say I paid an early termination fee and paid an ammount that the customer service rep said would have me out of my whole plan w/sprint for good. AND still to this day I receive a monthly bill from sprint for $25. They've found me at both of my address changes in the last year too. I refuse to pay the charges. I tried to contact them to tell them to eff off and I can't get through because my account number doesn't even exist anymore. I figure I'll let them continue to waste their paper, postage and time. (And geeze..that wasn't even the whole story, sorry, tried to keep it short.)
Anyways, I'm giving you some spek for joining the modern world! :D

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

The family talk plan w/ Cingular seems to be the way to go for me. I put both of my parents on my plan and paid $10/month for each of their phones and they shared my minutes since neither of them (esp. my Dad) use their phones much.

If you have a family member who would let you pay them the fee every month, I would think it would be a better deal than pay as you go.