Cingular Vs. Verizon

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MountaineerMan7

New member
Our contract with vzw is up in 2 months. currently we talk to many vzw people and like the person to person on vzw is free. we use approx. 1000 TOTAL (includes cell to cell) per month.

Currently:
700 minutes
unlimited cell to cell
nights/weekends start at 9
unlimited txt/pix/flix to vzw users/ 50 others per month
insurance on 2 phones
extra line 9.99
= $90/month (military discount) i think the base price is $70

dh and i would both like pda's/smartphones or something that can go on the net but not sure that we would use it a TON so i would much rather learn via HF to "hack" for free instead of getting a data plan.

I think through cingular i kinda like the blackjack and through vzw i like the enV or maybe a blackberry.

any insight would be great. i also would need a higher minute plan if we go to cingular b/c we would still talk to our vzw friends...obviously a bit of an upgrade without paying an extra arm and leg would be great. cingular seems to have higher prices but haven't looked much.

thanks so much for your input!
 
If you spend that many minutes per month talking to other Verizon users, your best bet may be to stay with Verizon, as horrifying a thought as that is for me (Personally, I'd never use them because of their phone policies).

Getting a Blackberry through VZW will REQUIRE you to get a data plan...that's how Verizon works. You can get an enV without, and just use minutes for data if you don't use it often (for $15 though, "unlimited data" for a regular phone is pretty cheap). With Cingular/AT&T, you'll have to get a PDA plan for the Blackjack, or any other current device with a QWERTY keyboard (Nokia E62, Cingular 8125, Treo, Blackberry, etc) because they're all considered PDAs. You can opt out and not get data at all, but then it's somewhere around 3 cents per kb, so you want to make sure it doesn't ever try to access anything.

Unfortunately, AT&T doesn't have anything that competes with the enV, though you can get an LG F9200 off of E-bay, which is a side-slide keyboard rather than flip-open style. That would use regular MediaNet data, and unlimited starts at $20 for MediaMax200 (more expensive, but also comes with 200 text or MMS messages).
 
You really need to pick a carrier that has the coverage when and where you need it. Price and cool phones should be a secondary criteria. I would assume that either would be fine, but you should do some homework first.

No coverage, no matter what the price, its too expensive.
 
well obviously. as of now cingular and vz have excellent coverage...which is why i picked them and not tmobile or cricket....i AM smart enough to know this.

i am a bit confused on at&t's data/txting plans...they have a million choices and I am not sure which i would need or which is commen...but through HF i could do without.
 
If you buy a regular phone with your contract and get a PDA later, you can avoid the need for PDA plan etc.....(i think).

Also, punch your military email address in on premiere's site to see what kind of discounts you'll get on your monthly plan with ATT.

http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/

"You may qualify for employee discounts. Find out?" on the middle right of the page.
 
AT&T does have a million choices, and it's entirely dependent on which phone you buy when you start your contract. They have the following:

PDA Plans:

PDA Personal - Data plans with no mail features
Data Connect - PDA plans with Xpress Mail e-mail collection
PDA Connect Blackberry - For Blackberries, and PDAs with Blackberry software, includes push e-mail

Smartphone plans (Currently compatible with Cingular 3125 only):
Smartphone Connect plans (some included messaging and/or Xpress Mail).

Phone Plans: Media-x packages

MediaBasic - low internet useage (1MB I think)
MediaWorks - Midrange - 5 MB useage
MediaMax - "unlimited" Internet useage

usually packaged with some number of text/IM/MMS messages and or unlimited mobile-to-mobile messaging.


Probably more complicated than it needs to be, but once you get a sense of it, they ARE understandable.
 
It was my understanding that you could use the Mediamax plan for the Blackjack instead of the PDA Connect(am I mistaken) What are the differences. I need internet and POP3 access. I am getting ready to move to AT&T from TMobile - but the thought of paying $40 a month just for the data(PDA) is absurd - I currently pay $5.99 a month on T-mo for my Smartphone(T-zones) which gives me pop3 and full internet . I know the internet will be much faster and I can bear paying $20 or so, but $40 a month seems a little steep. Also, do any of those plans have the ability to teather a laptop as long as the phone is capable?
 
Ok, every carrier does things a bit differently. For instance, T-Mobile also has different data plans for PDA-devices...they enforce it by closing ports on the T-Zones/T-MobileWeb service (You may be one of the lucky ones who have slipped through so far). I don't know if or how AT&T enforces it, but I know that if you order through their web-based store, they prevent you from adding Media* on when buying a Blackjack...they only offer services that are matched to the phone you select. The theory behind both is that a PDA/smartphone user will use more bandwidth, and also make use of ports beyond HTTP and POP3 (hence T-Mobile's blocking scheme).

As far as tethering..you can with AT&T, though the DataConnect plans are the ones MEANT for it, really. But any Nokia or Motorola (using their respective PC Suites) can be easily tethered.

Just for comparison, Verizon also does some of this dance: PDA phones get a $20 or $30 data package AUTOMATICALLY added to whatever voice plan you choose. Unlimited internet for their regular phones is only $15, but no tethering, and no getting beyond Verizon's walled garden thanks to their wonderful lockdown of their phones. Sprint on the other hand just charges $15 for unlimited internet, no matter what device one uses, and their walled garden has pretty low walls (just don't ever try to call Customer Service, hahaha!). Tethering requires a PAM plan, which I think is $30 or $40.
 
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