Cell Phone advice

[Mom2Princess']

DH and I have decided to switch our cell phone service due to the fact that we do not get service at our home and they have been promising every year for the past couple of years that it is "coming soon!". Which means we need new phones and all the gadgets that go with them, car chargers, holders etc.

My head is about to explode reading all the reviews. Everywhere you go to read reviews you hear a good review and a bad review for the same phone and the same thing (one says great sound, durable another says sound poor, not durable.)

We have been to the store and played with the phones. I still cannot decide. Let me just say that I have it narrowed down to 3, maybe 4. And if you have any info on them I would love to hear it, good or bad. Also if you have a phone you just LOVE, tell me about it. Currently I have a Motorola i760 that I love! But is not compatible with the new carrier.

Any advice is truly appreciated! Here are the final selections:

Blackberry Pearl
Blackberry Curve
Sony Ericcson i580
LG Shine

In case you want to know all I do with my phone is make phone calls, I want to take pictures and very little else. I don't carry it for work, it is purely for me. All of these phones are the same price for an introductory offer with the cell phone company, so price is not a consideration.

Thanks!

[DizneyRox]

The i580 is a nice phone. You can use it as a walkman, takes fairly good pictures, is very customizable, and battery life is pretty good. I needed something that I could manage, I don't pay for ringtones, wallpapers, etc. It fits the bill nicely. There are some amazing FREE Disney related themes for it as well.

Bluetooth is nice, I have mine paired up with the car and most features are available.

If you just need to make calls, you probably don't need a full blown blackberry. LG makes a good phone I hear, but it wasn't compatible with my car, so I passed. I like the slider better anyway.

[Hair_Razor]

Just because you are changing service providers doesn't mean you have to change all of your chargers and equipment that all has to do with you actual phone ie: Nokia, Samsung, LG... Even if you switch from Vorizon to T-Mobile you can use the same chargers if you get the same brand phone. I agree with previous post, if you are only using it for phone call and pic's you probably don't need a Blackbery. I would probably get the cutest free phone with contract that takes pictures, but I'm cheep! God luck in your quest.

[MegaDisney]

I have the Blackberry Pearl 8130 and I absolutely love it!

You can get it with rebates through Alltel for only $79USD and they have some great share plans with free calls to 10 numbers. The Web plan is included in the plan cost, with most carriers the Blackberry plan is extra.

But based on your post, if you don't text, email and web surf on your phone it really is too much, and you may want to look at something else. (Same with the Curve)

[Mom2Princess']

Thank you so much! Keep 'em coming. I know that I probably won't use all of, if hardly any of, the features a Blackberry has to offer. But as I said earlier, all of the phones are the same price, so that is what is making my decision the hardest. I loved them all when I went to the store and played with them.

Hair Razor...none of my extras are compatible unfortunately. My Motorola is a flip and I don't like the Motorola phone offered by AT&T. So unfortunately that is where I will be spending my money. But the phone is free so I shouldn't complain!

[DizneyRox]

While the phone may be free, a blackberry may require a contract with a data plan, and those are usually significantly more than just a phone plan.

Many phones use proprietary connections, so yes, you may have to get all new chargers, etc. I think it's part of the game cell phone providers play with us.

[Aggie97]

While the phone may be free, a blackberry may require a contract with a data plan, and those are usually significantly more than just a phone plan.

This would be my concern as well, especially if you do not plan to use the Blackberry's e-mail and web features extensively. Definitely talk to AT&T about that. My husband's employer pays for his AT&T Blackberry data plan, but I believe it is $45 per month (before taxes & fees -- does not include any voice minutes). He has been very pleased with his Blackberry Curve, though. :)

[Mom2Princess']

I spoke with them about this and they told me that I do not have to purchase the data plan or any of the "extra" bells and whistles programs. I can purchase the phone and my family talk plan and that is it.

I am leaning towards the Sony or the Curve. I liked the way they both felt and the navigation was pretty straight forward. Maybe I'll just go eeny meeny miny mo!(Just kidding!):D

[Pop Centurion]

IMO LG is garbage. My girlfriend and I each had one years back and had nothing but problems. She eventually replaced hers with another LG which also gave her problems. People we talked to who also owned LG phones said they hated them. Our problems consisted of screens going blank, batteries prematurely needing to be replaced, certain functions not working.
Recently we've heard they've gotten better and two months ago my girlfriend was due for an upgrade. She wanted the LG shine so bad and I tried to talk her out of it but couldn't. Well she returned it after 3 days because the sound from the ear piece as well as the speaker phone was muffled to the point where if she wasn't in a quiet area, she could hardly hear the person on the other end. Her girlfriend also bought one and her screen went completely white after a week. I think her case was because she abuses her phones but still it's possible that it was because the phone is junk.
Blackberry is a great phone but you might want to ask if you can try using a demo in the store for a few minutes to get used to the menus and functions. To some people they're very complicating. My girlfriend has the curve right now and it took her a little time to get used to it. But no problems whatsoever.
BTW, I have a Palm Centro and love it. A little buggy at times but nothing a quick reset can't fix. Tons of support and free third party programs for it too. I balance my checkbook, keep track of gas mileage, keep track of appointments & important dates, listen to music, etc, all on it. I even stored my trip itinerary in xls format on it. Oh and I can't forget checking Intercot while not at home :cool:
But the Curve is similar if you eventually plan on using all the bells & whistles.

[MegaDisney]

While the phone may be free, a blackberry may require a contract with a data plan, and those are usually significantly more than just a phone plan.


Just to restate the Blackberry service is included in Alltel plans. They are the only carrier that includes this as far as I know.

[Pop Centurion]

I know that at AT&T stores they tell you, you have to get the data plan in order to get any rebates that may be offered. But you're not obligated.
At the time my girlfriend got hers, AT&T wanted almost $200 for the phone without the data plan. With the data plan, she could get the rebate and only pay $99. But you had to wait for the rebate in the mail and it was some sort of debit card. So I told her to go to Best Buy and they had it on sale for $89 with no data plan required.
So definitely search around for the best deal because I always find the phone stores (AT&T, Verizon, etc) to be more expensive than Best Buy & Circuit City.

[conorsmom2000]

I spoke with them about this and they told me that I do not have to purchase the data plan or any of the "extra" bells and whistles programs. I can purchase the phone and my family talk plan and that is it.


Just be careful with this because the features will still come enabled on the phone - so, if you accidently turn the internet on, and you don't have a data plan, it will cost you a fortune. I am one who never thinks to lock my phone and I constantly find that it's on the internet or at&t video from buttons being pushed while in my bag. I now have the Samsung Blackjack II, and this never happened to me when I had a flip phone - but, now that I have a bar style (smartphone) it happens all the time. I do have the data plan, so it's not a big deal, but without the data plan, I would need to be much more vigilant in locking it so I don't hit any keys.

I wish AT&T had a phone like the Envy because I don't really need all the bells and whistles of the Blackjack, and would like to go back to a regular phone, but I've gotten too used to the Qwerty keyboard.

[Aggie97]

I wish AT&T had a phone like the Envy because I don't really need all the bells and whistles of the Blackjack, and would like to go back to a regular phone, but I've gotten too used to the Qwerty keyboard.

I agree! My brother and sister-in-law, who have Verizon, just got Envys, and they seem perfect for what I need. Unfortunately we are stuck with AT&T for work reasons.

[Georgesgirl1]

When DH and I buy new phones we never buy the chargers, holders, ect from AT&T because they are so expensive. We have always been able to find compatible stuff at Walmart or Target and ended up paying $10-15 for it instead of the $30+ they wanted at AT&T. We have never had problem with the non-brand name stuff either. Just something to think about if you want to save some money!