Cell phone service

[victorious]

Hello everyone-

I need some help in finding a cell phone plan/service/ I currently have ATT for cell coverage

I just received a new job offer where I will be doing extensive traveling in Southern/Central California. I have to obtain a smartphone for work- need to have access for mobile emails/documents-. ATT has Samsung Galaxy S II which will meet my needs- ATT would be a plan of combination of three charges- minutes, plus text/messaging/ plus data

I am also looking at Sprint and the HTC Phone they offer their HTC top of the line. Sprint is the unlimited everything plan for 99.99 per month.

Phone and service will be used 100% in business
Which carrier of the two is the best?
ASlso have considered Boost Mobile- unlimited 55 per month. Anyone have Boost? Any issues?
Advice greatly needed.

 

[Paul_Chance]

AT&T Blackberry Bold

I run an AT&T Blackberry Bold for my work phone. I travel extensively and have rarely ran out of coverage area. It is not ideal for reading documents (I have an iPad for that), but it is excellent for email, with the dedicated keyboard. I ran an iPhone for a while, but it was not as good a work tool - I use it entirely as a personal phone and entertainment device.. I routinely travel middle California to southern California (Sacramento to San Diego). Good luck.

 

[SweetErika]

Since this will be used 100% for work, will the company provide you with a phone and unlimited plan? Once you've taken the job, it may be worth asking about, or at least you could ask them to bridge the gap between your current cell costs and what you'll need for this new job. FWIW, non-independent/temp jobs in legit companies provide the employee with the tools they need to get the job done. If the company is too cheap to give you those tools, you may want to reconsider the job offer.

My husband's company provides him with a phone (of his choosing) and plan on ATT. He's been pretty happy with it so far. I'll ask him which phone he has in a few minutes because I know he's been through a bunch of phones and is very happy with the one he has now. It doesn't have a dedicated keyboard, but the screen is large enough to make his touch keyboard easy to type on. However, he also has a laptop and tablet (which he can tether his phone to, even though he's not supposed to) for more involved tasks. The phone you need to work efficiently will likely be about $500 before any discounts/rebates from the carrier.

I have Virgin Mobile which is very similar to Boost from what I understand, and there's a reason why it's so cheap. For one, they share the Sprint network, which means the internet can be slow and the call quality can be poor sometimes. There is a huge difference between the speed of my 3G and ATT's 3/4G, in my experience. I'm not sure if this is true with Boost as well, but Virgin started capping faster data transfer on their plans. So, yes, it's unlimited, but if you go over the allotted amount, you get an even slower connection. Still, I'm grandfathered in at $25/month for 300 minutes and unlimited data, and that's just fine for what I use my phone for. Check into Boost thoroughly and ask lots of questions before you go with them, is my only point.

 

[victorious]

Response

Paul,

Thanks for the great information. I currently have ATT and I think I will get the Bold. I will be needing it primarily for email. My area will be similar- Northern Calif. to Southern California- I think I will stay with ATT

I run an AT&T Blackberry Bold for my work phone. I travel extensively and have rarely ran out of coverage area. It is not ideal for reading documents (I have an iPad for that), but it is excellent for email, with the dedicated keyboard. I ran an iPhone for a while, but it was not as good a work tool - I use it entirely as a personal phone and entertainment device.. I routinely travel middle California to southern California (Sacramento to San Diego). Good luck.

 

[beldot58]

Hello everyone-

I need some help in finding a cell phone plan/service/ I currently have ATT for cell coverage

I just received a new job offer where I will be doing extensive traveling in Southern/Central California. I have to obtain a smartphone for work- need to have access for mobile emails/documents-. ATT has Samsung Galaxy S II which will meet my needs- ATT would be a plan of combination of three charges- minutes, plus text/messaging/ plus data

I am also looking at Sprint and the HTC Phone they offer their HTC top of the line. Sprint is the unlimited everything plan for 99.99 per month.

Phone and service will be used 100% in business
Which carrier of the two is the best?
ASlso have considered Boost Mobile- unlimited 55 per month. Anyone have Boost? Any issues?
Advice greatly needed.

I worked in the cellular business for 3.5 yrs. When the T-Mobile Sidekick just started personal email and internet service on cell phones and Blackberry was "the" only smart phone for knowing professionals.

The Samsung is okay - running android - but I understand the camera leaves a lot to be desired. Also, AT&T is the carrier I heard customers complain about the most.

Take a look at the Motorola Droid 4G. I signed up w/Verizon & bought the 3G model; excellent photos, videos...does everything my laptop does.

I would go with Verizon - because they've been number one for more than a decade (most expensive, too...but, hey...ya want the corvette or the VW bug...they're both cars, right?) or, Sprint which is the only carrier to still offer Unlimited Plans.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

I have AT & T - I had a blackberry bold, and didn't love it. I've been using a Samsung Galaxy S (the first Galaxy S) and I absolutely love it. The android operating system is wonderful. The S II would be an even better choice - all the same features, but with lots of upgrades (better screen, thinner, etc.)

Interface is important to me, which was why I had the Bold, a built in keyboard. I also had an AT & T tilt, with a keyboard, and a Samsung something that had a keyboard to it, too. I have big fingers and the attached keyboard did not make my world easier as I thought it would.

What I found was that more screen space mades a bigger difference. I used Andriod's text-to-talk for writing emails and sending texts and love it.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

For what it's worth, recent articles are detailing RIM's significant loss of market share, and growing speculation that it will sell off the Blackberry technology by the end of the year. The most likely purchaser would be Microsoft, which would not be interested in the technology but rather the subscription base. Nothing is set in stone, but it is looking increasingly likely that the Blackberry's days are numbered.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

For what it's worth, recent articles are detailing RIM's significant loss of market share, and growing speculation that it will sell off the Blackberry technology by the end of the year. The most likely purchaser would be Microsoft, which would not be interested in the technology but rather the subscription base. Nothing is set in stone, but it is looking increasingly likely that the Blackberry's days are numbered.

I agree. RIM/Blackberry was way in front for a long time with some great solutions that were leaving everyone else in the dust, but they failed to keep up with the changing marketplace. I'm not a cell phone operating system guru, but I've used enough different ones through the years, including windows - there are lots of good choices (including Apple, darnit) that can serve the needs. I LOVE smart - smartphones!

 

[njlauren]

Working with a very tech savvy crowd and based on my own experiences, ATT has improved a lot (especially switching to 4G LTE technology, which Verizon and I believe T mobile use as well) but people here in the NYC area complain about ATT service. I have had verizon for many years and while it isn't cheap, it has been rock solid, including traveling in remote places and such, and the 4G speed can be blazing (where i live in NJ, I can pull 20mbps, which is faster then my broadband connection).

I use a samsung Charge, whose large screen makes web surfing easy and running apps fun, and its camera takes great pictures from what I can tell (the iPhone is prob better, but I didn't buy it to be a phone). Call quality is great and it only has the typical android glitches all the phones seem to have from time to time, and battery life for a complicated smart phone isn't bad at all.

The one negative is that it is likely that there will be almost no one with an unlimited data plan in the near future. Verizon and ATT are both either actively or planning to force users onto fixed data plans with limits which will leave Sprint as the only one offering it (T Mobile is not unlimited, after 2 gig they throttle your connection to less then 3G speeds). Sprint already is the weakest of the services in terms of speed and coverage, and if the data junkies who use a lot of data decide to switch to Sprint it is likely the service will degrade, much as ATT did when Apple introduced the iPhone (it has taken ATT years to upgrade their service to where it can handle it, and it also gave them a black eye they have yet to recover from in many ways), and given Sprint's financial position it is unlikely they would rapidly be able to beef up capacity.

For someone using it primarily for e-mail, you prob wouldn't have to worry about the data limits anyhow, and either ATT or Verizon would give you reliable service, and if you travel a lot it is likely you will have better reception with either of those then the competitors.

 

[victorious]

Your advice

Bucky Duckman,
Thanks for the help. I decided to stay with ATT and got the Samsung Galaxy S II with an unlimited plan, unlimited Talk/Text and 5 gig of data per month. I should have it here on Monday.

I have AT & T - I had a blackberry bold, and didn't love it. I've been using a Samsung Galaxy S (the first Galaxy S) and I absolutely love it. The android operating system is wonderful. The S II would be an even better choice - all the same features, but with lots of upgrades (better screen, thinner, etc.)

Interface is important to me, which was why I had the Bold, a built in keyboard. I also had an AT & T tilt, with a keyboard, and a Samsung something that had a keyboard to it, too. I have big fingers and the attached keyboard did not make my world easier as I thought it would.

What I found was that more screen space mades a bigger difference. I used Andriod's text-to-talk for writing emails and sending texts and love it.