[B]Any advice... getting ready to buy our 1st Cell phone![/B]

[moopdog]

We live in an rural area and finally, I think we may be able to get service around here. I am starting school next week (over an hour commute each way) and would like to have a cell... also it will be very convenient to have on our trip!! I know for a fact that Cingular comes in at our house (verizon and nextel don't) and we like the rollover feature, so that's probably who we're going with. Does anyone know of a certain deal going on right now or a code or anything? Any advice for or against cingular? anything to watch out for?

We don't like the fact that they almost make you sign a 2 year contract, but is there a way around it?!

Any info would be great - Thanks !!

 

[christinadei]

NOt really any advice, but I LOVE cingular. The rollover is great and me and DH love the mobile to mobile. We only have a 450 minute per month plan, but always have tons of rollover becuase we spend most of the time talkign to each other for free. Of course, we also have free nights and weekends.

 

[goofyforlife]

My husband was able to get a 1 yr agreement but paid $30 for his phone...but it was worth the convienience of being able to switch if we want....

Also, I have cingular but I get crappy signal in my office with LG model phone but one of my co-workers gets a great signal in the same place with a motorola brand with cingular....

So get a phone, you have 30 days to return it at no penalty (they only make you pay for the minutes you have used) and if the first model you pick doesn't work that well, you can try another.....

 

[EthansMom]

We have Cingular because it comes in the best in our area.

Instead of signing up for a pricey 2 year contract, DH and I each have pre-paid phones with Cingular. I think our phones cost $40 each and then refill cards cost us $25 ($0.25/min on our plan).

A $25 card expires in 90 days -- minutes can be rolled over if you refill before the 90 is up. So if you still have $1 left on day 89, you can add $25 and have 90 days to use $26.

Yes, $0.25/min. is high, but we use our phones primarily for emergency access and "Honey, I'm stuck in traffic" or "Honey, is there anything you need from the store?" type calls.

We tend to go through a $25 card in a little less than 90 days, so our cost for the first year on these phones is $40 + 5*$25 = $165 per phone (not incl. tax).

The cheapest price I could find on a contract with Cingular was $30/month per phone or $60/month for a family plan, so $360 per phone (not incl. tax). If you anticipate having low use and don't want a contract, then check out the pre-paids!

BTW, the Cingular stores around here didn't have quite the deals on the pre-paid phones that we were able to get on the Cingular web site http://www.cingular.com. You have to go on "Individual Plans" and then there is a choice for "Pre-paid".

Good luck!