Recommendations for cellular phone plans

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My wife wants a cell phone for Christmas.

I'm completely ignorant so I need your recommendations on what to look for, what to look out for, and what the best and worse plans are.

In my research so far I'm hearing Verizon works the best but is the most expensive starting at 39.99 a month.

T-Mobile is cheap and works ok in most places. So I'm leaning towards this.

Sprint and Cingular suck. Seems alot of people are unhappy with these services and have adviced others to stay away.

What do you recommend ?

Keep in mind we just need a phone that works for simple calls and emergencies -- not for internet access, text messaging, and all the other bells and whistles. Thanks

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I think that it really has to do with where you are, and how you are going to use your phone. I used Cingular for 5 years. No problems. When they changed their netwark to all digital, my son talked me into getting Verizon. He was using it, and there is a deal where Verizon customers can call other Verizon customers for free. Cingular has the same deal.

That plan lasted 9 days. I could not make calls with Verizon in places that I had been routinely making with my old Cingular phone. I found that the customer service was very bad with Verizon. I returned to Cingular.

How will your wife use the phone? Mostly locally, or some long distance? Phone services have both local and national plans. Verizon has roaming charges, even on national plans, which could cost a bundle, if you hit a roaming area. Cingular has free roaming everywhere.I would stay away from the lesser services.

As with all cell plans, $39.99 is not the bottom line. After you factor in all the taxes and charges, it costs quite a bit more a month.

When I first got my phone, it was just for "emergencies". I have upgraded my service twice in six years, since I found that I am using the phone more and more.

I would suggest that you talk to people in your area. Ask them about whether they are happy with their service, and how they use their phone. Remember, with cellular phones, there are certain areas (buildings that have a lot of metal in it come to mind) where the signal is compromised.

Another thing. There IS a difference in the quality of the phones.

Check this out:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Cell_phones/4521-6525_7-5021435-1.html?tag=dir.top

http://www.epinions.com/elec-Comm-Mobile_Phones-Hardware-All

http://www.epinions.com/elec-Comm-Mobileservice-All

Another thing. If you do your homework, and know exactly what you want, you can get a much better deal on a phone on the internet than in these cell phone stand in malls. Thay have a middle man, a salesman, who has to be paid. I got a phone for free on the net, that would have cost me $70- if I had bought it at the mall.

When you buy on the internet from the provider, you buy both a phone and the service. They mail you a phone, and send you directions on how to activate the phone.

Good luck!

Recommendations for cellular phone plans

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