Cell phone help: opinions on Tmobile or ATT?

kathryn

kathryn

Cathlete
I am just now contemplating entering the late-20th century telecommunication-wise;-) and am looking for a cell phone plan.
There is so much info out there, and it's very confusing (especially when reading through cell-phone plans and the small print seems to get smaller and smaller, with more and more loopholes and complications).

I don't need a lot of minutes (200-300 a month would suffice, I think), but I would like a phone that can be used in Europe (I'm going to Belgium and France this summer, and want to check in on my cats!). I've been told that ATT and Tmobile are the best for international calling.

Anyone with either plan with any suggetions? Opinions? Other choices?

What I don't understand is that most 'coverage' maps I look at make it look like our area doesn't have very good coverage, but pretty much every student has a cell phone, and cell phones go off during class and meetings.


Any recs for phones? I know I want a flip phone rather than a tablet/bar? phone (talking to a microphone that is half-way up my cheek seems odd, and I suspect may be a reason why so many people talk TOO LOUDLY on their phones: I want a phone I can talk in with low-normal voice).

Are there any phones with GPS capabilities that actually work well?

TIA!
 
Kathryn,

Most cell phone companies lock you into long-term contracts, which often end up being rip-offs. I like phones with prepaid minutes so that you don't have to sign a contract and you get exactly what you pay for (you don't get charged huge fines for going over, and you don't lose minutes you don't use every month). I know for sure that T-mobile offers prepaid plans. Since you won't be using the phone much, that would probably be the most economical option. When our &^()P?!@ Sprint contract is up, I'm thinking that's we'll we'll do.

One other cool option that my dad just got is a Skype wifi phone, which works anywhere in the world with access to a wifi network. No contract with this one. You prepay time (and it's really cheap) and you can call other skype numbers for free. This may just be the way of the future, actually.

As for calling internationally, I'm not sure including that in your cell phone plan makes much sense. You'll only be there a little while, but you may end up signing a contract where you have to pay a special fee every month. I'm not totally sure about this though. If I were you, I'd just buy some phone cards at the Tabac. I'm almost 100% sure that would be the cheapest option (maybe not the most convenient though).
 
Thanks for the info, Amy.
I was thinking about a prepaid plan (but hate losing minutes I paid for and didn't use!).


>One other cool option that my dad just got is a Skype wifi
>phone, which works anywhere in the world with access to a wifi
>network. No contract with this one. You prepay time (and
>it's really cheap) and you can call other skype numbers for
>free. This may just be the way of the future, actually.

Sounds cool. I don't know if I'm ready to be part of "the way of the future," LOL! I'm just now dragging into the present.;-)
 
>Thanks for the info, Amy.
>I was thinking about a prepaid plan (but hate losing minutes I
>paid for and didn't use!).

The "but" here got me thinking that you may be confusing a prepaid plan with a contract plan. Sorry if I'm wrong! Anyway, the prepaid plans I referred to would mean you prepay your minutes and use them all. You just buy new minutes when you need them. This way, you never lose minutes, and it's impossible to go over too, because you can only use the phone when you have minutes. Also this way is commitment free, no contract!

>Sounds cool. I don't know if I'm ready to be part of "the way
>of the future," LOL! I'm just now dragging into the
>present.;-)

LOL! I'm actually a little weary of it too. I'm slower than my parents to get with things, but it's cool having parents who are always up on the next new thing! Free tech support!
 
>Anyway, the prepaid plans I referred to would mean you prepay
>your minutes and use them all. You just buy new minutes when
>you need them. This way, you never lose minutes, and it's
>impossible to go over too, because you can only use the phone
>when you have minutes. Also this way is commitment free, no
>contract!

I'll have to look into this more. I was just browsing prepaid cards at Walmart, and the minutes had to be used within a certain amount of time or were lost.
 
>I'll have to look into this more. I was just browsing prepaid
>cards at Walmart, and the minutes had to be used within a
>certain amount of time or were lost.

OK, I get it now. I guess this could be a problem for you since this isn't going to be your main phone. I only have a cell phone (and a skype account) so I'd definitely use the minutes in time.
 
Just a word of caution: I have AT&T wireless, and it is awful. They got the worst consumer ratings in Consumer Reports and in Money Magazine, and for good reason. Bad customer service, horrible reception, constant dropped calls. They weren't bad back when it was Cingular wireless, but now that it's AT&T... blech.

Sorry to butt in, because I see you're debating other things, but I feel a need to warn people about this horrid cell company!!

MC
 
When we were traveling internationally we "rented" (I guess that is what you would call it) a phone just for that. I found it comforting for knowing if there were to be an emergency at home.

This would not be a service I would attach to my everyday cellphone because of $$ and contracts.

I would call the carriers you are considering and explain that you will be in Europe for that time and what servies they have available regardless of what you do for your long-term contract.

Kara
 
I have done search and rescue and I actually disagree with the person who said that AT&T has horrible coverage. AT&T is the only one who worked in most of the placed I found myself. I have much better coverage with AT&T then anyone else with TMobile or Verizon. In fact we were in Big Sur for a race this weekend which is back in the middle of nowhere, and I had complete coverage whereas the folks with Verizon could not get a signal at all. I have also had AT&T for about 5 years now and have never had a customer service issue. We've had weird things happen to phones, and they were always replaced for a minimal fee.
 
Maybe it's because Christine and I are in the same area, but for me, AT&T is also the best I've ever tried--and I've tried them all, except for Sprint (which I refuse to try, since I've yet to meet one person who liked it ;)).

And like Christine, I've had the best customer service with them than I've had with anyone else. Granted, everyone else was REALLY bad, so that may not be saying much, but still... ;)
 
I used AT&T the entire time I was in London a few weeks ago and it worked great--cost me A TON, but it did work great :).

However, I second the recommendation for either renting a phone while abroad or getting an unlocked phone and then buying a SIM card while abroad that'll work in that country. Believe it or not, it ends up being cheaper than paying the roaming fees. I had over $100 in roaming fees after a week in London!!
 
I am a T-Mobile user and specifically sought a phone that would work overseas. It worked fine. I talked minimally but texted fairly often, mistakenly thinking that was a cheaper option. Having misunderstood the text plan, it cost me about $450 for a month's worth of texts. ACK!

My service here is fine, but I have noticed when I go on ski trips that my friends with other plans seem to get better on-mountain reception than I do. (One year the phone didn't work at all once we crossed into VT.) That being said, T-Mobile continues to expand their services, and it's gotten *better* -- not great yet but better. Yet in all candor, when my contract expires, I will likely take a peek at the Consumer Reports ratings and other plans available and may switch.

[font face="bradley hand itc" size=+2]~Cathy[/font]

http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee296/runninteach/exercise/th_SnowBunny_tns.jpg
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"Do you want to feel my spatula?" Run, Fat Boy, Run
 
>Sorry to butt in, because I see you're debating other things,
>but I feel a need to warn people about this horrid cell
>company!!

You're not butting in, you're giving me valuable info, since I was considering ATT as well.



I'm now leaning towards a pre-paid plan from Tmobile, but would love to get more feedback.
 
>When we were traveling internationally we "rented" (I guess
>that is what you would call it) a phone just for that. I found
>it comforting for knowing if there were to be an emergency at
>home.

Where did you rent from, and how much did it cost?
 
Since you are looking into it, I would go ahead and look at Sprint as well. I love my Sprint phone and have never had any problems with them. Yes, you have to sign a contract unless you get a prepaid but I thin you have to do that with them all. Just a suggestion that you might want to check them all out.
LD
http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL395/10721112/19111645/307955868.jpg[/IMG]
 
I will have to go on the ATT bandwagon.

We live in a rural area and use our cell phones as our normal phone so we needed something that worked. We had Sprint, no good. We had Verizon, no good. Nextel doesn't work. We went with ATT and have great reception and no dropped calls. The others we couldn't get reception at our house, dropped calls, etc.

Customer service - we haven't had to deal with too much. So I cannot comment on that.

We do have a landline but that mainly is for people to call us. Most of our calls are long distance so we use our cell phones and are able to use the minutes and not be charged for the call. ATT also has the rollover minutes which is nice. We have quite a few minutes rolled over but haven't lost any so far.

Rhonda
 
We have t mobile. We haven't had many issues with them, but the few that we've had have been handled superbly by customer service. I've been very happy. We've had them for 3 1/2 years.

Maggie:)
 
Ihave never had a problem with AT&T in terms of coverage and have found them to be overall headache free. I have had problems with Verizon, both with coverage and snotty customer service.

I have a ton of free minutes, all of which I cannot possibly use and I am tired pf paying $40+ a month for my phone so I'll be checking into the preapaids when my contract is up.
 
I have AT&T and live in a somewhat rural area and have had no coverage problems at all. I drove to Birmingham, AL through rural areas and had good coverage whereas other people on other carriers had problems.

I can't comment on their customer service but I upgraded my phones online and it all went smoothly.
 
>However, I second the recommendation for either renting a
>phone while abroad or getting an unlocked phone and then
>buying a SIM card while abroad that'll work in that country.
>Believe it or not, it ends up being cheaper than paying the
>roaming fees. I had over $100 in roaming fees after a week in
>London!!

My DH travels to Europe several times a year and this is what he uses -- an UNLOCKED phone with a SIM card. He buys his SIM cards from www.maxroam.com and he feels he gets the best prices/service from them. The SIM card he uses is good no matter where you are, in other words, you don't need different cards for different countries. Also, his phone has a local number. I confess I don't have a clue about any of this stuff, but DH is very happy with this system. I've never had trouble calling him, and he always sounds very clear. If you're interested, I can get more info from him.
 
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