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Michael Lemm asked:


Before you run right out and buy the first cell phone you see …. get yourself an education first. Make sure you ARE getting the best deal.

For sake of discussion … let’s say you’re getting a new cell phone, and have already decided to get Verizon. You’ve settled on getting a BlackBerry, probably the Curve, so you will be needing a data package, etc.

 

The question is …. what is the best way to get a plan and phone? Online? The Store? Costco?

A better question is … what’s right for YOU.

 

If you are looking for the best price on the device, then online is the way to go. You can certainly buy from the Verizon site, but also have a look at Wirefly, as these places offer about the lowest equipment prices I’ve seen. Most of the time the phone and even some accessories are free.

One word of caution, though. When you shop from an agent (any company besides the carrier), read the terms carefully. There are sometimes restrictions on lowering your plan within the first six months, with significant penalties if you do. However, the easy way around this is, when you initially sign up, get the cheapest plan you can, within reason. Then, if that doesn’t meet your needs within the first few weeks to a month, move up to the next one. You’ll incur no penalty this way. Also, read the terms related to canceling your service before your contract ends. You will owe the carrier an Early Termination Fee (ETF), but you may also owe one to the dealer you purchased the phone from. This isn’t always the case, but just be aware of it. The items I’ve mentioned in this paragraph can apply anywhere other than the carrier’s Web site, stores, or telesales. You can encounter this at any third-party agent, so if you have any doubts, ask questions and read everything you’re given.

And I have to mention rebates. You’re going to encounter them all over the place. If you plan on making that a big part of your buying decision, you need to understand how tricky they can be. I’ve seen terms that state that you have to wait six months before you can file the paperwork, and you only have a one-month window to do it, or the rebate is void. These things sometimes appear designed to cause you to make a mistake and not be able to redeem them, so be warned.

You may consider looking at other carriers too….other than Verizon. So if you look at other options, and still like Verizon, nothing wrong with that. However, if you haven’t, then you should consider all your options. For example, AT&T offers about the same coverage as Verizon in many areas, but their 3G footprint is much smaller right now. However, they use GSM. So their devices work much better overseas, since GSM is the dominant wireless standard around the world. Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, and some local and regional carriers use CDMA, which works well in the U.S. and Canada but not so well (or not at all) in other countries. There are some CDMA devices that also have GSM for international roaming, but they are limited. If international usage is an issue I’d suggest looking into OneSim. 

As for Sprint and T-Mobile, my friend had Sprint back in 2001 and 2002 and found their network to be quite weak. Especially inside buildings, with enough dropped calls to almost drive him insane. That may have changed …. but they aren’t hitting any high marks in customer service right now, and my understanding is that they’re bleeding customers. There’s virtually no chance they’ll cease operations, but they seem to be in a state of disarray. So, unless you need a really cheap data plan, then I see no reason to choose them. T-Mobile seems to be a good carrier overall, but they don’t have much in the way of 3G service. And because of the frequency that their 3G network uses, only a few devices can access it. However, like AT&T, they use GSM, so your device will work well overseas.

One last thing. I’ve mentioned 3G a lot. Having it is very useful if you are going to be using lots of data, such as getting maps and transferring lots of files, but it really isn’t as critical if you only plan to check the occasional e-mail.

With everything I’ve just said …. I suggest finding a cell phone online. To make this as easy as possible use the resources for cell phone comparison and cheap cell phone deals available through Broadband Nation.

Richard Russell asked:


Some cell phones are designed to use a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card, or Memory Chip that stores subscriber data. The SIM card is issued by a carrier and provides cell service by activating any phone into which it is placed into. A locked phone, however, will only recognize a SIM card from a particular carrier. If the cell phone is unlocked, it will recognize a SIM card from any carrier. The “lock” is a software setting that keeps the cell phone “locked” to one carrier.

In areas like the U.S.A. where carriers offer free or discounted phones with cell plans, the phones are commonly locked so that they will not work with other carriers. Carriers claim this is necessary to cover the cost of the phones but I do not believe this is the case since you have to sign a contact in order to receive a free or discounted cell phone from carriers in the first place.

From the viewpoint of the customer, carriers locking phones and using proprietary settings defeats many of the benefits of handsets that use SIM cards. Ideally phones should be left unlocked or at least unlocked after the initial contract expires.

One way to get an unlocked phone without proprietary settings is to buy it new from a third party vendor in its original, unlocked state. The upside is that the price is commonly close to 60% of retail. Some consumers might find it easy to do this because they can upgrade whenever they like. The other advantage is that the third party unlocked phones work equally well with any carrier that uses SIM cards for their service.

Unlocked cell phones are in such high demand that third party companies will unlock your cell phone for a price. This does not mean the phone will always work normally, as proprietary you carriers settings might remain. There are also instructions on hacking to unlock many brands of phones, but a phone that is hacked or improperly unlocked can be rendered unusable.

Carriers that use SIM cards and are on GSM networks include: Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless, and T-Mobile.

I personally believe that a carrier makes enough profit off of service, and they should give you your choice of a free phone when signing a new contract. Unfortunately this is not the case. Most Cell Phone service providers offer you a Low level free phone and small discounts on the Premium Phones. I have found that buying unlocked phones is money saving idea. I myself own a third party unlocked phone that works flawless with Cingular. I paid $75 less than they were asking for it with a new 2 year contract.