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ok.. so I'm tired of T-mobile .. or at least I think I am, but am having a bitch of a time determining how I can accomplish what I desire in a cell setup for the least amount of money. So, here's my prod to the community:
1) I want a PDA/Phone
- I want it to have multiple features; bluetooth seems standard, but things like higher end camera, wifi device of some sort, memory card of some form
- I want it to fucking work! I thought I had a great thing going when I snagged up the HP6315 .. and initially it seemed cool, until I determined that 90% of the functionality I desire doesn't work for shit, causes hard reboots that make me lose all my data, and otherwise functions like a toned down regular pda OR a big overweight flat phone.. and only one or the other.
2) Range
- If I can't get decent signal in my own home, there's probably an alternative.
- I don't need global coverage, but for the 50 states I generally bounce around I would like to take the phone more than 5 feet from a main highway and still get some coverage.
- It's nice to be on a campout and have some signal, not great, but at least not be entirely dead in the water.
3) A Geek Plan
- I make 2-6 minutes worth of voice calls a month .. to check voicemail. This is an instant problem, since most cell plans focus exclusively on how many thousands of minutes you need to listen to your friend chat about your other friends fucking Usher/50cent/etc ringtones.
- I use SMS, although anticipate this could be almost eliminated by migrating entirely to data.
- I want data, unlimited, ssh into your mothers box and spam your dad with viagramail kinda data. I want to be able to use the data on the phone; I also want to be able to connect the phone to my box and use it as a 'modem' device. I don't want restrictions for the latter if possible.
- With all that in mind, I still want the option of making a voice call / sms if needed, whether payper or on tiny plan like they offered half a decade or so ago
- While we're at it, lets add in the ability to add additional phones/lines.. say, one for my wife (to crutch minutes if a plan, or otheriwse add similar features
4) Price
- Let's say for argument purposes that I can afford $70/mo and don't anticipate my desires coming to anything less
- I could not dream of surpassing $140 a month unless I whored myself out like Paris Hilton or <insert pop actress here>. Increasing the monthly bill to this would incur pain from my wife.. and from my ability to balance the budget.. but at this point I'm willing to negotiate, since I'm back to having an $80/mo sms plan.
- I don't care about phone price. If it's all it says it is and does what I want, I'll pay it. $90 crap phone vs $200 mediocre phone that pretends to function vs $600 absolute working device.. I'm at the point of paying the money.
So .. what are your experiences with cell service? This does not have to be entirely tailored to my situation.. hence.. this is the big bad cell thread, if you have a different scenario, post it.. post what you know.. something a little more involved than '<service> sucks/rocks'.
1) I want a PDA/Phone
- I want it to have multiple features; bluetooth seems standard, but things like higher end camera, wifi device of some sort, memory card of some form
- I want it to fucking work! I thought I had a great thing going when I snagged up the HP6315 .. and initially it seemed cool, until I determined that 90% of the functionality I desire doesn't work for shit, causes hard reboots that make me lose all my data, and otherwise functions like a toned down regular pda OR a big overweight flat phone.. and only one or the other.
2) Range
- If I can't get decent signal in my own home, there's probably an alternative.
- I don't need global coverage, but for the 50 states I generally bounce around I would like to take the phone more than 5 feet from a main highway and still get some coverage.
- It's nice to be on a campout and have some signal, not great, but at least not be entirely dead in the water.
3) A Geek Plan
- I make 2-6 minutes worth of voice calls a month .. to check voicemail. This is an instant problem, since most cell plans focus exclusively on how many thousands of minutes you need to listen to your friend chat about your other friends fucking Usher/50cent/etc ringtones.
- I use SMS, although anticipate this could be almost eliminated by migrating entirely to data.
- I want data, unlimited, ssh into your mothers box and spam your dad with viagramail kinda data. I want to be able to use the data on the phone; I also want to be able to connect the phone to my box and use it as a 'modem' device. I don't want restrictions for the latter if possible.
- With all that in mind, I still want the option of making a voice call / sms if needed, whether payper or on tiny plan like they offered half a decade or so ago
- While we're at it, lets add in the ability to add additional phones/lines.. say, one for my wife (to crutch minutes if a plan, or otheriwse add similar features
4) Price
- Let's say for argument purposes that I can afford $70/mo and don't anticipate my desires coming to anything less
- I could not dream of surpassing $140 a month unless I whored myself out like Paris Hilton or <insert pop actress here>. Increasing the monthly bill to this would incur pain from my wife.. and from my ability to balance the budget.. but at this point I'm willing to negotiate, since I'm back to having an $80/mo sms plan.
- I don't care about phone price. If it's all it says it is and does what I want, I'll pay it. $90 crap phone vs $200 mediocre phone that pretends to function vs $600 absolute working device.. I'm at the point of paying the money.
So .. what are your experiences with cell service? This does not have to be entirely tailored to my situation.. hence.. this is the big bad cell thread, if you have a different scenario, post it.. post what you know.. something a little more involved than '<service> sucks/rocks'.
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