Here its the oposite T mobile & Cingular sux....But NEXTEL is awesome, They have tough phones plus the walkie talkie feature which I love, to talk between other Nextel users free...Diferent areas have different signals.....
dont go by others ask around in YOUR AREA!

Thanks to everyone for the valuable feedback. Capt Russ, sorry to hear about your bad experiences w/Cingular.

Ok, after performing cell reception signal strength tests, both INSIDE my house and the surrounding neighborhood, with different friend's phones, and on differing cell provider carriers: Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon, Cingular's cell reception looks to be the strongest, at least in my house, with Cingular, so I went ahead and signed on with them. I got a Nokia 3010 phone with it, but have the option of swapping it for another fancier model or even a different brand with no penalty if done within 30 days. As a longtime Nokia phone enthusiast primarily because I'm most familar with its OS navigation, I'm considering switching (upgrading) to a Nokia 6620, or possibly going to a thin flip phone like the Motorola V3 Razr now. There is also a new Nokia model 6682 due out any day. Do any of you have a decided preference for: 'flip' or 'candybar stick' style phones'? Curious to hear what phones others of you are using and which brand/model are your favorite(s). Feed back appreciated as usual. - Scott

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 09-01-2005).]

Scott,

I was looking for specific features (e.g. PDA capabilities + bluetooth + ...) and at the timey my "candybar" was the only one. Given a choice, I'd go for a flip phone - it provides physical protection for the screen and against accidentally pressing buttons and dialing. Most candybars have a keypad lock, but it is more cumbersome to use.

Regards,
Alex

Just to let you guys know that I was (luckily) able to pull out of my 2 day old contract thru the Cingular Store and get refunded back my complete phone activation fees as well. I was candidly honest with the Cingular Salesman telling him that I'm able to get the exact same phone I want thru 'Amazon.com' for FREE (with rebate), or thru 'Best Buy' at 1/2 the price Cingular charges, and get the exact same Cingular service contract as well.

I've since learned that purchasing a phones with service contract directly thru the cell phone service provider (Cingular (Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc) will typically cost substantially more than going thru a 3rd party (yet authorized by the cell provider) dealer. Apparently, 3rd party dealers make their $ on the commission (paid to them by the cell service provider) for every customer they bring to the provider, in this case Cingular. As a result, 3rd party dealers can offer the same phones offered thru Cingular at a substantially lower (often free) prices, via special rebate incentive deals. Anybody here purchase their cell phone service + cell telephone thru a 3rd party authorized dealer like Best Buy, Costco, or Amazon.Com?

In addition, here are a couple other online dealers. Anyone used or heard of, or recommend any of these?:

Let's Talk

WireFly

Cellular Choices


Thanks in advance again for feedback & recommendations. - Scott


[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 09-01-2005).]