COMPARE CELLPHONES and PLANS!!!!!

After I read all the posts in the "So This is Your First Smartphone" Subject (Mystery Shopping Discussion), I realized that there are a number of people who might be interested in getting and using a "smartphone" for shops, but are not familiar with phones, plans, and carriers.

I was recently a smartphone novice, too, and I found comparing phones, plans and carriers to be daunting. Therefore, I have provided a bit of information and a few tips that helped me. Today, I cannot imagine doing mystery shops without my trusty phone, note taking software, and "QuickOffice,"(the smartphone version of MS Word & other MSOffice software.)

I surely hope this helps at least a few! Good Luck!
Teri


I. IF YOU PLAN TO GET A SMARTPHONE:

PLEASE do not pay for the phone. AT&T has several smart phones that are FREE. Of course, you have to agree to the 2 year contract, but many people do that anyway.

TODAY at the ATT site, I found these prices for a 2-year contract:

Apple iPhone 4 with 8GB = $0.99

LG Escape - $0.99
Morotola Atrix HD = $49.99
Pantech Pocket = $FREE
Pantect Burst = $0.01
Samsung Galaxy Exhilarate = $0.99
Samsung Galaxy Express = $0.99
Samsung Galaxy Note = $0.99
Sharp FX Plus = $FREE



II. COMPARE CELLPHONE CARRIERS AND PLANS

There are a few great sites that COMPARE CELLPHONE PLANS Try these:

1. [www.myrateplan.com] ~ Scroll to about mid-page & click "Compare Rate Plans." In the grey box, choose individual or family plan, enter zipcode, & if desired, enter amount of your monthly bill.

2. [www.cnet.com]
"True cost of a smartphone: Price plan comparison" CNET editors compare smartphone data plans offered by different carriers.
CNET is a very helpful website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics globally. I've used the information from several of their reviews and found the information to be reliable and helpful.

3. [cell-phone-providers-review.toptenreviews.com]
You can't miss the colorful bar graph on this site's opening page. Entitled "2013 BEST CELL PHONE PROVIDER COMPARISONS AND REVIEWS," the graph compares 10 carriers using a 1 - 10 rating scale. Six topics are rated for each carrier. Topics are: PLANS, COVERAGE, PHONES/FEATURES, FEES, HELP & SUPPORT, and OVERALL RATING. Each topic is color coded, and all topics are combined into one "bar" for each company in the "Overall Rating" topic.

By paying full price for my phone, I pay $19/month (plus tax) for unlimited minutes for domestic calls, unlimited texts, and unlimited data. Calls to Canada are considered to be domestic calls and therefore free.

I discovered that I could break my contract with Sprint and buy new phones for my husband and I while still saving like 1500$ over the course of 20 months by switching to a different carrier that had no contract. Signing a contract usually costs you more money in the end. It's important to do the math for the the life of the contract. Signing a contract will get you out the door for less money, but they'll make up for it in the end.

BusyBee, who has unlimited everything for $19? I'm paying Straight Talk $45 and I thought that was a great deal.

If you have straight talk, we're probably using different versions of the same phone, the Motorola Defy. I'm with Republic Wireless. The reason why they can do it so cheap and without a contract is because they use wi-fi when it is available (i.e. open wi-fi like at Starbucks and McD's or you have the password). It doesn't cost RW when you use wi-fi.

When wi-fi is not available or the signal is not good enough for phone calls, RW uses Sprint and roaming partners like Verizon Wireless. It costs RW when you use Sprint and other cell towers because RW has to pay the wireless companies.

Check them out on their FB page or at www.republicwireless.com. If you decide to try them out, let me know. I can give you a referral code that will give us both a $19 credit. Even if you don't use my code, I highly recommend them.

There's a 30-day money back guarantee testing period. If you decide RW is not for you, all you risk is the shipping ($10 IIRC).

I pay straight talk automatically every 90 days for 134.00. This is for unlimited everything. I just bought a Galaxy Proclaim with all the attachments for $149.00. I am still getting used to it as I've never had one before and it's seems doable.

My phone bill last month was $.04. Yes you read that correctly. My phone bill was four cents. It's not unlimited, and I can't pull that off every month, but my hubby works for a cell phone company. He gets a credit towards the bill every month, and last month, we used very little data and talk so he was able to drop the plans down. I need to start using AIM instead of texting him and we can keep the data down every month! We text way too much!

::bowing down to jschilz:: =)

My next door neighbor retired from AT&T. She told me part of her retirement benefits was very cheap AT&T services, such as her cellular and land line costs.