Buy your own wireless phone, or let the service give one?
 

Coming to that point in my life where I need to determine whether to get a different phone and switch from a GAIT phone over TDMA in Cingular, to GSM with Cingular, or to change services.


I live in Kansas City, so any of you KC people that know about good wireless service here..




Thinking about it, is it better to buy my own phone, (one that people say is good all around) and then get cingular/verizon/etc service and have them put it on that phone? Or to get a phone through the provider?

Usually you can get a good deal on the phone itself (sometimes get it for free) if you get the phone through the provider

Don't get a phone before you decide what provider you want. Not every phone is supported by every provider, and you could end up with a phone you can't use.

Like Redjake said, go through the provider. Figure out what provider you want, what plan will best suit your needs, then see what kind of rebates they offer for various phones. Virtually any phone will be discounted probably at least $100 if you buy it along with a service plan, but some are even higher discounted to the point where you get the phone for free.

the problem is the profiders like to lock the phone so that if you switch, you need a new phone.

honestly get your reviews from folks and then look at amazon. i have seen them having $300 phones for as little as $19.99 OR LESS when you get a new activation from whichever carrier etc. they always have great deals on new activations with phone purchases.

Yes. Amazon is one of the best for both reviews and phones. They have plenty of phones that are free after rebate, and my room mate got one that had a cost of -$80. Meaning he got paid $80 to get the phone. :thumbsup: I got a Samsung S105 for $40 (instead of $300). In addition they can sell you plans based on your area and need.

If you get a phone with a sim chip you just get a new chip every time you switch providers. All the information about the phone is stored on the chip so there's no way they can lock it. The chip also stores all the numbers in your phonebook so you don't have to transfer all your contacts by hand :)

I got my 400 dollar Motorola V400 for 100 bucks through cingular. It is better to buy through the cell provider. Sadly the phones are locked to only that provider. But it is easy to find an unlock code online. And the V400 is great because it works on TDMA and GSM so I get the best of both worlds. I also recommend Cingular, I have been very happy with my service. Verizon has great coverage but their phones suck. And AT&T is getting bought out by Cingular, and AT&T was major crap anyways. Cingular has more extras avaliable then any other compant which is why they stand out to the other GSM providers.

i'm of the opinion to pay as little as possible for any kind of technology.

pick what features you truly need to use as a cellphone. All the rest of it is flash and IMO is just another bling bling way of showing status.