i need a cell phone & service! recommendations? advice?

[weyes]

well, i'm moving to the city of orange (in orange county, of course) and will be living with my favorite of friends, who has a cell. since our computers will be hooked up to cable and he has a cell, getting a land line would be for my use only. since i've wanted to have a cell anyway, i figure i might as well finally get one (yes, i am officially the last person to get a cell phone!).

does anyone have any recommendations as to what carrier i should or should not get? who gets good service in l.a., in orange county? what kinds of plans are the best? what brands of phone are good and bad? i know nothing about all this. help a sista out !

thanks, your friendly owl, moving to a new neighborhood !

[weyes]

seriously, peeps; i need guidance!

[anotherway83]

i use cingular and haven't had any probs with it...but i've met alot of others that have it and don't like it lol...i don't know. shop around

[bobadrinker]

Originally posted by weyes

seriously, peeps; i need guidance!

I'm currently on T-mobile and find it satisfactory. I was previously on AT&T and it was ok. Had Cingular a while back and it was crap! I'm now using the Nokia 3650 - pretty hunky phone with with cool features like cameras and recorders and stuff. Ericsson aslo has comparable phones. I haven't had any droped calls, but now a days my phone shuts off for no apparent reason (maybe cause I dropped it a couple times ) I would recommend you go to a third party retailer instead of the carrier store itself. They usually have better deals in terms of phones and such - I haven't had to pay for my last 3 phones. I know of such stores in Irvine (there are others, I'm sure) Let me know if you need more info...happy phone hunting

p.s. you might want to check your roomie's cell phone reception in the new place. Certain areas are a dead zone for cell phones, for certain carriers. In which case you may be force to install a LAN line

[magellanmax]

Originally posted by weyes

(yes, i am officially the last person to get a cell phone!).

if you were doing ok without one, why would you wanna get this addiction . Great !! Now one more noisy and utterly annoying phone will be thrusted into all our lives. If i was in your shoes, i wouldnt touch a damn cell phone. fuckers dont stop calling you coz they know you have it with ya, charging the damn thing, roaming charges,..etc etc Aaahh, dont get me started on these contraptions

[phobik]

i got a nextel, and from when ive got it, its a good phone. Althought this phone doesnt have camera and all these things o keep u busy, it does it's job in making calls. I have good reception everywhere i go. Although, their plans are quite high, it still has its direct connet-walkie talkie fecture. i like the phone, wouldnt choose anything else but nextel.

[weyes]

thanks, all ! more input is always welcomed, if you have any.

but magellan, having a cell will really be helpful for me. being from the east coast, it's not often that i get to talk to my family, 'cause we're not home at the same times. that doesn't mean, however, that we don't have breaks during the day when we could talk. and when i get lost, it'd be nice to have. when i'm meeting people in crowded places and can't find them for the life of me (it's happened a couple of times), it'd be useful to have a phone instead of finding a pay phone that doesn't work anyway... i've been lucky to be near strangers that were kind enough to let me use their phones, and this has happened more than once! and i am worried that i'll break down on the freeway by myself and have no way to get help (especially in the fast lane).

of course, many years ago, no one had cell phones, and we all survived. but they can be a convenience - you just have to work at it.