I’ve been away for a while and moved back into my apartment yesterday. I have no phone at the moment. I’d like to have a phone number again, but now there are several options for having a phone. So I’m looking for some advice and info.
Here are the alternatives I’m considering:
Standard land line (I make lots of long-distance calls, though, which I find often adds up fast)
High-speed internet access and then getting Vonage or something like that.
A cell phone, no land line.
Which of the above do you have, and how do you like it? What are the advantages and disadvantages, in your experience, of the telephone you have now? How much do you pay per month? Would you recommend what you currently use to someone else (namely, me?)
I have a cell phone with a 1,000 anywhere, anytime minutes per month (T-Mobile), which means I can call long distance all I want and there is no additional fee. I cannot make international calls, though, which created a problem for me a few months ago.
I love the service, as it’s plenty of minutes and I never have to worry about where I’m calling or what time of the day I’m calling (peak or otherwise).
The phone is one of those slider camera phones (Samsung D415), and I like it, but I wish the sound quality was better and I wish it took MUCH better pictures.
I think I paid $199 for the phone and I pay about $50 a month for the service.
I’m in college and live in an apartment. I have a cellphone that I share on a family plan (with my family, back at home). Works alright for me. Free long distance, free nights and weekends, good reception, good enough sound quality.
I have only the Standard Land Line. However, I hardly every use long distance so
high bills are not a problem.
The thing that I like about it and is why I will never give it up is that you still
have phine service during blackouts! Just remeber cable phone severive goes out
with the eletricity. Cell phones … it depends how wide an area the blackout covers. If it’s a larger area your cell local cell phone tower might be affected too.
I love the fact that during the Great Norteatern Blackout of 2003, I sitll had phone
service!
I have a land line for the same reasons EnderWay does. I have family who lives outside the US and I want to make sure that we can communicate. I have an el-cheapo cell phone with an el-cheapo plan (29.99/month through Cingular) because I hate to go places and not be able to make a phone call or have someone reach me in an emergency. I try to use the cell when I make domestic long-distance calls. For international long distance I use 3U Telecom, which I found through this web site. The site was recommended by someone else here. I’ve used 3U for almost a year now and am kicking myself that I didn’t switch the second I read about the web site. In the past year, I’ve paid between $3.75 and $10.01 per month for long distance, which is probably about 1/10th of what I used to pay. It’s wonderful to be able to talk to my best friend in Germany for an hour and not worry about running up the phone bill. You can also register just your cell with this long-distance service (and with others listed on the site, I imagine) and get cheap international rates that way.
You might also see if your local phone company offers an all-you-can-eat plan that covers local and long distance for a flat rate. We pay just over $80 a month for phone, but considering that my family all lives out of state, it’s worth it.
I have just a cell phone (and a cable modem for the internet). I went landline-less in February, and haven’t regretted it.
I have Verizon Wireless: 900 minutes a month for $59.99 (with free nights and weekends), plus $3/month for 100 text messages. I should probably lower my minutes and drop the text message package, but it’s still cheaper than the cheapest plan + land line service.
I’m not worried about the “extended blackout” scenario: I figure the odds of that ever happening are slim to begin with, but if it ever did happen and I found myself needing to call 911 or something I would just ask a neighbor if I could use their phone.
My only concern is that I’m a renter, so when I move I have to be sure that the new place has decent cell reception. But I like the fact that my phone number won’t change!
