I know more about this than I care to admit, so I’ll try to respond without getting into too much minutiae/details. If i miss anything or confuse you, feel free to e-mail and I’ll try again…
First the small piece:
Direct Connect minutes are minutes when you’re connected to another Nextel phone user in your local area. The call travels basically directly between the two phones of the people on the call without riding over the network, so it’s not really using up any network resources and doesn’t therefore cost Nextel anything, really, so they offer this to customers for free.
It’s a vestige of their 2-way radio (SMR) heritage.
A lot of companies use this feature when they have a lot of employees in a local area (construction, delivery, etc.) so the employees can talk to each other without incurring per-minute charges. It’s signalled by that bee-bee-beep sound you might hear “cell” phones emitting.
OK, the bigger question: Is this a good deal?
People ask me this a lot because I’m in the biz. I always answer that the best company and plan is dependent on how and how much you’re going to use the phone. You’d probably jsut like an answer like “yes” or “no”, but I’m afraid it’s not that simple, so here goes…
If it’s mostly for local calls (either in or out) or of you don’t travel much, then a plan with lots of local minutes is better and it’s not too important to have free LD. IF you travel a lot (so you’re out of your "local calling area a lot) or if you will make a lot of LD calls, then “free” nationwide LD is agood thing. (It’s not “free”, it’s just that LD minutes are charged/accrued the same way as local minutes.) If it’s for business, then free nights and weekends aren’t that bit a deal - although if it’s mostly for social calling, this might be a selling point.
As to the other features offered:
Never pay for incoming calls - this sounds good, especially since the telemarketers are going to start reaching into cell phones in the future (you heard it here first, folks) AND this way you wont feel inhibited in giving out your cell number.
No roaming fee - a good thing IF you travel a fair amount.
One second rounding - a good thing.
Multi-tasking (with ease!) - HUH? Needs more of an explanation for me to elaborate
Wireless web service - will you use this? if not, is it worth paying for and you are paying for it, even if it’s “included”).
i550plus phones @ 50% off (49.99) - some services/plans offer free phones when you sign up (usually commit to 12 or 24 months with an early cancellation fee of about $250). BTW, whats the term of the contract for this offer? How many months do you have to agree to be a customer?
Outgoing minutes - 500 mo. That’s 16 minutes a day. Good if its only for occaisional use. Not good enough if yo’re going to be using it a lot every day. And you will start using it a lot more once you have it for a while.
Nationwide incoming calls - free - Is this different from the “never pay for incoming calls”? I think not.
caller ID -free - Nice, so you can decide if you want to answer. Most services include this, though, so it’s not a big deal.
voice mail -free - same answer as for Caller ID
Nextel direct connect minutes (whatever those are) - unlimited - again, whether this is a good deal depends on how you’ll be using the phone and whom you’ll be talking with/to. See discussion above.
Nationwide LD calls - free. Again, see discussion above.
Having said all this, I think the biggest factor in choosing one “cellular” (actually the correct word is “mobile”) service over another is COVERAGE. Do they provide service to the areas where you will be most of the time? They all SAY they cover the whole area, but in reality they don’t - there are always pockets of places where their signal doesn’t (yet) reach and in those places, you won’t be able to make or receive calls. And every company’s coverage is slightly different because each has its “cell towers” in different places. (This is a simplified explanation - doesn’t account fr capacity issues - but I believe it suffices for your purposes.)
So how do you know if Nextel really covers your area - well you won’t until you have the phone and use it for a while, which is why I say one of the most important features is a 30-day money back/cancellation guarantee. That way, if it turns out it’s not working for you in the places you spend your time, you’re not committed to pay them for 12/24 months.
So, all this has not really been an answer for you, but perhaps can help you understand your decision criteria and evaluate this offer vs. others you will find. Hope it helps.
[sub][Wow, that was a lot more than I even intended to write!]