Some of you may remember that last spring I was trying to decide if I should buy a PDA or bite the bullet and buy a cell phone that would do the same thing. I finally decided to keep my cell and PDA functions separate and bought a PDA. However, part of my decision was based on my cell plan, which is an old government rate plan ($0.21/minute, no max, no min, no overage, no minimum fee) - which left me with a cell phone bill averaging about $10-15/month.
A couple of weeks ago, however, I got a letter from Cingular stating that that cell phone plan, which is based on an older technology, is being discontinued no later than February 2008 - and in the meantime, Cingular will be instituting a $4.99/month fee on top of the usage charge... which means I have to decide if I really need a cell phone, and if so, what features - on the phone itself, the calling plan, and so on - should should I have. On the one hand, I just bought a Palm... so I don't really want to spend another $300 on a phone that does the same things; on the other hand, it appears to be nearly impossible to get a phone that just, well, makes calls - and then there's the cost of service, as well.
Here are the options I'm considering:
- buy a base level phone with a pay as you go plan, which is (effectively) what I have now
- buy a better phone and a calling plan that provides a certain number of free minutes/long distance per month - but keep my landline
- buy a better phone and a calling plan that provides enough free minutes/long distance to get rid of my landline - either entirely, or dropping most or all of the services. The biggest problem with this one is that my father has moved to Israel, and I have an international calling plan on my current landline that I'm not sure I can beat elsewhere - and even Qwest admitted that, for my needs, I have the best plan they can give me.
Advice and experiences (especially from those who have dropped their landline completely, as that would then provide the money to pay for monthly cell service) would be greatly appreciated.
A couple of weeks ago, however, I got a letter from Cingular stating that that cell phone plan, which is based on an older technology, is being discontinued no later than February 2008 - and in the meantime, Cingular will be instituting a $4.99/month fee on top of the usage charge... which means I have to decide if I really need a cell phone, and if so, what features - on the phone itself, the calling plan, and so on - should should I have. On the one hand, I just bought a Palm... so I don't really want to spend another $300 on a phone that does the same things; on the other hand, it appears to be nearly impossible to get a phone that just, well, makes calls - and then there's the cost of service, as well.
Here are the options I'm considering:
- buy a base level phone with a pay as you go plan, which is (effectively) what I have now
- buy a better phone and a calling plan that provides a certain number of free minutes/long distance per month - but keep my landline
- buy a better phone and a calling plan that provides enough free minutes/long distance to get rid of my landline - either entirely, or dropping most or all of the services. The biggest problem with this one is that my father has moved to Israel, and I have an international calling plan on my current landline that I'm not sure I can beat elsewhere - and even Qwest admitted that, for my needs, I have the best plan they can give me.
Advice and experiences (especially from those who have dropped their landline completely, as that would then provide the money to pay for monthly cell service) would be greatly appreciated.