I use about 2000 mins a month for work and pay about $100 with my regular cell service. I am considering upgrading to a new Smartphone, but do not understand the difference in the calling plans when comparing minutes to megabytes. Sprint, for example, has a 300MB plan for $80, but then they charge .20/min for calls made on cards with voice capability.
Is there a resource which can help me understand how different plans might fit my needs?
I also notice that the new 650 doesn't have wi-fi. Are there other new SmartPhones that do? Is there voice capability over WiFi? I have a wireless laptop for business and have noticed that there are plenty of hot spots in my region. I cannot use the laptop for personal use however, so a smart phone might be the answer if I could understand how the plans work.
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LisaG
Head Honcho
Reged: 07/11/02
Posts: 7887
Loc: Texas
A knowledgeable sales rep at each carrier you're interested in would be your best bet. Plans and data add-ons are confusing, and a good rep can help a lot.
For Sprint, you'd want to get a voice plan that suited your needs. For smartphone such as the Treo 650, they have an unlimited data plan for $15/month. Those other plans that are data-centric and very expensive are geared toward cellular PC cards used in notebooks by business travellers. With all carriers, for smartphones you'd get a voice plan then add on a data plan in a similar fashion, though most charge more than $15/month for unlimited data (generally $20 to $25 except Verizon who charges considerably more).
None of the Palm OS smartphones have WiFi. If you need WiFi, you'd have to consider a Pocket PC phone. You can add an SD WiFi card to most of them, and some, like the iPAQ 6315 reviewed on our site have integrated WiFi.
-------------------- Lisa Gade Editor in Chief, MobileTechReview
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