cellular thought process

I'm super excited that I got my awesome new phone. I did a lot of research and looked into this quite a bit, so I thought I'd outline my thought process in case any of you guys are thinking of making an upgrade.

When this all started, all I knew is that I wanted a phone that connected to the Internet. I wanted to be able to read my friends' blogs and check up on Facebook when Shane was on the computer and I had some time to kill. If I had shut off the computer for the night and realized I had forgotten to send an email, wouldn't it be awesome if I could send a quick message from my cell phone?

Our current phone plan is a joke. We pay $30 a month and have 250 daytime minutes, 1,000 night/weekend minutes, no texting, no way to get our photos off the phone, nada. We even pay roaming charges. How archaic! The plan is for Shane to take the phone I use now as his "emergency phone." Fair enough!

In looking for my upgrade, my first few steps of research were the following:

• I posted a thing on Facebook asking all my friends what they had. How much were their monthly bills? What kind of phones did they have? I had lots of friends suggest checking out Costco/Sam's Club or overstock.com for plans and phones, and I had friends up the ying-yang urge me to cease all research immediately and just go get an iPhone.
  
  
• I went to the mall and made the rounds to all the cell phone stores. I played with some phones and got a salesguy at each one to sweet-talk me. I asked questions about plans, phones, connections, perks.
  
  
• I assessed my needs. What was it I wanted? For me, the key was a low monthly bill. I didn't want to pay too much a month. If that meant spending more up front for a phone or an activation fee, that was OK with me. But I wanted my bill to be low (or lower). I didn't necessarily need to be trendy. For me, an iPhone was trendy, and I wasn't going to get one just for that. I was going to get one if it made the most sense for me. I wanted the Internet, texting, and phone calls (duh). Some of the plans included, or could include, GPS. THAT was also intriguing.
  

So, now some technical stuff. Did you realize that cell phones that have data plans (aka connect to the Internet) are tied into an operating system just like computers are? Blackberrys (Blackberries?) and Palm Pilots are on a Windows-based (Microsoft) operating system. iPhones, obviously, use an Apple-run operating system. There is a new type of phone, what are called Android phones, that run on an Android operating system, developed by Google. The "word on the street" is that these Android phones are the iPhones' biggest competitors.


AT&T has a monopoly on iPhones and the Apple operating system (and they therefore offer no Android phones), but the other major cell phone networks each have their own Android phones, i.e., Google didn't sign an exclusive deal with anyone. The new Droid Eris is on Verizon. T-Mobile has a bunch of them; I have a couple friends with HTC G2 phones, and T-Mobile also offers the HTC MyTouch and the Motorola Cliq. All are Android phones. Sprint only has one or two, including the Samsung Moment, which was just released November 1.

My one friend with a HTC G2 really got me thinking about an Android phone. Her husband has an iPhone and she had witnessed first-hand how the two compare. She said a lot of the applications he would download on the iPhone's "marketplace" generally cost money, but she could get comparable ones in the Android "marketplace" for free. She said her G2 phone ran circles around the iPhone in productivity. She could "multi-task" in ways her hub couldn't. She loved loved loved her Android phone.

Google, huh? I have Gmail. I love Google and all the stuff they are doing. I really started to consider this Android thing... it was trendy, but not too trendy; it was hip and now; it was connected to the Internet; it was a phone I could definitely see myself with.

After doing my research, I developed this spreadsheet:

• Sprint. I found a deal on overstock.com that was a data plan, "Everything Data 450," that came with a free Blackberry phone. The plan includes unlimited mobile to mobile minutes (ANY mobile phone on ANY network!), 450 daytime minutes to other lines, unlimited night/weekend minutes, unlimited texting, unlimited Internet access, and unlimited GPS. I took a print-out of the plan to a Sprint kiosk at the mall and the salesguy there said he'd match "any plan" I could find, and he'd give me a Blackberry for free. He suggested a Blackberry for me. The plan would be $69.99/month with a free phone.
  
  
• T-Mobile. T-Mobile started a new thing lately where their monthly plans are at rock bottom prices and are not under contract, but in exchange, you pay full price for your phone -- no free phones, no cheap phones with mail-in rebates, etc. The Talk+Text+Web plan I wanted included 500 daytime minutes, free T-mobile to T-Mobile minutes anytime, unlimited nights/weekends, unlimited texting, and unlimited Internet access (including Google maps, but no GPS). The plan would be $59.99/month with a $400 Motorola Cliq or HTC MyTouch -- both Android phones.
  
  
• AT&T. The AT&T guy listened to me telling him what I wanted and immediately started hard-selling the iPhone. OK, I'll listen. Since we are currently on AT&T we would upgrade our plan to a "family plan." Me and Shane would share 700 anytime minutes (that would roll over) and unlimited night/weekend minutes, we'd share 200 text messages, and I'd have unlimited data (and no GPS -- it was extra). Plus, remember, a lot of the "applications" I'd download (including GPS) would 1) cost money to download, and 2) sometimes cost money for each month I used them, adding to my monthly plan. I was skeptical about that. This plan would be $105 per month, with a $199 16GB iPhone -- and remember, this would include Shane.
  
  
• AT&T x2. I looked into it some more and got a little mad the guy was forcing me into an iPhone. I had admired the Samsung Impression, a touch-screen phone with a flip out keyboard, and looked into it. It wasn't an Android phone, but it still could download applications and stuff, I think. I could get (as an individual) 450 anytime minutes, unlimited night/weekend minutes, unlimited Internet, 200 text messages, AND GPS for a discount (when I bundled it with the data package -- something that wasn't included with the iPhone). This plan would be $65 per month, paying $80 for the phone.
  
  
• Verizon. These guys didn't make me any deals at all! They were the only place that didn't treat me like they desperately wanted my business. I guess their network is big enough, they don't need me (which is a shame, since all my family members are on Verizon). I asked the salesgal about the new Droid phone, and she basically flat-out said if I wasn't used to having a power phone (I wasn't) that it was probably "too much phone" for me. She encouraged me to get a Blackberry. The plan was outrageous -- 450 anytime minutes, free Verizon mobile to Verizon mobile minutes (which would be really nice for me), unlimited/night weekend minutes, 500 texting minutes (although texting to Verizon phone was free), and unlimited Internet access (no GPS) for $80! I could add GPS for another $10. And I'd still have to pay for a phone -- a $200 Droid (Android phone), an $80 Samsung Rogue (like the Impression, and not an Android phone), or a $100+ Blackberry.

For a long time, I seriously considered the T-Mobile plan. I was intrigued by the Android phone concept. I wanted a phone with a touch screen that had a flip-out Qwerty keyboard, I wanted to download apps, I wanted to upload music, I wanted Google maps (although I really wanted GPS). Shane was the one that stopped me; he said he really didn't feel comfortable with me driving with Google maps. He's right -- GPS was a much better option. So that took me back to Sprint or maybe AT&T.

But, if I wanted an Android phone, AT&T wouldn't work. I finally decided: you know, just because the salesguy at Sprint offered to give me a Blackberry for free and tried to sell me a Blackberry doesn't mean I have to have a Blackberry. What else could I get?

Then, I found the Samsung Moment. I'm not exactly sure how I found it, but I did. It's an Android phone. It has a touch screen and flip-out horizontal Qwerty keyboard. The plan includes GPS. It cost $180 bucks... but I could live with that, right?


Samsung's Web site is really cool. You can pick from a bunch of their phones and compare them side by side -- I checked out the Impression, Rogue, and Moment. It's so obvious that it's the coolest of all the phones. Just to get some more insight, I googled it to read reviews, and that's when I found it on amazon.com for $80! That one salesguy said he'd match any deal right?? I should bring him this deal!!

While all this was going on I talked to a friend who was on Sprint and she recommended a salesguy she really liked and trusted at a Sprint store nowhere near my house! But, I took her recommendation seriously and called the guy and talked to him about it. I said I wanted this phone, and I wanted him to match the Web price, and I wanted to buy it from him. I could tell he didn't want to match the Web price, but he wanted my business, so he'd offered me $50 off... anyway, he said they were out of stock, none of his "partner stores" had any, it was a "hot phone, flying off the shelves," he had to get one in for me, blah blah blah. OK. I let him string me along for awhile.

Then my birthday came. There was no phone, and I was sad. I took a trip to the mall with Wesley and found the Sprint kiosk I went to originally. I glanced past and on a whim asked the salesguy there if he had any Samsung Moments I could play with (since, up to this point, I'd not even touched one). He did. I said, "but you probably don't have any in stock right?" And he said, "no, of course we do. We have at least 10 of them." What!?! My heart skipped a beat. I asked him if he'd match the amazon.com price. Of course he wouldn't (it's a killer deal, but on amazon.com the phone was out of stock for 5-7 weeks!), but he'd offer me $30 off.

Well, it was like the stars aligned: He'd kinda give me a deal, it was a great plan, he had a phone in stock, he waived the activation fee, it was my birthday -- I went for it. For those following along at home, my grand totals: A $69.99/month plan, and I paid $150 for the phone.

In retrospect, I'm glad I did it. I talked with one of my friends later who has an iPhone and loves it, and we were comparing. See, she's a Mac girl and all her contacts were in her Mac and everything in her life is through her Mac -- so an iPhone makes sense for her. On the other hand, I have put blood, sweat, and tears into my Google mail groups and contacts -- so an Android phone makes sense for me. I'm way glad I did it.

I've barely had time to play with it -- I've been so busy! But I'm excited. We tried the GPS out of the other night (it was awesome!), and I've downloaded a couple fun apps from the Android market so far. Travis, my salesguy, was so impressed when I was telling him about all this research and stuff I did. He said so many people have no idea what's going on. I felt pretty good about that!

So, I feel awesome. I've sent my first text message, I set up my voicemail this morning, and interestingly enough, I've already gotten my first wrong number call -- from a collections agency looking for the last person to have my number, oddly someone also named Angela. Eerie.

Yay! If you need me, I'll be updating Facebook with my new phone.