Jetjok

My first cell phone was a T-Mobile GSM phone, which I bought in Memphis just after I checked out as an MD-11 captain. The purpose of getting that phone was to be able to stay in touch with my wife when I was on an international trip. I worked great. I could be in Beijing, and tell the phone to "call home" and in just a few seconds, I'd be listening to my wife's complaints, all at only 3$ a minute. After a few months of $150 bills, I started to use Skype. Anyway, my problem was that here in Connecticut, the service for T-Mobile was terrible. It would drop calls for no reason, and in my house, there was only one place where I could talk, and if I moved my head even a few inches, the damn thing would drop the call. To make matters worse, it never told you the call had been lost, so you had to figure it out first, then call back and try to figure out where in your conversation you were now up to. I got rid of the T-Mobile service the day the one-year contract ran out. I sold the phone on EBay for $60 to some guy from Greece.

I've been with Verizon ever since and love both the wide service area, as well as the quality of both the phones and the customer service.

PurpleTail

I had Verizon for 8 years, discount ONLY on the primary number call plan (not entire bill), and never had a problem and if I did it was resolved quickly. No complaints.

Now here comes the newest latest iPhone 3G and my Verizon contract expires so I made the switch to AT&T (22% discount on calling AND data plan). BIGGEST mistake ever! I can't figure out if its the iPhone that sucks so bad or the AT&T network but I get at least a DOZEN dropped calls a day, no joke. More bars in more places...yea right.

Best thing to do is talk to other people, ask who their service provider is and their opinion for whatever area you will be using the phone the most.

frozenboxhauler

For what it's worth, AT&T works great in the Anchorage Basin.
Cheers,
fbh

Gunter

Iphone? No, No. New Verizon phone is on the way. First touch screen blackberry.

Touchscreen BlackBerry Storm finally unveiled : Ben Patterson : Yahoo! Tech

Fr8doggie

No Wi-Fi = No Way

hyperone

Question - how much extra are you having to pay a month for any data plan for the iphone? Is it the $30/mo. domestic data plan?
Intl cell phone rates being what they are, I just want to use the iphone as a small laptop when overseas. Do you have to also pay the $25/mo. international data plan if you only want to use the iphone as a wireless computer for skype access, and not as a cell phone?
I've gotten conflicting answers from the Apple Store and AT&T wireless customer service.

Gunter

Do you mean wifi only overseas? In that case you do not need the intl data plan. But you have to change the settings on the phone to not use the cell phone part for data after you land....

Tuck

I was a Verizon customer for years (family still is) then switched to AT&T last year purely because they have better phones and good intl access. In this year I've discovered that Verizon coverage for pure phone is much, much better. I live in S. Cal but travel all over with Fedex and the Navy and without a doubt, Verizon was better everywhere I go. That being said I do like having the GSM phone with intl access when traveling abroad - I rarely use it but it's nice to have in case of emergencies or other.

I have the AT&T Tilt phone - WIFI is free to use wherever you are so long as it's available. I can tether my phone to the laptop (use the internet frequency from the phone on the laptop) for free anywhere I have a signal. I've been in the limo before on a 2 hour drive and tethered up the computer or used it on Navy trips where internet is not free in the hotel.

With all that being said I'll probably stick with AT&T until Verizon greatly improves their intl service and phones. If you're just interested in phone coverage though I'd strongly recommend Verizon. My data plan is $50/month and that covers unlimited internet and text/MMS messags. It also has a great GPS that I use with Google Maps for free. I think the Blackberry data plan may be cheaper.

MX727

If you just want Wi-Fi and don't need the phone part, you should look into the iPod Touch. More expensive initially, considering it doesn't do quite as much as the iPhone, but much cheaper in the long run without the data plan.

Ipod Touch Tricks

Also, everyone that has an iPhone or Touch needs to research jailbreaking it. Easy to do, reversible and it opens up access to a wealth of programs and customability.

iPhone News & Review Blog Archive Why Jailbreak iPhone

iPhone News & Review Blog Archive Quick Pwn GUI Guide

hyperone

No, I want the phone for use domestically, I just normally don't need/want a cell phone overseas. It would be nice to be able to have it available in an emergency, though.
So, I want the full up phone with AT&T voice, data and WIFI capability domestically, but am only looking for WIFI overseas.