Thinking about getting a cell phone...

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[[BDS] soko]

Just after I made the above post, I found this enlightening article of ars.  I was gun-shy about Sprint, but I just might wait until summer for the EVO 4G (not that 4G is in CA, but the EVO does look sweet), but in the meant time play with a pay-as-you-go phone.  Price is a big factor as well, though.
Sprint's unlimited voice/sms/data plan goes for 100/mo.  A comparable Verizon voice/sms plan is 90/month, but the data plans are tiered - older, less sophisticated phones use the 10/mo plan, newer smartphones require a 30/mo plan, so that's 120/mo to run an Android-based phone with unlimited voice/sms.  Over the course of a 2-year contract, that's almost $500 saved by using Sprint...

I don't seem to hear good stuff about AT&T, or T-Mobile for that matter.  A lot of people I know love their iPhone, but dislike their coverage.  T-Mobile has always been spotty, but they are the cheapest 2-year plan out there for a smart phone  But most people I talk to who have Verizon seem to like them.  I don't seem to know many people on sprint, so I dunno how reliable they are up here, but yeah, we'll see.

Honestly I think Sprint is pretty good. I have never had a dropped call or anything wrong with the Sprint service, although I think the phone selection is pretty limited. No idea how Sprint runs in Nor Cal but you should talk to Romeo as he works at a Sprint store. He could probably help you some

[[BDS] Romeo]

SPRINT... TMO... AND AT&T... 

[[BDS] Morgo_mpx]

dont you guys have cap plans? i pay 29$ per month and i get 150$ worth of calls,texts, etc... and i get my LG renoir for free. When the iphone 4g comes out eventually im gonna upgrade mt plan and get that but for now this is good enough and i use my phone all the time and i never go over the cap.

[[BDS] Kagenin]

Most carriers here have capped plans as well - Verizon, for example, has two tiered voice/sms plans aside from their unlimited plan.  One is 450 daytime minutes per month for $60/mo, the other is 900 minutes for $80/mo (the second one lets you choose 5 friends who you can call for free and the minutes you talk to them don't count against your cap).

Still pretty pricey, though.  I'd imagine most of my calls with clients will probably be during the daytime, so I'm apprehensive with the capped plans.

I also think it's worth noting that Android-based phones have outsold the iPhone in Q1 2010.  Sure, there's more of them on more carriers than just AT&T, so increased access certainly isn't helping.  Last time I checked, the iPhone app store has literally hundreds of thousands of apps, but in the short time that Android has been around, it already has 20,000+ apps.  Plus, looking at the SDKs, I'm thinking that Android might be easier to program for (and easier to publish your apps, too).  I think Android has the momentum right now.

Plus, after Apple had the police raid Gizmodo's offices and editor's houses, I don't want to support them with anything.

[[BDS] Kagenin]

Oh, and it's also worth noting that most carriers will make you take an Unlimited plan if you want them to subsidize the cost of your phone (ie, you get your phone for free, or at least at a big discount).  The EVO 4G will probably be a 500$ phone like the Nexus One, but Sprint will probably sell it for 200$ with a 2-year contract on an unlimited plan.