cell phone deals

[kimchicowboy]

where's the best place to buy cell phones and sign up for plans? i'm guessing different places (i.e. amazon.com, buy.com, etc) have different promotions. which places have the best promotions in your opinion? what are the best plans available right now?

i prefer something that already gives nationwide roaming. i prefer sprint and verizon, but whatever. thanks! :)

[Jeffbx]

I think Amazon is very good - a large number of their phones are free or you even get money back. I got a Verizon LG 7000 recently for -$25 after 2 rebates - $50 and $150, with only a 1 year contract.

[kimchicowboy]

you know...say that i start wtih one service plan but change to a different one like a month later, do i get penalized? what if i change to a cheaper plan?

[bm47076]

www.wirefly.com is also a good place

[Jeffbx]

you know...say that i start wtih one service plan but change to a different one like a month later, do i get penalized? what if i change to a cheaper plan?

You mean within the same vendor? That's usually OK. So say you sign up with Verizon for the 400 minute plan. You discover you're consistently using 600 minutes per month - they will allow you to change to a higher plan without any hassles, even if you're still in your initial contract period. I'm pretty sure it works backwards, too - but you have to watch how low you go. For example, one of my rebates specifies that I must sign up for at least the $39 plan to qualify for the rebate. So something like that may trip you up.

[bm47076]

i work for cingular, and i know we let you switch plans as often as you want (up or down) in the first half of your contract, in the second half... you have to renew your contract to change. with at&t you can change anytime without renewing. i'm not familiar with verizon.

[kimchicowboy]

thanks for the info guys. buy.com is having a great promo with the motorola V710 right now: it's $150 with $300 in rebates! awesome! i just wanted the nationwide plan for the first month since i'll be traveling around the east coast for a few weeks (needing nation-wide roaming) and then change to a local plan with more minutes for the same price. thanks again!

doh, looks like the deal may be dead now. argg...

[tupacboy]

hey kimchicowboy... pick up a korean newspaper... the v710 is free @ a lot of korean stores....:)

[nojoke007]

sprint is same way...if at any time you change your plan you need to renew for 2 years

[kimchicowboy]

i ended up just going with spring. spring gives me 90 days to change my contract w/o needing an extension. i'm using my old sprint phone, thus waiving any need to have a 2-year contrast for a free phone. :)