Ok maybe a couple of questions... I have a Nextel... only know a few people who have them now...w as thinking / wanting a phone that is more pda/blackberry, but want to set it up so it can do the whole GPS thing (chuanpreza)... My wife and I are on the smae/shared plan for nextel... now to the questions.. 1. who is the best carrier out there with a phone that I want 2. which is a good blackberry 3. do you need the internet option 4. what does it take to run the gps software (like tom tom stuff) saw lukes once and liked it.. gps that is 5. whom gives free texting Now I know there is a lot of phone people on here.. and no I aint after the new apple thingo... I am after teh best pricing combo
I can only answer a few of these questions: The carrier will depend on coverage in your area and features. Usually you have to compromise something to get something (less coverage but cheaper plans, cheaper plans but more expensive add-on packages, etc.). Fortunately, the carriers all have a return policy of at least 2 weeks if not a month to try them out without paying to cancel a contract. Right now I think Verizon has a deal where they cover the minutes if you take it back or something, so you might want to try them first, although the carriers are all very competitive so I wouldn't be surprised if they all have something similar. Personally, I have Verizon and I love them, I know many people that are pleased with them. IMHO I would probably stay away from Cingular (they seem to drop calls more frequently) and Sprint (pathetic customer service). And to answer another question, unless you find a sweet deal from the carrier, you will have to sign up for a Data plan for the features you're looking for. Hope this helps a little.
www.buygpsnow.com for a bluetooth gps device. if you get a laptop, and a phone pda, they can both use it. 150 dollars for gps, vent mount, charging port and software. i have been sticking with sprint. they have the new ppc-6800 which is very nice. their internet is a good price for cellular, which is 15 a month for my syle of phone, 25 if you go with a normal phone with all their wierd addon, but basicly its 15. verizon is a flat 45 a month for internet. sprint has 300txt for 5 dollars i think, and unlimited is just a little bit more. i do shared plan with 500 minutes, but my fam and friends are all on sprint so i never even come close. internet speeds uber nice with sprint with the evdo-rev A in all major cities and lots of smaller (not lacrosse) t-mobile is way behind in this regard, and their phone selection has been poor, but guys i know buy phones from europe to use on t-mobile. little side note, my mother does the exact same thing that I do with no problems, but internet is very handy because you can google an adress to something and then plug it in. navigation software is never real time though with regards to adresses, like the walmart we met at, it didnt know the street went over 8999 so i plugged in 8999 as the address and it got me within a few feet. So, navigation is always something to make sure the address works BEFORE you start driving or it will be stressful in the car. one easy trick is to plug in the nearest intersections. I turn everywhere I go into a microsoft outlook contact because the software can look at those. then you can manage your outlook account and it will be backed up for syncing. I also have the advantage of having an exchange account which i have my phone syncronize to. if my phone were to have a hard reset i would be back up in about 2 minutes. I guess in theory if you have a hotmail account or gmail account the contacts from that could get put into outlook on your phone and then your nav software can use that too. another reason for why these phones are nice in regards to contacts is because then you get to use the address with gps, you can email them from your phone, you can go to their website, and you can call their contact info, like home or work or cell. so managing it from a pc and syncing is pretty nice. major phones for sprint.. the palm treo wv700, its a palm with a bit smaller screen than mine with windows software. my current ppc-6700 which has a keyboard that flips out for typing fast but the rest of the time its a nice screen. and the new 6800 which i should be getting very shortly (hope end of month). they are big, compared to a razor or something, so it takes some getting used to, and omfg dropping it scares ya to death. ive played soccer with mine to keep it from hitting the ground hard. most all the companies, i know sprint, has the 2 year lock you in tight plans. I finished up my 2 years for my current and since work pays for most of the phone ill just skip the 2 year for my new one, but its between 200 and 150 dollars off the phone, which they arent cheap phones, but they are 100 dollars cheaper than when i got mine. another option, if you like the gps and want a pda for organizing and stuff, is to just get a pda, and have the pda do gps, and hold your contacts and stuff. but thats more items, and i used to have a pda, phone, and pager, and with changing pager to txt messages, i was able to get it down to just my phone. hope i helped you a little bit. with all the car stuff you do id be more than willing to help you set it up! example of the gps bundle http://www.buygpsnow.com/iguidance-3-gps-navigation-software-i-blue-edition-2-i-blue-737-32-channel-waas-auto-on-off-for-pocket-pc-pc-and-umpc-dvd-free-arkon-vent-mount-680.aspx
