Cell phones (canada) (1 Viewer)

[Andrew S]

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice for a student who wishes to purchase a cell phone. Every option seems so expensive, especially for a student who just wants to be able to keep in touch and be reachable. (I always miss out on stuff because the phone is busy, or something...)

Around here, my three options are Rogers AT&T, Telus Mobility, and Bell.

 

[NickSo]

check out studentphonestore.com

Im not sure if they do the same deals in ontario, but they do have good deals from what i've seen...

 

[Shane Bos]

I use Roger's AT&T and I receive excellent service. However a better place for this question may be at Howard Forums

 

[Tony Whalen]

Yah... head over to the Howard forums for cell phone discussion. There are forums (fori?) for every different service provider.

Personally, I'm on Telus Mobility, and have been for years. About 4 years ago, I *was* on Rogers. They sucked. Both in coverage and in customer-service. I've been very happy with Telus. However, I'm in Alberta. Coverage may differ in your area.

As for cheap phones, just get a pay-as-you-go plan. That way you just pay for talk time you can afford.

 

[KerryK]

I'm on Telus in Toronto and I'm happy. I used to be with Fido and when I moved I couldn't get any reception in a 3rd floor apartment right downtown! I've been with Telus ever since with no problems.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Rogers had a $69 refub Motorola C333 phone that you could hook up to their pay as you go plan. That's we're using now and its nice b.c there's no commitments and rates are now 35 cents during the day and 5 cents at night and weekends which is when we use it anyway.

 

[Mark Shannon]

My family currently owns 4 cell phones. Two from Bell Canada, two from Rogers. None of them are under publicly available service plans though. The two Rogers phones are under a plan that my father's company offers, and the Bell ones are from my mother's company. I would try looking at your parent's place of business, to see if they offer any significantly cheaper plans.

 

[Andrew S]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.. I'll take a look at those other forums.
Andrew

 

[Shane Bos]

Yeah my Roger's Plan is also a business plan. However I don't understand why people think Roger's coverage is lacking. I get just as good if not better reception (especially clarity) than my friends with Telus. This is an observation in a vast difference of areas from the Rockies to West Edmonton mall.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Really Shane? With Rogers, I had all sorts of drop-outs in certain areas in Calgary, as well as on the drive out to Banff. Terrible. Perhaps it was my handset at the time? Regardless, I found their customer-service to be laughable, so I moved to Telus.

No drop-outs...great service... no worries.

 

[Max Leung]

Some general advice:

Don't get a camera phone (ah, you mentioned you didn't want to...but this is for those who do...) - they are being banned left and right all over the place. It's not worth the hassle. The picture quality will be extremely poor. Also, at least with Telus, the phone company will not allow you to turn off the shutter noise nor can you adjust its volume. And the novelty will wear off quickly...at least most people on www.howardforums.com with a camera phone seem to think so anyways.

Lurk around www.howardforums.com...they have discussion forums for the different cell phone providers in Canada and the US. It will give you a good idea of what service and area coverage is like and what phones and special deals are available. You will also get great tips on how to (legally) customize your phone without getting gouged by the provider...$1.50 for a ringtone is crazy, so on the good advice from the forums, I ordered a cheap data cable and should have the ability to add my own wallpapers, ringtones, and games. I can even check the tx and rx RF quality by entering my phone's debug screen!

Also be sure to research the phones you are interested in...not all phones are created equal. Some will have major software issues, some will have great reception, some will have good audio quality, etc.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Max, did you get your data cable yet? How easy is it to add rings and such?