Did you know I started a company? Yes, I did: Work Industries (site still in progress, or 'beta'). Now Work Industries needs a hot line. So I'm going to break down and get a cell phone.
Here's my dilemma: I need a new phone number (preferably a 604 area code), a device to go with it and a carrier. I've avoided owning a cell phone up to now because I couldn't care less about being reached and I couldn't make sense of the offerings from the big 3: Bell, Rogers and Telus.
My Requirements: I want a phone to send a receive calls. I don't want to browse the web from a 200 pixel screen. I may send 3 text messages in a month. The phone should be slim enough to fit in my pocket. I use a mac and don't want to maintain or enter 2 address books of contacts. I don't want to have to charge my phone every day. I don't want to think about service or how many minutes I have left this month or roaming charges.
So, any suggestions from your personal experiences, dear readers? I'm looking for advice on (1) the cell phone device and (2) which carrier to go with. Please.
Posted by James Sherrett at March 29, 2006 12:01 PMRogers is the devil. They devour your soul every time you press "2" when you call them. I'm not kidding -- I've gone through 4 souls in 18 months.
I'd have said Fido, but Fido got bought. So I have no productive advice as far as a carrier goes.
Posted by: Travis at March 29, 2006 02:34 PMFor better or worse, all telecomms are soul-devouring suckfests--so there are no distinguishing points between them on that score.
I'm on Telus, and the service is good, coverage is good, pricing is fine. Phones are OK.
Main problem/caution with the local telecomm is you can't swap phone in and out of their system (i.e., you're limited to the phones on offer via your local Telus vendor). If I had it to over again, I'd think twice about Telus because of this limitation. However, I'm locked in now because if I ship out I lose my number (and I've invested heavily in scrawling it on bathroom walls province-wide).
To sum up: (i) Telus good, if you like their phones; and (ii) choose a telecomm you can live with for the long-term as changing providers and numbers will be a big pain in your ass, especially if this is going to be your work line.
Posted by: Craig at March 29, 2006 02:49 PMBell & Telus use the same network, so coverage with either will be the same. Rogers network is also quite good, though I left them long ago since their customer service was hellish.
I've been with Telus for going on 5 years now (started as Clearnet, before they were bought), and have had few complaints, other than the fact that all of the providers heavily nickel and dime you for their "extras" (voicemail, call ID, detailed paper bills, etc.).
As for the phone, I'm pretty sure all of the providers offer the motorola razr right now, which is really slim (pocket friendly) and has a decent battery life as far as I know. I'm pretty sure it's also got bluetooth, so you can transfer your address books to and fro.
Posted by: Jen at March 30, 2006 07:14 AM