Yea that is pretty sweet, I'll check out some other providers, thanks for the link.

 

First of all, you need to find out what carriers have great coverage where you are likely to be wanting to use the phone.

Then worry about deals.

Usually on the east coast, Verizon has the very best coverage. ATT/Cingular, and SprintPCS after that, and Nextel behind them.

You'll get the best coverage with Verizon (probably) and the best deals from Cingular and Sprint (probably).

First check w/people who live near you and travel the way you do to find out which providers have great coverage in your part of the world.

IMHO.

 

With the upcoming merger, you can get a cheap Cingular plan and roam for free on the ATT network.

Not using GSM is hardly a down side.

It's Verizon's 1X CDMA system that is allowing the rates to come down. You can get several X more phone calls on a 1X CDMA tower than you can on one of ATT's GSM towers. GSM is really just a version of TDMA, and it's not as efficient (or secure) as CDMA.

Verizon uses mostly 800 MHz CDMA, and 1900 PCS CDMA in a small number of areas. It will also use AMPS.

It doesn't need to be a Verizon-only phone, but the best deals in new phones are Verizon-branded LG.

If you're buying a used phone to use on Verizon and you want to be on the nationwide plans, you'll need to make sure it'll handle both 1900 and 800 CDMA.

If you want to use Express Network (which is free on any plan) then you must make sure you have a 1X phone. Express Network allows you to use your phone as a modem and the minutes come off your plan minutes. If you're doing it during the business day, it comes off your anytime minutes. If you're using it on weekends or at night, it comes off your unlimited off peak minutes.

Express Network is at least the equivalent of a real 64K connection, and if you do a speed test you'll find that you're sometimes connected at up to 144K. Hardly broadband, but not bad for a free service.