okies...here is the situation....

i am very frustrated with my service provider, my contract is up and i want to upgrade my phone


Audiovox 8500


my cel co. offers a free or reduced rate phone with sign up on a contract...i am willing to sign up for another 2 year contract but they have advised me that since i'm not a "new" customer i have to pay full price for the phone. my response was since i have been with this provider for almost 7 years i get nothing for my loyalty???!!! i don't NEED a new phone but i would like one. i don't want to change my phone number though...i like it...its catchy... i know...its a stupid reason for staying with a shitty company.

so these are my choices if i decide to switch companies...

Motorola Razr


or

Nokia 6101




any advice??

anyone have either of these phones??


or should i just keep the old one??

btw...the monthly bill would be about $10 a month cheaper.

I have a Razr, I LOOOOOVE it, and cell phone companies are legally required to let you port your phone number now, so you don't have to worry about that.

You're right, screw them for not rewarding your loyalty.

BTW, I got a Razr free with a one-year contract (via Amazon, with TMobile). There are good deals out there.

SeattleInvasion said:

what do you mean 'port' your number?? i can bring it with me???

the new company is a 2 year contract and Razr for $49...still don't know...but you love the phone?? does it have true tone ringtones??

lillith said:

Yeah, 'porting' it means that you can transfer it to your new provider.

I love the phone. It's beautiful, it's tough (I've dropped it a ton of times with no issues), and it has bluetooth and MP3 ringtones (I haven't used true tone ringtones, so I don't know what they require, but I'd be surprised if the Razr didn't support them).

Now the Razr comes in pink, so I sorta want a new one.

A lot of places want you to do the 2-year contract. I hate that. But I'd probably do it for a Razr if I had to.

thanks for the info SI.

i think truetone and MP3 tones are one and the same....i think

now i'm all confused....


i was all set to go and buy the Razr today but i have been reading reviews and now i am jaded....

i know SI says they love the phone and i have a friend at work that has it and likes it....but it only has 5MB of storage!!!! thats like 2 pics and a ringtone....WTF!! and no expandable memory....i just don't know anymore....

Just curious, are you currently with Sprint? Because that's basically what they do. The only price break they will give you, is every couple years you are eligible for a $150 rebate off the price of a new phone. But considering most of their phones cost about $300 or more at full price, you still have to spend a bit to upgrade. If your phone is in good shape and they are accepting it for buy back, you can also get another $50 for credit for that as well.

With regards to the Razr, I've read reports that there's two versions of it being offered by cell phone providers, one has a plastic case, and the other one has metal alloy case. If you see one provider charging more than the other for it, you might want to check out which version they are carrying.

Sprint sorta did the same thing with their new A900 phone. The first batch of them that were released around November/December had a mostly metal casing. The newer ones are mostly plastic. The plastic is lighter, but not as durable and scratches easier.

check the contract carefully too, wherever you go. I signed up for Sprint's "Power Vision" plan for an extra $15 a month on top of my bill. It's supposed to give me internet access on my phone, so I can download stuff, watch videos, etc.

I later found out that they were still charging me for all my text messages, per message. I'm thinking, what the hell am I paying the extra $15 a month for if you're gonna charge me far everything I do online anyhow? You go to download a ringer, 2 bucks, download a screen saver 2 bucks. It's a waste of time even going online with these phones because they nickel and dime you for everything.

hey Tom...nah i'm in Canada and with Aliant presently...thinking about switching to Rogers.


Aliant won't give any price break off an upgrade. their answer to me was "well when you originally signed up with us (7 years ago) we gave you a price break on your phone (on an analog 2lb bag phone!!!)."

The memory is an issue with the Razr, but it has bluetooth, so it's easy to transfer photos and ringtones on and off of the phone.

I didn't know there was a plastic version.

The razr and 6101 are both cool phones. I had the 6101 but I broke the beautiful full color caller ID screen !!! My only problem with it was memory. I eventually ended up erasing half the stuff that came on the phone and most of my own downloads and still kept getting, " Not enough memory" errors. It was driving me nuts! That was my only issue.

Motorolas tend to be too buggy for me. They have great features though.

lillith said:

You would think a cell phone provider would give current customers an initiative to stay. I've seen alot of people do this, hop from provider to provider to get a good deal on a new phone, and a better plan.

It's also irritating when cell phone companies offer new plans, but don't bother to extend that same discount to their current customers. You could be paying $50 for 500 minutes, then find out your friend just signed up and got the same minutes for like $30 a month.

Tom said:

Amen. Cell phone companies are generally customer service nightmares.

just visited Rogers again...they told me i cannot 'port' my phone number yet...at this time they are sill working on that feature. forund out the contract is for 3 years and it is the older V3 Razr with limited memory (5MB)


called Aliant again...they said they can "give me a deal" for the V3c Razr (30MB memory) on a 3 year contract for $99.....


rogers has better selection of ringtones/graphics etc...but i don't know how good their service is...but the phone is more limited


aliant doesn't have a very good selection of ringtones, better memory phone and i am familiar with the reception quality (excellent...more towers)



decisions decisions decisions

i just don't think i want to get locked into a 3 year term....

lillith said:

Ok, in the US they have to let you port your number. Apparently that isn't true in Canada.

A 3-year contract is bullshit. These companies annoy me.