Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt (More info?)

I'm in Calgary, but potentially moving to Winnipeg in the future. I'm
currently a TELUS Mike user, and looking to switch away from Mike (which
is on a proprietary iDEN platform)

I want a SIM card as I tend to swap handsets frequently and I don't like
TELUS and Bell's "No foreign handset" rules, nor do I like paying my
carrier money to change handsets whenever I pick up a new phone, so I'm
thinking GSM is the way to go. That means either Rogers or Fido.

From what I understand at this point in the merger the signal
strength/reception should be virtually identical at this point, so is
any strong preference on way or the other? Other then rate plans are
there any significant differences?

I'm a fairly low volume user right now, 100-200 minutes a month. Free
incoming calls would be useful, I'd use a lot more minutes that way, but
it's not a big deal.

Looking at my current phone calls, a whole ton of my calls are between
1:00 and 1:30, so per-second billing would be nice, but again, not a big
deal.

I rarely call customer care, and I have a good speaker phone, so I don't
mind longer hold times (although I do tend to rant about hold times
sometimes

I don't roam outside of Calgary much, but when I do, it's typically to
the US (Texas for work), but roaming isn't a big deal, if it costs more
then $0.25/minute daytime and $0.12/minute E&W then I'll just use a
prepaid cell when I'm in the US (I already have the phone and it's only
$20/3months to keep it active, and the airtime accumulates), so roaming
in the US isn't a big deal.

Ideally I don't want to pay extra when I'm roaming in the US, my g/f is
moving from the US to Winnipeg, I don't want to get raped on airtime
when I'm in Winnipeg, but I take my Vonage phone adapter with me so it's
not a big deal.

--
"I think women and sea men don't mix"
-- Smithers, Simpsons

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt (More info?)

Rogers recently bough the Fido network - so the companies are sort of
the same, but with different names.

Rogers has a great Plan on right now, where you get:

-Free Incoming Calls for life of term
-100 Anytime minutes
-1000 Eve and Weeknd mins
-100 Long distance minutes
-First 6 months unlimted local calling
-Activation fee is waived

Cost - $25 / month

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt (More info?)

Rogers recently bought the Fido network - so the companies are sort of
the same, but with different names.

Rogers has a great plan on right now, where you get:

-Free Incoming Calls for life of term
-100 Anytime minutes
-1000 Eve and Weeknd mins
-100 Long distance minutes
-First 6 months unlimted local calling
-Activation fee is waived

Cost - $25 / month

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt (More info?)

In message <1123685993.455445.133080@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>
"scotA" <scot.mcalpine@gmail.com> wrote:

>Rogers recently bought the Fido network - so the companies are sort of
>the same, but with different names.
>
>Rogers has a great plan on right now, where you get:
>
>-Free Incoming Calls for life of term
>-100 Anytime minutes
>-1000 Eve and Weeknd mins
>-100 Long distance minutes
>-First 6 months unlimted local calling
>-Activation fee is waived
>
>Cost - $25 / month

Per-minute or per-second billing? That looks identical to the Fido
"Unlimited Incoming Calls package", except that Fido is per-second.

Fido also includes "Unlimited incoming instant, picture and text
messages"

FWIW, I couldn't find that plan on Rogers' site

--
I spend a lot of my money on drinks, babes and fast cars.
The rest, I just squander.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

One other consideration is phone selection. As far as I can tell, none
of Fido's phones appeal to me.

My needs for a phone, roughly in order...

-Reception
-Sound quality without a headset
-850is required.
-T9 is almost a requirement, although for the right phone I might be
willing to make an exception, but I'd likely be angry at the phone for
not having something so basic.
-Bluetooth (data and headset required, the ability to load ring tones
and games and whatever would be a nice bonus)
-Wired headset comes in handy, but it's not critical
-Clamshell preferred

I'd use a camera occasionally but I carry a Palm with a camera and a 4MP
digital camera with me most of the time, so the camera isn't critical.

With that in mind, I don't think any of Fido's phones appeal to me. I
picked up a Nokia 6670, but the keypad is way too tiny to be useful.

Part of me is leaning towards eating the cost of a Razr, but I'm curious
if anybody else can suggest any phones that meet my needs.

I'm debating the merits of purchasing a phone from a carrier, vs
purchasing one outright and using it on my carrier of choice, but since
both of the GSM carriers in my area (Fido and Rogers) seem to have plans
I can live with, I think that getting a discount from the carrier is the
way to go.

--
Ah, the miracle mile, where value wears a neon sombrero and there's
not a single church or library to offend the eye.
-- Homer

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

In message <6tRKe.10398$pX4.151081@weber.videotron.net> "Harry Eugene
Ly" <consumers-get-bad-service@big-f*-companies.com> wrote:

>I'm not sure what you mean by T9 but a Treo 650 satisfies all your
>requirements except for the clamshell design. You can also get rid of your
>Palm with camera.

T9 Predictive Text. If I wanted to type "Hello" without it, I'd type
4433555R555666 (Where the "R" is typically the "right" button). With T9
enabled, you'd type 43556.

With a Treo it's less important.

However, I'm not a fan of combining cell phones and PDAs for a couple
reasons:

First, these are the two things I carry with me that I'm likely to need
to use at the same time. I often need to write down an address, or
write down a phone number while I'm on the phone.

Second, if my cell runs out of battery power, I absolutely need my Palm
working so that I can look up a phone number (and use a payphone or
borrow someone's cell), or conversely, if my Palm runs out of power, I
need my phone working (since I can access all of my contacts over the
net from my cell) -- I don't want both to die together.

--
A procrastinator's work is never done.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

Check out the webpage www.cellphones.ca - It has very indepth
information about cellular products in Canada. For $399 you could get
Moto RAZR, which comes with a $100 bluetooth headset.

The plan I mentioning is unadvertised. You must specifically ask for
the "Unlimited Incoming Promotional Plan" at a rogers store, or
customer service.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

In message <j3dLe.57642$pX4.650229@weber.videotron.net> "Harry Eugene
Ly" <consumers-get-bad-service@big-f*-companies.com> wrote:

>Personally, I have a Treo 600 and I'm very happy not having to carry around
>both a cellphone and a PalmOS PDA. The only thing is that I need to charge
>my Treo 600 at least once a day since between the phone calls, the GPRS
>usage, listening to MP3's, and using my PDA, I only have around 50% battery
>strength once I get home after work.While on a phone call, I use my PDA to
>enter dates in the calender, etc. so having it as an all in one device
>doesn't affect me. If I had a Treo650, using my PDA would be easier while on
>a call especially since I would be able to use a bluetooth headset and use
>my PDA more easily.

I don't want to be required to bother with a headset though -- For a
longer call they're definitely worth it, but for a quick "Where do you
want to meet? / The Pickle? / Do you have the address?" type call, it's
too much hassle.

GPRS usage sounds like fun, but that's why god invented Bluetooth (And
why I plan on getting a phone with Bluetooth)

--
So you're a feminist. Isn't that cute.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

In message <1123868672.139518.103620@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
"scotA" <scot.mcalpine@gmail.com> wrote:

>Check out the webpage www.cellphones.ca - It has very indepth
>information about cellular products in Canada. For $399 you could get
>Moto RAZR, which comes with a $100 bluetooth headset.

Any idea where I can get that? $399USD or CDN? Are unlocked RAZR
phones available anywhere "legitimately"? -- I roam in the US, and
wouldn't mind being able to pick up a prepaid GSM SIM while I'm there
rather then paying extortionist roaming rates.

>The plan I mentioning is unadvertised. You must specifically ask for
>the "Unlimited Incoming Promotional Plan" at a rogers store, or
>customer service.

Ah, very good. Makes sense

--
So you're a feminist. Isn't that cute.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

THe $399 price tag is on a 3-year term price only. CDN dollars. To buy
it outright it would be $469.99 CDN. This phones features are it's
coolness factor and that it comes with decent accessories (Bluetooth
headset, case, I believe a car charger)

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

DevilsPGD wrote:

>>
>
>
> That's the phone I was planning on buying when I got up this morning,
> but it only does 900/1800/1900MHz, it doesn't do 850MHz which is what
> Rogers is apparently using in some/many areas.
>

I think this 850 stuff is way overblown. I haven't experienced any
Rogers coverage area yet that is 850 only. Occasionally a dual-band
handset will work better than a 1900 only one, but the difference is
slight. Look for the other features you require first.

Brendan

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

In message <n7aMe.26806$vj.13747@pd7tw1no> Brendan McCullough
<bmccull.nospam@shaw.ca> wrote:

>DevilsPGD wrote:
>
>> That's the phone I was planning on buying when I got up this morning,
>> but it only does 900/1800/1900MHz, it doesn't do 850MHz which is what
>> Rogers is apparently using in some/many areas.
>>
>
>I think this 850 stuff is way overblown. I haven't experienced any
>Rogers coverage area yet that is 850 only. Occasionally a dual-band
>handset will work better than a 1900 only one, but the difference is
>slight. Look for the other features you require first.

Perhaps, but at least some of the time when I'm in the US visiting my
employer I'll be on a 850-only network (or so I've been told by one of
the cell junkies that I work with -- I trust his ability to read his
phone's diagnostic screens)

That, plus the whole reason I'm switching is that I'm sick and tired of
network issues, and I don't want to call Rogers in 2 months after moving
to a new apartment only to be told that if I had a 850 phone, I would
have coverage.

All that being said, the two Rogers phones that interest me are both
Quad-band anyway (and that's not why I was looking at them)

I've settled on the Razr, unless anything about it annoys me once it
arrives.

--
Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

"Brendan McCullough" <bmccull.nospam@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:n7aMe.26806$vj.13747@pd7tw1no...
> DevilsPGD wrote:
>
>>>
>>
>>
>> That's the phone I was planning on buying when I got up this morning,
>> but it only does 900/1800/1900MHz, it doesn't do 850MHz which is what
>> Rogers is apparently using in some/many areas.
>>
>
> I think this 850 stuff is way overblown. I haven't experienced any Rogers
> coverage area yet that is 850 only. Occasionally a dual-band handset will
> work better than a 1900 only one, but the difference is slight. Look for
> the other features you require first.
>
> Brendan

You haven't gone up north have you? I went up to Halliburton a couple of
weeks ago and I had no signal at the cottage with my Euro tri-band Z600 but
my buddy on Rogers with a Nokia with 850Mhz had good coverage. When I came
back I was able to get the Fido CSR ,after he did a lengthy consultation
with the techs, to admit that Rogers used 850 only in rural areas. He did
say something about them looking into a solution for the problem Fido users
without 850 faced but YMMV.

Brian

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

I concur with you about the Haliburton area being 850 friendly...
(The other area that I need 850 for is my house; in a valley near
Merrickville; the only 2 signals that reach there are 850 mhz and analog
bell... go figure...)


"Brian G" <br1anNO@SPAMmail.com> wrote in message
newsMmdneL4rrBq4JzeRVn-iA@rogers.com...
>
>
> "Brendan McCullough" <bmccull.nospam@shaw.ca> wrote in message
> news:n7aMe.26806$vj.13747@pd7tw1no...
>> DevilsPGD wrote:
>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> That's the phone I was planning on buying when I got up this morning,
>>> but it only does 900/1800/1900MHz, it doesn't do 850MHz which is what
>>> Rogers is apparently using in some/many areas.
>>>
>>
>> I think this 850 stuff is way overblown. I haven't experienced any
>> Rogers coverage area yet that is 850 only. Occasionally a dual-band
>> handset will work better than a 1900 only one, but the difference is
>> slight. Look for the other features you require first.
>>
>> Brendan
>
> You haven't gone up north have you? I went up to Halliburton a couple of
> weeks ago and I had no signal at the cottage with my Euro tri-band Z600
> but my buddy on Rogers with a Nokia with 850Mhz had good coverage. When I
> came back I was able to get the Fido CSR ,after he did a lengthy
> consultation with the techs, to admit that Rogers used 850 only in rural
> areas. He did say something about them looking into a solution for the
> problem Fido users without 850 faced but YMMV.
>
> Brian
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

My mistake, the RAZR is $299 is store as well. There is also a sweet
new RAZR BLK coming out. I'm not sure on details. For $200 on a 3 year
you could get a Moto 635i, which is a much more feature rich phone. It
doesn't come with the accesories that the RAZR does, but is a MP3
player (comes with 512MB memory stick!), and has bluetooth, a better
camera than the RAZR, RF is almost as good as the NOKIA 3595 was,
excellent email client, and you can connect to your computer via usb,
and view the data just like an external hard drive.