Newbie to wireless in western Washington needs help

I have shunned cellular phones for a very long time and all of the sudden I find the need for one as I am starting a new business.
Man don't ever go into a cellular phone store and show any interest in a phone...geez are they pushing these things in my neighborhood , their must be at least 30 places to buy a cell phone in my small town.

I am located in Bellingham WA and want to know how the various companies differ and which ones might be better for my needs....what I need is a phone for use around town for mostly local calls but do make some long distance calls inside and outside of state as well.

Thanks

Also I want a phone that is loud without distorting..., which ones are the loudest?

[Rasputin]

Originally posted by: Anonymous I have shunned cellular phones for a very long time and all of the sudden I find the need for one as I am starting a new business. Man don't ever go into a cellular phone store and show any interest in a phone...geez are they pushing these things in my neighborhood , their must be at least 30 places to buy a cell phone in my small town. I am located in Bellingham WA and want to know how the various companies differ and which ones might be better for my needs....what I need is a phone for use around town for mostly local calls but do make some long distance calls inside and outside of state as well. Thanks

I believe the V series Motorolas have good volume w/out the distortion. I have the T720 w/Verizon I am picking up some distortion on the phone. I believe in your neck of the woods, that Verizon, ATT are good companies, followed by T-Mobile/Sprint, then Cingular/Nextel and qWest. Just my opinion though.

[PaulG]

I live near Seattle. I have tried various providers and am a satisfied customer of Verizon. Bottom line for me is can I make and recieve calls in my home area. Verizon is the only one (other than Cingular which cam on line after I started with Verizon) that I found did the job.

[ZaphodB]

Originally posted by: Anonymous I have shunned cellular phones for a very long time and all of the sudden I find the need for one as I am starting a new business. Man don't ever go into a cellular phone store and show any interest in a phone...geez are they pushing these things in my neighborhood , their must be at least 30 places to buy a cell phone in my small town. I am located in Bellingham WA and want to know how the various companies differ and which ones might be better for my needs....what I need is a phone for use around town for mostly local calls but do make some long distance calls inside and outside of state as well. Thanks

Having been recently to Bellingham, I can tell you that Cingular Wireless have good coverage there (they are GSM there, not TDMA). I have also heard that T-Mobile are not too shabby up there either. Just a word of caution, if your business takes you north out of Bellingham, be aware that the border areas are covered by the Canadian GSM provider, not the US provider. If you typically go up near the border it might be worth it to get an AT&T plan that includes Canada.

All carriers have plans which include nationwide long distance. The best thing for you to do is look at their websites for your ZIP code and decide how many minutes you use (if for business only, take the total and divide by 22 to get average minutes per business day) and where you travel to if anywhere.

Verizon and to a lesser extent AT&T have the best rural coverage. Cingular GSM and T-Mobile are mostly cities and the interstates that connect them. I find that GSM service tends to have the clearest and loudest signal, but be aware that they are digital only and if you are stuck in the boonies your phone is just a paperweight. When you are in the boonies (on an 'analog' signal, meaning the original cellular technology) you will notice static if the coverage is weak. All carriers do that.

I think I am going to go with the 3000 local plan with T-Mobile, seems to be the best deal for my needs........now I gotta pick a phone.

Anyone else have T-mobile?..What phone are you using?


Thanks Alot!