TMobile or AT&T

Try one, and see if it works for you. Both have 14 day return policies, so you only pay for what you use if it doesn't work and you return it within that timeframe.

AT&T TDMA is solid, AT&T GSM is new and improving. T Mobile uses part of Cingular's GSM network (formerly Pac Bell Wireless).

Good luck, just remember that in all things, you often get what you pay for...

 

Well, the T68i is not the favorite for most people around here. Lots of complaints about the poor RF on it.

Depends on the rate plans, too. But doesn't surprise me that AT&T is not just giving the phone away. It is hard to stay in business when you are paying your customers to use your service. That is also a comment on where each company is sitting right now.

If you are looking for a concrete answer, here is what I would do:

Make sure T Mobile will let you return it if the coverage does not work for you.
Get the T Mobile since it is free
Try it out.
If the coverage works for you where you live, work, and play, keep it.

If it doesn't, either try a different T Mobile phone or go for the AT&T offer.

All carriers have dead spots, just not in same places. Hope this helps!

 

Almost all carriers have great coverage in your area. I would stay away from ATT GSM, ATT TDMA is much better. ATT GSM has been having many problems since it has just started. The Sony Ericsson T68i is a awful phone. Do a search for it on these fourms and you will see how bad it is. If you want a nice inexpensive phone the nokia 3300 series are good. And for better return policy and customer service buy directly from the company, do not buy from an authorized agent/dealer.

 

I switched from AT&T GSM with a T68i to T-Mobile with a Samsung s105. The pros with AT&T GSM is that it is improving very fast (where I live the AT&T GSM signal is much stronger than T-Mobile), and the data part is much better than T-Mobile. The T-Zones with T-Mobile is not that good - I have a hard time connecting to many WAP-enabled web sites.

In terms of phone, the T68i definitely has problems with reception. It's a cool phone in terms of menu, navigation and data, but you can't really use it as a reliable voice phone. The s105 is designed for T-Mobile and is a bit more difficult to use for data (navigation is worse and menu is kinda screwy). But it's a great phone for voice.

The AT&T charter plans are also a bit more advantageous than T-Mobile (if you go over, it 25 cents vs. 40 cents).

By the way, I got my s105 in Chinatown in S.F. for free in January, with a 1-yr contract for 39.99n with T-Mobile.

 

Or you can do what I did and get the S-105 made for T-Mobile's system, buy it unlocked on Ebay, and use it on AT&T's GSM service (just be sure to do a search on this site for the WAP unlock code). Then you get the pro of the better reception that the S-105 gets, the use of AT&T's system, which is better in my area (cannot speak for other areas though), and should I decide later, can use with any GSM provider.

 

Look online for good deals. Amazon usually has *excellent* deals. I got a T720 with T-mobile for free, but there are many other phones to select from, all at pretty good rebates. I have seen other stores match these prices occasionally but overall for price/selection, I give Amazon the thumbs up.

 

Ashay:

I think you should re-consider the T68i, there are many known problems with this phone, including reception and sound quality. A client of our, who is in the cellular industry here in Hawaii, had to return 33% of his T68i stock immediately after recieving inventory. Reason was that his customer's were bringing the phone back to his store immediately after the purchase. It would found that this phone had some type of bug in the program. I don't know if he was just "lucky" or if this is a general problem with this phone.