Which Plans/Phone do I choose?

The Cingular preferred plan is GSM only... It is a national plan, but it doesn't have the coverage of a Cingular TDMA plan (though it has more minutes as a compromise). I personally like my Cingular (TDMA) service. I look forward to seeing GAIT phones available... then if you can get a Cingular Nation (non-preferred) that does GSM and TDMA and AMPS across the country with no roaming, that may be my next upgrade... If you go with Cingular, I'd reccomend the Motorola... I have had a great experience with all Motorola equipment I've used... And if they pay you to take a Motorola, how can you go wrong? As a fan of flip phones, I would only consider the more expensive models right now. I hope Motorola makes a GAIT version of the v60... That would be a dream come true for me.

From what I've heard, GSM is pretty hit-or-miss... it works great for some and terribly for others, mostly depending on where the phone is used... Voicestream and Cingular NY are GSM. AFAIK, Voicestream only has unlimited weekends, not nights.

Verizon has great coverage. When my Cingular service was getting crummy a few months ago before some local system upgrades, I was seriously considering Verizon.

For national, you might consider Sprint as well, but again... some love it and some hate it... For business travel (major cities) they have a pretty good reputation.

 

Cingular is GSM in the NYC area. By the way since this is your first time buying a cell phone don't buy off the internet. Wait till you come to NYC and just buy a phone from a retail store in the local area or a well know authorized seller.

By the way yes GSM coverage is limited but if you mostly stick to the NYC area Cingular should be fine for you. Check the maps carefully.