New Cell Phone and Wireless Carrier

My Verizon Wireless contract was up recently and instead of renewing my contract, I decided to look for better options and cost savings. While browsing Fatwallet, I read about the Sprint SERO (Sprint Exclusive Referral Offer) plan. SERO, which originally started as a plan for Sprint employees and their family and friends, is ultra-discounted and contained many useful features. For $30 per month, the plan includes 500 anytime minutes, free mobile to mobile, free nights and weekends (starting at 7 p.m.), unlimited Internet, and unlimited texting. This is way better than my old Verizon Wireless plan and is $20 less expensive. I especially like the unlimited Internet and unlimited texting, two features that I did not have on my old plan and phone.

Since I will be getting unlimited Internet and texting, I started to look for a phone that can do both. I originally wanted the HTC Mogul for its touchscreen and slide out QWERTY keyboard, but was turned off by its bulk and the low battery life. I also looked at the HTC Touch, but couldn't stomach using the touchscreen to text message. So I settled on the Motorola Q9c, a thin and svelte smartphone running Windows Mobile, has a physical QWERTY keyboard and with excellent battery life. I also liked the fact that it could be endlessly customized with the thousands of applications for the Windows Mobile platform. It also has a built-in GPS chip. The phone cost $149.99 after rebate.

I've been test driving this plan and phone for nearly a month now, and I'm very happy with the results so far. The signal has been pervasive at most places, with at least two bars. On a recent drive to Vegas, the signal was strong in the middle of the I-15. Internet speeds are fast since the phone is running on the EV-DO Rev 0 network, averaging about 600 - 900 kbps. I've already upgraded the phone to Windows Mobile 6.1, loaded 2 GB worth of music onto the 4 GB miniSDHC card, installed applications that provide me real time GPS position and live traffic, watch and save flash videos (Youtube), watch live and recorded TV on my home PC, catch up on all my RSS news feeds, use the phone as a wireless modem for my laptop, keep up to date with my appointments and tasks, and so on. I can browse the Internet anytime and anywhere and also easily send email and text messages using the physical QWERTY keyboard. It also has excellent call clarity and a loud duplex speakerphone.

If you are nearing the end of your cell phone contract, SERO is worth considering with all the perks that come with it. I had a good run with my LG VX8300 and Verizon Wireless, but it got too expensive for the features that I was paying for. For $32 a month including taxes, it's a deal that cannot be beat. The phone is great too!