need phone advice

brooklynpotter

i currently have verizon for internet, home phone, cell phone.

i'm thinking about dumping home phone for vonage, and dumping cell for blackberry.

am i going to save $$?

vidro3

flexi will tell you that vonage is garbage. so will I. i think swapping verizon for blackberry could save you money, depending on your usage.

I'm with verizon for my cell and have $79.99 a month for 700 or 900 minutes, don't recall, and unlimited texting. plus $15 a month for unlimited megabyte usage. it's definitely more than i want to spend and as soon as my contract is up i am ditching them.

is there some kind of deal with verizon where you get a lower rate for having all three with them?

brooklynpotter

i thought flexi liked vonage.

flexi? flexi?

my verizon cell is $49.99 for 450minutes, plus, unlimited weekend and in-net, and 500 out of network text messages (i can get a blackberry and add blackberry service for @ $30 extra

i really, really need a "real" phone for long conversations, because the cell just can't be easily held between my shoulder and chin, you know?

supreme_ian

hahahah
i confess i was a ADDICT ive been clean and sober now for 5 months.. let me tell you .. you dont want that addiction

(blackberry addiction that is)

you may save some $ but you may also gain that addiction.. it sucks ..

being able to have that access is NOT good.. its like your on call 24/7 NO GOOD

brooklynpotter

but with a regular phone and a cell phone aren't i on call 24/7 anyway?

x-rays

My vonage was totally fine for 5+ years. I am not sure what made it suck lately, but now that I've replaced everything (wireless router, vonage router, phone, cable modem and had TWC replace all of my lines) it's fine. TWC said my wires were all chewed up and they also needed to do a "Plant call" (where they boost the signal in your area for many people).

I'm a total blackberry/iPhone addict. Potter, I can show you both and help you weigh the pros/cons.

I do think that these days you can get away with one phone number unless you do a lot of business from home like I do. I can't be walking around my house to make sure I find a good spot for cell coverage.

brooklynpotter

the "being able to easily cradle the phone" thing is an issue.

carmen

do not buy a blackjack. do not do not do not do not.

carnivore

brooklynpotter wrote: the "being able to easily cradle the phone" thing is an issue.

Just get one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Novophone-Retro-Cell-Phone-Handset/dp/B000GQ0TBS/187-3065192-9081315?SubscriptionId=1KPRY8B84VEVHBB0DH82

brooklynpotter

um, no.

i don't have unlimited minutes. and that phone doesn't take into account that may of the newer phones have one one jack: for either charging or talking (hands free). i've yet to find a phone that actually had the talk-time advertized

dawnc

I've had vonage for about 4-5 years and am very happy with it. Its my land line at home and I have the limited option ( 600 mins ? can't rmember ) which is more than enough and at $20 after tax way cheaper than the others. Can't speak for cell phone service though.

triebensee

she needs laptop advice next. Her lappy crapped out yesterday. Totally won't power on (mac).

brooklynpotter

i got my laptop advice at tekserve:spend $4500plus to fix 3 year old laptop,,, or buy new laptop including data transfer (which couldn't happen via firewire because i killed the logic board), plus tax, $1200

donations appreciated

emmaviz

Carnivore wrote: [quote=brooklynpotter]the "being able to easily cradle the phone" thing is an issue.

Just get one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Novophone-Retro-Cell-Phone-Handset/dp/B000GQ0TBS/187-3065192-9081315?SubscriptionId=1KPRY8B84VEVHBB0DH82

Man, I've wanted one of those things for daily prop comedy use for ages!

whyfi

brooklynpotter wrote: but with a regular phone and a cell phone aren't i on call 24/7 anyway?

No - people usually won't cross that line with a phone call, but have no hesitations in sending an email...

Anyway, I'm going to be waiting on the Palm Pre - in addition to all of the standard 'business' uses like email, calender organization, etc, it looks like it'll have the ability to tether to a computer for use as a high-speed modem, which might be particularly appealing to you if you're going to nix your home internet service.

brooklynpotter

whyfi, as it stands i'm checking email constantly, and i work for myself so it's not as though emails from bosses will be arriving.

need to calculate the situation

french bread

We have Vonage and although it's cheap - $33 including all taxes with free calls to many countries - we often have an echo problem and if your internet is down, well your phone is down. The cool, cool, cool thing though is that once you put your phone number into the box, you keep that number with you for as long as you have your box. So if you borough hop, nobody would ever know!