She's Finally Getting Rid of the Bag Phone!!!

[lynn71092]

My sister is thinking of FINALLY getting rid of her BAG PHONE!!!
(OK, everyone off the floor who is laughing. Get up and explain to the others what a "bag" phone is.) So she wanted to know if I had heard anything bad about T Mobile. I don't have that service so I told her I would ask the extremely knowledgeable Disboards. They know EVERYTHING!! We'd appreciate any help you can give us with T Mobile or any other good phone deals. :wave:

[momtofour]

I just signed my 16 year old up for TMobile about a month ago. First off, there were some incredible offers on their website for phones. I got her a camera/video flip phone for free with a new activation. The phone is great.The two negatives I've experienced thus far are:

1) Look at the coverage area closely. We were up in Door County Wisconsin trying to make some calls. We had to drive about a 100 miles until we got a signal. They really are not nationwide.

2) My daughter text messages all of the time. (It is almost an addiction!) Unfortunately, her boyfriend has a plan with Nextel. For some reason, he does not receive her messages instantly as he should. Sometimes, there is as much as a 11 hour delay. Nextel blames it on TMobiles servers. Who knows, but this is a BIG problem for her as they used to text message each other as much as 40 to 50 times per day.

Their customer service has been really great. I started out with the basic plan of 60 minutes for $19.99 and upgraded without a problem within a couple of weeks. Best of luck!!!

[AMClvsMKY]

We have had T Mobile for just over 2 years now. I have had no problems with them. When my father in law dies last year they gave us quite a few extra minutes to use for that time with no additional charge.

[LovePug]

I don't know anything about TMobile but, THERE ARE STILL BAG PHONES OUT THERE????!!!!! :faint:

[poohj80]

DH and I both have cell phones but keep different carriers because we travel a lot and usually if one of us does not get a signal, then the other will. DH has T-Mobile and I have Cingular. I get a better signal nationwide (even out in the middle of nowhere Wyoming) than he does. So, if you are looking for the best nationwide coverage, I would have to recommend Cingular over T-Mobile.

[HayGan]

Wow! I didn't even know that anyone would provide service to a bag phone anymore.

We have Verizon right now and we are extremely happy with them. We had AT&T (customer service) and Sprint (loss of signal and coverage areas) in the past and were unhappy with each of them. The only other company that we had was Cricket and we had no problems with them.

[welovedis]

Those old bag phones are selling pretty decently on eBay!

[daisylove]

I apparently am a goof. What is a Bag phone?

[DMRick]

I still have mine, but I don't have it up and running right now. I hate to sell it on eBay, because I'm waiting until they'll let you have two phones on the same number hooked up for cheap LOL! The bag phone is a higher wattage and it has never shown that I am out of reach. It's just analog, so I can't hook my laptop to it, and it's big, like a small briefcase, but I loved it. We camp in the mountains a lot and I was the only one at some of the campgrounds with a signal..and a nice clear one at that. Verizon still has some, but they keep them in thier basement LOL.

[luv2nascar]

wowsers a bag phone now I really am back in the 80's

[westjones]

Darn! I threw mine away about 10 years ago!

I don't know how to explain what it is to someone who hasn't seen it, but it is a very old version of a mobile phone. Mine plugged in the cigarette lighter in my car. The phone itself was in a 'bag' about the size of a purse or brief case and I would plug it in when I was driving home from work late at night (I had an hour to drive back then).

DJ

[goin2disneyagain]

I had T Mobile when it was Powertel and they had great service. Don't know if that has changed or not. How long has she had a bag phone? I haven't seen one of those in several years.

[Savin4Disney]

I have t-mobile and love them. Been with them for about 3 years now. I do not have issues with dropped calls or no signal. I even live in a cement building an use my phone in the house.

Even when I had issues with my phone or service they helped right away. Even credited me when it took longer to fix.

[Cellthing]

It is probably a good thing to get rid of. Analog service will be completely phased out in 2007 by the major carriers. The coverage that you get from a digital phone, whether Cingular, or Verizon will be much better than the bag phone ever thought about getting. T-Mobile and Sprint are real good about saying "National" but in truth, they cover the major metro areas, and major highways.
I would recommend going to a carrier that offers a 30 day buyers remorse plan, and testing the phone in the places you use it more often. Buying a cheap phone, or cheap plan usually means you are getting something cheap. It all goes by the old adage "You get what you pay for".

:smooth:

[DMRick]

Analog service will be completely phased out in 2007
***********

I hate to see that happen. It's all we can get up in the mountains :(

[Buttercup26]

I have T-Mobile and in the western US and Canada I have better signal/service than just about anyone else I know. I travel a lot and my phone always has better service than any of my companions. Even in desolate areas in Eastern Washington/Oregon and Montana when no one else could get a good signal I can.

I have never had any problems with them at all.

[crazymomof4]

I apparently am a goof. What is a Bag phone?

GOOF #2 here. What are they?

[ILPHIL]

I've had T-Mobile for almost 2 yrs and am very pleased with them. Despite all the commercials, NO mobile phone company has coverage EVERYWHERE.
I would suggest calling T-Mobile customer service (they are excellent) and telling them where you plan on using the phone. They have a very good system in place for describing what kind of signal to expect. Yes, they are mostly in major population centers and along main highways. But, I was able to get thru when we had a flat tire in the desert 20 miles from the nearest town while on vacation last year.
Not ever having to worry about roaming charges is a big plus for me too.
Also, they are constantly expanding. This month they put up a new cell tower about a mile from my house. Seriously thinking about telling SBC to go bye bye.

[poohj80]

Each provider shows a coverage map on their web site. Here's T-Mobile's:

http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/?class=coverage (click on "View US Coverage Map")


and Cingular's:

http://onlinestoree.cingular.com/html/Maps/nation_GSM_map.htm

[debaudrn]

My brother travels extrensively nationwide. He swears by Verizon. I had Cingulair for years and nothing but trouble. My brother is in NH, I'm in Ri and Mom is in FL. We are all on the "local" network and can call each other with no exta costs. I've had Verizon now for 2 years, never had a dropped call, never been in an area with no service or roaming charges. Love them.
Debbie