T-moblie cell phone HELP ASAP

Hi Minimom.
 
Cannot help you with your decision other than DO NOT go with SPRINT. THEY  SUCK. They will also rip you off. I plan on going with someone else at the end of the month cause my contract ends with these jerks. Nextel is also part of sprint too.

Around where I live, Verizon has the best range - less dropped signals and "holes".  However, in your market that may be very different, and a different carrier may have more cell towers. 
 
I can't help you with the phone, b/c I have one with a camera.  For me, the biggest issue was how long the phone would stay charged b/c I don't use a car charger.  So, my perspective is different from you.    I had an LG, but didn't like it b/c my ear would get hot when I was using it.  My nephew has a Motorola and is very pleased with it.  However, when I used it, my ear got hot with it, too.  But, maybe I have a very sensitive ear???  LOL.
 
The models between any one manufacturer are going to vary greatly.  For what it's worth... I ended up with a Samsung camera phone.  I don't know  which number to give you as far as model: but maybe it's a A890.XL05?

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I really just need opinions on T-mobile phones, since I've already made the decision to go with T-mobile. [sm=happy.gif]

Just a thought, on the Motorola you might want to verify what these buttons do on that model. On my old phone (different but similar) those buttons changed the ring type (silent, vibrate, ring) and with them being on the side I was constantly changing modes either in my pocket or purse and didn't know it

Sooner, I checked and the flip phones I listed above do have side buttons, but they don't put the phone on silent mode. Good thing to check though, thanks!

Well, I had a big thing written about Motorola, then my phone rang, my laptop fell, and the hard drive popped out. lol So lets see what I remember...
 
Re: side buttons
 
I'm sure they all differ, but mine change the volume and turn the speaker phone on and off
 
I've been pretty pleased with Motorola. It's user friendly, and if it survives this house, it's also pretty durable. However, like a lot of phones now, the battery dies fairly fast. If I charge it overnight and use it for a couple of brief calls, the battery goes down to half-strength in no time. Also, Motorola's phone chargers have little prongs and clips, and they tend to break from regular wear-and-tear. So it would be pretty wise to have an extra charger handy. My house charger stopped working for whatever reason, and I'm relying on my car charger until I get a new one. So I haven't been able to use my cell phone very much lately...which, I guess, is a good thing. 

Hi Amelia, I know that you said you've already made the decision to go with T-Mobile so I hope you don't mind me popping in here...but I just had to tell you, our experience with T-Mobile was terrible, terrible, terrible.   It got to the point that we practically stopped using our cell phones until our contract was up and we were able to switch to a different provider.  Customer service was no help - they just kept telling us that it must be the phones.
 
But it wasn't just us, our particular phones or our area. Several people in my company and both of my sisters have it and all of them have big problems.   And we are located in and/or travel to different areas and states.  One of my sisters upgraded phones twice and it didn't help. Just last week I was speaking to my boss as he was travelling through NC and we dropped connection no less than 7 times and when we could speak it was barely audible.  Both my husband and I have travelled out of the state and I'd say at least half the time we were unable to even get a signal to make a call, even though someone standing right next to us with a different provider were able to use theirs.  My husband even used to have to borrow a cell phone to call me from the golf course 5 miles from our house because the signal was so bad that we could barely understand what was being said.  Everyone that I know who uses them is planning to drop them as soon as their contract is up. 
 
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.  You may have better luck with them in your area, but as I said, we've seen problems in a lot of different areas of the country.
 
 

Thanks Kelly. From looking at the T-mobile coverage map I can see that coverage in your area of the country is sparse. Coverage in MN is much better and we really don't travel out of state very often. Everyone I know around here who has it likes it. I haven't found a single person who doesn't (can't say the same about Cingular or Sprint). And I need to find out for myself if we like TM before I can justify paying a higher price for the same service with Verizon plus having to sign a 2 year contract with them (instead of 1 year with TM). I appreciate your input though.

Ok, I work for Cingular, but the phone models are very similar between the two companies (they use the same technology).  The Samsumg phones are ok, but the RF (reception) is not nearly as good as the Nokia models.  The Nokia 6010 is the base model, but holds up remarkably well.
 
Things to consider are:
 
What do you want to do with the phone?  (Besides call)
Do you want a speakerphone?
Bluetooth? (wireless connection)
Would you ever go out of the country and want to use your phone?
 
My personal feelings are that the Nokia phones have much friendlier software - you want to store a number, you can store a number.  You want to text message, you can use a quick key and start typing.  Samsung is a little more tricky to deal with.
 
My guess is that you are trying to pick between the free phones they offer... If you really want a good phone that isn't too expensive, take a look at the Nokia 6101.  It's a flip phone, with a speakerphone and camera, and with new service they usually run about $29.99.  Well worth it, IMHO.
 
Hope that helps!