Cell phone purchase

[Richard]

Looking at finally joining rest of world and getting a cell phone. Does anyone know if there is a type where I can get TWO and utilize them sort of as walkie-talkies between the two of them and as phones to rest of the world?

Reason I throw that out is I bought a walkie talkie set and for the hills we have and such, they work VERY poorly when they in fact are working.

Any thoughts on which model to get otherwise?

Thanks for wisdom.

 

[caddison]

Richard,

Depending on your location and the availabilty of digital service, I believe Nextel http://www.nextel.com/products/ has a phone capable of what you are looking for. They are a little pricey though. Have you looked at the FRS family radios to use around your place. We use them during our fair and they work very well. They reach up to 2 miles depending on the terrain. They come in real handy if you are traveling in a group with several vehicles. A buddy and I used them on a trip back from South Missouri and it sure seemed to cut the travel time, kinda irritated the women cause we weren't talking to them though. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by caddison on 02/02/01 02:36 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[markcg2000]

Nextel.
One of their biggest selling points is a function exactly as you describe.

Be very careful that you find out the provider's service area. If you are out in the country, or up in the mountains, you could easily catch yourself unable to get "dial-tone". See if either your neighbors have something, or the provider would let you "trial".

<font color=green>mark</font color=green>

 

[Richard]

Cliff/Mark
Thanks for fast response. Looked at website and indeed, the phones look like what I might be after. I'm gonna see if there is a local seller and start some questioning...I know from father in law that his OLD service was NOT available in our area...too far off beaten path. I think I might ask for (in writing) the ability to cancel the contract if I also have problems out where we are.

My hope is, presuming they work fine, is that will ALSO make the walkie talkie part work fine. The set I have is suppoesed to be good for "up to" two miles depending on terrain. Well, the terrain disclaimer bit me and it works from my house to only ONE part of the farm. If I go to the other side of farm, it's useless.

Thanks again.

 

[Russ]

Last summer I saw a cell phone provider (Verison ) I think had a deal where you could call cell phone to cell phone unlimited time for an extra $5.00 per month. You had to call within their tower coverage areas and I'm sure there some other fine print things to deal with but you might ask with the cell phone providers in your area if they have something like that.

Russ

 

[roysallis]

Richard,
I think Cingular, used to be BellSouth Mobility, now offers unlimited mobile to mobile but there are restrictions. In fact, it is advisable to read and understand the restrictions no matter which company you go with. http://www.cingular.com/