On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:03:41 -0500 The Bob <nospam@bob.com> wrote:

>schrodinger's cat <sc@invalid.invalid> amazed us all with the following
>in news:48t7041lalc7f0rpc2ssnehge0ivp637n5@4ax.com:
>
>> Here's the situation:
>>
>> My wife and I are currently on a 2 line family plan contract which
>> expires in September. The contract is in her name because a couple of
>> years ago when we decided that it would be cheaper if we gave up our
>> individual plans, my contract ran out first and I joined her plan. We
>> have both been SPCS customers for more than ten years. I have Vision
>at
>> $10.00/month on my line because I use email and text messaging for
>> business (and checking sports scores). My wife has voice only because
>> she just uses her phone for, well, telephone conversations.
>>
>> Recently, my wife has started to be bombarded by Sprint reps calling
>her
>> on her SPCS phone to try to talk her into extending her contract, even
>> though it still has several months remaining. They seem to be offering
>> nothing more than what we already have in the way of price and
>features,
>> except for the offer of two free new phones. Coincidentally, her
>company
>> has been pressuring her lately to upgrade her phone to one on which
>she
>> can send and receive email, because she is part of an emergency
>response
>> team.
>>
>> My LG LX350 does everything I need in terms of email and texting. The
>> text messages are mainly incoming to notify me of voice calls, emails,
>> or faxes that have been received at my unified message center. I can
>> read the emails using Opera Mini, and I can respond either by a phone
>> call or by waiting until I am back in my office and can send a reply
>> email from my computer, so I rarely have to deal with typing a message
>> on the phone's keypad. My wife, on the other hand, may need to respond
>> to emails immediately, at any time, from wherever she happens to be,
>and
>> her messages are by nature long and complex, so she will need a phone
>> with an easy to use full QWERTY keyboard. She does not, however, need
>> much in the way of bells and whistles, because she uses the phone to
>> communicate and nothing more. She has no interest in games, TV, music,
>> applications other than email, or web browsing on the phone. (In fact,
>> Sprint has told her that she has to replace her ancient Sanyo SCP-4500
>> if she ever expects to need to roam again, because it only supports
>> analog roaming, and apparently they will soon offer only digital
>> roaming).
>>
>> So here's what we need:
>>
>> Myself: Fine with the phone and options I have now.
>>
>> My wife: Simplest available email capable phone with full keyboard and
>> decent screen size (her eyesight is not the best).
>>
>> I would also like to leverage Sprint's eagerness to extend our
>contract
>> to try to get some concessions on plan pricing. The current family
>> plans, it seems to me, are very limited in what they include and force
>> you to pay full price for add-ons like internet access. I see no
>reason
>> why we should have to pay $25/month for Power Vision with a PDA phone
>> when Vision at $15/month will suffice for our needs, but Power Vision
>is
>> the only option listed for those phones.
>>
>> Questions:
>>
>> What phones should we be looking at for my wife?
>>
>> What kinds of 2 line plans might be out there that are not easily
>> discovered on the Sprint web site?
>>
>> Are there any current long time customer reward incentives being
>offered
>> by Sprint?
>>
>> Thanks for any feedback.
>
>First a question- what does your bill average every month?
>
>For your wife- you might look into either the Rumour or the Palm Centro.
>The Centro is a little more daunting in apperance, but a buddy of mine
>loves his. The Rumour has a full slide out keyboard, which is very easy
>to use. The screen size is not huge, but adequate.

Currently on Fair & Flexible Family Plan, 2 lines.
$69.99 / 700 shared minutes.
No charge for second line.
Unlimited nights & weekends.
Nights start at 7:00 pm.
Unlimited Sprint Mobile to Mobile.
No roaming charges.

Add-ons for my line only:
Sprint Unlimited Vision Pack @ $10/month.
500 SMS Messages @ No Charge.
PCs Picture Mail @ No Charge.

Total cost $79.99/month
--
schrodinger's cat