On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:21:57 -0500 The Bob <nospam@bob.com> wrote:

>schrodinger's cat <sc@invalid.invalid> amazed us all with the following
>in news:6js9041pgl4ecp2v9jdmej2leomfu2f91l@4ax.com:
>
>> 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
>
>I've heard rumors of them offering a 5-15% discount on existing plans to
>some customers. You might call and go that route- I doubt you'll do
>much better than what you have for two phones.

Unless we could get two SERO plans at $30 each. That would give us every
significant option for a total of $60/month.
--
schrodinger's cat