I've been wanting to get my own cell phone plan. My Blackberry is about gone. The buttons are falling out, and I'm not eligible for an upgrade for God knows how long. So I've been looking around for the last couple months to get an idea of how much my bill would be. I'd want an Android powered phone with unlimited data and messaging (text, picture, and video). I think 400 minutes would be good for just me. The only problem is if I get a phone other than AT&T, it'll use my minutes to talk to anyone in my family. Just wanting some input as to what is the best deal for me. :)

What carrier do you have?
What's your plan like (don't have to tell me how much your bill is or anything)?
Does your carrier let you pay off your phone over time, or do you have to pay upfront?
Anything else?

Thanks!!!

I have Sprint.
I believe my Husband and I share a plan but I'm not sure (we're all on a plan but his job pays for 60% of our phone bill because of his conference calls on it etc).
I have unlimited data, texting and I have the HTC Incredible -- which, I will recommend to anyone.
I had the HTC Eris as my first "droid" phone and honestly it SUCKED... The software was crappy, the upgrade made it crappier.. and the phone just couldn't keep up.
The Incredible is AMAZING and I absolutely LOVE it :) It's SUPER fast.
Verizon works best for US, because most of our family has Verizon.
Verizon also has the unlimited friends & family? I think you can pick up to 10 numbers to have unlimited calls with, which covered those of our family who weren't on Verizon.

I've tried T-Mobile & Sprint, and honestly after I got Verizon.. I never looked back. They have, by far, the best service.

I have Sprint and I have 450 anytime minutes, it's free to call any mobile phone on any network, unlimited messaging and unlimited web. I never use any of my anytime minutes cause everyone I know has a cell. The plan is $69.99 plus insurance for the phone. I get a discount from my employer so I pay $74. I got a BlackBerry Curve and I paid $160 for it up front and got a $100 mail in rebate. I love my phone and the service. I work selling cell phone plans and I honestly think that is the best plan around (unless you only talk to people with land lines). Also Tmobile has good plans, a lot of people come in and get Tmobile because they approve EVERYBODY and don't make anyone pay deposits.

I have T-mobile, we have 750 minutes between two lines (we use MAYBE 100), we have free nights and weekends and free mobile to mobile. They let you have 120.00 credit for the phone that you pay off over three months. We also have unlimited text, mobile web, and data. I have a Moto Cliq, which I love. My husband and I pay 150 a month for our plan, with phone insurance on both phones.

What carrier do you have?
Verizon

What's your plan like (don't have to tell me how much your bill is or anything)?
We have a family plan with four lines on it. We have 1400 minutes to share, free mobile to mobile, unlimited text/pix messaging, free nights/weekends, we can add 10 numbers to always call for free (ten total for the whole plan, not per phone) and insurance on two of the phones (Mine and my brothers).
We've never gone over the minutes One of the phones is a blackberry so it costs us an extra $30/month. I think we're paying somewhere in the neighborhood of $170...which I think is effing ridiculous.
We only get new phones every two years, which is a ridiculous wait.

Does your carrier let you pay off your phone over time, or do you have to pay upfront?
As in when you get the new phone? You have to pay for it right away when you get it. The bill is monthly otherwise, and they didn't charge us an activation fee or anything. Just the new phones when we were at the store, and then the monthly payment when it's normally due. We usually get a $50 credit per phone when our lines are eligible for upgrades, that we don't have to pay back.

Anything else?
I've never had any problems with reception, ever. I've never had a dropped call and my phones (all three that I've had since getting verizon) have all gotten amazing reception. I used to get a full signal in the middle of my high school basement, when I was on AT&T I would always get searching for signal, and I was constantly roaming, no matter where I was in the building.

I thought we were really over-paying for our phones, until I read that someone's paying what we pay for four phones...for two. I still think our plan is ridiculous, and I know we can get a cheaper one come December.

But we have an LG Versa, a Blackberry Storm (the first one, never get it. It's a hunk of shit, which is why I bought a versa.) and two really old flip-phone LGs.

I'm with ALREADY GONE. My boyfriend and I share a plan with Sprint. 450 min, free mobile to mobile on any network, unlimited data, text, picture, video. Our bill is $121.88 everything month. I have the HTC HERO and he has the BLACKBERRY TOUR. We have had no issues at all.

No idea... when I got my phone my Mother added me to her plan. It is AT&T with a shitload of minutes and rollover, free nights and weekend, etc etc. No idea what she pays. I just give her $25 each month to cover mine. Was easier than coming up with a huge ass deposit cause I have no credit card. I could have gotten her to add a data plan, but I just use wifi at home for my 'net on mah iPhone. *shrugs*

Thanks everyone! Yea Sprint seems like the best plan yet. Just gonna be a pain to come up with the money for the phone (of course, it's the evo i want haha). There's I think 5 lines on my parents plan, and our bill normally runs about $350+ a month. That includes unlimited texts for everyone, unlimited data for mom and Chuck, mms messaging which costs 25 cents every time for three phones, 1400 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends and mobile to mobile. It's our second highest bill, under our rent. That's crazy. Lol

You can always check on ebay for the phone you want. Sometimes it's cheaper that way.

@ Tam good idea lol. I never get on ebay. Never think of it. I've been looking on Craigslist, and found a few I would like to have, but I am absolutely broke at the moment. lol.

@ -AndBabyMakesFour- Yea, I'm mainly debating between Sprint and Verizon now. Sprint has the plan where you get unlimited basically everything, and unlimited calls to any mobile regardless of carrier, so that's sounds good to me. Lol. And that's funny you didn't like the Eris. My friend has one and he is in love with it. Lol. It's his lifeline. I do know I definitely want something run on Android, just don't know what. Haha.