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Ask Slashdot: Best Smartphone Plan For a US Vacation?
SJrX writes "I am planning on visiting the Pacific Northwest for several weeks, and was looking for the best smartphone option available. Roaming data rates and SMS rates are ridiculously high (best plans are $0.80 / MB, and $0.75 / message). Beyond AT&T and Verizon Prepaid, are there any other options? (I'm on an iPhone 4 so GSM is a must.) I assume in the US, I have no credit history for which to qualify for a plan, and a contract is obviously out of the question. Data and SMS are the only important things, with a few hundred minutes being plenty. I'm only planning on being in the US for 2 or 3 weeks, but mainly in rural areas (US Route 101) so large (3G) coverage is important."
Leave your iPhone behind and buy a local prepaid.
If you insist on GSM, that means AT&T or T-Mobile. If you want rural coverage of 3G, that pretty much leaves out T-Mobile.
So...AT&T it is. (I'd say "We have a winner!", but I'd be lying.)
Buy a pre-paid SIM and be done with it. The smartphone plan is like $2 / day on days used for unlimited talk and text. 3 Gb of data for a month will run you $35. The SIM itself should be free.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
...then you can throw out Verizon, they are CDMA.
Of the majors, that leaves you with AT&T or T-Mobile. There are a lot of smaller GSM carriers, but many of them are regional and/or will end up roaming in areas they don't have coverage, so I'm not sure if it's worth looking to hard at them.
I concur. Just back from a 2 week trip to San Francisco from Canada, and my Canadian Bell (unlocked; rooted) Galaxy S connected on EDGE speeds for pretty much the whole time (darn mountain ranges...).It was supposed to be only 2Gig of data, but I got an SMS mid way through the trip that informed me that my plan was updated to unlimited data. It was the "Prepaid Unlimited Talk, Text, 2GB data plan" for $70. We got 2 SIMS with this plan (a T-Mobile G1 on HSPA fast speed, and my Canadian Bell Galaxy S maxing out on EDGE), and one with just talk/text (for daughter) for $30.
Although the G1 is a slow phone, I found the GPS unit superior, and it made an excellent Google GPS navigator. Also worked well as portable wifi hotspot with the rooted "Open Garden" application. And don't forget to load up GasBuddy too.
Just make sure to add the $10 "International SMS" option if you plan to message out of the USA. Frustrating to get SMS from home, but not to be able to reply!
FYI, both my G1 and my Canadian Galaxy S both get HSPA speeds in Hong Kong!
Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high...
Note that T-mobile has two different types of prepaid plans. With "pay as you go" plans, you put in an amount of money that can be used for voice, SMS, or data. With "pay by the month" plans, you pay a fixed amount per month, but with no multi-month commitment. Either one might end up best for you, depending on how much you plan to use the phone.
"I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."
Go to walmart and buy one of their pre-paid smartphones. It will also add to the American experience.