Official AT&T Transition Handset Selection Discussion

[mick662]

Correct, no 3G - but what I'm saying is AT&T 2G GSM here might be terrible. We just don't know yet. AT&T's making a big deal out of their new 3G network. Are they even building new GSM? Or are they just going to have what Alltel already has for GSM (it's unusable...)?

I would have to assume that there will be decent 2G GSM, since AT&T still sells non-3G phones. That's been one of the many complaints over in the AT&T forum-to get rid of 2G phones and get everyone on 3G phones. Then free up some spectrum for more 3G in some of the more populated areas.

clay-if you get a chance-post #37 and #41 if you are permitted to reveal anything pertinent.

[Clay™]

My phone selection is from 10/16/10 to 1/15/11. Now, AT&T says if you don't choose a phone, they will pick the comparable phone and send it out. So does that mean I have until 1/15 to make the choice before they just send one out? If so I'll wait and hope the Bold 9780 is released in Oct or Nov as rumored and is added to the list. Otherwise I'll just have to take what they give me and sell it to buy a Torch.

Also, are we going to have to turn in whatever phone is on our account once service is changed over? I've got a Bold and a Tour now, and if we have to turn in phones I'd like to turn in the Tour. That way I can keep the Bold and keep using it as a second phone.

As of right now I have heard nothing about the Bold 9780 being added as a pre-selection option. This may change when an actual release date is announced. In the interim the price of the Torch will only be 99.99 for Alltel customers who wish to upgrade. I know it requires changing to an AT&T plan but in the case of my personal account an AT&T plan will be ~$50 less per month so I am going to change it anyway.

[Clay™]

I would have to assume that there will be decent 2G GSM, since AT&T still sells non-3G phones. That's been one of the many complaints over in the AT&T forum-to get rid of 2G phones and get everyone on 3G phones. Then free up some spectrum for more 3G in some of the more populated areas.

clay-if you get a chance-post #37 and #41 if you are permitted to reveal anything pertinent.

I dont see why that wouldnt work. My Bold 9650 can already see Alltel's 2G network. I will be visiting an AT&T native area this weekend and I will put the sim from my Torch 9800 into my Bold 9650 and see how it works.

[bigal2003]

Am I the only one that cant login to the website? Keep getting the following error:
We're sorry, the data you entered does not match our records. Please check your information and try again. (LF123)

[whitetigergrowl]

Works fine for me.

[redline1]

anyone know if AT&T is going to offer the M900 to customers is very rural areas where only the M800 currently works?

[Guest547]

Almost certainly not, that's not a phone AT&T sells and it's not a 3G phone (and they promised the government 3G phones for everyone)

[uli2000]

Its not listed on the website. I don't think AT&T has ever sold it to be honest. You may be on your own on that one. Maybe talk to your local Alltel/AT&T store to see if there are other options avalible.

[mick662]

As of right now I have heard nothing about the Bold 9780 being added as a pre-selection option. This may change when an actual release date is announced. In the interim the price of the Torch will only be 99.99 for Alltel customers who wish to upgrade. I know it requires changing to an AT&T plan but in the case of my personal account an AT&T plan will be ~$50 less per month so I am going to change it anyway.

I dont see why that wouldnt work. My Bold 9650 can already see Alltel's 2G network. I will be visiting an AT&T native area this weekend and I will put the sim from my Torch 9800 into my Bold 9650 and see how it works.

Thanks for the answers; and sorry to bother with a couple more questions. Will we need to turn in our Alltel phones when we get the AT&T phones? Do we have until 1/15 (or whatever the date may be for some) to actually make the phone selection? And lastly, which Alltel plan did you have and how did you save $50/month by changing? Employee discounts, or no?

[Clay™]

Thanks for the answers; and sorry to bother with a couple more questions. Will we need to turn in our Alltel phones when we get the AT&T phones? Do we have until 1/15 (or whatever the date may be for some) to actually make the phone selection? And lastly, which Alltel plan did you have and how did you save $50/month by changing? Employee discounts, or no?

There will be a recycling option but as of now it isnt required. General pre-selection actually ends before the end of the year in all markets. The online tool will be available if you upgrade/change your handset until 1/15. I have a mix of a couple different plans. What is going to save me the most is unlimited messaging for the entire account (5 lines) for $30. I am also going to have one account on the $190 plan that i can add 7 additional lines to for $9.99 each. Unlimited messaging on that plan is $25 for the first line and $6 for each addition line.

[izzaboo]

So, to review, one can:

1) take from the list they offer,
2) move to some other carrier altogether free of ETF, or,
3) pay the same prices as any other new customer who might happen into the AT&T store.

I might be interested in some of the refurbished handset packages ATT has on their website. I wonder if they'll bother to make those available to us lowly Alltel dregs of society...

Do I sound bitter? I'm not really. I've long since accepted the inevitable when dealing with *any* phone company. I'm pretty much a google voice user now anyway. I'll probably switch to a small regional carrier this November when my Alltel contract expires. My wife, however, is stuck for another 18 months. I bet she gets suckered into an iPhone. Heheh.

[Guest547]

I do wish there were more pre-selection smartphone choices. For example, I like the looks of the new Motorola Flipout (yes, lowly specs, but it oddly appeals to me). The Motorola Flipside would be a reasonable BB Bold or HTC Hero replacement. With no new Bold, it seems the Torch really oughta be on offer for Bold/Tour owners also. The Sony Vivaz would be a good smartphone offering. Why the Pre but no Pixi? It's a lower phone...

As for the messaging phones, there's none with a landscape-oriented QWERTY like the Samsung DoubleTake has...

Seems they could've offered more choices, that's all...

[izzaboo]

I'm not exactly sure when I should start posting in the AT&T forum...

Anyway, has anyone else found a bit of culture shock looking at the ATT website? As I was looking through the list of handset replacement options (so I could read reviews about them, etc.) I noticed that what AT&T calls quick messaging phones often require an additional $20.00/month minimum package whereas many/most of the "PDA/Smartphones" only require a $15 minimum.

In some ways, I'm glad to see that Alltel hasn't been alone in messing around with this handset taxonomy thing yet I still hold out hope and look forward to the day when a phone like my wife's LG Touch doesn't require the same (or more) kind of data plan as my now ancient Treo 755p. Just because a newer phone *has* a feature that uses the data network doesn't mean it uses the data network *well*. (c.f. web browsing, email, google maps, ftp, &tc on those two handset just mentioned).

Anyway, I also wanted to add that threads like this really make using cellphones and dealing with the, uhm, complexities much more enjoyable. Thanks to all for sharing your experiences as these things roll out. I appreciate the heads up!

[izzaboo]

Seems they could've offered more choices, that's all...

I completely agree. Since they have this sort of weird taxonomy going on anyway they could just say pick any phone from XYZ group. Or, even, have us pick from any phone valued at SumDollarAmount or lower.

Of the phones I currently have, or recently have had, activated on my line, my favorite is the DoubleTake. But I reactivated my Treo (and upped my bill by $20/mo until Nov '10) because I wanted to be offered a higher-end phone and possibly keep unlimited msg & data. I didn't see much of anything in AT&T's offering to adequately replace the DoubleTake at that lower plan pricepoint. And with losing data & msging as an option...well, that has some value, eh?

Still, though, the DoubleTake's a sweet little phone. I suppose I'll have to take a serious look at the switch to touchscreen again. I still like the qwerty keypad & having a 1-9 pad too. Ahh, progress.

Now...where did I leave that buggy whip...? heheh

[wandler20]

If I go out and buy a Samsung Captivate at retail price, how soon will I be able to get it activated? I really don't plan on waiting until January if I don't have too.