Hey,
Does anyone know what sort of deals the carriers offer at the sidewalk sale? I'm shopping around for a phone/plan and I'm not sure whether to just get one now or wait until the sidewalk sale for whatever deals they have there...

Originally Posted by Krazy Sailor

Hey,
Does anyone know what sort of deals the carriers offer at the sidewalk sale? I'm shopping around for a phone/plan and I'm not sure whether to just get one now or wait until the sidewalk sale for whatever deals they have there...

I was in the same dilemma last year and ended up waiting for the sidewalk sale. But honestly, I personally did not find sidewalk sale much useful for choosing a cell phone plan. There were stalls for Telus, Rogers and Bell cell phone plans but the plans they were selling were the same as the student plans you would find in any of their other stores (it wasnt like they had any special deals just for the sidewalk sale). I personally got my cell phone plan a couple days after the sidewalk sale.
That being said there was lots of other free stuff on the sidewalk sale and you should definitely come there
Good luck in shopping for your cell phone plan!

For cell phone plans, you should stick with the provider you currently have or the one you have for your home phone. Customer care and satisfaction is pretty important to them and you can bargain yourself a good deal.

thanks for the advice! I guess I won't be waiting

Dont get a new contract yet cause toward the end of the year new cell phone companies are coming out. Just keep what ever plan you have right now and change to a hamilton #. They sound like their going to be much better than any of the big 3 (telus, rogers, bell) (one of the new ones http://www.windmobile.ca/)

Speaking of cell phones, what type of plans do you guys have, and do you have a Hamilton number, or is it not worth it?

Ya, thats what I've heard...dilemma is that I don't have any phone to begin with, I'm from a small town I just checked out that WIND site and it looks really good...I'm really not sure what to do lol

Originally Posted by ~*Sara*~

Speaking of cell phones, what type of plans do you guys have, and do you have a Hamilton number, or is it not worth it?

I was living in residence so I was on prepaid. I used my residence phone a ton and only managed to spend like 150$ for my cellphone.

Yes, I have a Hamilton number and I think it's worth it. If you have a long distance number if you pick up your phone it's long distance but you can still make local calls which are local...

maybe consider a Pay & Talk phone to begin with, and that way you can determine how often you're using your phone before tying yourself into a contract that you'll wind up hating.

as for the hamilton #, it's definitely worth it! My phone lets me call locally wherever I am (so when I'm at my parents house, even though I have a Hamilton #, it's a local call), but if anyone tries to phone me it can be bruuuuuuuuuutal on the LD charges.

but again, for your first phone, I would definitely recommend Pay & Talk. If you decide to switch to a monthly plan, you'll keep your number and phone. win-win

Originally Posted by Krazy Sailor

Ya, thats what I've heard...dilemma is that I don't have any phone to begin with, I'm from a small town I just checked out that WIND site and it looks really good...I'm really not sure what to do lol

Maybe try prepaid for now. WIND is supposed to release in Q4 2009 which is Oct - Dec. So you may have to wait. Also like Jhan says if your in prepaid should work for you since you can just use the rez phone to make most your longer calls.

A Hamilton number it is . And seeing that there's no offers when school starts, I guess I'll just have to get it now =/. I don't have to be in Hamilton to do it, do I?

Originally Posted by ~*Sara*~

A Hamilton number it is . And seeing that there's no offers when school starts, I guess I'll just have to get it now =/. I don't have to be in Hamilton to do it, do I?

You dont have to be in Hamilton to get a hamilton #. Also if you want to know what the student plans are just go to the websites for the phone company. The student plans that are on their sites are the same ones they offer to you in the sidewalk sale

Originally Posted by jmbauman

My phone lets me call locally wherever I am (so when I'm at my parents house, even though I have a Hamilton #, it's a local call), but if anyone tries to phone me it can be bruuuuuuuuuutal on the LD charges.

All phone are like that. Basically it's like this:

The number you have belongs to a certain antenna (or whatever those gigantic towers in the ground are). When someone calls you, the call goes to your antenna. Therefore, if you are in the local area of your antenna all receiving calls are local but if you are not in the local area of your antenna then they charge you long distance since they have to "borrow" another antenna to call you (I think they use an alternate antenna, either that or they boost the power).

But when you are making calls you aren't using your antenna but you are calling whatever antenna the phone number you are calling belongs to.

Originally Posted by syaseen

Maybe try prepaid for now. WIND is supposed to release in Q4 2009 which is Oct - Dec. So you may have to wait. Also like Jhan says if your in prepaid should work for you since you can just use the rez phone to make most your longer calls.

The thing with "trying" prepaid now is that with prepaid you usually have to buy the phone at a much higher price than with a plan and so if you decide to switch to a plan many months after I don't think they will refund you the price they give you when you get a phone with a plan (which is much cheaper). For example my friend bought a $500 phone with prepaid when he could have gotten it for $150 with a plan...that's $350 that could have went towards the contract.

would it be worth getting an unlimited texting plan? ugh. this is complicated =/ I get it, and I can see why it makes sense, but it sounds strange to me...I guess that's because in the US you can call anywhere from anywhere =(