"Darrel" <dfland~NOT_ME~@comcast.net> wrote in message

I am an ATTWS customer, so I can't be certain that my info is 100%
applicable to your situation.

I got my first ATTWS digital phone, an Ericsson LX100, in 1999, with a
one-year term.  I upgraded one year later to an Ericsson LX588 flip phone,
again with a one-year term.  When it got lost, I got a Panasonic Versio
phone from ATT for $100, with a one-year term extension.

That was the end of my term commitments.

I have bought several Ericsson flip phones on eBay, and most recently I
bought THREE brand new-never opened Panasonic Versio phones on eBay ($60
total for the 3 of them).

I called ATTWS and gave them the serial numbers, and they performed the
switchover right over the phone.  No new contract, no need for ATTWS to
subsidize the phones, and I had BRAND NEW phones, with speakerphone
capability, and all the features I ever wanted.

Funny thing, ATTWS called me about 2 weeks later, and offered me all sorts
of incentives to re-up for another year.  Like 650 anytime minutes, early
free n/w, free mobile-to-mobile, free ATT long distance, ability to keep the
incentives as long as I stayed on the plan (Cingular has confirmed that they
will honor all ATTWS deals).

I signed up in a heartbeat!  Frankly, I feel that I got REAL recurring
value--not just a one-time phone subsidy--by signing up.  So my eBay
purchases resulted in some really good deals--not just on the prices of the
phones, but by influencing AT&T to offer me some REAL perks, since they
couldn't keep me by selling me a subsidized phone.

My advice is that you buy your own equipment.  Buy NEW equipment.  There are
lots of such choices on eBay.  Leave the used stuff for someone else.  Pay a
few dollars more--it will not be much.  You will not get a manufacturer's
warranty, but you can buy 5 phones on eBay for the price of one subsidized
phone from Cingular.

I also have 4 eBay backup phones, sitting in a drawer, waiting to be
activated in the event that any of my current phones malfunctions or gets
lost.  These are used phones, purchased for $10.00 apiece (I have 3
activated lines on my account--that is why I have so many backup phones).  I
can use these phones temporarily, while I seek out permanent replacements if
I ever need to do that.

Now that TDMA phones are in such plentiful supply it makes little sense to
deal with the carrier when buying equipment.

Yes.