I've got a T68i from the ATTWS days, and have been out of contract for over
a year now. In general, I should be considered a pretty desirable customer,
since I pay my bills on time, typically use about half of my minutes, and
control three other lines (which the rest of the family use).

The T68i has been an OK phone, although reception would be a lot better if
it were quad band (it gets both Euro GSM bands, but only the upper US GSM).
Also, the battery, after 2.5 years, is beginning to show its age. And, truth
be told, my eyes are beginning to show their age, and the small screen isn't
so easy to read anymore.

So I looked into migrating over to the Cingular side, and this is what I
come up with-

#1: My present plan gives me 550 anytime minutes, plus infinite
night/weekend & mobile-to-mobile. $39.99/month. What Cingular is offering me
is 450 anytime minutes, 5000 night/weekend (which is essentially infinite),
along with infinite mobile-to-mobile. The downside is the loss of 100
minutes/month; the upside is that, with Cingular, you get "rollover"
minutes, so what you don't use one month are added down the road.

#2: I dropped by the local Cingular store; if I want the Razr V3, I'm
looking at $199.99, same price as a new customer. Plus, since I'm listed as
a "VIP" customer in their database (probably just means I pay my bills on
time), they'll give me a one-time $30 credit on the first Cingular phone
bill, plus no activation fee. Later on I called Cingular customer service,
and on the phone, I got even less... no $30 credit, plus they'd charge me
the activation fee.

I'd love to get the Razr for less money, especially after seeing it at Best
Buy for something like $80. But there's a lot of fine print on that one; to
effectively get it for $80 means paying $299 and then sending in a bunch of
rebates at different times. Doesn't seem very easy to do.

I guess what bothers me most is that I'll be getting less service for the
same amount of money. In the old days, there were a zillion rate plans,
including various hidden ones. But the new world order doesn't seem to work
that way. I'd consider changing providers, but my service has overall been
pretty decent (and promises to be even better with a different phone), plus
it's handy having something that works overseas.

If the Razr is reasonably reliable, it's probably a worthwhile investment.
Just wish it came with a better plan! :>)

--Mike--     Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com