Do you rec T Mobile for PDA Internet mail?

[anatomyman]

I work in educational IT in New York, and also teach alot at a variety of different schools. While away from my office or while commuting, I use 2 PDAs: a Palm VIIx with palm.net for simple email on the go, and an iPaq 4155 for everything else (calendar, contacts, Pocket Excel for grades, etc).

Palm.net just announced that they are shutting down, so now I need a way to send & receive email on the iPaq. Work paid for the palm.net, but won't pay for added connection service to my iPaq, so I have to take this on myself, so I need to do this cheaply. I absolutely have to have email connectivity while away from the office or I will endanger my ability to work outside jobs via flexible scheduling at the main job.

I'm not happy with my Verizon service: internet connection options on Verizon are $$$, and their only BT phone is $$$. I'm thinking of going with T Mobile. If you have used them for this, how is it? Their WiFi Hotspots are nice, but won't get me connected while on the train or in a non-WiFi college classroom, so phone/data connection seems like the way to go. T-Mobile has a very cheap BlueTooth-enabled Sony Ericcsson T610 phone; anyone use that?

Thanks much!

Jim the anatomyman

[Brad Adrian]

I've been using T-Mobile for about a year now and have been fairly satisfied. Their area of coverage is getting better every day, but I still have some dead zones in my local area.

You may want to look into the plan that I have. I think I get about 300 minutes for $29.99 and unlimited data for an additional $19.99. Be sure to ask them about their promotions, though, because they often lower their rates.

I use my 4100 and an Ericsson T610 phone to connect and really like the way it works. If you've got any other specific questions, post them and we'll get them answered.

Good luck.

[collegea]

I have the T-Mobile 1,000 Minute Anytime plan for $39.99, along with the unlimited VPN Internet Data plan for $19.99, which I use with my SE T610 phone & Ipaq 4155 in the NYC Metro Area and suburbs. Coverage is good where I go on the upper East & West Side in Manhatten and in Soho and Tribecca. I haven't been on a subway in a number of years so I cannot comment as to whether it will work on one. Coverage in Queens, NY, is good except for parts of Bellrose. If you are just basically interested in Email, then T-Mobile has an add-on called T-Zones, which is much cheaper and may satisfy your needs.

I also have a voice plan with Sprint PCS and find their coverage to be a little better than T-Mobile. I prefer Bluetooth DATA Connectivity over the T-Mobile network than Sprint's proprietary and over-rated CDMA network.

[ricoks]

I too use T-Mobile's network for voice/data. I have a T610 and a $100 plan for 2500 anytime (I talk alot! :mrgreen: )
I don't pay for any monthly internet fees, and get full access with their included plan. I can't access any info on the web from my phone, but can via GPRS and bluetooth to my 2215. Works great. email, web, even RDP to my computer at home via VPN. :devilboy:
so, if I were you, I would try the free internet, just have them add the free t-zones, or whatever they call it. Not every employee knows that you can get it for free, but you can, and some employees in the stores DO know.
(Now to stop the flaming from the $20 paying customers, don't yell at me! You pay $20 for secure site access, so God bless ya, but I don't need to pay for that, and hence don't. T-Mobile knows they are doing it, and have always been agressive in pricing, so they are obviously getting more customers switching to them for this, and it seems to be working.)
Not to rant, just don't want to start a flame thread!!!! :evil:

connection is simple and easy once you set it up. i just click on the connection icon on the top, and while that is connecting to my T610, and the GPRS network, I open PIE, and I can start browsing real fast. Works great!!!

Good Luck
Ryan

[anatomyman]

Thanks to everyone for their replies - this was VERY helpful.

My impression from their lit brochures is that T zones is for send/rec email using the phone alone. I find that I would want to type up messages on the PocketPC, plus I would want to use a preexisting account rather than one set up by T Mobile. Is that impression I have correct?

Do you T Mobile users have unlimited nights? Seemed like you had to spend 5 bucks to get that; it's included in my Verizon. ALso seems like you have to spend 3 bucks to get SMS - 100 are included in my Verizon.

Coverage by Verizon actually hasn't been that good in my small home town and sometimes in certain M'Hattan buildings, so it isn't like I would be losing GREAT coverage

I am going to walk into a Verizon store, tell them I am leaving, and see what they can do for me. IF it's as bad as I think, then I will go to T Mobile. I will try it for a couple of weeks - and cancel before the trial period is up if it doesn't seem to be working.

Again, many thanx!

[Carlos]

T-Zones is very limited. You'd probably want the full internet package. At $20/mo unlimited, it's a bargain. I've used 137MB so far just this month. :devilboy:

Have you considered a converged device? I have an XDA II (recently upgraded from an XDA I), and would never go back to seperate devices. It just works so much better, on top of the convenience of having one thing on my belt.

[collegea]

I don't have unlimited nights or Weekends, just 1,000 anytime minutes. I do have as an add-on the T-Mobile VPN GPRS Internet unlimited for $20. That's really worth it. I always connect immediately now and speeds seem to have increased.

I went with T-Mobile because of the Bluetooth. However, I find Sprint to have somewhat better voice coverage than T-Mobile in NYC. But T-Mobile is decent for voice calls. I just would not use them exclusively as my only Cell phone provider. I have unlimited nights and weekends with Sprint, but just 500 anytime minutes. So, I use Sprint primarily on weekends and after 9pm during the week. I find it's good to use 2 carriers because I get sometimes no signal or a weak signal with one carrier while the other carrier has a strong signal. I'm a mobile professional so I need that added protection.

[Janak Parekh]

Coverage by Verizon actually hasn't been that good in my small home town and sometimes in certain M'Hattan buildings
Manhattan is very tough for every provider to cover. You'll just have to keep on trying until you find a provider that works in the buildings you need. As for small towns, I've generally found Verizon to be much better, but of course, your mileage may vary. Verizon also offers much faster data for the extra $$ -- but again, it depends on what you need. T-Mobile's prices are certainly right, and their BT selection is much better. :)

I am going to walk into a Verizon store, tell them I am leaving, and see what they can do for me.
Just FYI -- Verizon doesn't really do retention deals (unlike Sprint, for example). If you tell them "good-bye", they'll basically say "have a nice day". What I'd suggest you do is to get the T-Mobile service first, before canceling with Verizon -- you can then transfer your number over once you're satisfied with T-Mo service (you can't transfer numbers if you cancel first). That is, if you want to keep your number.

--janak

[PoweriPaq]

I have Cingular Wireless Internet Express Unlimited at $19.99/month. It's a bargain, and with my XDA II, upgraded from iPaq 3955, I can get online, chat on AIM, MSN and even on Yahoo Messenger. It's not blazing fast, but was able to stream audio and video at 32kbit/s, not 32kbyte.

I'm on all the time, but can't use the softphone to use as a VOIP, that I have to switch to WiFi.