Scott,

Here in Phoenix (and I guess in most other places), Verizon has a better service (coverage, signal strength). They are also more expensive. I use Cingular (former ATT Wireless), and must say that their service, while not as good as Verizon's, is really quite good (never had any outages of the type Captain Russ was mentioning). If you are getting a good deal from them, go ahead and sign up.

Another advantage is that you will be able to chat for free with all the members here who are using Cingular - Don Mason, Frank Ventresca, myself, ...

As to the price of the phones, I don't follow the current pricing, but when i was signing up a little over a year ago, I managed to get a pair of really fancy phones (at the time) - Nokia 3620s for free, while they were usually priced at $250. I would not be afraid to purchase a phone from a small shop, just make sure it is covered under warranty.

A note of caution, though - typically the phones have warranty of 1 year. When you sign up for 2 years of service, the second year you are still bound by your agreement, but your phone is not protected. Should it break, you will be forced to buy the phone at a "regular" price without service - those are very high (check for yourself).


Good Luck,
Alex