.mobi Best service plan for mobile surfing?

[000]

What service providers and particular cell phones would you recommend for surfing the web? I currently don't have any cell phone at all (shocking, I know :tri, and I would really like to get something that is decent for surfing the web as well.

To sum up what I am looking for:

Voice
Texting/Instant Messenger
Web browsing

What options are out there for me? I'd really prefer Verizon, but besides that I don't really know where to begin. Also I'm not sure how much money all this tends to run, etc.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

- Tom

 

[-REECE-]

Looking in your profile... Seems you're 18 years of age. Now I'm certainly not one to give cell phone advice, granted I don't have 1 myself, but I'd make sure whatever you settle on has built in wifi -- I have it on my pda and it's a godsend, not to mention entirely free unlike those costly cellular networks.

edit: Most college campuses have wifi nowadays.

 

[vcool]

I have Palm Treo with Sprint service. They charge $15/month for unlimited web access and the speed it quite good compared to others. I think the web service with Sprint is probably the lowest cost around. This is on top of voice plan ofcourse. I am very happy with the service and the phone, although the phone is bit bulky compared to other phones out there. The phone has windows CE, so I can open any ms office/pdf documents as well, if I want to.

Hope this helps.

Vcool

 

[movingconcierge]

T-mobile all the way:

1 year contract vs. 2 year everywhere else

10 / month unlimited web

great minute plans

nice pda phones (though NO GPS phones :td: )
T-mobile supports neo1973 opensource touchscreen phone WITH GPS

DUN from your laptop

Good support

Those are my 2, 4, 6...12 cents.

Good luck, youngster!

 

[scandiman]

Be sure to check coverage in your area. T-mobile is horrible in Sacramento. I live 1 mile from a major freeway and got 0-1 bar at my house and was regularly dropped both here and throughout town. Cingular/ATT has been great now throughout town and when traveling throughout the state, as well as Chicago, Baltimore and rural Maryland. I don't care how good the phone is, it won't work without a signal.

 

[000]

Thanks for the replies guys! As I said earlier, though, I'd really like to stick with Verizon because it seems to be the best choice for my area. Just need figure out what they offer for web access I guess.