Best Cell Phone Plans: Which carrier is best?

With all the different phone carriers and plans out there, it's ridiculously hard to determine whether or not you're getting the best bang for your buck. There are hundreds of different factors, fees, and options that different phone carriers can throw at you. To be able to find a plan and a carrier that fits your needs while saving your cash is no small feat. Reading and comparing the fine print can be arduous and painstakingly time consuming. Lucky for you, I've gone ahead and done the research for you. Here are a couple tips and tricks when choosing a plan and a carrier.

I've compared AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. Before deciding on what plan to take on, it's very important that you first decide on how you plan to use your phone. How frequently will you be using the phone? Will you be roaming? Will you be calling people who are roaming domestically or internationally? Will you need text messaging? What time in the day do you expect to use the phone? Who will you be calling and what service do they have? Should you get a family plan? This website goes through all the questions you should ask yourself prior to picking out a plan.

What type of plan to choose?

Figuring out whether or not you should get an individual, prepaid plan, or family plans can be a doozy. An individual plan is simple enough--you pay one bill for your one phone on a monthly basis. You sign a phone contract for 1-2 years depending on the carrier and if you decide to leave the carrier, they typically charge you an early termination fee of $175 (AT&T, Verizon). Every plan with a contract has an early termination fee.

Prepaid plans are best for people who only use cell phones for emergencies (i.e. mom & dad). Some companies, like AT&T, offer 2 kinds of pre-paid plans: one, where you're only charged for the minutes you use and one where you buy a fixed amount of minutes per month (it's essentially a monthly contract as opposed to 2-year contracts). Prepaid plans are renewed whenever you want more minutes, and the best part of the deal is that you're not tied down by any contracts and you're never surprised by any surprise charges, hidden fees, or super huge phone bills. The downside is that you have to buy the cell phone full price, so typically people with prepaid plans have super cheap phones. But if you don't use it much anyway, it really doesn't matter. You'd also have to go through the trouble buying minutes every month.

Family plans are best for people who want to share minutes and have everything charged on one single bill. These also have 1-2 year contracts. The benefit in this is that you can have a fixed set of minutes to share between 2 phones which can save you money depending on your needs and how many minutes you use. Check this article out if you're interested in family plans. 2 people with 2 separate individual plans can typically get 450 minutes for $40/month each or $80 total. If they signed up for a family plan, they can get 550 minutes for $60. They'd be saving $20 and gaining 100 more minutes. The downside to a family plan is that everyone in the plan has to make sure not to go over their allocated minutes. If you have a chatterbox in your family, you'll find your bill doubling by the end of the month. Sprint & AT&T have the cheapest family plans.

Things to look for when choosing a carrier...

After you figure yourself out, you're set to choose your carrier. One of the most important things to check is coverage. Find out which carriers have great coverage in your area by visiting their site. Usually they offer up a map that displays how good their service is in their area. Or you can check out SignalMap.com. Verizon has the best overall coverage, but it's worth it to check how well all these carriers do in your area.

Roaming charges, activation charges, early termination fees, hidden fees and charges in general. Keep long distance and roaming charges in mind when choosing a plan and carrier. Lot's of carriers offer plans with no roaming fees and that's definitely something to make sure you have. Emergencies pop up and you may have to use the phone outside of your local area. Or you may have to call someone who is roaming. Either way, footing the bill once you've roamed is definitely not a pleasant ordeal. Of the three carriers I've compared, AT&T has the most expensive activation fee of $36 for individual plans. Sprint & Verizon charge $35 for activation. Hey, a dollar is a dollar. And in terms of early termination fees, both AT&T and Verizon charge $175. Sprint by far has the highest ETF of upwards of $200.

Unlimited Mobile to Mobile and unlimited nights & weekends. You always want these perks. Who do you talk to the most over the phone? Check what carrier they have. If you talk to the same person or persons on your cell phone, chances are the best thing to do is to switch to their carrier or vice versa. Having the same carrier lets you talk to those people for free, whenever you want. You can then choose the cheapest plan with the least amount of minutes and that can save you hundreds. Another thing to look for when choosing a carrier and plan is if they offer unlimited nights & weekends. Sprint offers the best unlimited nights & weekends plan because nights start at 7PM (with certain plans). Verizon and AT&T both have nights starting at 9pm. With Sprint you can chitter chatter for free much earlier than the other two.

Contract length. You don't want to be stuck in a rut for 2 years. Unfortunately, with any kind of phone plan (save prepaid phone plans), you'll be stuck with a contract of up to 1-2 years. You wanna hope for just a 1-year commitment if you can fudge it. Carriers can up charges while you're under a contract and you will have to pay. This elaborates on why you don't won't to be locked in for too long.

This article has a list of the biggest complaints people usually have. Don't end up like one of the people surveyed by checking the article out...

AT&T vs. Verizon vs. Sprint

So I decided to check out what all 3 of these phone giants offered at the very basic level of individual plans. I chose these 3 because they have the biggest networks. T-Mobile comes close too, but unfortunately doesn't as good coverage as these 3. I heard they have awesome customer service though :). I compared their cheapest individual phone plans, the only criteria being that the plan had to include unlimited mobile to mobile minutes. They all offer free domestic long distance and have the same basic features and the same typical fees (early termination & activation fees). Here's how they stacked up.

AT&T: Nation 450 w/rollover minutes ($39.99/month, 45 cents for each additional minute)

PROS: Rollover minutes. You can rollover any unused minutes to next month. After 12 months though, all the minutes accrued will be wiped out.
CONS: Highest activation fee ($36. The others charge $35. Not too big a deal.) No unlimited nights & weekends. Huuuge con, because the other two offer unlimited nights & weekends. AT&T offers 5000 minutes for nights & weekends instead. Lame. Plus, nights start at 9:00pm for AT&T. No texts.

Verizon: Nationwide Basic 450 minutes ($39.99/month, 45 cents for each additional minute)

PROS: By far, the best coverage (at least where I live in San Jose, CA and most likely where you live too.) You can text but it costs you 20 cents to receive & send a text. Activation is $35. Unlimited nights & weekends.
CONS: Nights start at 9:01pm for Verizon.

Sprint: Basic Plan 200 minutes ($34.99/month, 45 cents for each additional minute)

PROS: Activation is $35. Unlimited nights & weekends. Cheapest.
CONS: Least amount of minutes. For 4 more dollars a month, you can get more than double the minutes. Nights start at 9:00. I couldn't explicitly find how much the early termination fee was on their website, other than a statement under their terms & conditions saying that it's $200 or more. If it is $200, it's well above AT&T and Verizons ETF of $175.

Before you choose a plan, VISIT THIS SITE: http://www.myrateplan.com/wireless_plans/
It let's you do a side by side comparison of all phone carriers and their plans. Extremely useful.

At any rate, I hope you find all this info helpful to you. A simple search will also yield plenty of results where people review the services they have. The bottom line, mist important thing is to pick a service that fits your needs. Write your needs out and determine what's best based on that criteria. The best tip I can give is to write out who you speak to the most and share the same carrier as that person. Unlimited mobile to mobile is one of the best perks a plan can offer.

Grand Theft Auto 4 Cheats

GTA4 is out and everyone wants to know how know: how can I spawn a jet pack and be invincible, effectively becoming like superman, except in place of x-ray vision, laser eye-sight, and speeding bullet speed, I'd have a baseball bat, Molotov cocktails, and an M-rating?

Well the answer is right here. Codes and cheats galore for everyone who wants to experience this game in its maximum glory. And the great thing about this site is that its not loaded with additional ads and pop ups that most cheat sites love to spam you with.

The Bourne Conspiracy

A new game based on the Bourne Trilogy movies is set to come out June 3rd on Playstation 3 and Xbox360. The Bourne Conspiracy is being developed by High Moon Studios, a branch of Sierra Entertainment, who is a subsidiary of Vivendi games.

Though there were rumors swirling around about the possibility of it being a multiplayer game, High Moon Studios has comfimed that it will only have a single player mode. Check the website, the in game previews look great. I personally love the Bourne movies and I'm super psyched to check this one out.

High Moon Studios boasts that there's a system that allows you to switch between hand to hand combat and guns instantly, something that's not all too impressive or unique. The best third-person espionage game ever is the Metal Gear series (Metal Gear Solid being my all time favorite third-person espionage game), hands down. I doubt this game will top that, but I'm definitely still going to give this one a try. If anything, at least I'll get to see pieces of the movie played out in a video game.

Keep your eyes open for the demo set to launch on May 5th on XBox live and the Playstation Network.

The World's First DDR3-1800 4GB Kit

Up until now, the biggest, baddest memory kit you could for a top end rig was 4GB of DDR3-1600 memory technology. Super Talent Technology has just launched a 4GB kit of DDR3-1800 technology last Wednesday and so far, it's been in extremely high demand. As the world's first and only memory kit of its kind, I'd bet on it.

Gamers should be thrilled to hear about this, except for the fact that you can only run this RAM on an equally high-end and compatible motherboard. Motherboards like that can run you up round $300, and the 4GB kit itself is just under $460. There is, however, a 2GB kit as well for under $260. Right now, the only place that sells this product is eWiz.com.

"Additional features include an extreme cooling system with 106% more aluminum mass than standard heat spreaders and double the surface area. The extreme cooling system also includes Super Talent’s thermal adhesive which provides superior heat dissipation for the memory device."

The kit is also backed by a lifetime warranty from Super Talent.

Demand has been so high for this product that it's currently sold out and expected to return on May 2nd. And that's enough time for you to earn another paycheck to blow.

Apple Enjoys 36% Increase in Profit

Good news for all you Apple shareholders: Apple has reported a 36% increase in Q2. That's more than a half a billion dollars. Apple shares are now $1.06 per share. Amazing numbers, given that practically everyone else, in almost any industry (except probably the oil industry) is experiencing slow downs because of rising oil prices.

Apple's amazing profits this quarter has been attributed to the Apple Mac. The all-in-one has been especially hot this quarter and is yet another reminder of growing demand for all-in-ones.

Earth Day Sale: Motherboards & Power Supplies

For all you rig builders out there, eWiz has launched an Earth Day sale on all our extremely popular, eco-friendly products. So today, make yourself and the earth happy with these special, one-day deals. It'll be up until 6:00 a.m. EST. Yeah, Earth Day may technically be over by then, but it's ok. I think the earth would appreciate it.

We're featuring motherboards from Asus and Gigabyte that feature energy saving technologies. Asus has an EPU that ensures up to 96% power efficiency and saves up to 80.23% CPU power. Likewise, Gigabyte also has DES (Dynamic Energy Saver) software installed into its motherboards promising up to 70% CPU power savings and an improvement of up to 20% in power efficiency. So we've got a couple skus with super low prices and I've linked them below for anyone who's interested.

Additionally, we're also dropping the price of earth friendly power supply units, namely Antec's EarthWatt's Series PSU's which are all 80 PLUS certified. And, lastly, in an effort to offer some variety, there's also an Antec case with special low pricing, the Antec Sonata III. It's a looker, and it's also nice to mother earth as it comes with an Antec EarthWatts 500Watt PSU. Take a look, show some friends, make the earth greener today.

Motherboards:
Asus P5K/EPU
Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6
Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R

Power Supplies:
Antec EarthWatts 380
Antec EarthWatts 430
Antec EarthWatts 500

Case:
Antec Sonata III

All-in-One PC's

So I walked into Best Buy this weekend and saw their Featured System - a fully integrated computer/monitor. The idea is like Apple's Mac in that the system is all in one. The monitor is the desktop. Looks amazing, and the graphics on the rig were absolutely amazing but it got me asking...is this the wave of the future?

In technology, it's all about rolling everything into one. The XBOX 360 is more than just a gaming console. It can also play HD DVDs. And the same goes for the Playstation 3 except with a Blu-Ray. GPS's also plays MP3's and MP3 players also plays video. The All-in-One concept is a popular one, and it may now be over taking the traditional concept of the Desktop PC.

They are space and energy saving. But then again, they aren't as portable as a notebook or as upgradeable as a desktop. Still, the All-in-One PC I saw at Best Buy was a stunner. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up a hit. The All-in-One's are perfect for people looking to save space. I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a staple of the typical office workplace. But as of yet it's a very niche product. If pricing for these products becomes comparable to desktops using the same technology, we could be seeing a definite increase in profitability in this industry.

Net Neutrality: This Week's Hot Debate

Many companies, like Comcast, want to manage traffic into sites. Net Firms and Broadband companies like Comcast can control traffic into websites, so that they can allow high-speed access to some sites, while other sites would suffer slower access speed. Website owners would have to pay Comcast for faster speeds, while the rest of us would just have to suffer with slower speeds.

Net Neutrality, for all of you who don't already know, is the concept that all sites should be allowed to have high-speeds and that companies should not have the right to control that.

In the future, I think that this is going to be a huuuuge issue. The internet is popular for being a completely ungovernable media, with the exception of censorship (like in China, though there are way of getting around that). Now that companies and governments have the technology to monitor and manage internet traffic, the internet is entering a new era of laws and restrictions. And because the internet is global and laws are domestic, countries and the companies within them are going to have a very interesting future figuring out how to deal with all these internet issues.

The Federal Communications Committee held a meeting yesterday to discuss Net Neutrality and the fact that Comcast has "been exposed as managing traffic by stopping some of its 13m customers uploading files to BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer networks."

A formal investigation is underway to decide whether or not Comcast should be punished for this. The debate is as to whether or not it's wrong. Some people think that allowing net firms to manage traffic is fine, but they must keep their customers fully informed about their practices. However this turns out, this debate sure is an interesting one and it definitely applies to you and me.

Scientist in Japan Creates the First Invisibility Cloak

A professor in Japan alleges that he has invented an "invisibility" cloak, with plans to develop "invisible walls" as well.

Susumu Tachi was in San Francisco earlier this month at an exhibition where he showed off his new invention. Supposedly, it's made up of thousands of tiny beads made of a new material called retro-reflectum.

Sounds like something out of Harry Potter, doesn't it? Ridiculous!

Retro-reflectum is a technology that basically allows the thousands of tiny beads to project an image onto itself. You can check all the details here. It projects the image of what is behind the person wearing the cloak. "This material allows you to see a three-dimensional image," said Prof. Tachi.

Review of Super Talent's PICO-C

Check it out, the World’s Smallest USB Drive. And yes, this really is 8GB of storage packed into a shiny little drive about the size of a quarter. I got the chance to play around with one of them, and this is what I found..

+Design & Build: This thing gives new meaning to the fifth pocket. It’s extremely tiny and portable, and could definitely fit in anything, even the useless fifth pocket. The drive doesn’t feel cheap either. It feels pretty sturdy. I wouldn’t be too worried if I accidentally dropped or sat on it which would all be likely because of its size. The drive is shock resistant and waterproof and I definitely put it to the test. Check out the video below. I dropped it in water several times, dried it off, and it worked perfectly. An added benefit is that the USB’s case is reflective, so it’s like having a tiny little mirror in your pocket. Overall, I’m highly impressed by the sturdiness of this super tiny drive.


+Price: It’s around $35. For an 8GB drive, that’s a pretty good deal considering that a cheap 1GB drive can cost about $8 online. It also comes in 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB for $8.94, $12.47, and $17.52, respectively. Add in the fact that this is the smallest drive around, highly portable, shock resistant and waterproof, and you’ve got the deal of your life when it comes to USB drives.

+User-Friendliness: It basically works just like your typical USB drive—plug and play. Super fast when it comes to accessing and transferring files, but other than that, nothing too remarkable here. No hardware to install, no frills, no problems.

From top to bottom: Super Talent's PICO-A, PICO-B, and PICO-C

PROS: Pretty cheap for 8GB, super small, highly portable, shock resistant, waterproof, accesses/transfers files relatively quickly, feels sturdy, reflective surface looks nice. Not to mention, acts as a tiny mirror in your pocket.

CONS: The size is mentioned as a pro, but depending on who you are, it can also be a con. The small size makes it easy to lose this drive. Another pro that can also be a con is its reflective surface. It’s nice but it can also be dull. It really depends on your preference at this point. To be honest, the drive delivers in all the areas it claims. It you want the most GBs for your buck when it comes to USB drives, this is probably your best bet.

A typical sized USB vs. the PICO-C

Conclusion: For people who need a USB drive with a lot of storage space, this is a great solution. I have a 2GB USB and that pretty much takes care of my needs. But if you want the newest, coolest, smallest USB out there, the PICO-C is probably what you want. An added benefit is that this thing is not only extremely portable, but it’s also really durable so that, if you’re accident prone like I am, you don’t have to worry about accidentally leaving this in your pocket and throwing this into the washing machine.