Leaving AT&T for TMobile

After a most enlightening discovery of TMobile's new phone plans for unlimited service, I knew that my tenure with AT&T would be coming to an end. Paying $80 a month for unlimited voice, text AND data seemed too good to be true...but it really was true! After so many years of spending $85 to AT&T for 450 daytime minutes, 5000 night/weekend minutes, 1500 messages, and unlimited data, I was accustomed to it and never questioned anything. However, running out of daytime minutes and dipping into rollover started to concern me with AT&T, so I looked into increasing my minutes. Nation 900 was the next step up, but much too expensive and put me over the $100 dollar range per month. For $100, it only seemed sensible to have unlimited everything on an individual plan, but that's just my opinion. TMobile certainly got my attention with its new Even More Plus plan that also undercut the Everything Plan from Sprint! This was an opportunity for me to partake in a most amazing phone plan offering absolutely no restrictions on my usage, and I gladly took it. Even more to my benefit, after all the math had been done with factoring in taxes and waiving a $5 control fee, my monthly charge matched what I had already been paying to AT&T!! It didn't take long for me to crossover to the other side and bid farewell to a company that introduced me to the world of smartphone usage in 2006.

Upon my decision to go with TMobile, I was then faced with choosing a device compatible with the 3G network. While I could have used either my Nokia N97 or Euro HTC Touch Pro 2, I really didn't want to completely rely on EDGE if I didn't have to...and a new gadget was always welcomed anyway! Since the 1700 MHz 3G band is a current rarity in the unlocked device market, I was limited to what TMobile had to offer. In lieu of FINALLY getting an appropriate unlimited plan, I certainly didn't mind starting off the adventure with a network-locked phone. For the first time in years, I was in search of what a cellular carrier had to offer from its phone lineup and it felt quite good. Being able to at least consider an Android model for the first time really seemed exciting, especially since AT&T appeared to be shunning any chance of a premiering Android on its iPhone-dominated service. After reading online reviews and articles from Matthew Miller (a.k.a. palmsolo) from Nokia Experts, CNet, Pocketnow.com, and various YouTube members, my choices were narrowed to the Motorola Cliq and TMobile Touch Pro 2.

I wanted to go for the Cliq to try Android, but I did have some concerns. Firstly, I was apprehensive of not having any Missing Sync software to transfer my PIM data from my MacBook. Once one gets accustomed to avoiding the manual input of contacts, notes, and calendar events, it is difficult to go without doing so. While I wouldn't mind doing this if it was necessary, that chosen Moto would have to be well worth it! Secondly, reviews on the Cliq seemed to display mixed feelings on the included features of Moto Blur, an average hardware qwerty, and a potentially-overwhelming user interface. Thirdly, the Android OS is brand new to me and I didn't want to risk a bad first impression of TMobile while having to learn it from square one. To do this on a secondary device was acceptable, but not on a main phone. A chance happening at the TMobile store that further influenced my decision involved seeing a group of teenage girls swooning over the Cliq. At that point, the Motorola phone became nothing more than a toy-like messaging machine for the youth of America, and I wanted to maintain a sense of professionalism (or maybe adulthood) with a business-capable smartphone. Despite the 3.5mm jack, solid build quality, and improved Android interface, the Cliq was placed on the back burner and the Touch Pro 2 had won out as my main phone.

Accepting the TMobile branding on that TP2 variant was not necessarily a hard thing to do. For a locked version of that HTC model, I always believed TMobile was the one carrier that remained mostly true to the original Euro version of the hardware qwerty. The fact that it retained the number row and "ctrl" key in the final incarnation of its flagship smartphone REALLY impressed me. Noticeable differences at first glance aside from color scheme turned out to be a lack of shapely curves, an outside port for a microSD card install, a RESET button (I hadn't seen one of those in YEARS), a front face with no chrome ring on the perimeter, a clear window over the camera lens, and a Windows Mobile 6.1 interface. Even though it looked and felt heavier than the Euro model, it still retained a certain sturdiness to its build that did not give an impression of cheap construction. The qwerty key feedback worked exactly as expected after having used the Euro Touch Pro 2, and it's layout was more impressive than the mediocre Tilt 2 from AT&T. Call quality and reception all appeared to be similar to the unlocked TP2, but somewhat better due to 3G access.

After 2 days on the TMobile network, I am quite pleased with my decision to leave AT&T. 3G coverage appeared to match that of AT&T (which may not be saying much according to Verizon) and EDGE was more than sufficient for preventing dropped calls in my own home amidst dead zones. Paying $85 monthly for 450 daytime minutes, 5000 night/weekend minutes, 1500 SMS, and unlimited data was a complete rip-off in comparison to TMobile's Even More Plus plan for $80! For the first time I am getting unlimited service across the board for voice, SMS, MMS, and data at a most reasonable price!! When Sprint first introduced its Everything Plan a while back, I was tempted but still thought that even $100 a month was a bit much for an individual customer. Honestly, AT&T is due for some hard times in the coming future if it doesn't totally focus on improving the infrastructure of its 3G network. Dropped calls at home and a lack of comparable plans are what caused me to eventually choose TMobile and make the most of my money. I must also admit that having the opportunity to possibly test a Nokia N900 on TMobile's 3G data was another huge bonus as well!

Trent Smith
Sent from my TMobile Touch Pro 2
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TRENT SENSE blogger/netcast host
trentsense.com
youtube.com/absolon3