Re: who offers 19.95 monthly plan??? advice satel phones (gps 1600, mot 9505, 9500)
Posted by Frazier Frankie on January 15, 2004 at 22:00:33:
In Reply to: who offers 19.95 monthly plan??? advice satel phones (gps 1600, mot 9505, 9500) posted by mikedunn on January 15, 2004 at 08:04:21:
I got mine 2 years ago from GMPCS in Florida, www.gmpcs-us.com. Other companies had somewhat lower cost then... but these guys seemed to have the most savvy & seemed the most professional to me. Two years now, no complaints. Don't know if there are better deals out there that have come along since then, haven't looked (probably should).
When I signed up they had a bunch of plans. If you're going to use a lot of satellite minutes, you can get a plan that has a high monthly service cost but you get lots of free minutes, plus additional per-minute costs are low.
If you won't use it much, they had the $19.95/mo plan, but all calls are something like a buck a minute or so -- that's what I have.
They also had a plan that costs very little per month (I think around $5), but every minute of airtime costs several bucks if I recall... for folks who just want to keep the phone handy for emergencies.
The highest bill I had was around $60 late last summer, chasing thunderstorms in Owens, Panamint & DV... I plugged my laptop into the phone ($70 data link kit) and logged onto the internet, downloading radar to track the cells. You won't be surfin' in Steele Pass -- it's only 9600 bps, but that's better than my analog cell phone link.
Globalstar 1600 downsides IMO: Expensive. Must have decent view of the sky. Can only use in car with a car-antenna kit (which costs more than the friggin' phone!). Occasionally drops calls as sat hands off to next sat (they use a constellation of birds). However, sit out in the middle of Lee Flat, or in Panamint Valley, and it'll probably never happen 'cause you have such a wide view of the sky. Last time I checked, Globalstar didn't cover Hawaii -- maybe they do now, tho.
Upside: 1600 is a tri-phone: sat, digital cell, analog cell. Unless in narrow canyon or under cover, sat lock is quick. Re-acquisition & lock after a dropped call is quick. Good sound quality. Relatively long battery life. Well-built. Cool toy. Peace of mind.
We bought ours after blowing a hose on a side trail above Lee Flat and deciding to camp out for the night before fixing it. Okay we were plenty prepared, had good weather, a great camp site (burros galore!), but wife & I are getting too old to hike out if we snap an axle. Besides, I procrastinated getting my ham license so long that now you don't need code, and even then I still procrastinated, so I figured screw it, get a phone.
I decided on the Globalstar system for price and sound quality... and took a chance that the Globalstar company would get out of its financial woes. Which they seem to be doing so far.
To me, consumer-affordable sat phones are roughly where cell phones were when they first came out: relatively big & expensive phones, relatively expensive airtime. Definitely a niche item.
You might consider renting different phones first... or at least doing a thorough Google and researching the various service providers and satellite systems.
HTH