The GSM Fromt: T-Mobile and Cingular

T-Mobile and Cingular also have some changes on their websites, but they're less far-reaching and more welcome...

First, T-Mobile...

They, right now, are again giving away a $25 airtime card when you buy (a maximum of two per household) a prepaid phone. Which is quite tempting, since DealKing right now offers $5 back when you buy a T-Mobile phone through their link, and the Nokia 6030 is $25 with the free airtime card...or rather free with the $25 airtime card. And the Nokia 6101, though not new or anything, is $50 and has the airtime card included.

There are also a few (relatively) new phones available on T-Mobile To Go. The basic Samsung t219 is $60, augmenting the $90 t319 cameraphone. And the new Samsung "Stripe" is available for $100. All of these, rembember, have the $25 card thrown in...

Now for Cingular...

First, the rewards sytemm. Yes, Cingular now has rewrds. Sort of. When you spend $100 on airtime (I'm guessing the first $10 in airtime counts toward this) you get $5. Another $100 gets you $10 extra. Another $100 gets you $15 bonus, as does the $100 after that. Finally, after you've sent $500 on their service, you get an extra $20, which you'll get for every $100 you spend after that. a 20% rewards system doesn't sound so bad, but that's an awful lot of airtime that you have to buy before you get there. Plus, T-Mobile's Gold Rewards beats Cingular percent for percent until you spend $500, and minute for minute the $100 T-Mobile card always wins. So personally I'm not excited about this, but it's a nice perk for Cingular users. An d no, you don't have to sign up for this to get it to take effect, which is a good thing...

Second, the GoPhone lineup has changed slightly, phone-wise. At least price-wise. The Sony Ericsson J220a, refurbished, is now a palatable $20, the same as the featureless Motorola c139 *cough cough*. At least the c139, with the correct hardware, is not too ahrd to unlock\flash (the process is similar to that of the c155). The better-looking, better-featured black Samsung x507 is $40 refurbished. And, interestingly, the tiny Pantech c300, along with the newer c120 bar phone when refurbished, is a mere $50. Note that the c300 is new...though it's an old model, the newer c3 being twice that cost. As a side note, you can get the basic, though thin, Motorola L2 refurbished, in either pink or silver, for $80.

And that's about it on the GSM front.