My add-on data plan was only $20 and includes T-Mo hotspot wi-fi.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but as far as I know it is unlimited.

Wow that's a great deal, $20 for unlimited data and free wifi at T-Mobile hotspots, can't beat that!

Whenever I buy a phone or data plan, I make sure to spend extra to get a plan that has WAY more minutes/data than I'll ever need. Sure, I might be throwing away money, but it means I never have to think "uh oh, it's near the end of the month, how many minutes do I have left?" It's worth it to me.

Everything plans are $90 from Sprint for a longer commitment. Of course none of the carriers are actually UNLIMITED. They all put caps on data per month. Sprint's is about 3GB though it's unstated (similarly that unlimited VoIP phone service you have is soft capped at 4000-5000 minutes per month).

I have 5 phones on a voice plan (with no 3G), unlimited text, 2100 peak mins/month, free nights-weekends, unlimited email, unlimited picture mail, internet (slow), calling features, etc etc. for $141/mo. So by comparison, paying $90 for one phone for basically a 3G data add-on is insanely expensive.

Because metered SMS is THE MOST expensive service they offer. It costs more to text than it does to send data to the International Space Station. With (really) unlimited SMS I saved on hundreds of call minutes otherwise. We use 4000 text messages a month on average. For $20 it's the best deal out there.

I've got news for Mr. Jacobstein CEO, the world is already "there" for "all-you-can-eat" plans. The U.S. is the only place that isn't. Thanks for your narrow, uninformed worldview, Mr. CEO.

I have a Sprint account with two Samsung Instincts and one HTC Mogul.

Having Instincts means a pricier plan - $129 for unlimited data, texts, photo and video messaging, GPS, the premier TV and radio packages, and 1500 shared minutes for the two lines.

Adding the Mogul line to the plan was another $19.99.

Then there is the seven dollars per handset for insurance and the repair plan - so another $21 total. I've had to replace phones over the years using the insurance and at over four hundred a handset, the insurance has paid for itself.

What irritates me most are the taxes and fees. They come to almost twenty dollars a month. On the plus side, I have an affinity discount that applies monthly and almost offsets the taxes/fees. I started with Sprint back in 1993 and the discount has stayed with the account.

So... bottom line outlay every month?

About $175 or a little less than $60 bucks per phone.

The Instinct is as good as the hype and has been since day one. I really enjoy the premier TV while traveling. It keeps me up to date with the Daily Show and provides live CNN or Fox news as well. The phone also has a separate 2 gig memory card that has let it pretty much replace my Ipod for music. Fewer gadgets to carry.

Ten years ago I canceled my land line and went completely cell and cable modem ($35 per month). Not paying sixty dollars a month for a land line makes it even more economical.

With AT&T, I had been paying an unfair $160/month for two smartphones, both with unlimited data. I dropped my unlimited data for my phone and now use the wifi (it's more places than you think). I did drop SMS, but I can send an e-mail. Internet-based text messaging will soon replace prohibitive SMS fees, so eventually I'll have gmail or facebook messaging.

I dropped my partner's Blackberry plan from $40 to $35 with no change in service. I dropped our minutes down as well. All told, a $160/month bill became $90/month.

The money in metered charges may not be in overage fees but in "underage" fee when people don't use what they're paying for.

Those iPhone plans must be a cash cow for AT&T like no other, because their 3G infrastructure was already in place well before the iPhone 3G.

TEN years ago you ditched landline - I'm impressed. Being in Manhattan on 9/11 had me holding on to landline a little longer than expected, but I let go a few years ago. Thanks for the comment, and all around, the comments, gang. Joe

T-Mobile prepaid has an "unlimited" plan. For $1 a day, you get unlimited calls to any other T-Mobile customer and unlimited calls from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am. All other calls are 10 cents per minute. You still have to pay for text messages and international calls, and there's very little web access, but if you don't need that, it sounds like a good deal.

Virgin Mobile also has an unlimited plan for $79.99 a month, with unlimited texting $10 more.

No, I don't work for T-Mobile or Virgin Mobile USA.

T-Mobile's network is Edge only and is incapable of the speed you get from the other carriers' 3G and EVDO networks. You pay half as much for T-Mobile's data because it is only half fast.

Every month all the garbage taxes and fees go up just a little bit. A buck here, a quarter there. $6/month higher than 10 months ago.

Sprint has a lot of features so locked up in their phones that they use it to force the users into the more expensive plans. I generally just use my phone to talk and I talk less than 300 minutes a month. (Actually, less than 100 - its more like "Meet you at the Albatross at 7. Bye.") I did eventually wind up with a cell phone with a camera. Turns out Sprint would not sell me a data cable to transfer data. I had to use the phone to call myself somehow to send myself the photos. I got online and found BitPim and the Samsung driver and managed to download my photos for the cost of the Samsung cable. Then, I laundered that phone. I now have a blackberry I inherited from the place where I work. I can download stuff to my computer like mad. But, I know that the equipment that can download into the computer costs several hundred dollars. So, if you want a teeny phone and want to transfer your data to your computer, Sprint wants you to pay through the nose.

It might *seem* like you are paying less with Sprint, but they have you so caught up by the short and curlies with their locked phone service that many users are compelled to buy a more expensive plan than they really need.