Buy Cingular 680 w/contract from Palm or B&M?

[misterya]

Hi all, brand new to the forum, but as a longtime 650 user (Verizon) I've found the site/forums very helpful for issues/questions in the past.

I'll be switching to Cingular when my contract with Verizon is up at the end of the month. I'm very interested in the iPhone... (which is actually prompting the switch), but I'm going to let that new hardware have a year or two to settle out & maybe update to 3G and add more storage before I buy one.

In the meantime, I'm going to pick up a new 680, & I'm having a little trouble deciding whether to buy it (with contract) from the Palm store online, or from a Cingular brick & mortar store.

I think the differences may be subtle, but after reading about all the gibberish problems people have had over the last year, I want to be sure & give myself the most flexibility in terms of repair/accountability based on where I actually purchase the phone, if possible.

So here are the questions, (thanks for sticking with me!):

1. Are the Cingular (now AT&T I guess) branded phones from the Palm store essentially the same as the ones you buy from a local Cingular store in terms of firmware/sim cards, etc.? **I'm still a little confused on how the number porting works, I'm assuming that if I do buy a phone from Palm I will still have to take it to a Cingular store to have my number switched over/have the phone activated?**

2. A salesman at a Cingular store told me if I had any problems with a phone that I got from the Palm store I would have to return it to them instead of getting help from Cingular, I wonder if he was referring to an UNLOCKED phone? ** If I'm buying a Cingular-branded Treo & signing up for a contract, it would seem to me that wherever I bought the phone from, it's still essentially a piece of Cingular's equipment until I finish my contract, so they would be on the hook at stores across the country to help me out when I run into problems?**

3. Lastly, has anyone had experience with a new Cingular 680 purchase recently (either from Palm or Cingular) that they would mind sharing? Maybe you went one way & wished you had done it differently, or your experience was good/bad one way or another?

I have lived by my 650 for the last couple of years, & while I don't see the actual hardware of the 680 being too big of a leap for me, switching providers and new hardware at the same time is a bigger deal based on how I rely on my phone. Any help anyone would care to offer would be greatly appreciated, & thanks in advance!

[cartogary]

Well I'm going to make a couple assumption right off, 1. Cingular's coverage will work as well as Verizon in your area, and 2. You don't have a color preference for your new 680. If you're unsure as to Cingular's reliablity in your area, then you definitely what to go to the store and get the 30 day trial. Now doing that may limit the 680 colors available. Right now, my local only has Crimson and Graphite in stock. So if you want Copper or White you may need to talk to Palm. Palm is said to have only the Graphic for sale, but they've told me they could sell me a Copper locked to Cingular, which means you end up at store anyway. So you'll need to do you homework, and the coverage/signal strength will really affect download speeds, so be sure can get the "bars" where you need to. Lastly, you can get the 680 from various online retailers, treonauts included, with rebates and a new Cingular plan and probably get your number "moved" in the process. Regarding "problems", there usually a 90 days warranty, unless you sign up for extended coverage at the onset of a new contract. Hope this helps somewhat.