I really like the idea of dropping the residential phone line and just go mobile. That would probably be one of the few solutions that could motivate me to get a cell phone in the first place. I shall have to ponder this...

I held off on getting a cell phone for a long time; long after all my friends had them. Now I can't imagine not having one. They're too useful. Plus, Photoblog!

Yeah, it's very cool. The most discouraging aspect of the whole deal is probably the $400 price tag on the phone. That, and the fact that Speakeasy wants an installation fee of $100. I've figured out that I would save some $50 a month on the new setup, though. It would be very tempting, were it not for the fact that I don't have the cash. Oh, well...

Will Speakeasy not rebate the setup fee? They had such a deal when I signed up. I think its there just to make sure that you're serious.

You could do it in two stages: Naked DSL with Vonage is probably a bit of savings. Then, after you've saved up for the handset you want, get the cell phone and cancel Vonage.

Excuse my ignorance, but what's so cool about Haggen?

Haggen is just a really great grocery store. They have impressively high-quality produce, good prices overall (significantly lower than Safeway for basics like milk), and fine baked goods including some of the best store-bought pie around. They also offer a nice selection of "organic" foods, for those who swing that way. The store also feels different to shop in: there is no sappy store music, employees seem genuinely friendly, it tends not to be overly crowded, etc.

And they used to be open 24 hours, which meant I could go there when I needed a snack or a drink at 3 am.

Why not 'import' a cellphone from Denmark... some of them are quite cheap 'over here'.
Nokia 6600 might not be cheap in your terms, but the site has prices on almost all brands and models :-)

You know, its only $400 if you want a super spanky cell phone, I got mine for free when i signed up, if i had really wanted to i could have spent $50 to $100 more for a camera phone and such. You should talk to a couple of the carriers and see what they offer, its amazing what you can get for free these days.

So dude, it's the ninth. Any action on that apt?

Haven't heard any bad news yet, which seems to indicate that everything checked out. Should be signing the lease tomorrow.

Speakeasy will rebate the hardware, but not the setup fee.

I haven't been able to find anything about Naked DSL on Vonage's site. And there's the added complication that I host my own server. Without that, a lot of people's web sites, mail and DNS records will disappear.

Yeah, it seems to be pretty much half price of what they're charging over here. I would want to make sure that the Danish version is fully compatible witht the networks over here, though.

There is that. However, cheaper phones tend to have lousy coverage, and one of my main reasons for wanting a cell phone would be that I wouldn't be entirely cut off from the world when I go hiking or skiing. I might try to find a place where they compare phones, based on coverage. Perhaps there are cheap phones with good transmitters/receivers out there.

My old Nokia 3390, which I got for free when I signed up with T-Mobile a few years ago, had great reception. Not quite as good as the 6600 I have now, but still plenty good.

Well, I guess I could just go (hack, sputter, snort) main-stream...

I have on several occasions used my Nokia 6100 in US with no problems at all. This has been in SF and on the east cost.
You need to get a tri band phone though. Europe is GSM 900/1800 US is GSM 1900.

If I just get a mobile plan with a free phone over here, it'll work. I don't really care if the phone will work in Denmark, since it would probably be insanely expensive to make calls from it while I'm anywhere in Europe.

Vonage does voice over ip, not net access. Given naked DSL and service from Vonage, you can drop your land line. Assuming that this saves you money, you can then save up for the mobile handset you want.

Or, you courd just go Lillis's route and get a cheap handset.

Hmm.. So, I was looking at their site that you linked to, and it turns out there is one right next to the place I am looking to move to in the nearing future. Only 1.2 miles away according to yahoo maps.

Well-played.

I see. Well, VoIP would probably make it more difficult (read: expensive) to talk on the phone around the house, away from the computer, so I'm leaning toward the wireless solution.