Anyone know the deal on the onboard cell phone?? It says in the paperwork the truck has some capability for it and I was wondering if anyone knew any details regarding the service, if it can use any carrier, etc... I have no idea what it is and figure maybe it is an onstar type thing...

 

yup its from OnStar
The 1st 30 min are free
then you can purchase in chucks of 100 mins I believe for around $20 something
Oh and if you are a Verizon customer you can lump in your cell min plan with your H3

 

I think those 100 minutes for 20 dollars is only the first time, after that, it gets pretty expensive. Also, I don't think it would be a good idea to hook it up with your own personal Verizon cell phone. I may be wrong, so the best thing is to read up on the fine print yourself.

 

My wife's envoy has the onstar mobile phone. We haven't used it too much. But I can say that it works pretty much anywhere. I live in an area that my cell phones don't have service but the onstar phone doesn't even have static. Maybe my service provider (cingular) should look into such a sweet system.

 

I think it a good idea iam a cell phone freak and i tell you its a lot of places you don't get reception and the one in the h3 is sattlite work anywhere i heard it work with you verizon phone so i'm switching from nextel to verizon even tho i work for verizon but i got my h3 with my company discount saved me 4,000 i was happy

 

if the onstar is satellite, it's not going to be cheap, and there are only a few satellite carriers out there. if it's dual mode, you'll need to find out what technology it uses to determine which carrier to go with. Verizon and Sprint are typically CDMA everywhere, Cingular and T-Mobile are GSM/TDMA (Cingular and Verizon, in most markets, still have to offer analog service until August 7, 2007, but availability is limited). Nextel is on their own, but now that they're owned by Sprint, you may be able to keep your plan if the onstar is CDMA. otherwise just get an external antenna/car kit for your personal phone and put the antenna on the roof. the ground plane from the steel roof will definitely improve your signal quality.

 

THE phone work threw onstar and on star is sattilite the why they can unlock you door from anywhere i know people that have in in their h2 they where in the no where land and there cell did not work but the h2 work fine

 

It's not a sat phone as far as I know... It is linked through Onstar but verizon is the service that is actually used... I have an account that I pay 69.00 for and it includes 2 phones and 2 lines with 700 minutes... I added the H3 to that account for 9.99 and can end it at any time without a term penalty... It is also linked to my 700 free minutes... Because all my cell phones (girls and mine) are through verizon, calling each other or the truck does not count against my minutes... 700 minutes was the fewest you can buy but I use about 200 per month actually...

The only catch is that because it is linked to the Onstar system and because the Onstar is an emergency service that can not be allowed to fail, all transactions of any kind have to be done via the Onstar Verizon personnel and not just any verizon store in your area... They can sell it and set it up but once it's on they are the ones you'll deal with...

 

the 100 minutes for $20 is good for the first year of your h3