Alot of good advice and some paranoia going on here. Yes, the desert can be more desolate than other areas. If no cell service bothers you, it's probably not the right place to go.
Other than that, if you're prepared to go camp for a week off grid, then you should be basically prepared to hang out in the desert.
Not adding to the paranoia, but there ARE towns that not all are welcome in the Southwest. No different than in NYC or Detroit!
Quartzite is safe with the 1,000,000 other snowbirds camping in the desert though, unless a guy is intimidated by bootable dogs wearing sweater vests and afternoon naps!