cancelled cingular, YES, switching to either sprint or verizon...any opinions?

[dalearyous]

ok cingular, here is absolutely terrible. there are dead spots everywhere and drop call pits. i didn't have service anywhere in my house, had to walk outside to use it. anyway i got out of the early cancellation fee and now looking for new service. i had sprint before cingular and didn't really have any problems except it was terrible customer service and slightly more expensive. i was going to just switch back to them when i realised i could get verizon. i looked at the maps and saw that even though their actual reception around here is spotty, they work off the alltel towers around here and alltel is solid. i was just wondering what everyone thought of both companies. i live in virginia and feel like it might be a good idea...any thoughts?

 

[Lemon law]

You have to understand that cell phone companies operate on the law of Turkey---as they point with some pride that no matter how bad they are someone else is worse.
The other huge factor is what cell phone receptivity will be for you now and into the future. But at the end of the day, for most people, it the towers they have in a given area that makes the system go or not go.---and right now cingular is the only company that I see that is building new towers in any numbers.

Right now I use tracfone---because it keeps my yearly costs down---and I don't need large numbers of minutes per month---and my area Verison has the best coverage---and two years ago Cingular had crap---now that cingular has built new towers in my area, its becoming an option also.

But before you sign any contracts, borrow a friends phone, drive around, and see where you can call and where you can't. Then go by cost and reception---in terms of customer service, just expect it to stink with everyone and then you won't get your hopes up. For a company to solve your problems usually always involves them building new towers--and their answer is always to sell you cool ring tones and bell and whistles---rather than address the idea that most people just want a phone that works.

 

[texasfury]

radio edit

 

[Lemon law]

If you also examine the various plans---its not rocket science to conclude the first $30.00 or so you pay per month just goes to paying for the advertising the industry engages in
to attract each new customer---who then later leaves when their long term contract is up only to select another Turkey who charges premium money to provide sub-standard service.

Face it, advertizing only pays for the initial perception that the company provides adequate service---and takes away from the investments in more towers that demonstrates that a given company does have adequate service.

 

[dalearyous]

yeah i was planning on going with a somewhat cheaper phone for sprint that worked off old and new towers rather than just new so i could increase my chances of getting good reception. i just want reception 95 percent of where i go and i want it to just work in my house. i called a friend up who has verizon and said they have reception everywhere they have been.

like you said though im going to test this out around town tomorrow.

 

[erwos]

Part of the problem is that reception often varies wildly per phone, not just network. Whatever you do end up with, make sure you get the option to return it within two weeks if you find that it's just not working out as well as you'd hoped.

I'm a very satisfied Sprint customer who lives and works in the DC / Northern VA area. Coverage has been very good all around, and the pricing on the plans, especially for data (EVDO!), is quite attractive. My only quibble is that their phone selection is somewhat puny compared to Verizon, in terms of both quantity and quality. Either one should provide decent service, though.

 

[bruceb]

Some facts to consider:

Verizon is CDMA type phone ... will only work in North America region .. can't be used at Sea or Overseas
You also can't take on vacation to Europe and expect it to work in most countries. However, it is usually
a better quality of service all around.

Cingular is GSM Quad Band type phone ... will work on ANY GSM Network ... if you go overseas, you just
go to a local phone store, have phone Unlocked and buy a Prepaid SIM Card for use while traveling.

Cingular & T-Mobile are GSM Networks
Sprint & Verizon Wireless are CMDMA
Nextel is IDEN in some areas, but will be migrating to CDMA due to merger with Sprint

As to recpetion coverage as stated some area are better than others ... best in major cities, very
lmiited in areas like Alaska, Nevada, Northern Canada

You can visit this site: http://www.cellreception.com/

Pop in you zip code or city / state .. it will show you the TOWERS in your Area and Which carriers
are on them

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: texasfury
Is the Sprint SERO plan still going on?

Yes. You can visit the Sprint User's Forum and get caught up. (Sprint Employees Referral Offer)

SERO

To OP - I have used Sprint now for over 6 years. It works for me. Just about all cell service goodness or badness depends a lot on where you are. I do a lot of traveling on western Interstates, and use a Sprint aircard in my laptop. Now it is getting really good with EVDO in the larger metro areas.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: bruceb
Verizon is CDMA type phone ... will only work in North America region .. can't be used at Sea or Overseas
You also can't take on vacation to Europe and expect it to work in most countries. However, it is usually
a better quality of service all around.

If overseas usage is really important, you could always opt for a Samsung i830, which is dual-CDMA / European-band-GSM. The Verizon version is locked to Vodafone (IIRC), but rumor has it that a Sprint version is coming out soon that will have unlocked GSM. Pretty slick. Of course, that's not much of a selection, but it does give you overseas support without getting screwed on the lousy GSM support stateside.

Maybe 5G will see everyone get together on a standard... I doubt it, though.

 

[dalearyous]

Originally posted by: brucebYou can visit this site: http://www.cellreception.com/

that was very usefull link. yeah i never go out of the country so i don't care about that. the reviews on that site in my area are very good. thanks

what phone would you go with in verizon? chocolate?

 

[QueBert]

I had Sprint for years, and absolutly loved the service, the rates and the Sanyo phones which own. I switched to Verizon because my GF is with them and I wanted free mobile to mobile and text messaging.

Verizon is expensive, I pay way more and get less. Only benefit is the rare times I have to call customer service, I wait no longer then 1 minute tops, usually it's instant. Now the quality of CS sucks as much as Sprint, but with Sprint I was on hold for a long time, always.

Sprint has better phones, Verizon is playing catch up, and if you like style without substance (IE Motorola) they are on top now. Sprint has Sanyo, the newer Sanyo's don't match up to the 5300's, but are still far better then most phones.

Sprint for me = $40 bucks = 1000 minutes, good coverage, I added 5 bucks for mobile to mobile. Also they have nights and weekends, with nights starting as eairly as 6! for only a few bucks more a month

Verizon = 80 bucks for 1350 minutes + $10 for unlimited text messaging and IN calling + $35 for unlimited data on my Motorola Q. Which ironically isn't "unlimited" but capped at 10 gigs a month, and if I teather from my PC I run the risk of getting my account sh*t canned. 10 gigs on a mobile sounds like a lot, but the speed is pretty good 50-60k and I racked up 150 megs in 2 days with fairly light usage. I'd imagine if I started to stream radio or watch streaming video 10 gigs could be hit way before 30 days. I dunno what they do if you go above 10 gigs. Knowing Verizon, probably make you pay out the a$$. Also, Verizon cripples the hell out of their Bluetooth phones. I mean I have a Smartphone and I can't xfer files from my PC to it using Bluetooth (which sucks) and on the other phones, you really have to rig them to get them to do what they should if Verizon wasn't so damn greedy.

 

[bruceb]

I personally would go with the Motorola V3 Razor Phone
As to Verizon crippling some features, yes, that is true
but there are website out there that will tell you how to
Flash the phone with software that is not crippled ... you
just need the correct Files, a special program or two (both
are easy to find) and some computer savvy to do it .. read
all the instructions very carefully if you do this, because
1): It does void the warranty on the phone
2): There have been some instances where a phone totally
will not work afterward ... usually caused by Not Following
the procedure exactly .... but most people that do it are able
to and are pleased with the results

 

[QueBert]

another thing to take in concideration

all new Verizon phones, with the exception of the PDA ones and the LG Chocolate (and maybe one other LG?) have a fugly, default Verizon UI which sucks to high hell. you can flash the Razr to the Altell interface but then the phone ain't under warentee.

words can't express how much I dislike the Verizon UI

 

[dalearyous]

yeah i realised that with my friend's razr. i have cingular razr and found it much better. yeah i was planning on getting the LG chocolate one anyway

 

[Pabster]

You really need to check your service area and see who has the best coverage.

Around here all of those SUCK (Cingular, Sprint, Verizon). It really doesn't matter how great their phones are if you can't use them half the time.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: QueBert
Sprint has better phones, Verizon is playing catch up, and if you like style without substance (IE Motorola) they are on top now. Sprint has Sanyo, the newer Sanyo's don't match up to the 5300's, but are still far better then most phones.

This depends mightily on what sort of phone you want. On the high-end and PDA side, Sprint is really playing catch-up at the moment. That said, the M610 that was recently leaked is a _slick_ phone that'll finally give them something to compete with the KRZR. I still think their PDA side is weak, though (they have no real competitor for the Q, still).

-Erwos

 

[Saku]

I had cingular and my reception/service sucked big time. I was paying 55+ on a family plan! I switch to Verizon and get a student discount (I think I found that deal here) and pay 37/month. Also the reception is MUCH better and I havent had any dropped calls. I don't know much about which is carrier is better for overseas.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: QueBert
Sprint has better phones, Verizon is playing catch up, and if you like style without substance (IE Motorola) they are on top now. Sprint has Sanyo, the newer Sanyo's don't match up to the 5300's, but are still far better then most phones.

This depends mightily on what sort of phone you want. On the high-end and PDA side, Sprint is really playing catch-up at the moment. That said, the M610 that was recently leaked is a _slick_ phone that'll finally give them something to compete with the KRZR. I still think their PDA side is weak, though (they have no real competitor for the Q, still).

-Erwos

Sprint has the 6700 (great PDA phone) and will be getting the Treo 700WX shortly. As for the Q, I own one, and it's about as far from a PDA as you can get, outside of the looks. Runs Windows Mobile 5, sure, but I can't find one non Q Smartphone version of a WM5 software that runs properly on my phone. Do some exist? sure, but this is a Smartphone, which is basically the equivlent of a PDA's retarded younger brother. I give the Q ++++ for looks, but you can't cut and paste text, and it doesn't even come with a text editor!
and Sprint announced this year they too will offer the Q. Smartphones and PDA's are different beasts. PDA phone wise Sprint is fine