- Jul 11, 2004
- 4,573
- 2
- 81
I am currently serviced by, but no longer under contract to, Cellular One/Western Wireless, the group that is being acquired by Alltel. I have had 0 problems with CellOne in 3.5 years, and don't really anticipate any with Alltel. For the first two years of college, all the people I knew with Verizon couldn't get jack for signal on campus while I could go in the basement of a steel-reinforced concrete building and be crystal clear. Verizon has since put up a tower in the center of town, but that still sticks out in my mind. I've never even had to change the battery in my phone, the Motorola Timeport 270c, and I'd reactivate it if everything didn't have to be e911 compatible 
I know that I can get comparable plans on either Alltel or Verizon (Sprint does run in my area, but I've never heard a good review locally so they're a distant third), so there's really just two reasons to switch to Verizon: most of my contacts are on it and IN would be handy, and Verizon has more attractive phones (even though they cripple half the features I want). The main reasons to stay with Alltel are: cheaper per-use text messaging (I won't use it enough to justify a plan addition), and the fact that I don't like changing something that ain't broke.
The Candidates:
Alltel:
Audiovox8910: Solid, but unimpressive. Can't do EVDO but can do Analog in case I need to roam.
Razr: I'm not too fond of the keypad, but it does have full-featured bluetooth thanks to Alltel not crippling phones.
Kyocera KX5: I've felt like I was going to snap every slider phone I've held, but it is Alltel's most feature packed phone, behind the Razr.
Suggestions: I spoke to Alltel customer service and they said I can buy and activate whatever phone I feel like, as long as it's e911 compatible. Not a high option due to the added cost.
Verizon:
Motorola e815: I wasn't impressed with the keypad on the demo model, but it does have basically every feature I want.
Audiovox8940: If I switch to Verizon, I'm leaning this way purely on a price perspective. It has basically everything I want except bluetooth, has the highest builtin memory capacity (64MB) and the more flexible memory card (miniSD vs. microSD).
Razr: Even though Verizon cripples it.
I was in the local Verizon reseller last week and told him I'd come in after work tomorrow to make a decision, because he gets his new shipments in on Tuesdays. I'm in eastern North Dakota, in case that matters to anyone. I do have a fair idea of which way I'll go, but I'm curious about people's opinions.
I know that I can get comparable plans on either Alltel or Verizon (Sprint does run in my area, but I've never heard a good review locally so they're a distant third), so there's really just two reasons to switch to Verizon: most of my contacts are on it and IN would be handy, and Verizon has more attractive phones (even though they cripple half the features I want). The main reasons to stay with Alltel are: cheaper per-use text messaging (I won't use it enough to justify a plan addition), and the fact that I don't like changing something that ain't broke.
The Candidates:
Alltel:
Audiovox8910: Solid, but unimpressive. Can't do EVDO but can do Analog in case I need to roam.
Razr: I'm not too fond of the keypad, but it does have full-featured bluetooth thanks to Alltel not crippling phones.
Kyocera KX5: I've felt like I was going to snap every slider phone I've held, but it is Alltel's most feature packed phone, behind the Razr.
Suggestions: I spoke to Alltel customer service and they said I can buy and activate whatever phone I feel like, as long as it's e911 compatible. Not a high option due to the added cost.
Verizon:
Motorola e815: I wasn't impressed with the keypad on the demo model, but it does have basically every feature I want.
Audiovox8940: If I switch to Verizon, I'm leaning this way purely on a price perspective. It has basically everything I want except bluetooth, has the highest builtin memory capacity (64MB) and the more flexible memory card (miniSD vs. microSD).
Razr: Even though Verizon cripples it.
I was in the local Verizon reseller last week and told him I'd come in after work tomorrow to make a decision, because he gets his new shipments in on Tuesdays. I'm in eastern North Dakota, in case that matters to anyone. I do have a fair idea of which way I'll go, but I'm curious about people's opinions.
Facebook
Twitter