Why would one choose Verizon over a GSM carrier?

InlineFour

Banned
Nov 1, 2005
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verizon, nextel, sprint, and all the other cdma carriers lock you to one phone. moreover, the phones available are limited. why would one choose their service over GSM carriers? are their plans cheaper? i don't see any advantages in choosing a cdma carrier.
 

Nebor

Lifer
Jun 24, 2003
29,582
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You get a crew to follow you around all the time and help you avoid getting whacked by mobsters.
 

GTaudiophile

Lifer
Oct 24, 2000
29,767
33
81
Good question. With a quad-band GSM phone, there is nowhere on the globe I can't talk, whereas with Sprint/Verizon you are limited to the USA.
 

DaWhim

Lifer
Feb 3, 2003
12,985
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coverage is useless unless you travel a lot. in metro area, you will get good coverage by all the carriers.
 

Zee

Diamond Member
Nov 27, 1999
5,171
3
76
a phone is a phone is a phone. a razor is a razor is a razor. My motorola e815 can do anything your phone does and has better reception while at it. yadda yadda blah blah
 

iversonyin

Diamond Member
Aug 12, 2004
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Verizon reception/service is crystal clear and reliable. If you do business within the US, you would definitely want verizon.

Not everyone care about have fancy phones. The fact is that they(verizon users) get excellent coverage/reception across the country.

And yea, Verizon works in elevator.

One more thing, Tmobile have alot of deadspots- which means you can't use it everywhere. Cingular customer service is mediocre at best. So there you go. But i'm sure the HoFo cingular users would disagree with me.
 

notfred

Lifer
Feb 12, 2001
38,241
4
0
Because I neither know nor care what the difference between GSM and CDMA is, and I don't feel like hacking my phone or whatever you need to do so I can use some different phone for no good reason?
 

czech09

Diamond Member
Nov 13, 2004
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Originally posted by: BlinderBomber
Because Verizon has better coverage in many areas. That being said I have Cingular.

Agreed - I have Tmobile and lose signal in many areas - my roomate has a Verizon one and I have yet to see him drop a call or not have signal...
 

czech09

Diamond Member
Nov 13, 2004
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Originally posted by: iversonyin
Verizon reception/service is crystal clear and reliable. If you do business within the US, you would definitely want verizon.

Not everyone care about have fancy phones. The fact is that they(verizon users) get excellent coverage/reception across the country.

And yea, Verizon works in elevator.

One more thing, Tmobile have alot of deadspots- which means you can't use it everywhere. Cingular customer service is mediocre at best. So there you go. But i'm sure the HoFo cingular users would disagree with me.

Also you forgot to mention that Cingular is frequently overloaded or just doesn't work in a particular area for some time
 

Mill

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
28,558
3
81
GSM if you ever leave the States. And because I can use any GSM phone I want with my SIM and vice-versa.
 

GeekDrew

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2000
9,099
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Verizon's the only reliable carrier in my area, and I have no reason to need a cellphone that would work outside the USA.
 

Apex

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
6,511
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www.gotapex.com
Because Verizon is absolutely the ONLY service that works in my house. :(

Sprint, T-Mobile, Cingular, Nextel, etc either do not work at all, or drop the call within a few seconds.

Verizon has the worst policies (ie. regarding crippled bluetooth), worst phones, worst plans/pricing. Use em only when you must.
 

Platypus

Lifer
Apr 26, 2001
31,046
321
136
It really depends on your area and the towers in place

CDMA supports more calls natively than TDMA
CDMA also has growth potential for more than voice and can obtain higher data rates than TDMA
CDMA is more secure
I *believe* CDMA was adopted by IEEE

That being said, GSM does some crazy stuff with TDMA and therefore paper comparisons aren't really going to do either of them justice.. as I said it just depends on your area.
CDMA is pretty much confined to the US, Canada, India, and a few scattered places whereas GSM is a more global standard and GSM uses SIM cards so both of those can be seen as an advantage I suppose.

CDMA is very attractive to those who don't travel, want more callers per megahertz, and live in an area that has good coverage and towers for CDMA... but again, it just depends on the area..
 

Shawn

Lifer
Apr 20, 2003
32,236
53
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Originally posted by: GeekDrew
Verizon's the only reliable carrier in my area, and I have no reason to need a cellphone that would work outside the USA.
Same here. Here at FSU all of the cell providers pick up pretty well but back at home Verizon is the only provider that gets good reception. All of the other providers we had tried would drop the call if you tried to talk inside the house. :roll:

I also have no need for some fancy phone. I love my Samsung a670. It takes pictures and video with sound and works with Bitpim so I can transfer data back and forth using a usb cable. Not that I really need any of that anyway. I certainly don't need bluetooth or any of that nonsense. I've had ZERO problems with Verizon in the 2 years that I've had it. Verizon was also the only cell provider that still worked after the last hurricane in my area.
 

InlineFour

Banned
Nov 1, 2005
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i noticed that the latest and greatest phones are usually gsm. is this because gsm is more popular worldwide, thus more profit?
 

Shawn

Lifer
Apr 20, 2003
32,236
53
91
Originally posted by: InlineFour
i noticed that the latest and greatest phones are usually gsm. is this because gsm is more popular worldwide, thus more profit?

pretty much
 

SearchMaster

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2002
7,791
114
106
Originally posted by: randomlinh
don't care to use out of the US.. i ain't going anywhere. reception has been better for me on verizon than anyone else. everyone has verizon, i barely touch my minutes.

 

dartworth

Lifer
Jul 29, 2001
15,200
10
81
I've used both Verizon and Cingular from coast to coast in the US.

Both work great for my needs. However, I've had less dropped calls and breaks in service with Cingular.
 

TraumaRN

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2005
6,893
63
91
My thoughts about verizon are that my Samsung A950 can get a signal pretty much anywhere in michigan. And secondly I can be at work in our underground parking structure on the lowest level which is about 50 underground and still have 1-2 bars.