I am currently on sprint, and have an older Samsung phone.

I will be in Tampa full time in a week, so I am looking for a new carrier, a new plan, and a new phone.

Any suggestions?

Who is best?

Who should I avoid?

VoiceStream which either became or gotten eaten by TMobile sucks from my past experience. Verizon has the best coverage I hear, but you have to make sure they don't screw the billing. Cingular looks good, but I hear they have a million catches in the fine print (such as one day late with a single payment and no more rollover minutes ever.)

Nextel is what I have now and am the most happy with; their coverage seems to be exceptional and no billing screwups or tricks so far.

Drav, do you get the feeling that cell phone carriers are like this business? Looking for ways to small print a profit?

I have Cingular and just got the V400 which is pretty fun :)

Cingular is the only signal I can get here and so far I've had no trouble traveling with them. Once the buyout/merger with ATT is complete, I would assume they will have a huge network.

Consumer Reports did a report recently on all the major carriers and their phones. It's online at consumerreports.org. If you're not a member, LMK and I'll email the info to you :)

Totally, Mike!

Over the years I've had at least one friend in particular who keeps harping on "how horrible and cheating" adult online is, and that I shouldn't be doing it. LOL! So for years I've always argued back with examples of companies and industries who make us look like saints in comparision. I have never had to "look" for examples, they come to me in everyday business.

Reader's Digest preys incredibly on people, senior citizens in particular, with their "American Clearinghouse" type contest scams. I was always reading the fine print for my deceased father in law and mother, figuring out the catches for them in things that came in the mail. Over a period I of time I figured out Reader's Digest contests last 18 months each. They make each mailing (every 45-90 days) SEEM like the contest is just about to conclude, then they add a new "part" to it, and you have to participate in each part. They make each "part" VERY precise and very complicated with at least a dozen strange things that must be done. You do one thing wrong -- don't put the green sticker in the lower left hand corner of page three, don't put the pen mark X-ing out a word in the middle of page two, etc -- they won't tell you, because they want you to purchase, but you become ineligible to win.

They never say if you don't buy something that you won't win, they just IMPLY it with carefully chosen wording about 40 times every mailing. Then they mess things up brilliantly by having a second concurrent contest, also 18 months long, always starting 9 months into the first, so that they overlap purposely to confuse people even more so. Oh, it is diabolical!! And I do not use that word lightly!

That is what a "good name", rock-solid, American-as-apple-pie company like Reader's Digest does. So imagine what everyone else is doing. That said, hell yeah, the cellphone companies are the most in your face ones out there right now, no question about it. But there are tons of "reputable" companies everywhere you look pulling things, unethically and totally legally, upon consumers.

NOT cingular! They ripped me off and more people that I know about. Verizon is who I would go with.

Totally, Mike!

Over the years I've had at least one friend in particular who keeps harping on "how horrible and cheating" adult online is, and that I shouldn't be doing it. LOL! So for years I've always argued back with examples of companies and industries who make us look like saints in comparision. I have never had to "look" for examples, they come to me in everyday business.

Reader's Digest preys incredibly on people, senior citizens in particular, with their "American Clearinghouse" type contest scams. I was always reading the fine print for my deceased father in law and mother, figuring out the catches for them in things that came in the mail. Over a period I of time I figured out Reader's Digest contests last 18 months each. They make each mailing (every 45-90 days) SEEM like the contest is just about to conclude, then they add a new "part" to it, and you have to participate in each part. They make each "part" VERY precise and very complicated with at least a dozen strange things that must be done. You do one thing wrong -- don't put the green sticker in the lower left hand corner of page three, don't put the pen mark X-ing out a word in the middle of page two, etc -- they won't tell you, because they want you to purchase, but you become ineligible to win.

They never say if you don't buy something that you won't win, they just IMPLY it with carefully chosen wording about 40 times every mailing. Then they mess things up brilliantly by having a second concurrent contest, also 18 months long, always starting 9 months into the first, so that they overlap purposely to confuse people even more so. Oh, it is diabolical!! And I do not use that word lightly!

That is what a "good name", rock-solid, American-as-apple-pie company like Reader's Digest does. So imagine what everyone else is doing. That said, hell yeah, the cellphone companies are the most in your face ones out there right now, no question about it. But there are tons of "reputable" companies everywhere you look pulling things, unethically and totally legally, upon consumers.[/b][/quote]


Drav I agree with you 100% ( It must be leap day! :P )

The net however is still the biggest place to sheer the sheep....

We have tried Cingular, Nextel, Alltel and Verizon.

Verizon has been the best by far.

Hugs,
Danielle

Why do you like them best?

Where are you located?

Ask 10 people about phones and providers and you'll likely get 10 answers...

But in general you've got 6 carriers to choose from the in the U.S. and each has their pro's and con's...

Sprint -- Lots of cool phones, but the coverage and customer service is very week.

Nextel -- If you need push to talk, this is the way to go. Otherwise it's overpriced and has a very weak selection of phones and data features.

AT&T -- Playing catchup, finally put themselves up for sale. I wouldn't touch 'em til the whole Cingular buy out is soup.

Cingular -- Also a bit behind on GSM and data features, they like to nickel and dime on features, but are a good stable middle of the road choice.

Verizon -- Overall market leader by a long shot prior to AT&T and Cingular being combined. If you need the absolute best coverage, you cant go wrong here. Also pricey though.

T-mobile -- Typically neck and neck with Verizon for J.D. Power ratings and such on customer service. Cool phones, a true GSM network, and a bargain. Downside is the coverage in rural areas can be weak if you get a long ways from big city. T-mobile is owned by Deusche Telecom, so their "world phones" have pretty good coverage worldwide.

As for phones, depends on what you wanna do. If you want an all in one unit you can surf, do email with, etc, look at the Sidekick like GonZo totes or the Treo 600.

If you dont want something bulky enough to have a full keyboard and big screen, but still want data, camera phone, MMS, etc....look at the Samsung E715, Nokia 3365, Motorola 722, V300, V400. or maybe Sony T610.

Damn this is a good rundown.

I do not need a phone with all the functions in it. I want something small, light, reliable, good battery time, and cool.

I like the Seimens sl56 - looks like you can get it with cingular.

Right now my decision is coming down between cingular & T Mobile.

hell puppy had a really good critique.

I have had Nextel for 4 years.
Best coastal coverage and the walkie talkie feature is awesome, as well as the emailo alerts.
It is a little steep, but free incoming helps offset that.
The Motorola phones are pretty reliable too.

Verizon!

Can you hear me now : ))

"We have tried Cingular, Nextel, Alltel and Verizon.
Verizon has been the best by far."

I agree. We have been on cell since 1997. Hell, we used to do credit card through cell phone at Comdex. Been through them all! Verizion is the best overall. Was the best from Indiana - and still think so in Florida. The free calls to other verizion customers, is a sweet deal.

I am currently quite happy with my motorola, through them. But Dave often buys his motorola of choice, on Ebay. You don't have to have just the phones they are currently offering. Contracts are the problem. The contracts are different from location to location. I won't take over one year. Technology changes too fast and so do the plans.

Both Cingular and T-mobile have excellent coverage in Central Florida. One of T-mobile's major offices and data centers is in Tampa, so you can bet weak spots get taken care of quickly...

I dont know the Siemans phone. I pack the Motorola 720 (older version of the 722) and have been happy with it....it was the smallest and most feature laden phone available when I bought it. If I were buying one today, it would probably come down to either the Samsung e715 or the Motorola V300.

If battery life is a big concern, the V300 (or V400 or V600 depending on network) wins hands down.

Oh, one other tidbit I forgot. The carriers are starting to get into Hotspots. If that's a factor, T-mobile wins by a huge margin. You can add hotpot access to your phone bill and jump online with your notebook from any Starbucks, airport club (Crown Room, etc), Borders, Kinkos, etc.

If I go with T Mobile, the v300 is the phone. I know Sharky is happy with his.

http://nextelonline.nextel.com/NASApp/onli...on/PhoneLanding

does nextel think we are all black construction workers? the "phat farm" version.. the "nascar" version... pretty lame selection.

been with sprint for 4 years, just switched on friday to Verizon... heard too many good things about them and sprint's data services finally just pissed me off for the last time. Down in our area for 8 days straight and no credits for the lost service.

This is the phone I went with. Data services are important to me so i can keep up with the goings on at oprano ;-)

http://www.kyocera-wireless.com/7100_phone...hone_series.htm

Nice phone Hoop - you are a geek!

Hell Puppy - you seem very knowledgable on cell phones.

I have been told since the sl56 is a GSM phone I can get it programed for any phone company that used GSM. Which included t-mobile and cigular.

Is this true? Is it realistic? I would be worried that the kids who work at these placed could not program it, or of they did that if I had problems there would be no support and it essence it would be a cluster fuck - not worth doing.

Unless you buy a holder for it and realize after getting a replacement battery at the store that the holder was pressing down on one of the side buttons and running the battery down in 24 hours.

Just a little bit of trivia I somehow managed to obtain.... :rolleyes:

Mike,

You're right. In theory, with GSM you can use any GSM phone with any GSM carrier by just swapping the SIM chip.

I've never had the balls to try it. I'm guessing the phone aspects would work just fine. My hunch is the data and extended features might be flakey though as the back end off board systems aren't going to know that handset more than likely. The UI on the phone is also usually customized to have certain keys hardcoded to do certain functions with the provider, you'd lose that.

And probably the most scary part is you're on your own if you need service.

You'll also get a better deal on the hardware buying it from the provider as they'll typically knock a good chunk off the price of the handset in exchange for signing or extending a contract. Same thing goes for service, if you have a problem with the handset, and it's one the carrier gave you, they have incentive to keep you happy so you'll stay with them and keep sending them that check every month.

Unless you buy a holder for it and realize after getting a replacement battery at the store that the holder was pressing down on one of the side buttons and running the battery down in 24 hours.

Just a little bit of trivia I somehow managed to obtain.... :rolleyes:[/b][/quote]
Oh, some of those new style holsters piss me off. The cheap plastic piece of crap that came with mine, had me constantly knocking it off everytime i brush up against something, got into the car or whatever. My brand new phone hit the floor probably a half dozen times first week. A good testament to the durability, but still ticked me off.

I'm fond of the Body Glove and Belkin holsters at the moment. Keeps dust out of the keypad if I drop it in my pocket and really stays put if i hook it on my belt or edge of my pocket.

This is a body glove type holder :( It just happens to be the right size to nail whatever button it was nailing to run the damn battery down. :angry:

I don't have big pockets and I'm usually places I can't hear it ring or don't want to hear it ring so I have to figure out another way of clipping it to me. The cheap plastic holders might actually be what I need, lol!

When I had a Sprint flip phone I had a perfect leather holder that went around the flip thing so you never had to take it out of the holder and had cut outs for the side buttons. I just need to find something similar for this one :okthumb:

This is a body glove type holder :( It just happens to be the right size to nail whatever button it was nailing to run the damn battery down. :angry:

I don't have big pockets and I'm usually places I can't hear it ring or don't want to hear it ring so I have to figure out another way of clipping it to me. The cheap plastic holders might actually be what I need, lol!

When I had a Sprint flip phone I had a perfect leather holder that went around the flip thing so you never had to take it out of the holder and had cut outs for the side buttons. I just need to find something similar for this one :okthumb:[/b][/quote]
Check out the belkin holsters, sounds like what you're looking for. That's what I'm carrying right now. Most of the electronic stores carry 'em (Circuit Shitty, Breast Buy, etc).

I keep my phone set on vibrate AND ring....most of the time I notice one or the other.

Check out the belkin holsters, sounds like what you're looking for. That's what I'm carrying right now. Most of the electronic stores carry 'em (Circuit Shitty, Breast Buy, etc).

I keep my phone set on vibrate AND ring....most of the time I notice one or the other.[/b][/quote]
Hipcat ringtone alone is reason enough to buy a Sidekick.
The choice of all us nasty assed pornographers.

And let us not forget the disco lights on the thing in case the music alone isn't obnoxious enough.

I think it depends on where you live. I’ve used AT&T, Nextel, Sprint and now Cingular.

On Florida’s West coast many people use Nextel because of its direct connect feature. It’s great for businesses and families. Their prices aren’t that bad if you get the right plan. There’s no roll over but you can get free incoming. I really liked Nextel. The billing was clear and easy to understand. I had to stop using it because it just didn’t work out here very well.

Everything Sprint does sucks. The have a few good cell phone plans but the reception sucks when you get out in the water or in many rural areas.

AT&T is good reception but bad plans.

Cingular uses many major networks for extended service. The reception is good and they have good plans but I had to request detailed billing and they don’t break it down well at all. I think I was over-charged and working through it now. I’m not the only one that says this. They have roll over minutes but they all seem to get used. I increased my plan and now plan 90 something for 1000 minutes, unlimited nights and weekends & it starts at 7PM. I get reception in areas I normally have not been able to; however there are days when I drop calls like crazy.

I’d check to see how many people you know that use Nextel or if you plan on getting your staff phones I’d use them. If you’re going to be in Tampa you’ll find that a lot of people over here use it. I just wish it worked at my house.

after my cell miraculously started working in peru,
I don't have problems with Cingular.
Plus...after I told them that I spent $37 on call to them from Bolivia-
they credited those money to my acount.
Mike, very important:
get yourself GSM phone, the one which would work all over the world with the same US number you have.

Sue is happy wiht their FREE GSM phone A56 by Siemens, it's smaller than my dick and interent connected

I got the SonyEriccson T610 phone which has Bluetooth and I'm using T-mobile service.

I switched from Nextel and I'm very happy.

Since it has Bluetooth built in I can use the phone as a modem without having to physically connect to my laptop and I get about 128K speeds. Also since the phone has Bluetooth all my contacts, calenders, and notes get synced with my laptop my phone so I no longer carry a Palm.

I also got the Hotspot service from T-mobile, $20 a month, so I have WiFi service at Starbucks and many other places.

600 minutes a month, free long distance, nights and weekends free, $39.95
Unlimited Internet on the phone, $19.95
Unlimited WiFi service, $19.95

You can get the phone here with service and make $50.
http://www.hellocalls.com/t610.html

verizon & att but all have dead spots in some areas

Good thread - great timing.

Hub just smashed his Verizon phone over the weekend in the middle of a tech call after getting BS excuse after BS excuse on why their service SUCKS. He finally just got sick and tired of all the dropped call bullshit in our area that we've experienced over the past couple years. They promised a new tower antenna in the area for YEARS to improve the dropped call situation and NOTHING. I realize we're in the desert - but this service was just ridiculous.

We are considering going with T-Mobile. Everyone in our area (Southern California desert region) that we've talked to who has it LOVES it and doesn't lose calls like they did with Verizon.

We'll probably go get hooked up today - our Verizon contract finally expired last month. Yipppeeee!

:yowsa:

This thread confirms what I thought, that X service is great if you live in Y locale, and A service is great if you are in B locale, etc. Cingular seems to be popular in the West Coast. Nextel (and Verizon) in the Northeast.

(For example, I get clear signals on Nextel at my supermarket. When I had VoiceStream that became TMobile last year, I was about the only person in my supermarket who could never ever get a signal, which totally sucked.)

The thing is, most of us here travel a lot. What service is "the best for everywhere"? Does such an animal even exist?

verizon


biggest network.

Why do you like them best?

Where are you located?[/b][/quote]
We are in the Charlotte NC area but travel a lot.

Verizon has the largest coverage area and so far seems to have less dropped calls and less dead zones.

Pricing seems very good also.

If you need service, once in awhile you do get a idiot on the phone but you just hang up and call back and get someone that knows how to help you.

Hugs,
Danielle

Mike -

I LOVE T-mobile.. It's so much better than AT&T.

I have the Samsung e715, it's a great camera phone.... I haven't had any problems.

Crystal has the v300 and she loves it too. It's a little bigger than mine, but it has a built in speaker phone that works pretty good

The main reason we quit Cingular is because we travel from Charlotte NC to DC frequently. I don't know if it has changed but as soon as you hit the NC/VA border you had no service until you got in the DC area.

We even had to go outside to get a good signal at home while using Cingular.

Altell only had analog service in our area so all calls had lot's of static.

Hugs,
Danielle

Dannielle, your alive???
that's a name I haven't seen in a while!

how you been?
have any new pics for us?
;-)))

it was most likely the phone and not the carrier

there is some frequencies that done work inside buildings,
i forget which one either 850 or 900

Here are my 2 cents

Nextel is good, i like their walky talky deal, but phones are bulky and ugly

Verizon, has good coverage across most of the country and has nice phones like the LG VX6000 also their CS is great too. But only work in the US

ATT has probably the best coverage from my own experiences, and the only carrier that works worldwide for me. But phones avalable are not the best

Cingular, Sprint, T-mobile all have problems with coverage areas, roaming for no reason. Tmobile uses Cingulars pipes in a lot of areas where they dont ahve their own.

I've been with att for like 6+ years and the only reason i'm still with them is i like being able to use my cell phone almost anywhere in the world,


One of the major things IMO one needs to check is what Band/frequency the phone works on. I'm personaly waiting for the quadband v600 from Moto.

Also most carriers stopped supporting and upgrading old networks to force you to upgrade to next gen phones so coverage is suffering while new Next Gen networks dont always work well but are getting better.

oh btw if you guys want broadband wireless modem for your laptop
check out the EDGE card from ATT and maybe Cingular or Tmobile as well
this thing is fast

Just been very busy with cam shows and building more sites. Have not had enough time to spend on the boards for some time now.

Doing great and I may have a few pics to post. Just did a naked in the snow shoot the other day.

Hugs,
Danielle

it was most likely the phone and not the carrier

there is some frequencies that done work inside buildings,
i forget which one either 850 or 900[/b][/quote]
It was an Ericsson T28 World phone we had when we where with Cingular. It operates on the GSM 900 / GSM 1900 network.

Hugs,
Danielle

This isn't a bad thing. T-mobile does not charge long distance or roaming, so it doesn't matter who's pipe you're on.