Seeing is how I can finally afford one and am in the market, figured I would ask for some infos. Basically likes dislikes of your network, phone, and so on. If anyone actually bought an iphone feel free to gimme lots of infos on it as well.

I have nextel, and I hate every second of it. Go verizon, it can't be worse than sprintnextel.

I have verizon and its good coverage, and has decent verity of phones and plans to choose from.

I use T-Mobile. It has pretty shitty service and places you would want service you don't get it, like my college for example. For the price though I think my plan is pretty good especially since I have a Sidekick. From what I've heard, Verizon really is the company to go, but I think people have said its quite pricey. Not sure.

I use sprintnextel down here. It's great around here but sometimes you don't get service at the weirdest places.
Pricing is ok. They used to be real cheap. I used to play like $30 a month. Now its like $40-60.
Customer service over the phone sucks uber ass. Sometimes they call you to offer you deals and shit. If you refuse, they ask you why not and try to persuade you. And most of the time I don't understand what they're saying. Most likely I'm talking to someone overseas.

I'm on Sprint myself, and have never really had an issue with it save for the lack of access in odd places.

Same here DE, Sprint's been good but I get no service in strange places. Not necessarily places where I'd need it, but you never know what could happen. Though, I too hear Verizon is nice as well.

I wouldn't recommend Sprint or Verizon for the simple fact that they don't use SIM cards. If you accidentally drop your phone in a cup of water, or drop it, or anything? Your phone book is gone, your pictures are gone, everything on the phone is gone, because it was all stored on the phone. However, with T-mobile or some other service, you can just move your SIM card to a new phone and have all of your settings and data intact.

As far as service goes, every service is going to have ups and downs in different spots. For the most part, any one you go with, you're going to be able to make calls. Pricing is something I'm unfamiliar with.

In case of sim cards, it depends on the phone and many do use micro sd cards and there are ways to back up phones to a pc.

Cheers for the info, I shall figure something out.

Yup. I would recommend AT&T/Cingular. Companies that use GSM tend to be more flexiable.

Just some background I worked for AT&T/Cingular for a year and half. I also had service with Verizon. And I'm familiar what each service has to offer.

It really depends on your needs, and how much you want to spend. Which I would tell costumers all the time when they would use the "unsatisfied" tactic and say they will go to another company. Most people want the "free" phone, which there is no such thing (you pay for it anyway through activation fees and prorated charges lol), instead actually looking what will suite them. It is important to know what you need, and are getting because you will be signing a 2 year contract. With around $175 fee if you break that contract.

I'm going do a break down here.

Verizon and Sprint use CDMA technology. It is not a widespread technology worldwide so your choice of phones are limited. The majority of these two companies' selection of phones are made by Samsung and LG. I'll be straight up those two companies suck. The reason why they have a lot of Samsung and LG phone is because those are Korean companies and Korea uses CDMA for their cell phone services.


Sprint blows. They are losing thousands of customers daily. Coverage just flat sucks. Only thing keeping them in business is their Direct Connect(walkie talkie) service and their high speed data network. By the way their high speed data network superior to everyone else, however they have less coverage. Customer service is shit. They won't even talk to you if have not payed your bill. Since they are fighting hard to keep customers and gain new ones they will pull sneaky shit on you. Like putting another one or two years on your contract. Stay away from this company. People go here if they have really bad credit. Meaning people who can't pay their bills. Not to mention their plans are expensive if you compare what you getting for either equal or same price as AT&T/Cingular , T-Mobile, and Verizon's plans. I say stay away from Sprint.


T-Mobile uses GSM for their network, which the majority of the world uses. One thing to note about T-Mobile is they have the cheapest plans. On paper that is. Here is why. First, their plans are about 10-20 dollars cheaper than AT&T/Cingular and Verizon. However they offer less minutes than AT&T and Verizon. Good right? Pay less so expect to get less minutes. The kick in the nuts is you do not get mobile to mobile free calling. It is an extra feature you must had, thus upping the price of your monthly bill. To remedy this you can get the feature called 5 faves where you pick 5 people you can call unlimited. Add this features makes your monthly service plan the same as AT&T and Verizon. To get the same features as the other two companies offer on their base plans you will have to up your service plan to the same price as those companies. And you still get less minutesI would rather have the extra minutes.

A good aspect of T-Mobile is their unlimited text messaging plan is 5 dollars cheaper than AT&T and Verizon. They, along with Verizon, seem to have the more popular colors for certain phones. And better variety of colors overall. As for coverage they do not own many towers, so you are likely to hit with roaming charges if you are traveling. Many areas you see on their coverage map are not actually towers owned my T-Mobile, they are actually AT&T's. So you may get some hidden roaming fees if you makes calls while you out and about. Last, they will add another year of service to your contract if you replace a phone even if you are not upgrading.

I still recommend T-Mobile if you cannot pass AT&T and Verizon's credit check, or if you see a phone you really want. Or if the base plan is all you really need, and you can do without Mobile to Mobile and do not need as many minutes.


AT&T and Verizon have the same basic plans and prices. Coverage is about the same too. Same goes for credit check. They are really tough. If you have little credit history or you have had problems paying bills you will most likey have a deposit to pay up front if you go with their service. The difference in service plans and what each has to over is as follows:



AT&T

-Roll over minutes (you accumulate minutes you do not use)

- Quality Phones exclusives from Nokia and Sony. Which in my opinion make the best phones period.

- Only carrier that sells Sony phones.

-Since its GSM you do not have to a phone from AT&T, but shop online. Just put your Sim in the phone of your liking.

- Offers early nights and weekends starting at 7 pm instead of 9 pm. This is an extra feature that cost 8.99 to your bill.

- TV service as far as channels go. Cingular Video seems good but its only 3-5 minutes clips of stuff. Good if you waiting somewhere and need to pass the time. They always have the latest South Park clips of the best parts. And usually enough clips so you can get the gist of the episode.

-If you need to make any changes to your bill, or purchase a new phone at retail price, or change rate plan there will be no extension to your contract. The only company that has such policy

-Text messaging plans are expensive compared to other carriers. There is only 2 basic text messaging plans. Its either the 200 messages for 5 bucks, or unlimited for 20. Insane. The inbetween packages include internet, which Verizon makes you pay seperate for each.

-Customer service is a pain in the ass. There has been improvement since AT&T purchased Cingular. But bleh. I worked for the company, and its funny how even the employes get pissed off at them.

-Direct Connect blows here.

-The best media packages, and variety. I mean I have the 1500 text with unlimited internet for 30 bucks a month. Everyone else gives you one or the other, or charge you for both. Verizon just gives either unlimited text for 20 bucks a month, or unlimited text and internet for 40 bucks. AT&T has those packages too for same price.

-iPhone. I played around with this phone extensively. If you do not have an iPod this phone is totally worth it. Though a lot of standard phone features are left out.

-This final one is a secret, ok? AT&T is the largest network right now. They are number one. They have a huge costumer base, and more keep coming through the door. So they are not overly pressed to make deals, and discount phones. We were even told to look for customers that maybe a risk and to sent to another carrier. They do not want people that are not going to pay their bills. Also they don't do much for exsisting customers because there are so many new customers coming through the door they do not care if you leave after your 2 year contract. New customer > exsisting. When AT&T sales rep looks up your phone number, say you came in to pay a bill, there is info that tell him/her if you are worth keeping as an exsisting customer. As well as any offers you can get. In short, you aint getting a deal on the phone with AT&T unless you spending lots of money by adding features.


Verizon

-Basic plan has nights and weekends at 9 pm free. AT&T's gives you only 5000.

-Better variety for PDA, Smartphones, and Blackberry. AT&T is lacking here.

-GPS. Nuff said. AT&T does not have this except on one Blackberry. Otherwise you have to buy a seperate device.

- TV service is excellent. Awesome channels with the actually programing. Like Comedy Central.

-Replacing a phone or buying one you like online means you have to take it in and get it registered, thus shutting the old one. I don't know about everyone here, but I like changing my phone, even back and forth, often and not having to deal the company I use for service. T-Mobile has the same advantage too.

-Charges you for transfering contacts. If you ever want contacts tranfered go to an AT&T store.

-Making changes to your account, or getting a new phone is the same as signing another 2 year contact. I was not informed of the policy, and got hit with this one when I tried to upgrade. I had went in earlier in the month to add a text messaging plan and change my rate plan.

-Reasonable priced basic text plans based on how many you need.

-MP3 phones you have to get through Verizon's music service. With AT&T most of the phones have micro sd card slots, so you can store all the music and pictures you want.

-Verizon might offer you more phones for free only because they are made by shitty LG and Samsung. Kidding. Verizon employees make a little more money off sales than AT&T, however their quotas are insanely higher with sharp penalties if they do not make goals. So the right sales person might cut you an insane deal.


Really in my mind it comes down to AT&T or Verizon. T-Mobile if you cannot pass the credit check without a deposit, or low deposit.

If you are into tv with premium channels go with Verizon. Go with them if they have a phone you like, or if you can get a better deal on a phone, for the folks that don't care what phone they use.

I think AT&T is the way to go because they don't penalize by extending your contract, when all you want to do is make a small change to your bill, like adding or taking off a texting plan. The variety of phones to choose from is another one. Their exclusive phones cannot be matched because GSM is a worldwide standard, so most companies do not spend time making CDMA phones.

Either way between those two carries you will be paying the same. Just got to know what you want. What is good for you.


I had no idea I would write this much when I started. lol

Somethings about verizon, they have many Motorola phones, they do have micro sd memory card slots in many of their phones and you dont need their music service to add mp3's to the cards, provided you have a card reader for your pc.

Haha, thanks for the mad info, Scan. I had no idea of the intricate differences between the providers. I think i'll just stick with AT&T when i renew my contract this month.

now just what phone to get...?

Oh yeah! You are right. A year ago, however if you went with the music service you could not play mp3's once the V Cast app was installed on your phone. The updated software for V Cast music, you will have to sync your mp3's with the pc software to convert them over to WMA.


It is still a disadvantage to the average user who get sold on V Cast music. Nine out of ten times they will not know how to sync and convert their mp3 music collection. That is what Verizon is betting on. Why else would they remove the phones music software? Because they want you to purchase music from their download service.

Apple did the same thing when Cingular carried the Motorola L7. The L7 had iTunes on it with expandable memory up to 1 gig. However, the iTunes software could only hold 100 songs. Insane. The line of thinking is Apple wants you to buy an iPod, so put a limit on a non Apple product.



Another thing that could be useful. Carriers are service companies first, phone retailer second. Sales reps do not get paid on the phone, but on service and features. Most people think the opposite. What phones they sell you does not matter much other than what service features can be tied to the phone. With that in my if you reasonably want service and to try out some features, you can likely get a lower price on the 2 year contract pricing.


Also, with any company, if you experience poor service or drops calls frequently in a certain area. Report the matter by calling tech support. A thick will be put in to investigate the nearby tower of the location you gave them. Likely what they do next is crank up the power of the tower thus increasing signal strenght, since they do lower them in order to conserve energy.

I recommend Sony and Nokia. You going to get the style with Sony and good quality. With Nokia you going to get awesome software, and one of the best quality devices out there. Baically, these two are known for not having too many problems with their devices. Motorola is probably the worse, but that is just in the US. The better Motorola phones are overseas.

If you looking to get a phone from AT&T to renew I would say the new Sony slider phone is awesome. It has been a year since they've had a slider phone. It is a walkman phone, so you have a music player and a FM radio. Cool feature is you can shake the phone if you want to skip to another track on music player. Also 2.0 MP camera. Cost is $49.99 with 2 year contract. The phone actually retails for $299.99 if you were to buy from Sony. Sony's have the best battery life out there! I using a the W810i right now, and if I have gone 2 weeks and a half without charging the phone. Granted I made very little calls, and did not use applications.




Another phone of interest is the Nokia N75. low-mid level phone to Nokia's N series. Exclusive to AT&T. What I like about it is has the look of a compact digital camera, and even functions as one with 2.0 MP and flash. I think it is the only phone from US carries you can buy with a flash. Also, it is a 3G phone so you going to get better coverage down the road, and faster download speeds if you want to get internet on the device. MP3 player with stereo speakers. Which is awesome for volume on speakerphone. Large display with an awesome resolution. Big buttons. Really nice phone. Price has really come down on it. It is $199 now with 2 year.


Samsung A707 is a decent phone. The only Samsung that got my attention. The software is nice, and the buttons are big aswell the screen. I was using this phone until it got stolen. I used to recomment this phone all the time. Especially to elderly because you can change the font size for dialing, and texting. My favorite feature was the alarm clock had features you normally only find on PDA's. You can customize as many alarms you like, set them to specific days, and how long you want to snooze when you hit the snooze button. Camera sucks on. And texting with T9 on is a pain sometimes. It does funky things when it tries to guess which word you are using. You can get it free online now with 2 year contract. They will charge $99 in store.


iPhone only if you do not have an iPod. Using internet on it over EDGE is slow. Especially since the damn thing loads the whole page. Only surf with Wifi.


Another option is to go month to month and just purchase a GSM phone over the internet or at a cell phone retailer. Lots of nice stuff out there. Especially the Sony K850, which I will be getting at some point.

Thanks for all the info. Although still subject to change, me thinks im gonna splurge on an iphone. Use it obviously as a phone, and let it also replace my old first gen ipod, which still works great, but its just an old timer now. More than enough people I call run with ATT which will let me skimp and get a lower minute plan and abuse that unlimited mobile to mobile. I don't travel a hell of a lot, certainly not out of ATT areas more than a few camping trips each year. Even those we usually have someone with verizon who gets service so all is good if we do something overly stupid when drunk.
Again thanks for the great info, made this all a harder choice than I had wanted. =p

Oh and for the love of the maker, make sure to get the phone insurance/protection plan. In verizon's case they will often switch out your bad phone for a new one in the store(providing they have it in stock) or they will send you a replacement phone via mail.

Pretty much a given for all but the most cheapass piece of shit phones.