cell phone plans...

[hrsp]

anyone know of any good deals on a cell plan?

[slickwilly]

Check out T-mobile, they're probably the cheapest. Service is shitty in some areas though.

I've got Verizon, mostly satisfied. Customer service is horrible though.

[Cryptic]

http://www.google.com/search?complete=1&hl=en&q=sprint+sero&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f

[70 cutlass 442]

Check out T-mobile, they're probably the cheapest. Service is shitty in some areas though.

I've got Verizon, mostly satisfied. Customer service is horrible though.

T-mobile is sh!t, coverage sucked around here, out of all of my providers, (US cell, Sprint, ATT, Tmobile, Nextel) ive liked NEXTEL and US cell the best, Both are pretty comperable, especially if youre looking for more then one line.

[pOrk]

T-mobile BLOWS.

I have sprint, pay 49.99 a month for 1250 minutes, free nights and weekends after 7 pm, unlimited internet text and picture messages.

[slickwilly]

Holy shit, that's cheap as hell. A similar plan with Verizon would be like 120 bucks last I checked.

[GHOSST]

AT&T isnt bad for Military, 19% off all plans.. otherwise I would try Alltel, T-mobile or U.S. Cellualr.. U.S. Cellular has really good plans and customer service, but not alot of cool phones..... Verizon sucks, Sprint definitely sucks...

[BoosTT]

I think cingular has the best reception in this area. Cool phones and plans are pretty good too.

[Russ Jerome]

Sprint PCS would be the worse for reception, dont take it even
if it was free it is basicaly useless in basements or buildings.
There coverage area is limited to a tightly held kite string
and two dixie cups....on a good day.

[JC70SS]

I think sprint is that shittiest crap around. No reception in any buildings! I have zero problems with t-mobile.

[T-Bag]

Never have had a problem with US Cellular. If you're not looking to hop on the internet or have a lot of cool gizmos and looking to use a cell phone for a cell phone...US is the way to go.

[slickwilly]

One thing somebody considering US Cellular might want to take into account:

Who do they get their coverage through? Do they use their own towers or what? I'd never heard of USC before moving out here, so they might not have any service outside of the area. Ever go on vacation and find that your phone doesn't work? Yeah, it's a PITA.

I've noticed that I can make calls basically anywhere on my Verizon Blackberry (yes, the kind of phone you have makes a difference), but if I get out of "area" I can't send picture messages. I suspect that has something to do with data transfer limits when using foreign towers. Verizon probably doesn't want to pay a premium for picute messages bouncing off somebody else's towers, so they just block it out.

/food for thought

[Silver350]

I am a sprint customer. I dont have any problems in buildings except at work in some office areas that are in the middle of the plant and is enlosed in all masonry and have no windows. But it just switches to digital roam and Digital roaming is included in my plan so I can still use it.

I just picked up a blackberry Pearl 8130. Thing is pretty sweet and once I get my mail in rebate it will be $129. I pay less then 60 minutes for 550 anytime minutes, nights and weekends after 7pm, and unlimited text messaging. I am thinking about adding the data plan for an extra 15 so I can get e-mails to my phone. I really like this thing hahahaha

I have notice with sprint that if the phone you got is retailed less then $200. expect to have reception problems. I always get the expensive phones and wait till I get them for cheap. Like the BB is retailed at $499 at sprint.

Yeah I know their phones are expensive as hell.

[slickwilly]

The data plan is worth it. :thumbsup I never get tired of surfing on my BB. Plus I have google maps (data intensive) on there and I download games and themes here and there.

[hrsp]

well im going to go with us cellular...

now i need help on getting a reliable phone any ones to avoid? thanks

[slickwilly]

Razrs are junk. Junk.

[Breecher_7]

Razrs are junk. Junk.

As much as I hate mine, it has survived longer then any other cell phone Ive owned. Half the LCD screen doesnt work but it has been dropped on concrete more times then I can count and still makes phone calls.

It has other issues but has never let me down as far as making calls. Its a solid phone.

Ive always had good luck with samsung and motorola.

[GHOSST]

Ive always had good luck with samsung and motorola.

Ive always had bad luck with Motorola:fire. LG has never given me a problem, and thier phones are always pretty cool and up to date...

[TURTLE]

nextel is da shit! and my phone only broke because i broke it... other than that, reception is above average, and my plan for 1000 minutes with data pack is only $65 a month...

[T-Bag]

One thing somebody considering US Cellular might want to take into account:

Who do they get their coverage through? Do they use their own towers or what? I'd never heard of USC before moving out here, so they might not have any service outside of the area. Ever go on vacation and find that your phone doesn't work? Yeah, it's a PITA.


/food for thought

Wait what? I seem to get good reception throughout the midwest even in a small town of 300 in the middle of nowhere in north dakota. As long as you aren't in a basement.

[70 cutlass 442]

nextel is da shit! and my phone only broke because i broke it... other than that, reception is above average, and my plan for 1000 minutes with data pack is only $65 a month...

I cant complain one bit about nextels coverage. around here it is better then any carrier i have had, their phones are also pretty beefy, and at $7 a month for full insurence, they dont ask any questions when i bring it in mangled.

[GRAMPS SS]

i'm with Verizon....never had a problem yet....dropped my phone this afternoon..broke it...took it to verizon....gave me a new one and upgraded it as well....NO EXTRA CHARGE.......NO QUESTIONS.......never had a dropped call as long as i've had it...just my .02

[slickwilly]

i'm with Verizon....never had a problem yet....dropped my phone this afternoon..broke it...took it to verizon....gave me a new one and upgraded it as well....NO EXTRA CHARGE.......NO QUESTIONS.......never had a dropped call as long as i've had it...just my .02
LG phone? LGs can be replaced with an identical, refurbished unit for free up to one year after you bought the original unit. I replaced my 8300 like four times before the warranty ran out. Then I bought a BB. :D

[slickwilly]

Wait what? I seem to get good reception throughout the midwest even in a small town of 300 in the middle of nowhere in north dakota. As long as you aren't in a basement.
Only proposing a possibility, I don't know if it's true or not.

[MoCkiN U]

I have been in wireless sales/management for 7 years now. Worked for Sprint (before merger), Nextel (before merger), Cingular, and now verizon for a year. I work in sales for verizon and in all the traveling I do for shows and events I have not really had any issues with the Cingular o Verizon phone.

Comes down to customer care and those two win out everytime.

To me when talking about the 3 companies each person's needs are different and one company can win but depends on what "YOU" want how and good that sales person is in presenting their products.

US Cell is a great "local" company. As long as you dont leave the midwest you wont mind using their service. PHones for them are ok but Cingular & Verizon have the hottest phone!! Yes, I'm Verizon partial because I do make money selling them.

Im in Racine and can get great prices. Send me PM if interested bitches

[GRAMPS SS]

LG phone? LGs can be replaced with an identical, refurbished unit for free up to one year after you bought the original unit. I replaced my 8300 like four times before the warranty ran out. Then I bought a BB. :D

i had the 8300....they gave me the 8350....love to have a BB.....but one that is on SS retirement checks..you have to watch your pennys....:thumbsup

they told me the 8300 were crap...toooo many problems.....

[HP ADDICT]

Lately I have been having big issues with my 2 AT&T samsung phones. They suddenly both stopped working at my house after being trouble free for a yr. They seem to fail on the 3G network but work fine when they switch to edge. At&t sent me 2 new phones and I am still having the same problem. Not being able to make or recieve calls is really getting annoying.

[Russ Jerome]

I am a sprint customer. I dont have any problems in buildings except at work in some office areas that are in the middle of the plant and is enlosed in all masonry and have no windows. But it just switches to digital roam .

The word "except" should not be used, I've been on airplanes decending
into LAX and my wife has said 'you sound like you are right next door"
with my previous providers (US cell, Ameritec ect).

If you should ever decide to actual leave the suburban area and there
is no Sprint or other supporting Sprint roam coverage your phone will
go into "mental roam". With the Mental Roam engaged it will search
until your batteries are dead. Dont even think of climbing the hills of
the WI and Mississippi river that face I-90, you could die before ever
reaching a 911 operator. For that matter stay away from any fishing
lake in green lake Co, no coverage at all. The drive to Green bay, yah
you guessed it limited coverage. Stay out of Silk, Grebe's bakery, best
buy on hwy 100, Pick n save on Capitol/45...I have a list for Sprint
users to stay away from! Sprint is the K-mart of cell phones, get what
you pay (all customer service calls thru India and Abbib Manino).

[MoCkiN U]

they told me the 8300 were crap...toooo many problems.....

if a verizon person told you that they should be shot dead on sight. The 8300 is the single best phone LG ever made for verizon. Any phone can have an issue but that phone is called the tank by all employees for a reason. Its the most reliable phone we had, could give someone that phone over any other and fix most signal issues if we had something in that area and hardly never had to replace them.

The 8350 is a good phone but not even close to the 8300's quality!!

Samsung & Lg are CDMA manufacturer
Verizon CDMA network

Always buy samsung of lg and you'll be happy with verizon.

For cingular buy nokia or motorola as they are GSM phones on GSM network

[lordairgtar]

Would be nice to find a phone service that worked in southwestern Wisconsin. All those valleys and hollers really mess up phone service. Other than that, I love my ATT (formerly Cingular) service. Just around 46 bucks a month with free long didtance and roll over minutes. More minutes than I can use. I don't ever text or use the internet on my phone although it is capable of that.

[Z28Envy]

I have had sprint and verizon. I had sprint a few years ago and I'm not sure how good the service area is now but It did suck if you traveled a lot like I did. Being from MN and my family all being from there, I travel back and forth a lot. I would have signal until Fond du lac and then I wouldn't have signal until I got to Mauston. I could roam but even then had a hard time getting signal and they charged a lot for roaming back then. Not sure how their service area is now but wasn't good for traveling across the state. I remember it working good along the major interstates and cities but beyond that wasn't any good.

I now have verizon I can say that the service is much better. However it has two area's I will call them. Home and extended. You pretty much always have signal and that is great but if you are anywhere on the edge of the verizon signal the phone will always switch to it and stay there. You won't have enough signal to actually make a call but your phone will show verizon signal. Then once it looses the verizon signal it will switch to the extended network and you could have a full signal. Try driving up 57 to plymouth once from Port Washington. My phone will say I have verizon signal but I can't make calls until I get to Plymouth and my phone switches to extended. The whole time on 57 it will pick up a verizon signal and then loose it right away and then search for service. If I do get a signal and can actually make or receive a call, it will drop it in a matter of seconds and then search for signal.

Other than the few problems with the signal and the 2 networks, I have been pretty happy with verizon. I have a cheaper samsung phone that I have dropped many, many times and it still works like it is brand new.

[LIL EVO]

Had sprint for 10 years. No real issues, some dropped calls, but whatever. Cheap plans and texting comes cheap too. I went through 3500+ texts last month. Have the HTC mogul touchscreen which pretty much owns at anything picture/web/texting related. The phone itself is sometimes slow, laggy, but what do you expect from a windows product. You can customize just about anything in WM6 though. I end up soft resetting the phone at least twice a day, but I still love it.

Have a BlackBerry 8703e on Verizon through work. The phone has been on for 3 weeks solid without a reset. Calls are great as well as email. Texting and web browsing suck compared to a touchscreen phone (like my sprint phone). The platform however is solid, smooth, and fast. Haven't found too much ability to customize the "OS" or even remove icons.

[slickwilly]

Have a BlackBerry 8703e on Verizon through work. The phone has been on for 3 weeks solid without a reset. Calls are great as well as email. Texting and web browsing suck compared to a touchscreen phone (like my sprint phone). The platform however is solid, smooth, and fast. Haven't found too much ability to customize the "OS" or even remove icons.

I will agree that BBs aren't the most efficient web browsers, but they're not horrible. The ones with the roller ball instead of the track wheel are far superior, for obvious reasons.

About removing icons: you can't remove them completely as far as I'm aware, but you can hide and move them around on the "desktop." Just hit alt+push in the trackwheel and a menu will show up. There should be a few options, including "move" and "hide." Now, this is based only on my experience with my 7250 and my sister's 8830, so yours might be slightly different. If you have any other Qs shoot me a PM, I'm a novice BB freak.

[MoCkiN U]

Z28envy:

this may sound really, really dumb but october 2007 verizon did change the way they provide service. The two networks are now billed and tolled differently. They have a plan which is coded as "nationwide" v/s "americas choice" what this did more than anything else is let the data services work on extended network this includes picture messaging, vznavigator, and much more voice capability and reduces the hard hand off you explained very well.

This is just a plan "code" change as the minutes and prices are all the same now and as of october changing your plan DOES NOT restart a contract so moving to that coded plan is a plus for you. Its all nationwide service STILL but this interacted with the two networks (verizon digital & CDMA roaming) more effeicient.

[Z28Envy]

Z28envy:

this may sound really, really dumb but october 2007 verizon did change the way they provide service. The two networks are now billed and tolled differently. They have a plan which is coded as "nationwide" v/s "americas choice" what this did more than anything else is let the data services work on extended network this includes picture messaging, vznavigator, and much more voice capability and reduces the hard hand off you explained very well.

This is just a plan "code" change as the minutes and prices are all the same now and as of october changing your plan DOES NOT restart a contract so moving to that coded plan is a plus for you. Its all nationwide service STILL but this interacted with the two networks (verizon digital & CDMA roaming) more effeicient.

Thanks for the info. I will have to check into this. I didn't have any idea that they changed the service. My finace just changed a few things on our plan. I was paying way to much for our service so i had her lower the plan we have. We had 2100 anytime minutes and unlimited texting. With everything included that we had, the bills were right under 200 a month and it was driving me crazy. We are both from MN so she was on the phone a lot with her friends and sisters. She kept going way over the minutes so I changed to the 2100 anytime to help out. Plus we added a phone to our plan for her youngest sister so that they could talk for free. Most of her friends have now switched as well to verizon so with the "IN" network we don't use so many minutes.

The only compliant I have had with verizon is what I mentioned above about the service area. It would be very nice to be able to receive picture mail and change music and such without going on the computer to do it.

Thanks for the info.

[MoCkiN U]

yeah, Im on the america choice employee plan and I added my wife over the holidays and she got the "nationwide" plan and sure enough she can get picture messaging at home while on extended and I cant get crap including navigator so I see it on my personal phone in real time. She also gets way more calls without drops than I do.

If you want me to look at it email your contact info to brian.ward@verizonwireless.com and I'll take a look when I get back to work on thursday.

[LIL EVO]

I will agree that BBs aren't the most efficient web browsers, but they're not horrible. The ones with the roller ball instead of the track wheel are far superior, for obvious reasons.

About removing icons: you can't remove them completely as far as I'm aware, but you can hide and move them around on the "desktop." Just hit alt+push in the trackwheel and a menu will show up. There should be a few options, including "move" and "hide." Now, this is based only on my experience with my 7250 and my sister's 8830, so yours might be slightly different. If you have any other Qs shoot me a PM, I'm a novice BB freak.


Awesome! thanks! Is there anyway to "backspace" without deleting what I typed? The wheel only moves the cursor to the beginning or end of a sentence. The only way back is the back arrow/delete which deletes the letters.

[MoCkiN U]

^there is a button on the bottom left of the keyboard has a funny black arrow on it. Hold that button while scrolling backward & forward. That should do it. Left my BB at work on the desk so dont have it here to test

[LIL EVO]

ALT + wheel worked. Thanks