Personal computing discussed

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StrangeDay
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What do you use for Cell Service?

Wed May 12, 2004 3:45 pm

My wife and I share a cell phone on Cingular service. Since I'm going to law school in the fall (read: leave at 7am - come home at 11pm Mon-Fri), I'm going to look into getting my own phone. I am also very interested in a cell/pda combo, to keep the number of widgets down.

We have never had a problem with Cingular's coverage, but for the fact that it doesn't do so well around where her parents live. Our main problem is that they railroaded us into a 2 year contract and have rather shoddy customer service. Nobody wants to talk to you, ever. Thus, I'm very willing to look at other service providers.

How do you guys like your service? Does anyone use data transfer services like e-mailing cell-cam pics, or straight-up e-mail & text messaging. Thanks for any help you can give!
 
Player Hater
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Wed May 12, 2004 4:41 pm

I have used both Sprint and Verizon, just for actual voice though. Both have been very good with the coverage and the clarity. As far as billing and everything, I like both but I like Verizon better. They have an easier way to pay automatically every month over the internet. Their site is a little easier to navigate as well.

I couldn't tell you one thing about data connections or PDA functionalities for either of them or anything like that though.
 
StrangeDay
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Tue May 18, 2004 10:06 am

Sorry I haven't responded. I've been busy with family stuff.

Player Hater wrote:
As far as billing and everything, I like both but I like Verizon better. They have an easier way to pay automatically every month over the internet. Their site is a little easier to navigate as well.


That is important. My wife pays just about everything online now, since we are sick of snail mail getting things there late. We were starting to get the bills only a few days before they were due.

A well constructed site helps.
 
ciRCuSSIdeSHOw
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Wed Jun 30, 2004 12:39 pm

I used Verizon for about a year here in Colorado, and I was very unhappy with coverage. I could be in downtown Colorado Springs and only have 2 bars. I recently switched to T-Mobile, and I have 4 bars everywhere I go, even in my basement.
 
Usacomp2k3
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Wed Jun 30, 2004 12:54 pm

I'm currently on cingular family plan w/ my family... cinuglar sux real bad...won't even talk to me b/c my name isn't the one on the bill (pain when you don't live with the only person they'll talk to) they also gipped us out of a few things, but that could just be a best buy jerk lying through his teeth making empty promises..anyway as soon as the contract's up, I'm going to Sprint..the flex plan thing is a great idea..we'll see
 
zgirl
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Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:10 pm

I currenty have a shared cingular plan with my wife. Roll over minutes rule. And since I've switched to thier GSM service, coverage has been great. I haven't dropped a call yet. This is by far the best service I've had. And I've had AT&T, Nextel, and a few others.
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titan
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Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:14 pm

I really like T-Mobile. It always has decent service around where I need it. And more in fact. The only problem I've had is with customer service. It seems to me that they don't train their customer service employess very well, and that their system is overly difficult for the employees to use. I can get the same response from three or four different people, but then the last person I will talk to gives me something completely different from the first four. Now, if I have any problems I just go to one of the T-Mobile locations, the dealers are great and they pretty much tell the customer service reps what to do. It's interesting that the dealers are more concerned about keeping you with T-Mobile than customer service.
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Alex
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Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:16 pm

Also see this thread.
 
mattsteg
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Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:22 pm

I use Sprint and I've been quite happy with them.
...
 
LicketySplit
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Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:33 pm

At&t...about the only one that works well over home...and altho i had a contract with em years ago...its expired ....they keep tryin to give me a 50 buck off deal if i will sign for a year but im happy ..if i want to leave em ..i can with no penalty :wink:
Just an old sheepdog waiting for some nasty wolves to show...ive got more than enough teeth left.
 
ajperez
Gerbil In Training
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2004 11:10 pm

Fri Jul 02, 2004 4:49 pm

Right now we have Cingular TDMA service. It has worked very well until recently. Now that more and more channels are being converted over to GSM, we are getting more and more busys and dropped calls. Now I think we'll switch over to T-Mobile. They have better plans and their international roaming plans are great.
 
Hance
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Fri Jul 02, 2004 5:06 pm

i travel alot for my job . i drive around 40,000 miles a year in the following states Idaho , Utah , Wyoming , Colorado , Washington , Oregon , Montana , Arizona and New Mexico . Doing enviromental compliance works requires huge amounts of time on the phone setting things up . so i need a service that works well pretty much everywhere . Up until about 2 weeks ago i had US Cellular stay away from them :evil: . I just switched over to Qwest Wireless and it has way better coverage than US Cellular ever thought of being . Qwest Wireless piggy backs on Sprint so its pretty much the same service as sprint has just a different name on the bill .
 
FireGryphon
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Location: the abyss into which you gaze

Fri Jul 02, 2004 5:17 pm

The phone you use is as important as the service you have. A bad phone will drop calls, have bad reception, waste battery, and have difficult to navigate menus. It's important to research phones (C|Net reviews and user opinions ar required reading).

That said, I use Verizon. I use it in New York City as well as countrified areas like Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania (the middle of nowhere, on top of a lonely mountain...) and the service is pretty good no matter where I am.

Customer service is pretty good. I've called a few times, usually just to get questions about features answered, and the reps are friendly and know what they're talking about. I haven't waited too long on hold, either. FAQs on the Verizon Wireless website are also useful.

My sister uses T-Mobile, and her experience is just about equal to mine. It's tough to quantify, but the general feeling is that her reception is a little bit worse. Not by much, though.

FWIW, my parents have old Verizon accounts -- so old that the Audiovox phones still say Bell Atlantic on them. The service still works fine on their phones, too.

I haven't used any special features like email, txt messaging, or pics. They cost too much to be worth it, imho.

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