VZW vs. Sprint - United Bimmer Community

**celsdogg** · 07-26-2006, 11:41 AM

im getting a little sick and tired of verizon; there anti net-neutrality, ridiculous dsl practices, cell phone rape, etc. its very rare that big business do anything that doesnt actually hurt the consumer, and well vz is all for their gain.

so i have been wanting for awhile to get rid of my vz dsl and my vz cell phone service.

i have a treo 650 and my wife has a 600; her 600 is getting old and isnt working correctly and needs to be replaced. we can call the insurance to replace it with a 650, but she kinda needs more internal memory on the device as her medical apps have very large databases that typically need to be stored on the device and not on the sd card.

in the past we both had data plans for these phones but at nearly $50 a piece, we were paying $100 for blah 1xRTT data service.

now we have gone to the verizon store to inquire about replacing her 600 with a 700p, only to be told that there is no way turn the data network off on it like you could with the 600 and 650, and thus requires that you have the $50 data service. i was appalled upon hearing this. you can also pay per kb, but again, you cant turn the data network off and thus would get slammed for all those kilobits your sending/receiving without your knowledge and no way to stop it. now this is their new EV-DO network which is supposedly much faster, rep claims DSL speeds, but working at an ISP i know more about data speeds while sales people dont know the difference between kb and KB.

anyway, i find it hard to believe that palm would make a device where you could not turn off the data, so i would assume that vz changed the firmware to make it like this. i could be wrong as i have no way researched it or looked into it. i plan on going back to another vz store and playing with the 700p again and seeing what i can do in that department.

regardless, that is the straw that broke the camels back. i hate vz. so i started looking at sprint so that both of us can change over to sprint and get 700p's. that will cost a pretty penny, but in the long run it will be much better.

sprint offers a good amount of minutes between the two phones on one plan for $90. unlimited data can be had for $15 per line (it would be nice to have data again, and again, its the new *faster* EV-DO network), unlimited sms for $15 (of 500 for $8, which may be all we neeed), plus there other perks, etc. coverage shouldnt be a problem either as they use CDMA just like vz and they pretty much roam each others networks, on the cell phone providers tab. however, one of the purposes of this thread, other than ranting, is to ask if anyone has sprint, and what the coverage and your experience is like

the only thing that vz, in my mind, has going for them is the fact that a lot of people we know have vzw as well, and they have that whole "in network" thing going on now. that and they have us by contract until Feb 2007. bastids. $175 early termination fee per line.

any thoughts or ideas? your experiences with sprint would be much appreciated.

**c1apton** · 07-26-2006, 12:01 PM

Cells, I can't agree w/you more Verizon is worthless (re customer satisfaction) I recently changed to Cingular and outside of them "slipping" extra charges into my bill (that my finance folks catch and have to remind Cingular that this didn't apply and they've "gladly" fixed) Here's a copy of the note I sent w/last bill to Verizon (and I hope the search engines pick up on this post)

Dear Verizon,

YOU SUCK!

Thanks,
"C"

**defkon99** · 07-26-2006, 12:43 PM

ive got cingular its pretty kewl. i like the mobile to mobile for free. and whats betta is its free with anyone as long as they have cingular too/.

witeshark · 07-26-2006, 01:44 PM

My bro uses Sprint in the Annapolis area and is happy with it. I use Cingular and I'm very happy as well

**Red_Rocket** · 07-26-2006, 03:21 PM

i have verizon....lol of cousre all i do is call people...so I guess im happy with that part....lol

**Dudesky** · 07-26-2006, 04:16 PM

I've been a long time Sprint customer. Customer service is pretty good, and I appreciate their Fair & Flexible plans. But I have to say their coverage is not as good as Verizon's, but then again, whose is? Sprint/Nextel isn't as aggressive in making sure thier signal reaches every crack and crevice, which can be annoying sometimes. 'dogg, you might also look into Cingular, which I hear rocks. Unless they don't have the phones you want.

**celsdogg** · 07-26-2006, 04:56 PM

^^^ yeah they dont have the treo. my mother-in-law has cingular and in the town where i used to live they lose signal or have low strength

when did you have sprint last? the last i heard was that vz and sprint had about the same coverage because both used cdma and they roamed on each others network, but the cell provider picked up the tab on it. coverage is definatly important. so if they are crappy, i dont wanna jump ship.

thanks everyone!

**da_bull** · 07-26-2006, 08:10 PM

I had ATT for a few years, then our shop became a Sprint dealer for almost two years (our location didnt really warrant new cellular sales, so they pulled us after a while). Anyways, I had sprint (1500 minutes for 14.99/month, why not

). The coverage was about the same as ATT, save for a few places Sprint wouldnt pick up. Once I gave up the Sprint, I went back to ATT and they shortly after they did the change to Cingular.

Once Cingular took over, gained the extra towers etc, I have dropped VERY few calls, I really cant tell you about their service, because I've never had to call them for anything. So I guess I'm happy with their service. I like their rollover plan as it lasts for a year, then you start back at 0 in January. Mobile to mobile is free anytime for anyone on Cingular, which is nice. My pick for sure.

On a side note, I dont really care for my Motorola phone (I've had Nokias since day one and most of the chargers interchange unlike the Motorolas)

**xsperf** · 07-26-2006, 08:44 PM

verizon and cingular here are nothing that interests me, however the only reason i like spring/Nextel is b/c they have some bangin phones, the other phones, including the razor, in my opinion, suck, the nextel phones are unique

witeshark · 07-27-2006, 12:06 AM

The service varies. For me, the Motorola phone is the one I'm most happy with

**Dudesky** · 07-27-2006, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by celsdogg

when did you have sprint last? the last i heard was that vz and sprint had about the same coverage because both used cdma and they roamed on each others network, but the cell provider picked up the tab on it. coverage is definatly important. so if they are crappy, i dont wanna jump ship.

I'm still with Sprint, no plans to change. Yes, they've gotten better but I don't think because of what you said; I think because they merged with Nextel, so their coverage got better. But I still don't get a good signal in my basement or at work, and I know thet Verizon phones have no problem in those areas. What really sucks is that you can walkie-talkie between each individual carrier, but they still haven't found a way to do it between Nextel and Sprint customers; the hardware is apparently incompatible. And when I'm in upstate NY, I'm still roaming, even when on Nextel's network.

**celsdogg** · 07-27-2006, 10:02 AM

^^^ ok, well im pretty convinced on switching, i actually cant wait to. hm, i thought you were on vz tho

shitty thing is unless i want to pay a $175 termination fee per line then i have to wait until february. bastids. there was a way around it, that being that you can abuse your service and they would terminate you, but vz changed their service agreement to say that regardless of if you cancel or vz cancels you themselves, you still owe $175. those bastids caught on. . .

**mullethunter3** · 07-27-2006, 06:15 PM

i have verizon, and it's pretty much the only thing that works in st louis. i just use it to call my friends, so i have no complaints there.

nick_318is · 07-27-2006, 06:26 PM

I have verizon, yes customer service blows. Its a pretty good network here though and a lot of people i talk to have it making the free in calling attractive. However, in about 9 months (when I graduate) I will switch to cingular or something, the idea of a world phone (gsm or better) is very apealing.

**RealBmw 02** · 07-27-2006, 07:27 PM

I've had sprint for about five or so years now. No complaints with the coverage or service. However, I was going to buy a treo 650 and they were selling it for 200 more than cingular. Since I really dislike sprint's other phones, I am thinking of switching services so I can get a better phone or the 650 for a much better price.