What Provider is better to get Verizon or Cingular

[jbmagic]

i decided to get a cellular phone. and i narrow it down to Verizon or Cingular.

which one you recommend to get?


thanks

[Logan]

It really depends on where you're using it. Here in the NYC area, I would definitely say to go with Verizon.

[Pyser]

verizon was the best in just about every major american city in a consumer reports survey recently....but i seem to remember you live in canada? or france? i cant remember, sorry.

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by Pyser

verizon was the best in just about every major american city in a consumer reports survey recently....but i seem to remember you live in canada? or france? i cant remember, sorry.

Los Angeles area for me.


but i did notice Cinguluar now carries Rollover minutes. Keep your unused Minutes from month to month to month...

I dont think Verizon has that according to there brochere.

[HomerJSimpson]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

Los Angeles area for me.


but i did notice Cinguluar now carries Rollover minutes. Keep your unused Minutes from month to month to month...

I dont think Verizon has that according to there brochere.

They don't. I have Cingular and like them ok, but Verizon does have better coverage than anyone else in my experience.

[Coffee Warlord]

I like Cingular's plans much much better, though I'll be the first to admit they seem to have shit reception at times.

[ISiddiqui]

Verizon. Consumer Reports did a cell phone comparison and Verizon was #1 in EVERY market they tested in signal strength and customer service.

[moriarty]

Depends on what your after. There's no argument (as others have pointed out) that Verizon currently has the best coast to coast coverage. That may change eventually as the AT&T and Sprint/Nextel mergers play out but that will take years.

Usually you can find a better deal w/ Cingular though price wise, and I would think if you're primarily using it in LA you'll have good coverage. If you travel a lot- get Verizon to be safe. I would check at your local Cingular store and ask for a coverage map. It should give a broad indication of their local coverage, and if it's satisfactory ... price compare with similar phone/plans at Verizon.

[jbmagic]

Thanks will probably get Verizon. too bad they dont have Rollover minutes like Cingular has now.

But if Verizon has the better reception, then i think that more important to have.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

Los Angeles area for me.


but i did notice Cinguluar now carries Rollover minutes. Keep your unused Minutes from month to month to month...

I dont think Verizon has that according to there brochere.

I had Verizon for two years in Los Angeles. I had been told they had the best coverage in the LA area. I was pretty displeased with it, however. It varies where you are in the city. Check with others near where you live and/or work. Verizon did not work at all for me on my drive to work (down third street from LaBrea to downtown). When I moved, I changed to Sprint, because it is the only company that provides any service to my neighborhood. I've been happy with Sprint (even considering I was sort of forced into making the switch).

[JonInMiddleGA]

What CW said.

From my own experience with Cingular, I suspect the main reason people have minutes to rollover is because they rarely have a decent signal in order to use the minutes in the first place.

[vex]

Verizon. You're much better off with CDMA technology than GSM. Nationwide coverage with Verizon will also be very good because they share towers with Sprint and US Cellular I believe.

[Pyser]

i lived in LA for 3 years, and am moving back there this week. verizon is very solid there, neighbor.

[sabotai]

I don't use either, but I've heard some pretty bad things about Cingular's customer service.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by sabotai

I don't use either, but I've heard some pretty bad things about Cingular's customer service.

They are fine when you can actually get a living, speaking, breathing person.

Of course, pulling that off is another story. They have the most god awful phone menus in the known world.

[chrisj]

Originally Posted by vexroid

Verizon. You're much better off with CDMA technology than GSM. Nationwide coverage with Verizon will also be very good because they share towers with Sprint and US Cellular I believe.

Then why does most of the planet use GSM?

Verizon shares towers with Sprint currently, not sure how long that will last with the merger. Although Cingular shares towers with T-Mobile.

[vex]

Originally Posted by chrisj

Then why does most of the planet use GSM?

Verizon shares towers with Sprint currently, not sure how long that will last with the merger. Although Cingular shares towers with T-Mobile.

Europe and GSM is one thing, America is just *slightly* behind the times though.

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Pyser

i lived in LA for 3 years, and am moving back there this week. verizon is very solid there, neighbor.

Represent!

I'd imagine it really has to do with the area you will be in. In the Long Beach area, Verizon's coverage is said to be very good. [I'm currently saddled with T-Mobile which has pretty good coverage everywhere except where I live and where I work. Lovely.]

Although some of the cell phone junkies tell me that Cingular and T-Mobile have cooler phones. I wouldn't know as I personally have whatever happens to be the cheapest they have . . . preferrably free. It helps to go to their store at the end of the month. Some other folks have recommended Amazon as the source for cell phones.

If I were to restart, I would look at some of the pay-as-you-go option since I rarely use my phone. But I want to keep my number so meh.

[Daimyo]

I had Verizon in Chicago for two years (2002-2004) and hated it. The final straw came when the phone wouldn't work in my new apartment. I switched over to T-Mobile and love it. The reception is so much better for me in Chicago than It ever was with Verizon and it was $10 cheaper per month and came with unlimited data ($5 option). I will say that Verizon did have marginally better coverage in rural Indiana where my grandparents live, but it isn't much of a difference... it worked maybe a mile further off the highway.

My contract just expired this month and I re-upped with T-Mobile after strongly considering a switch to Cingular. The two big things that kept me with T-Mobile are the 1-year contract and $5 unlimited data. In addition to that I like Cingular and T-Mobile better than the other carriers because GSM is more flexible internationally... my wife is Chinese so we travel and I can use the same phone (just pop in a new SIM card) or her parents can give us a phone from there and use it here, etc, etc.

If you're worried about reception, make sure you research which phone you get. Different phones vary hugely in reception... probably more difference between phones than carriers if you stick to populated areas.

[Daimyo]

DOLA, I re-upped via www.letstalk.com and got a pretty good deal. It was much, much better than what I was offered online or at any local stores. I'd never used them before, but I heard good things from friends who have. My new phones should arrive next week.

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by vexroid

Verizon. You're much better off with CDMA technology than GSM. Nationwide coverage with Verizon will also be very good because they share towers with Sprint and US Cellular I believe.

what is CDMA and GSM?

thanks

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

what is CDMA and GSM?

thanks

Basically competiting technologies for delivering cell phone service. GSM I believe stands for "global systems of mobile communications" and is the adopted platform for Europe and parts of Asia. Basically Europe standardized on one wireless technology to reduce dropped calls between companies, improve quality, stadardize equipment, etc. The actually technology used is TDMA I believe (edit: TDMA = time division multiple access).

In US's efforts to be different, several competing technoliges still exist. One primary one is CDMA (code-division multiple access) pushed by Qualcomm. Another competing one for example is the IDEN (integrated digital enhanced network) used by Nextel (edit: to further confuse you iDEN used TDMA technology, but differently than GSM does).

[revrew]

Can't speak for LA, but in rural Iowa, Verizon is king. The coast-to-coast coverage is so vastly superior, rural folks like myself are all over Verizon. In fact, with the "in" thing (all calls to other Verizon customers are free), I can literally talk to everyone I know in the state (except for my parents) for free. And more importantly, so can my wife! The minutes don't count on the "in" program, there are no roaming charges, no long-distance charges, no dead spots, and consequently, no competition in Iowa. I have noticed, however, that the phone you use does significantly impact reception. I recommend LG.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by chrisj

Then why does most of the planet use GSM?

Verizon shares towers with Sprint currently, not sure how long that will last with the merger. Although Cingular shares towers with T-Mobile.

Yikes! I've got T-Mobile, and they fucking suck. I switched in April when I decided to get a Blackberry. Alltel didn't offer one at the time, so I switched. T-Mobile has the worst reception I've ever had the misfortune to put up with. I can't go into a mall or a Wal-Mart/Target without completly losing a signal. If I go to the store for milk and eggs, I might as well not even have my phone with me.

I'll be switching next April - maybe even back to Alltel if they've got a decent Blackberry alternative. I had no problems with them whatsoever.

So, for you, bottom line is if Cingular shares towers with T-Mobile, go with Verizon.

[moriarty]

You really can't compare reception across markets. Some phones are strong in some, weak in others. The general 'niche' of the various companies is:

Verizon - best coast to coast coverage and quality
T-moblie - lowest price point, typically your best deals
Cingular - solid middleground with increasing coverage as they assimilate AT&T
Sprint - digital network (better selection of digital media downloads, etc)
Nextel - push to talk (walkie-talkie feature), high price point geared toward industry
(note: Nextel/Sprint are on competing networks, so their merger wont' immediately boost their coverage).

You also have the various pay for use phones (like Boost - owned by Nextel, etc..)

Best bet is figure out what's important to you, find someone with that phone that lives/works in your area and see if their reception is adequate.

[Ksyrup]

I've had shitty T-Mobile reception in Florida, Hawaii, Texas, Michigan, Georgia, Ohio, and Massachussets.

[Barkeep49]

I've had very nice Verizion coverage even in very rural Wisconsin. However, someone I was with who had a different phone (Samsung I believe) didn't get as good as coverage as my LG.

To add to Ksyrup's list I had bad T-Mobile reception in Illinois and Wisconsin and Verizion's superior network is why I switched and I've been one happy camper ever since.

[jbmagic]

Looks like Verizon will be the provider i get.

hopefully in the near future they will have rollover minutes like cingular has now.

[hukarez]

I was initially AT&T for quite awhile, before I ended up getting migrated over to Cingular. Here in San Diego, Verizon's had some spotty areas in regards to coverage. The same goes for Cingular, however. Take a few steps on way, and you'll completely lose signal, however, you take a few more steps further, and you'll get it back. Very weird.

[henry296]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

Looks like Verizon will be the provider i get.

hopefully in the near future they will have rollover minutes like cingular has now.

While rollover minutes are a nice feature, even if I had that option with Sprint, I would never take advantage of it since I don't go over my minutes.

Also with Verizon's In program all of your calls to other Verizon cell phone users don't count against your minutes.

[Craptacular]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

I've had very nice Verizion coverage even in very rural Wisconsin. However, someone I was with who had a different phone (Samsung I believe) didn't get as good as coverage as my LG.

To add to Ksyrup's list I had bad T-Mobile reception in Illinois and Wisconsin and Verizion's superior network is why I switched and I've been one happy camper ever since.

Glad to hear that. I had Sprint, which was great until I moved out of Madison. My wife and I have had US Cellular since then, but we get horrible signals where we live (although it seems to be the case with most of the providers ... just something with the hills I guess). Our two-year agreement just ended, and we're going to Cali for vacation later this month, so we're most likely going to get Verizon. I was leaning towards the LG phones anyway, so hopefully we'll get decent signals.

[Pyser]

when i was getting a new phone with verizon last month, they told me lg phones work best with the verizon network.

for whatever reason, i got a motorolla instead, but maybe that info can help others.

im very happy with my motorolla e815 though.

[jbmagic]

So LG phones are good to get for verizon.

how is the LG VX5200 model
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/s...edPhoneId=1860

thanks

[Barkeep49]

I can't pull up that phone. Amazon's reviews of phones have been good when I've looked there.