iPhone/Verizon? 3G Unlocked?

Apple has signed an exclusive 5 year deal with AT&T for all future devices from apple that will use any cellular function

Reportedly, they went to VZW first, but they were turned down.....personally, I think that it was because they have VCast music, and they didn't want to cannibalize that already awesome ( ) service..

In my area, Verizons network may be marginally better than AT&T's, but it's a small margin.

Everything else about about Verizon, however, blows monkey chunks.

Reviews of the iPhone, probably should have gone with Verizon

CNET Review:
The good: The Apple iPhone has a stunning display, a sleek design, and an innovative multitouch user interface. Its Safari browser makes for a superb Web surfing experience, and it offers easy-to-use apps. As an iPod, it shines.

The bad: The Apple iPhone has variable call quality and lacks some basic features found in many cell phones, including stereo Bluetooth support and 3G compatibility. Integrated memory is stingy for an iPod, and you have to sync the iPhone to manage music content.

The bottom line: Despite some important missing features, a slow data network, and call quality that doesn't always deliver, the Apple iPhone sets a new benchmark for an integrated cell phone and MP3 player.

PC Magazine Review:
It's the best portable media player ever. It's possibly the most fun we've ever had with a handheld device. It browses the Web like a champ. Yet as a voice phone and a messaging device, it's a loser. The iPhone is full of contradictions.

Fun new interface for navigating multimedia. Huge screen looks amazing. Terrific Web browser. Syncs well with PCs and Macs. YouTube function is great. Functions flow seamlessly into each other. Built-in speaker for voice calling and music.

Poor business e-mail and PIM connectivity. Bad audio quality on phone calls. Tons of "GSM buzz" on nearby speakers. Virtual keyboard hard to type on. No phone functionality with iPod speaker docks. No FM radio.

Amazing that you guys say Cingular is so great. These are the exact same issues I had with Cingular while I was a customer. With Verizon, the quality is awesome.

jsc8997@comcast said:

CNET Review:
The good: The Apple iPhone has a stunning display, a sleek design, and an innovative multitouch user interface. Its Safari browser makes for a superb Web surfing experience, and it offers easy-to-use apps. As an iPod, it shines.

The bad: The Apple iPhone has variable call quality and lacks some basic features found in many cell phones, including stereo Bluetooth support and 3G compatibility. Integrated memory is stingy for an iPod, and you have to sync the iPhone to manage music content...

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Sometimes I really wonder about these reviewers.

How in the world is 8GB "stingy for an iPod", when most iPods are no greater than 8GB???

Regarding call quality, it's network dependent. I called my sister from a demo iPhone, and she said it sounded just fine. I definitely didn't hear any problems on my end.

Am I the only person who's happy Apple didn't go with Verizon? I did a pretty thorough comparison of cell providers when I decided to switch plans a few years ago. There was a reason (actually, several) I didn't go with Verizon or Sprint.

I think an argument could be made that each carrier has a different reception in every city

Down here, Verizon does a very good job with reception. AT&T on the other hand is just downright terrible. I have had 2 calls dropped while in mid-sentence in the last 2 days while I dont think I had any the last year or so on Verizon.

But, I have some friends in other cities who enjoy AT&T and their service and say its great.

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/electronics/cell-phone-plans/index.html


face it verizon owns.....you people fail to realize a Iphone claims to be some kind of mini-computer yet you still are bound by a 2 year contract.....i cant remember the last time i paid for internet on my laptop....I-phone is new technology on a crappy service.......i dont care how many phones cingular,At&t t-mobile come out with it their network is inferior..i am able to call people while waiting on the 1 express train in the subway unlike cingular face it AT&T and cingular still fail at life

camposQ said:

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/electronics/cell-phone-plans/index.html


face it verizon owns.....you people fail to realize a Iphone claims to be some kind of mini-computer yet you still are bound by a 2 year contract.....i cant remember the last time i paid for internet on my laptop....I-phone is new technology on a crappy service.......i dont care how many phones cingular,At&t t-mobile come out with it their network is inferior..i am able to call people while waiting on the 1 express train in the subway unlike cingular face it AT&T and cingular still fail at life

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It's the absolute truth.

If Verizon was the carrier, I would have already bought the phone. I have never lost a call on Verizon. Ever.

I'd be happy to pay the $175 contract fee to switch to ATT if there were no issues with its network, or EDGE performance. That is obviously not the case, however.

Just not feeling warm and fuzzy about giving ATT my money to run my $600 phone ... yet.

Well as we all know Verizon was the first choice that Apple had for the iPhone. Considering Verizon’s style of business i actually think Verizon was absolutely willing to sacrifice branding and proprietary OS and prob even crippling the features to get the iPhone. I mean 700,000 new customers in a weekend beats the hell out of anything ive ever heard of. I really think Verizon finally just said forget it to apple when apple requested a share of the profits from each plan. I think that’s a tad greedy of Apple, and if they had not asked so much we would probably be seeing a CDMA iPhone right now. I really don’t think WCDMA is necessary, I mean Apple went with EDGE and that’s much much slower than EVDO, and EVDO is actually sometimes a little faster than 3G (theoretical and real world). I really blame Apples ego for not getting the iPhone on the right carrier. I have nothing against ATT but Verizon is purely better for everything -- better CS (maybe), better call quality, and no dropped calls ever (I have never dropped a call in my 10 years using Verizon, and that’s with stock phones and custom flashed phones).

It's not like anyone can hardly blame Apple for requesting a share of the monthly plan profits. It's quite obvious that they've hand delivered AT&T a ton of new customers that they otherwise would have never had. Apple is a corporation after all, and they're in business to make the most for the company and it's stockholders that they possibly can. AT&T gave Apple a better deal, and Apple would have been foolish to not accept it, that's how business in the real world works. Verizon had their shot at the iPhone and they passed on it. And now they're paying the price for that mistake by losing thousands of their customers to AT&T.

Lancetx said:

It's not like anyone can hardly blame Apple for requesting a share of the monthly plan profits. It's quite obvious that they've hand delivered AT&T a ton of new customers that they otherwise would have never had. Apple is a corporation after all, and they're in business to make the most for the company and it's stockholders that they possibly can. AT&T gave Apple a better deal, and Apple would have been foolish to not accept it, that's how business in the real world works. Verizon had their shot at the iPhone and they passed on it. And now they're paying the price for that mistake by losing thousands of their customers to AT&T.

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i hardly think Verizon cares about so called loosing customer you have to remember verizon wireless is just a piece of verizon not the whole company........i think in the end revenue sharing is faulty (economics 101) and Verizon did the right thing in not caving because verizon provides a service not a product and apple wants to claim rights to the Best service in the world

Verizon is a fairly good company in terms of quality but the GUI and the fact that you have to pay for each service added on with extra fees doesn't look promising!!!

I'mAMac said:

Does anyone think that maybe down the road the iPhone will be available to verizon or other cell phone companies?

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I am with AT&T, but if the iPhone isn't on your carrier, I wouldn't sweat it. There will be copycat technology and or the iPhone will be 10x better in 2 years. That's my .02.

camposQ said:

face it verizon owns.....

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I hope your joking, when you use that phrase.
But Verizon doesn't "own" anything...other then using a weird CMDA standard. I guess it more about where you live, but AT&T has been a joy for me

camposQ said:

.you people fail to realize a Iphone claims to be some kind of mini-computer yet you still are bound by a 2 year contract.....

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The iPhone claims to be a.......phone!!!(I know hard to believe), I've yet to hear Jobs, or anyone at Apple call it a "mini-computer", if fact, Apple tried to make sure it wasn't that, they don't want another Newton.

camposQ said:

.i cant remember the last time i paid for internet on my laptop....

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Really? Because I pay for internet on my laptop, desktop, DS lite, PSP, anything with Wi-Fi.

camposQ said:

I-phone is.......on a crappy service.......i dont care how many phones cingular,At&t t-mobile come out with it their network is inferior..

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Again, AT&T's service is sure to be different where you go, but so far I've been very happy with them. AT&T doesn't make phones, the have a network, so they aren't "coming out with phone".
And AT&T is Cingular now, so I'm not sure why your insulting AT&T and Cingular.....and where did T-Mobile come into this?

camposQ said:

face it AT&T and cingular still fail at life

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Why do you personally insult companies, why should we care?



Also grammar, I'm not saying people can't make any mistakes, but maybe reread your posts, or type slower.

zap2 said:

I hope your joking, when you use that phrase.
But Verizon doesn't "own" anything...other then using a weird CMDA standard. I guess it more about where you live, but AT&T has been a joy for me



The iPhone claims to be a.......phone!!!(I know hard to believe), I've yet to hear Jobs, or anyone at Apple call it a "mini-computer", if fact, Apple tried to make sure it wasn't that, they don't want another Newton.




Really? Because I pay for internet on my laptop, desktop, DS lite, PSP, anything with Wi-Fi.



Again, AT&T's service is sure to be different where you go, but so far I've been very happy with them. AT&T doesn't make phones, the have a network, so they aren't "coming out with phone".
And AT&T is Cingular now, so I'm not sure why your insulting AT&T and Cingular.....and where did T-Mobile come into this?


Why do you personally insult companies, why should we care?



Also grammar, I'm not saying people can't make any mistakes, but maybe reread your posts, or type slower.

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yeah me and grammar have never been friends i admit, but for someone to comment and then say "AT&T doesn't make phones, the have a network, so they aren't "coming out with phone"." i think you mean they not the, ill forgive that type-o instead of me nailing you to the preverbial cross of grammatical errors but i digress

my statements ring true to any on the go person who takes the metros in DC or NY

camposQ said:

my statements ring true to any on the go person who takes the metros in DC or NY

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And for the rest of us in the other cities in NY and the other 49 states?

aristobrat said:

And for the rest of us in the other cities in NY and the other 49 states?

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hah my girlfriends laughing at me right now LOL....what is it about us and are cellphone providers why do we take it as serious as politics

camposQ said:

hah my girlfriends laughing at me right now LOL....what is it about us and are cellphone providers why do we take it as serious as politics

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Because, like politians, we are chosing the lesser evil and no matter who we get, they have us by the balls for a few years. They both make absurd claims about how they can improve the quality of our lives and invariably fail to deliver in any significant way. Also, both politicians and cellular providers are privately owned.

zap2 said:

I hope your joking, when you use that phrase.

Click to expand...

That's "you're joking".

A hard rule of the net is that anytime you give someone grief about grammar, your own message will contain at least one glaring mistake.

In your case, LOTS of mistakes.

But who's counting?

My Thoughts on Apple Selecting iPhne carriers.

I think that Apple is going to include a "cellular service provider" section perhaps in the iTunes Store. Customers can perchase the iPhone and activate it with the service provider with clearley stated plans and family plans to choose from. Apple just keeps making things more simple, and I think it's a legit idea.

I Agree.

rickoshea said:

I don't know about you, but I have used many cellular services over the years and lived in MD, CA, NJ and WI, and I travel throughout the country and abroad. I understand Apple's decision to go with GSM rather than CDMA, as it is easier to promulgate the iPhone on a worldwide basis, and I do understand the limitations that Verizon puts on its phones for business reasons.
Still, I cannot understand going with the Cingular brand. Cingular/AT&T is still the least reliable of the large carriers. It, along with its parent company and AT&T also have the 1-2-3 WORST customer service records of all of the telecommunications companies in America.
Even though I have longed for many years to get the only iPhone feature that is of interest to me, visual voicemail, I am not willing to trade it for a voice service that is as sporadic as Cingular/AT&T, and whose EVDO service is non-existent. In any case, it is still missing the features of saving the voice recordings to disc and call blocking, which are the things that interest me even more than visual voice mail.
Unfortunately Apple may have been forced to pick from the lesser of the many evils, but I am worried that it will tarnish the great name of Apple, simply because of the carrier it has chosen. I hope the product quality shines through the abysmal service that all of you are about to face. Good luck to one and all.

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AT&T has the worst customer service and poor quality coverage. AT&T was the first carrier I ever had before Sprint and now VZW and they were the worst. Maybe I could put up with their not so good coverage but their customer service reps (at least when I had them) were so bad, I hate AT&T and will never go back to them. VZW does have the best coverage but want to charge you for anything they can think off. I have waited a long time for a PDA from apple and now it not even an option. I think apple should take some of the blame for locking out their loyal supporters who can not or like myself will not use AT&T. I can only hope they come out with a version of the iphone minus the AT&T phone.

Verizon vs AT&T

I have had the iphone for 12 days now and love the phone. However AT&T's cell service is real bad. I am at a real crossroads here. My wife and kids switched also with non-iphones and they are having the same problems with dropped calls and bad cells as I am having. I use my phone 4000 minutes a month and need reliable service. The problem is that it isn't very close. I live in the Balt/Wash area. I have to decide by Saturday but I am leaning towards going back to Verizon. I hoping they soon come out with a copycat device. I do think the Iphone is the best all around device I have owned and I have tried the Treo's, Blackberry's, and the Motorola Q.

Kurt

For all the comments about Customer Service being bad for AT&T, I have found them to be some of the most helpful and corteous people I've ever dealt with in CS, with an attention to detail that rivals Apple Support.

When I first activated my iPhone, I dealt with them because my Visual Voicemail didn't pop up right away. When our call was accidentally disconnected (I was on a landline and it was my fault, before anybody yells "Dropped Cell Call!") the CS rep actually called me back. Quicker than I could even dial their number, my phone was ringing. I was shocked -- who does that? Who actually makes things MORE convenient for the customer?

After the problem was resolved, they then called me on my cell the following day to ensure everything was working properly. I was really blown away -- I've never encountered that kind of great service in my life.

Of course, I am a former Verizon customer, who grew sour with them when I realized that my Moto v710 was crippled with locked out features. When I moved to the crash prone Treo 650 -- ultimately replacing three of them over a year and a half -- I had Verizon customer service representatives lie to me, give me upgrades to Treo 700ps that never materialized (and later support staff accused me of making up), promised me call back dates of three days by higher level support staff -- only for me to find out in a follow up that no such call had ever even been scheduled! This is aside from things such as renewing my contract without telling me, and just being argumentative in general (and knowing nothing about the Treo to boot).

My AT&T coverage has been great (I'm in Los Angeles), and they have really given me a feeling of being in good hands with a company that gives a damn. Perhaps that's not how they used to be, but it's certainly been my experience since June 29th -- and Verizon has lost a customer forever.

interesting i moved to L.A. from texas where cingular/ att had great reception. however after being here a few months i had so many dropped calls on cingular i was forced to switch to verizon who has the superior coverage out here.

customer service for both is about the same.

this isn't aimed at anyone in particlar but, i just can't see why so many people get all up in arms over their cell phones. and go to great lengths, stress and expense to switch carriers etc. i can semi understand smart phones and PDA's etc for business use. but, it's kind of crazy how many people define themselves by their phone. i'm the biggest electronic geek out there (ex computer tech, home audio freak, and full time photo retoucher) but, technology is a tool, not a crutch. a phone isn't a personal "statement" on society... it's a phone. or maybe i'm just deluded and a phone IS a personality defining apparatus ? i guess that would explain alot of things...

camposQ said:

yeah me and grammar have never been friends i admit, but for someone to comment and then say "AT&T doesn't make phones, the have a network, so they aren't "coming out with phone"." i think you mean they not the, ill forgive that type-o instead of me nailing you to the preverbial cross of grammatical errors but i digress

my statements ring true to any on the go person who takes the metros in DC or NY

Click to expand...

kdarling said:

That's "you're joking".

A hard rule of the net is that anytime you give someone grief about grammar, your own message will contain at least one glaring mistake.

In your case, LOTS of mistakes.

But who's counting?

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"I'm not saying people can't make any mistakes"---remember that?

For s post that was on the longer side, 2 mistakes seems fair(even 3 or 4 seems fine IMO).

I hope they will but it won't be for awhile if they do. I doubt they will though. You saw what happened when they lowered the price of the iphone by $200. People will be pissed if the iphone is available to all carriers after being "forced" to switch to att and sign a 2 year contract. Apple will loose customers if they do and they already have after their iphone deduction. So to answer your question, no.