Best Verizon Wireless Phone

[Hls811]

Hey everybody,

On thanksgiving I am eligible for my new every 2 deal where I get a $100 toward a new phone at the 2 year contract price. I right now have a really old Nokia candy bar phone. I'm looking at the phones Verizon has--they don't have too many--and I'm not sure which direction to go.

Does anyone have an opinion on Verizon's current offerings? I'm not into frills, I want reliability, voice quality, best reception, best durability and so forth.

Thanks!

Did you like your Nokia? I recently got a Nokia 6236i from Verizon and love it - I never thought I'd get a 'candy bar' style phone, but this one is so small, and so pocket-able, and has that "european" look you mentioned in another post (because of the size).

As for the phone itself, the reception has been great, sound quality is very good - and, its one of the few Verizon phones without the Verizon UI.

I picked up a data cable from eBay for $5.00, I can copy music, pictures, wallpapers and screen savers to the phone really easily. And for 'wow' factor, its got a built in FM Radio (with thier headset).

The only negatives to it (IMO) - No Bluetooth (don't use it anyway), no EVDO (Again, don't use it, but if it was tetherable to a Mac I might've tried!) and no V-Cast (never used when I had it...)

Like I said, I never thought I'd have a candy-bar style phone - but I do love this one...

 

[skipsandwichdx]

I bought a Motorola E815 about a year ago. Very nice phone, but slightly bulky. Uses the Motorola OS, though, not the terrible Verizon one.

 

[swingerofbirch]

I went to the store tonight and liked the LG 8600 the most, I think I'll get that. It's $29 with the 100-credit and another rebate they have.

So, I'll still have my Nokia candy-bar phone. I have no reason to get rid of it. I was thinking of leaving it in my glove compartment as an emergency phone. If it doesn't have a service associated with it, would it still work for 911 calls? That would be cool, to be able to keep one phone as an emergency one........

 

[feelthefire]

Without service, I'm pretty sure the phone will not work, even for 911. If you have no use for it, why not donate it to a shelter for battered women or the like? It's tax deductible, and the phone would go to good use.

 

[DEXTERITY]

Only on Verizon's versions of the RAZR...V3c and V3m. You can't use bluetooth normally to sync with your computer...i.e. put music on, take it off, download/upload pictures, etc. You can only use it to sync your address book. It also has Verizon's GUI instead of Motorola's.

I have a V3c but I have yet to be successful at getting it to sync to my contacts. Do I need a particular version of OSX?

Thanks.

 

[nosser]

I went to the store tonight and liked the LG 8600 the most, I think I'll get that. It's $29 with the 100-credit and another rebate they have.

So, I'll still have my Nokia candy-bar phone. I have no reason to get rid of it. I was thinking of leaving it in my glove compartment as an emergency phone. If it doesn't have a service associated with it, would it still work for 911 calls? That would be cool, to be able to keep one phone as an emergency one........

YES! every phone is capable of making 911 call regardless if they are active on a line or not.

 

[TequilaBoobs]

YES! every phone is capable of making 911 call regardless if they are active on a line or not.

i cant seem to find the number pad on the xylophone....

 

[trueheart78]

For just being a phone, my wife and I are using the RAZR v3m. Sure beats the tar out of our old LG phones, and to be honest, I've probably dropped mine a good 4+ times, with just a few scratches on it now. Reception is great, I think I've dropped no more than 2 calls since I've had it.

Media features? That's why I got an iPod, I bought the phone to talk on.

 

[plunar]

"Best Verizon Wireless phone?"


hah, now that's an oxymoron.


Sorry, still disillusioned with the US cell phone market.

 

[cmcconkey]

Cell Phone

The American cell market is quite lacking based on the information that I have on the networks around the world. Maybe the cell companies will step it up here in the state to actually compare to the rest of the world.

I have the Chocolate and absolutely love it, well up until the vibrate died out over the weekend. This isn't a big problem because I have already talked to the nice people at Verizon and I get a new replacement for the phone even though I have had it for over a month now.

CM

 

[AppleIntelRock]

Do yourself a favor- use this as a time to switch to another company.

 

[swingerofbirch]

Do yourself a favor- use this as a time to switch to another company.

I'm completely serious when I say that I've had great support from Verizon and the coverage is the best in my area.

Why everybody be hatin'?

Who is really THAT much better..around here we have Sprint, Alltel, and Cingular...is one of those super great? Not that I'm going to switch.....

 

[AppleIntelRock]

I'm completely serious when I say that I've had great support from Verizon and the coverage is the best in my area.

Why everybody be hatin'?

Who is really THAT much better..around here we have Sprint, Alltel, and Cingular...is one of those super great? Not that I'm going to switch.....

Verzion coverage is great, it's the GUI that makes me want to throw a brick at the wall. They seem very anti-comsumer to me. That's just my $7.88. I live in an area were cell phones towers are as common as corruption in the republican party, so I've got tmobile- one of the best companies in the world.

 

[plunar]

I'm completely serious when I say that I've had great support from Verizon and the coverage is the best in my area.

Why everybody be hatin'?

Who is really THAT much better..around here we have Sprint, Alltel, and Cingular...is one of those super great? Not that I'm going to switch.....

No, you're missing the point. they all suck. In my experience, those who do not have experience with cell phones and service abroad (say, Japan), are like those living in socrate's cave - completely oblivious to just how ****** the phones, service, and COST compared to what's available even in frickin' $1600 median annual income mainland china. the whole package is a god damn disgrace, and it's only more frustrating, if not insulting, to see phones like the chocolate or razr (recycled now a half dozen times), served to the market like the greatest, coolest things ever.

Do you wanna see the iPhone? it's been out for over 2 years:
http://www.au.kddi.com/english/product/lineup/w43k/index.html

Yeah, i'm a bit pissed off about it.

 

[AppleIntelRock]

No, you're missing the point. they all suck. In my experience, those who do not have experience with cell phones and service abroad (say, Japan), are like those living in socrate's cave - completely oblivious to just how ****** the phones, service, and COST compared to what's available even in frickin' $1600 median annual income mainland china. the whole package is a god damn disgrace, and it's only more frustrating, if not insulting, to see phones like the chocolate or razr (recycled now a half dozen times), served to the market like the greatest, coolest things ever.

Do you wanna see the iPhone? it's been out for over 2 years:
http://www.au.kddi.com/english/product/lineup/w43k/index.html

Yeah, i'm a bit pissed off about it.

A) If that's the iPhone- then Ive's long, LONG, LONG, lost brother with a mental problem must have designed it. Apple hates moving parts, I just don't see a flip or slider apple phone.

B) If you love the phone service in china THAT much- move there. I'm sure that the only difference between china and the us is there cell phone service

 

[plunar]

A) If that's the iPhone- then Ive's long, LONG, LONG, lost brother with a mental problem must have designed it. Apple hates moving parts, I just don't see a flip or slider apple phone.

You do raise something interesting here: what if it is a candybar phone, as the current popular rumor mills suggest?

I don't think i can like a candybar. it goes against my whole aesthetic... but then so does everything else on verizon anyway. that will be a new experience for me - an apple product that i don't like.

as for china, not quite getting you... should i move to iran because it is opposed to the iraq war? i've lived in china, and trust me, most parts ain't exactly Windchester Lane. That's what boggles me about it though... so much is still ass backwards out there, and then up pops their cell phone market faster than a 16 yearold on viagra. it still doesn't hold a candle to japan, or even europe. but it still beats us. and that, fellow forum member, is a ****ing ironic travesty. Almost on par with the former land of apartheid having more civil rights today than the birthplace of democracy.

Anyway, when I can use my cell phone as a no-touch swipe on the subway, or at a vending machine (that sells beer), when my phone has a screen resolution higher than a gameboy, when i can browse the web or check email without feeling like i'm stuck in guantanamo, when my slim phone cdma battery lasts longer than a day without charging, then maybe - maybe- i will stop bitching about how archaic the us phone market is.

 

[nosser]

B) If you love the phone service in china THAT much- move there. I'm sure that the only difference between china and the us is there cell phone service

Exactly! It doesn't matter if outside the US has better phones because I don't live there and I probably won't ever live there so why be angry about it.

 

[yg17]

Don't get Motorola. I had one, and it was crap. Everyone I know who's had one thought their phone was crap. Not sure Verizon has any Sony Ericsson phones, but if they do, get one. SE phones are great

 

[Greenjeens]

Not sure if they are still available, but some of the non corporate kiosk sellers might still have them.
I got a Nokia 6256i.
Is able to use the Analog network and will function out in the boonies and camping where no CDMA digital network exists.
Many but not all Bluetooth functions are available Bluetooth. I bought a D-Link DBT-120 USB/ bluetooth modual.

Good resource for checking owner feedback on every kind of phone.
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=515


Great VZW Nokia usergroup.
http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=321

Nokia Bluetooth software. Undocumented, Many but not all functions work. Address book is what I use it for mainly. Some native Mac BT functions work like transfering pictures music and video from the gallery.
With the built in music player removed from the VZW model(can be found in other carriers 6255i's) music from the gallery (can be stored on a large 1GB add on chip) is cumbersome. I'm using v 1.1 with the 6256i.
http://www.macmedia.sk/
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/23570

NEW TIP: Sign up for VZW online My Account and get FREE address book backup GIN application! Store and update your address book for free!

Old tip: If you get an old phone with an older PRL still in a phone, many markets still have Sprint included roaming, including the SF Bay Area. Updating the PRL sends a new roaming data base set of rules to the handset which tells it NOT to use SPCS any longer. Occaisionally I switch to my (old PRL 50236) Audivox/Tosiba 9500 and can force the phone to SPCS by selecting the channel number in the programming menu (Function 00 00000). One of the few models of phones that seems to bypass the PRL with direct "Set PCS Channel". It's channel 75 in the Bay Area for Sprint Roaming. Seems to still be free on older phones since it was included in older PRLs.