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NewtothisMac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 23, 2011
16
0
Thanks in advance for your opinions, I've been reading around and some posts are rally good. Now my inability to decide after reading so many posts has left me in a bad spot. What do I do, I'm really close to buy my first iPhone 4 from At&t with this new plan they are offering that you can call and text every company for an extra 30 bucks, should I go to att or verizon? Thanks again
 

iceterminal

macrumors 68000
May 25, 2008
1,870
27
Dallas Tx.
Thanks in advance for your opinions, I've been reading around and some posts are rally good. Now my inability to decide after reading so many posts has left me in a bad spot. What do I do, I'm really close to buy my first iPhone 4 from At&t with this new plan they are offering that you can call and text every company for an extra 30 bucks, should I go to att or verizon? Thanks again


I would look first at the signal strength around your area first, between AT&T and Verizon. That should be your main concern. Whats the point of having an AT&T plan to call everyone, if you don't have any signal?
So look into that. Ask your friends who the carrier is that they have. Then ask about dropped calls, connection speeds for data, etc.
Once you have a firm consensus about which carrier is best, you then have your mind made up. All you have to do is find the right plan for you.
You might also consider waiting a few weeks to see what Apple might say at the WWDC about the next release of the iPhone.
 

bohbot16

macrumors 6502a
Mar 22, 2009
674
10
Do you have friends or family with AT&T or Verizon? You should try to make a phone call on one of their phones when they are at your house.
 

NewtothisMac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 23, 2011
16
0
Thanks iceterminal and bohbot16! Currently I live in Miami, and probabñ
Ly by the beginning of the following year, I'll move to NYC to continue my bachelor. I have no family or friends with At&t nor Verizon. I'm not picky about the delays between one speed connction and the other, but you guys are right about wait for what apple has to say. What carrier do you guys have?
Thanks again guys!
 

Reach9

macrumors 68020
Aug 17, 2010
2,417
224
In America
Thanks in advance for your opinions, I've been reading around and some posts are rally good. Now my inability to decide after reading so many posts has left me in a bad spot. What do I do, I'm really close to buy my first iPhone 4 from At&t with this new plan they are offering that you can call and text every company for an extra 30 bucks, should I go to att or verizon? Thanks again

Well if you're completely sure you want to get an iPhone 4. (I would wait for the next iPhone, being so close to the refresh date), then you would benefit from AT&T much more.

The fact that you can't talk and surf on Verizon boggles my mind, i took that feature as a given. I forget how many times i used the Maps app to give driving directions to people while talking to them through my headset.
 

NewtothisMac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 23, 2011
16
0
Thanks Reach9, I'm sure about wanting the iphone, I'm not sure about the carrier... See, At&t offers now a plan to talk and text all you want for a few extra bucks, still for a family plan is less than verizon, but the service is that good? I read so many posts that i really dont know which one buy:confused: thnaks for sharing!!!!
 

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
Thanks iceterminal and bohbot16! Currently I live in Miami, and probabñ
Ly by the beginning of the following year, I'll move to NYC to continue my bachelor. I have no family or friends with At&t nor Verizon. I'm not picky about the delays between one speed connction and the other, but you guys are right about wait for what apple has to say. What carrier do you guys have?
Thanks again guys!

The main things you want to consider is your service and how much data do you use. I can tell you that AT&T is much better in Miami than Verizon. (i live in Miami) AT&T can tend to get a bit slow in NYC during business hours though, but it's not that big of a deal. AT&T is just simply really good down here. I have no issues hitting 3Mb/s downloads. On Verizon, you really won't be hitting more than 1Mb/s at max. I go to NYC frequently so this is all from my unscientific tests. But its probably what you would experience too.

Verizon offers $30 unlimited data and AT&T offers $25 2GB data. Unless you are on your phone 24/7, I think its pretty hard to hit 2GB, so I wouldn't worry about it to be honest. That's up to you to decide though.

AT&T has $20 unlimited messaging which includes unlimited mobile to Any Mobile minutes. That means for $20 bucks, you can text as much as you want, and call another cell phone for as long as you want without it going against you. (calling landlines are a different story). I think Verizon has something similar but you should check on that.

Basically, I think AT&T is a better network in both mentioned locations. It's really in places like San Francisco Bay area where you would want to switch to Verizon. On top of that, AT&T will be slightly cheaper than Verizon.
 

NewtothisMac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 23, 2011
16
0
Thanks wordoflife!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D you are right! I won't be 24/7 on the phone, I just what a good reliable service! Imagine this, if you are in the Miami area, coming from Metro POS*** you'll know this is a big leap!!!! Thank you very much to all of you!!!!!
 

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
Thanks wordoflife!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D you are right! I won't be 24/7 on the phone, I just what a good reliable service! Imagine this, if you are in the Miami area, coming from Metro POS*** you'll know this is a big leap!!!! Thank you very much to all of you!!!!!

I definitely would recommend you to go to AT&T especially down here. Imo, you don't really *NEED* Verizon's better acclaimed network (as in, you don't get AT&T service at all) unless you are in the rural midwest or AT&T just sucks like SF bay because AT&T really isn't bad. I had a feeling you were coming from Metro ... it's pretty good for the price but the handsets kinda suck and they don't even have a 3G network. If I had to lower my bill, I'd look at Sprint/T-Mobile/Virgin Mobile (basically Sprint) before looking Metro. Just don't like the way Metro PCS advertises itself. It doesn't give a 'warm feeling' like AT&T does for some reason. idk ...
I think MetroPCS should fix their website, change the logo and it's colors (purple/orange looks hideous), offer more phones from well known brands (HTC, Blackberry, Samsung, etc) and make the advertisements more appealing. Seeing an advertisement that says "no Foolin'" isn't exactly what I had in mind. Their 4G LTE market is impressive (5-6Mb/s) but too bad no one is going to bother trying it out since they can't make people turn heads for the reasons mentioned above. This is basically what I am talking about:

24zfwy9.png

"touchscreenz" ... that's disguisting
http://www.metropcs.com/shop/PhoneDetails.aspx?ProductId=SCHR900NDAM(Phones)

I do like how they'll offer to flash your phone onto their network though
Thats enough going off topic ...
 
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NewtothisMac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 23, 2011
16
0
Let alone the fact that you can't talk to nobody, never, everywere!
Yes, I'm not proud of this, but I had enough of the metro stuff!! My wife bought huawei android they have and is the worst phone in the history of phone. I rather communicate with smoke signals to my cousin in Argentina
 

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
Let alone the fact that you can't talk to nobody, never, everywere!
Yes, I'm not proud of this, but I had enough of the metro stuff!! My wife bought huawei android they have and is the worst phone in the history of phone. I rather communicate with smoke signals to my cousin in Argentina

You should see the my updated post. That's really what gets me. But have fun with your new phone. I can pretty much assure you that you will get 5 bars everywhere you go down here on AT&T. The bad part is that it is expensive compared to M-PCS. But what I'm asking Metro to do shouldn't really cause them to spend much money.
 

NewtothisMac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 23, 2011
16
0
I definitely would recommend you to go to AT&T especially down here. Imo, you don't really *NEED* Verizon's better acclaimed network (as in, you don't get AT&T service at all) unless you are in the rural midwest or AT&T just sucks like SF bay because AT&T really isn't bad. I had a feeling you were coming from Metro ... it's pretty good for the price but the handsets kinda suck and they don't even have a 3G network. If I had to lower my bill, I'd look at Sprint/T-Mobile/Virgin Mobile (basically Sprint) before looking Metro. Just don't like the way Metro PCS advertises itself. It doesn't give a 'warm feeling' like AT&T does for some reason. idk ...
I think MetroPCS should fix their website, change the logo and it's colors (purple/orange looks hideous), offer more phones from well known brands (HTC, Blackberry, Samsung, etc) and make the advertisements more appealing. Seeing an advertisement that says "no Foolin'" isn't exactly what I had in mind. Their 4G LTE market is impressive (5-6Mb/s) but too bad no one is going to bother trying it out since they can't make people turn heads for the reasons mentioned above. This is basically what I am talking about:

Image
"touchscreenz" ... that's disguisting
http://www.metropcs.com/shop/PhoneDetails.aspx?ProductId=SCHR900NDAM(Phones)

I do like how they'll offer to flash your phone onto their network though
Thats enough going off topic ...

Hahaha!!!hideous!!!! Total zohan fan!!!!!! Thsnks for all your tips! I'll be visiting the Att store close to work soon
 

DDar

macrumors 6502
Dec 9, 2007
293
0
I don't have a phone myself, but you may want to give the matter a bit more consideration if you're moving to NYC. From what I hear, service is absolutely atrocious here, and Verizon is really where it's at.

I understand your dilemma though, as I'm going through the same quandary in picking a provider myself.

For NYC, so far, Verizon has sounded like the better option... But I'm still not sure...
 

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
I don't have a phone myself, but you may want to give the matter a bit more consideration if you're moving to NYC. From what I hear, service is absolutely atrocious here, and Verizon is really where it's at.

I understand your dilemma though, as I'm going through the same quandary in picking a provider myself.

For NYC, so far, Verizon has sounded like the better option... But I'm still not sure...

I can personally say that voice is fine on AT&T and while data can get slow its generally fine in NYC. I believe that NYC/AT&T issues were blown out of proportions. Actually, cross that out. AT&T just actually got better so its not really an issue of concern.
 

DDar

macrumors 6502
Dec 9, 2007
293
0
I can personally say that voice is fine on AT&T and while data can get slow its generally fine in NYC.

Where exactly in NYC are you at? The outskirts, or inner Manhattan? Because I know a lot of people have trouble in mass areas like Penn Station, Rockeffeler Center or Times Square.

Also, how slow are we talking? Because I've heard it can get so bad that there might as well be no service at all.

EDIT:
Just to comically stress what many people in NYC feel: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-january-11-2011/verizon-iphone-announcement
 
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JessicaR

macrumors member
Apr 5, 2011
54
0
I am a fan of AT&T as I have found no matter where I am in the US I can use the phone. Of course, all my friends have AT&T so that helps me a lot as well. Plus, the AT&T has been out longer so finding cases is a lot easier.

Just look at the Marware site. http://www.marware.com/iphone-cases They have both Verizon and AT&T but they have a couple of more designs for AT&T. It is that way for just about every company.
 

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
Where exactly in NYC are you at? The outskirts, or inner Manhattan? Because I know a lot of people have trouble in mass areas like Penn Station, Rockeffeler Center or Times Square.

Also, how slow are we talking? Because I've heard it can get so bad that there might as well be no service at all.

I go there pretty often ... basically the places you mentioned, Penn Station, Rockeffeller, etc. It's definitely far from "might as well be no service at all." You probably heard all these things from 2009, because that was true back then. But I believe AT&T has made some serious improvements. I didn't do speedtests but compared to the almost WiFI like experience in Florida, I actually had to wait for the page to load.

If i were you, i would go for Verizon.

Verizon blazed through AT&T's upload and download speeds for iPhone which i think is a clear edge with the latter.

Verizon is better where they have better service. (in other words: it depends where you are). I'm not trying to bash Verizon (i like Verizon) but I'm just saying from my experience and from what I've seen. I remember seeing all the Verizon speed tests when it first came out and complaints of the 0.55Mb/s speeds ... and they haven't changed too much. With that being said, Verizon isn't as slow as it sounds. A 1-3 second difference in website loading is a nonissue IMO ... and that's really how it is in real life (AT&T vs Verizon)
 

DDar

macrumors 6502
Dec 9, 2007
293
0
I go there pretty often ... basically the places you mentioned, Penn Station, Rockeffeller, etc. It's definitely far from "might as well be no service at all." You probably heard all these things from 2009, because that was true back then. But I believe AT&T has made some serious improvements. I didn't do speedtests but compared to the almost WiFI like experience in Florida, I actually had to wait for the page to load.



Verizon is better where they have better service. (in other words: it depends where you are). I'm not trying to bash Verizon (i like Verizon) but I'm just saying from my experience and from what I've seen.

Well, though the Daily Show is a parody show it does hold some truth to it and that report was from 2011 so... I dunno.

I've been making it a point to ask people I see on the LIRR with iPhones what they have and what they think of the service. So far I've only had the nerve to actually ask a couple of people and they were pretty annoyed with the AT&T service. Mostly complaining about dropped calls and slow data. So yeah, take that as you will.
 

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
Well, though the Daily Show is a parody show it does hold some truth to it and that report was from 2011 so... I dunno.

I've been making it a point to ask people I see on the LIRR with iPhones what they have and what they think of the service. So far I've only had the nerve to actually ask a couple of people and they were pretty annoyed with the AT&T service. Mostly complaining about dropped calls and slow data. So yeah, take that as you will.
Hmm well I can't say that I've experienced that. I know AT&T is using the 850mhz spectrum in NYC now so its definitely better than what it once was.
 
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