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What is the best cell phone company?

Who is the best?

  • Cingular

    Votes: 19 35.8%

  • Verizon

    Votes: 20 37.7%

  • Sprint

    Votes: 3 5.7%

  • T-Mobile

    Votes: 4 7.5%

  • Nextel

    Votes: 2 3.8%

  • Other

    Votes: 5 9.4%
  • Total voters
    53
J

johnbro23

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 12, 2004
770
0
Pittsburgh, PA
I've seen a ton of discussion on what cell phone company is the best... I'm just wondering what everyone here thinks...

EDIT: I'm sure this has come up before, but I searched and didn't find anything. Sorry if its a repeat thread.
 
I used AT&T back in the day, and used Cingular before that... then switched to Verizon. Don't care much for their physical phones, but the reception is the best that I've found for my area.

My parents use T-mobile and they don't get as good of reception as I do.

But that's just my experience w/ those few carriers.
 
I use a smaller company named Alltel, and their service around my area has been great since I got the phone last year. They also have a large selection of phones, including the new Razr V3c! But overall they are a great company.
 
I use T-Mobile. Its the best if you're going to be on an individual plan i get 600 minutes for $39 (w/o tax) every other company has only 400 minutes. But i hae to say that every other company might have better shared minutes. So if you are going to be on the plan alone T-Mobile is the way to go. If you are going to share minutes you should choose maybe verizon.
 
I'd have to say Verizon, for a few reasons:

1. Awesome coverage - perhaps the best.

2. A lot of people use them, so a lot of my calls are in-network.

3. I'v had maybe two dropped calles in three years.

4. They have a new every two program with 100.00 towards a new phone.

5. 2000 minutes with Internet is $99.00 for me. Not a bad deal.
 
I've used AT&T and Cingular in the past, but both had reception issues in the Greater Baltimore Metro region. While I don't particularly love their phone selection and their customer service is as bad as anyone else's, Verizon has the best coverage, so they get my vote.
It doesn't matter how cool the phone is if you get drops and static on the network.

And that new every two program is coming 'round for me this February. My Palm T3 is looking grim, so it might be time for a smartphone. C'mon Verizon, give me an HTC or some other cool toy!
 
cingular here, it's nice to be able to use my GSM phone in other countries when i'm on travel....plus it's only 7cents a minute to Greece from the states....my .02
 
I'm quite happy with SprintPCS, for the most part. I've been with them since 2000 and the service has improved greatly over that time period, as has coverage. Floriduh apparently has some of the poorest coverage for whatever reason, as I discovered driving to California on one trip and New Jersey on another trip.

You can't get decent FM reception around Philly or those hilly areas of California but my phone's reception was always great.

If I would complain about one thing, it's the fact that I didn't get the extended battery right away and now, there is no such thing available from the company.
 
johnbro23 said:
I've seen a ton of discussion on what cell phone company is the best... I'm just wondering what everyone here thinks...

EDIT: I'm sure this has come up before, but I searched and didn't find anything. Sorry if its a repeat thread.
Click to expand...

Stupidly I came here hoping there'd be a discussion of manufacturers...woops!

I chose other...particularly because I'm an Orange/Virgin user living in the UK :p I just cannot understand why the US is so behind in the mobile thing...I'm visiting Chicago again in a lttl while and it was horrible to attempt to get a PAYG service before arrival. Paying to receive calls...credit running out after a few months...numbers expiring! :eek:

I think US-wise, Virgin's the best there as well :) PAYG is good stuff...no overspending.
 
Yeah ... why do you have to pay to receive calls? I've never understood why you do that in the U.S.
 
I really don't know which is "the best," but I've been using Sprint for the past several years. When I was down in a rural area of NC this past summer, though, I wished that I'd had Verizon, as my Sprint service was out of network and every call I made on the phone was "roaming." People in that area all used Verizon... I've heard, too, that Verizon is good around my area, but since I've been with Sprint this long I'll probably just stick with it.

OTB
 
gekko513 said:
Yeah ... why do you have to pay to receive calls? I've never understood why you do that in the U.S.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if anyone tried to get away with that here they'd be chased away by an angry mob wielding pitchforks and fence palings with nails in them. I also can't stand that damned voice recognition system the Canadians use to recharge their prepaid phones. How on Earth is that easier to use than pressing the buttons on the keypad? Bloody "Melanie" never got any of my recharges right and I always had to wait half an hour for an operator to put the recharge through for me. My Aussie accent isn't that strong...

As for the best company, none of those options actually exist here but I'll throw Vodafone Australia into the mix.
 
I like Cingular. I'm happy with the coverage and they have good phones. Then again, that's the only one I've used, because my Dad has had Cingular/Pac Bell for a decade+.
 
I had AT&T Wireless TDMA, then switched to the GSM. It was pretty good, but I had spotty reception in certain areas of town. I then switched to Verizon after the contract expired, and it's been awesome in terms of coverage.

If making and receiving calls is really important to you (as it is to me), I recommend verizon.
 
Seemed limited to US networks but I'll add one anyway.

Other: Mobyson

I don't know if they have any presence outside Norway, or any of the nordic countries, but they're good.

Pre-paid only, but still very cheap, and very consistent pricing regardless of who you're calling (none of that "different cost for different network" nonsense), so it's ideal for me.

E-mail support only, but it's great and they're very quick to answer, so I don't care.



And I don't get the "pay to receive calls"-bit either. I remember seeing an explanation for it once, but I can't recall what it was.

I'm sure we have a couple of things that appears odd to americans though.
 
Verizon's commericial about spreading Broadband ALL over sounds damn cool! I think my wife and I will change to them when they come to Arkansas. I have Cingular::::I hate their service but haven't had any problems.
 
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