Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: majic on July 21, 2004, 10:31:05 AM
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Well, I'm finally gonna break down and get one and was wondering what comapny to go see. I don't spend alot of time on the phone and I don't need trendy features like walkie-talkie or text messaging. Just phone service, probably nation wide.
Anyway, who do you recommend and why? (I have heard good things about Verizon.)
Oooh... I also gonna swith from dsl to cable!
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Buy a Ericsson.
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Sony-Ericsson
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I have had no problems with Verizon. They even replaced a phone for free that was out of warranty.
Stay away from Kyocera phones. I have had no problems with LG or Samsung.
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I'm using a Motorola. Using CellularOne for service.
Even though CellularOne works for my needs, I wouldn't reccomend it.
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Originally posted by Mickey1992
Stay away from Kyocera phones. I have had no problems with LG or Samsung.
I have a Kyocera 2255. The only thing I didn't do to it was to throw it into a campfire. I think i need another one now, because after 1.5 years mine doesn't show almost anything on a display (I use voice dial, but it doesn't recognise me after first 300ml of vodka), battery is attached by a nylon tie (after 120th drop I lost a back cover), but it still works. Among CDMA phones Kyocera have the best sensitivity and best voice quality.
Kyocera bought CDMA department from Quallcom, so it's now the only REAL CDMA phone manufacturer.
LGs, Samsungs and other Koreans are chick's phones. Get a Kyocera if you want a heavy-duty model.
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Verizon and a Samsung flip phone. Got this company as they have the best full time RV support. You can find a verizon store just about anywhere in the country.
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I have verizon and the LG model great phone good reception.
I had nothing but problems with Nextel and AT&T
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I have had Cingular for about 4 yrs now with no problems. Change phones every 2 yrs or so for free basically and they have that rollover stuff thats pretty nice so you dont lose any of your minutes if you dont use the phone much one month.
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Guys... if you want a snazzy phone, get a Sony Ericsson or Samsung. If you want a phone that actually works and doesn't cut off on you, get something else.
Verizon is by far the best coverage, for providers. Sprint sucks. T-mobil is even worse. Cingular *might* be OK, if you get a *really* good phone with awesome reception. But independent of phone, Verizon is the best.
As far as which phone to get. Remember that, in general, brand names are not a good indication of reception quality (except for Samsung, which pretty much universally sucks in this regard). Visit http://arcx.com/sites/PhoneReviews.htm for some objective reviews of a variety of phones. Pay particular attention to the sections on reception quality (RF performance).
Edit: also remember that the phone makes a huge difference in reception quality (dropped calls, blocked calls, etc), even with the same provider. For example, a Sony Ericsson T610 can maintain a call down to -75 db signal strength, while a Motorola P280 can hold it all the way down to -98 db. This translates into being 3 times as far from the cell tower! So you can see your choice of phone can completely change your coverage map, for better or worse.
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USCellular has given me good reception almost everywhere.
not sure where you live, and what service providers are in the area.
my nokia phone was awsome, untill i fried the battery on the 3 hour call on hold (on and off the charger). cell phones just arent made for that type of call.
good luck finding a nokia though, they are pulling out of the US market from what im told.
DONT get an audiovox phone, stupid tones sound like a childs game on nintendo, reception is garbage, features are not intuitive, overall the worst phone i have owned. trading it in for an LG this week (30 day free trial to exchange).
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Sony-Ericsson
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Which company? It really depends on where you live. The first thing to do is ask around, and see what service your friends and acquaintances have, and how they like it for signal quality and problem resolution when they have to call customer service.
When you figure out a couple of candidates, shop around and find out what kind of deals you can get. I'd recommend going into the provider-owned stores, since if a problem arises or you're misinformed about something, you're just dealing with one company. If you do go with an independent retailer, I'd stick to stores you know that have decent return policies and good customer service after the sale.
Ask lots of questions. Find out what your plan includes and what you're charged extra for: overage, roaming (on-network and off-network), long distance, directory assistance, ect. Find out what the free cancellation period is - this is the time frame (usually 14 - 30 days) in which you can cancel the service and not pay a fee for terminating the contract with the service provider. If you go with an independent retailer, find out if they have their own contract with you, and if so what the terms are.
Whichever way you go, after you've made your purchase, I'd call customer service and confirm everything your rate plan has, just to double-check what the sales person tells you. That way you won't have any suprises on your first bill.
Generically, I'd recommend either T-Mobile or Verizon. Both generally have good customer service and good coverage where they offer service. I wouldn't recommend AT&T, and I'll tell you to stay the hell away from Sprint, as their customer service is ass. But really, check with friends and family locally to see who they use and how they like them.
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i have a sony-ericsson k700i.
Awesome little phone. + it has mp3 playback, radio, digital camera, video clips with sound and big colour display.
The only 2 phones worthwhile atm in my opinion are the Sony Ericsson K700i (http://www.sonyericsson.com/K700/index.aspx) and the Nokia 6230 (http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,8764,47665,00.html)
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Nokia !
Way to go...
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Originally posted by Harppa
Nokia !
Way to go...
I am stuck to a small CDMA provider in a GSM country, and I had Nokia phones for 2 years. I have chosen Kyocera after I have lost 5 Nokia phones in 6 months ;)
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Stay away from Cingular.
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My dad works for Verizon, they have over 422 towers in Florida.
You just don't wanna hear the statistics of what happens when lightning hits all 400, :p.
I like verizon, the phones themselves are pretty cool too..
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Thanks for all the advice. Went with Verizon (just about everyone I know has one, so many free calls). Got a Motorola T730. Was cheap with the plan.
Yay.
The money I save here is getting me digital cable and cable internet (instead of dsl). Ohhh, the boobies.
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Originally posted by majic
Thanks for all the advice. Went with Verizon (just about everyone I know has one, so many free calls). Got a Motorola T730. Was cheap with the plan.
Good choice, I have the same setup. :) The reception is very good and the battery life too. The only thing annoying about the 730 is the slow response time when you hit the buttons.
Originally posted by majic
The money I save here is getting me digital cable and cable internet (instead of dsl). Ohhh, the boobies.
And since you are supporting Verizon, they'll be able to wire your home with 30 Mbit fiber all the sooner. "I motivate them with boobies, and the promise of more boobies to come." :D
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Best one I ever had was First Cellular. You get 40,000 (yep you see that correct!) anytime minutes for $40 a month. Here verizon residential line runs $63, so this really is a lot better deal than having a land based phone line.
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Good choice on provider, but that phone is teh suck! By slow to respond,
Phookat actually means "don't make any plans." But maybe I'm just impatient. :)
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Nokia phones are the easiest to use, just go with one of their cheapest models.
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Originally posted by Furball
i have a sony-ericsson k700i.
Awesome little phone. + it has mp3 playback, radio, digital camera, video clips with sound and big colour display.
The only 2 phones worthwhile atm in my opinion are the Sony Ericsson K700i (http://www.sonyericsson.com/K700/index.aspx) and the Nokia 6230 (http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,8764,47665,00.html)
Bah! Sony Ericcson T610 here - camera, cartoons, comes with a CD... and I hate it. I hate it because it's so freaking complicated. I don't want to take pictures. I don't want football scores/stock quotes to be texted to me. I don't want cartoons/games. :mad:
All I want is phone service, text and voicemail. And the alarm clock function is useful when travelling, as is the built in calculator for doing currency conversions. I miss my Nokia 5210 - that was a little gem, even though it had an idiotic thermometer thing - which always read 71°F - the temperature inside my pocket? :rolleyes:
Majic - you might want to consider a basic phone - not a bells and whistles job. What I'm finding with my S.E. T610 is that because there are so many freaking options, I have to go through about 13 key presses just to send a text message.
I wish I still had liquid crystal display, not one of these new fangled display screens. Why? Because sitting outdoors in bright sunshine (rare this summer in Britain) I cannot SEE text on those screens. I have to go indoors with the phone. Conversely, LCD is really easy to read in bright light.
I hate Vodaphone. Do you know, Furball, those bastiges cut off my account just because my balance went over £40? No explanation, no recorded warning about credit limit exceeded, no customer service agent called - it was left to me to figure out why the phone wasn't working. Called the 0870 service number and got put on hold! :eek: Well bugger that at 50p per minute. So I called the account cancellation service - it was the only way to get anyone to pay attention. Problem solved, but I lost phone service for two days - right around the Easter holiday. Man, I was pissed off about that. Did I get a partial reimbursement of my £22 monthly contract fee for those two days when I was left without service? Erm... :mad:
I had Orange for many years, but when I moved house last year, I found that Orange signal coverage at my new location is zero. :(
So my next move is going to be to O2. They have English speaking customer service agents aged 30+, who are adept at dealing with crusty old farts like me. The thing I hate most about Orange and Vodaphone CSAs is that they are 20-something trendies of Asian extraction, and talk like Ali G the whole time, and avoid eye contact.
That's the end of my rant!
Majic - just be sure that your chosen provider provides good coverage where you live. Don't take their word for it (they're all liars). If you have a friend who's pleased with their mobile service, have 'em come round to your house to make sure that signal strength is adequate where you live. And don't get a phone with more functionality than you want or need - you'll be pressing a lot more buttons if you do.
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Originally posted by beet1e
So my next move is going to be to O2. They have English speaking customer service agents aged 30+, who are adept at dealing with crusty old farts like me. The thing I hate most about Orange and Vodaphone CSAs is that they are 20-something trendies of Asian extraction, and talk like Ali G the whole time, and avoid eye contact.
I have O2 now, just switched over from vodafone. They are much better.
As for the bells and whistles on the phone, you dont have to use them, just nice for when you want to! :)
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Originally posted by Furball
I have O2 now, just switched over from vodafone. They are much better.
As for the bells and whistles on the phone, you dont have to use them, just nice for when you want to! :)
Glad to hear that O2 is good. I'm off to their shop in Maidenhead this afternoon. If they ask me if anyone recommended O2 to me, I'll tell them you did! Might get you a few phone credits. (?)
Yes I know you don't have to use all the bells and whistles. My point was that with so many functions and features, there are so many menus and keypresses that have to be made to perform a relatively simple function. And I much prefer the LCD display for text for the reasons I gave. I'm not interested in camera functions/cartoons/bluetooth/WAP/games or any of that nonsense.
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Furball - Did you find that vodafone would call you back if someone left a voice message, and keep calling you until you answered, or switched the phone off? I had that happen to me. I had left the phone in the car one night, and someone called, left a message. Vodafone 121 called me back 58 times, and this drained the battery. So there I was the next day, just going out and finding that my phone battery was dead. :mad:
I've just got back home. Signed up with O2 on that £19/month tariff and got the phone - a Nokia 8310 - for nothing. It's charging up in the kitchen. :) The O2 rep was just like all the others - name was Saurbesh or Ramesh or something, and he talked like Ali G, innit?
No stupid camera, but a built in FM radio! :lol:rolleyes: And an LCD screen that I can read, even if the sun's shining on it. Looks like I'll be able to send a text message in fewer than 13 key strokes. :aok I'm a happy bunny again! :cool: