So, my contract is up next month, I'll be switching carriers (I'm on Virgin Mobile since they recently ate my company.) and I need some carrier feedback, as well as your phone feedback in case I decide to pick one up.


I'm primarily looking at Sprint, since they have the best fitting plan to my needs, as well as great coverage in my area. (ATT is lacking, but Verizon seems ok... according to the maps.) Not really looking for a Smartphone, but would accept one if it was an all around good device.

The only features I really like on my phone is an easy inbox, one screen shows all my texts/emails/IMs on one screen (primarily interested in good text message support) and Google Maps or some kind of navigation. I don't talk a lot, but call quality is always important.

So, let's hear all of your love and hate for specific carriers and devices!

DROID

The Droid is $700, Still around $150-$250 with contracts. I'm not looking for a contract.

Don't get a Palm Centro. It freezes when a text comes in...annoys the hell out of me. I don't mind Sprint, though (I also have a rockin' plan).

Thanks for the tip, think all the Palm phones are turds? I was kinda considering a Palm Pre, but can't seem to find good feedback on it.

I've been on verizon for more than a decade. I started with them because they were the only place with service in the area I lived. I'm not too happy with them, I've always got this feeling as I'm writing checks each month that I'm paying way too much. However, my wife recently got us a 20% monthly discount through her work which helps. The actual cell service seems to be fine. I don't use any of the 3g/web/text messaging/etc. Their customer service is okay. You can back-date moving plans so if you go over your minutes one month, it's easy to back date an upgrade to the next plan for a month then switch back to the lower plan so you don't have to pay overages. Their "new every 2" deal which used to rock is now crap. They lowered the allowance to something like 50 bucks and it only applies to the "primary" phone on an account. Regarding phones, I always find the simplest, sturdiest one possible and I'm generally happy. However, this time I was completely unable to find a phone with an external time display that was always on My last one, a cheapo motorola, has a cool black & white screen on the outside with a backlight that goes away after xx number of seconds, but always displays the time. The new one I bought in Dec. but haven't activated yet requires a button press to make the time show up. Blargh.

No matter who you go with you're going to get ***-raped. I personally went with AT&T because I get a 20% discount on some services. I would like to have a Smartphone with all of the bells & whistles but I can't justify chopping off & giving them my arms & legs.

The Palm Pre is pretty awesome, but it's still kind of beta. It is worth waiting for the next revision, I think. It's OS also needs some work. It is better than any Windows Mobile phone on the market, and does many things better than the iPhone.

I'm reading a lot about it right now. It sounds fantastic. I still have a month to decide, but it's looking the most promising, IF I can get it with a decently priced plan.

edit: From what I am reading, its exclusivity with Sprint ends sometime in the next few months. Which should boost it's software improvement demands, and hopefully delays the possibility of a Pre2 or some form of a revised hardware version.

My wife and I both got the HTC Touch Pro 2 and the Unlimited Plan;
Unlimited Internet, Text, MMS, Cell to cell calls (any carrier), and 1400 land line minutes (which also includes free nights/weekends).
We paid $100 for each phone (on the Sprint site they were $350 each).
Our monthly charge is $108 (after the monthly discount he gave us).

You'd be hard pressed to find a better deal then that. You can switch up the phones if you like too. A buddy of mine got the Samsung Moment instead.

Call this guy. J. R. Ladson - 702-363-8127. He works at a Sprint store in Vegas. Tell him you are a friend of Craig and Serene. I've probably referred about 12 people to him so far.

I may do that, I'm looking to get a plan that runs me about $70 a month after taxes.

Tell me about your phone, I looked at the Touch Pro 2, but didn't give it an in depth look. Also considered the Moment...

I've been on both T-Mobile and Verizon, and I have to say I really do prefer T-Mobile. They're cheap, have good customer service, and I <3 my G1 (except for it's terrible camera). Of course, I've never really gotten great service when I've gone back east...but it works great out here in the desert.

If you want cheap, you're pretty much stuck with Sprint. Verizon is by far the most expensive of the cell phone carriers.

I also have a Palm Pre, and sorta agree with Emon. It's a fantastic phone, but it is bleeding edge. All the basic stuff is there, and it's stable, but it doesn't have the polish of an iPhone just yet. And the App Store is weak.

On the other hand, the Pre has an /incredible/ homebrew community. Typing in the konami code, clicking "ON", then running a program on your PC (foolproof, no questions asked), and you're sitting with a program called Preware on your phone which will give you the ability to install all sorts of amazing tweaks and programs you won't find in the regular app store. The tweaks alone are amazing, as not only do they bring the phone up to match other phones for features, but allows you to customize the phone to your lifestyle.

If you're comfortable with doing that, and you like playing with your phone, it's a fun device. It's looking exciting in the near future as well. The latest update added proper OpenGL support with SDL, which allowed the Preware devs (WebOS Internals) to port over ScummVM

The best part is, is that Palm actually actively supports (in private) the homebrew community. They even distribute the flashing software, so if you somehow manage to brick your phone (very hard to do if you stick with Preware, all Preware stuff is checked before being included), you can flash it via USB and have a working phone within an hour again. Plus your contacts and settings are restored from a cloud backup.

Also, if you're looking at any sort of internet browsing on your phone, I wouldn't recommend T-Mobile. T-Mobile has abysmal 3G coverage (Sprint has about as much /4G/ coverage as TMO has 3G).

T-Mobile is almost non-existant outside of urban areas here in Texas, which means No T-Mobile for me.

I'm really leaning toward the Pre right now. It sounds great, I like to play with my phones some, but not to great extent. Not even super-interested in Apps. Just as long as I have great navigation, a clean and easy inbox, and good call quality, I'm generally happy with the phone. The Pre is a huge plus for me because I must have a physical keyboard, but hate dialing on those 'integrated' number pads like you see on the keyboard of most blackberries.

Do you Pre guys have any major complaints? I see a lot of people complaining of battery life, though my phone rarely goes without being charged in a 24 hour period, regardless of need.

The phone will last throughout the day assuming you aren't constantly browsing/calling. If you're going to use GPS a lot or whatever though, I would recommend a car charger. The battery life is not fantastic.

My only major complaints right now is support for stuff like video recording, and better gaming (although this last update seems to be changing that).

If you plan on spending any time on the West Coast of the United States whatsoever, you are pretty much required to go with Verizon. AT&T and Sprint have terrible coverage over here.

I only pay $40 a month for Verizon. Unlimited text/picture/video, and I've yet to exceed my allotted minutes. I don't give a **** about games, apps, interent or GPS, though, so most anything other than the free phone doesn't interest me.

Looks good to me for Sprint, although it doesn't matter anyway, since Sprint has roaming agreements with Verizon anyway, rendering any coverage issues there irrelevant.



Good for you

Frankly, after finally getting a smartphone, I wouldn't go back. It's nearly eliminated my need to take my laptop to places, and using the internet anywhere is ridiculously useful.

If it wasn't for me wanting to use IM/Navi I would do the same, but I can't really afford to put a fancy nav system in my car, so the phone application works best.

I've never been to the west coast, the farthest west I've been is Boise Idaho hah. What a turd town.

Yeah Sprint Navigation actually works really well (it uses Telenav).

Plus, the Pre does what the iPhone don't (Pandora + GPS at the same time)

I bought my wife a GPS for her car for Christmas. $99.99, and it works fine. I forgot to include I get unlimited IM as well. It costs an extra $10, so I pay $50.

Yes, Boise sucks and so does everyone who lives there.

I pay $70, and get everything you do, plus the GPS and unlimited internet. And my phone isn't a freebie featurephone I also don't have to mess with updating my maps (and I hope you don't have to pay for updated maps, that's a common GPS gotcha), inputting addresses or making sure I have the GPS with me when going with friends/other cars/etc. And for what it matters, I can call any cell phone in the USA for free

It's not a bad deal, you know

Oh yeah, and your plan doesn't exist anymore for that price. It's now $60/m for what you have on Verizon.

My only problem is I hate those mountable navigation units... I either want in dash, or cell phone... I know, I'm a picky ***

That's still $240 more per year than what I want to pay. That's 30 tanks of gas for my motorcycle.

I've never once thought "It would be useful if I had internet on my phone!" If I really need anything, I just send a text to google and they respond with whatever I need. For free.

I've found the older and more "stable" I get, the less I need or care about that sort of thing. Everything becomes calculated, planned, and prepred, or fly by the seat of my pants, with not much in between. I'm turing into an old man

$120 if you were to get your plan now.



Like I said, good for you!

Texting google for a google search isn't even remotely comparable to actually googling something, or getting directions, or looking up phone numbers to places, or searching wikipedia, getting movie times, checking Massassi >.>, checking my email to see if my server died while I'm out, getting a store's closing hours, checking to see if a store has something before I buy it, checking another store online for a price to see if I can get a better deal, etc.

All in all it's saved me more than the $120 it's cost me.

But then again, I must be crazy

Getting a store's hours and phone number on Google Maps is the BEST feature about my current phone. Saves me A LOT of time.

See, that's what makes me an old man. I don't care about 90% of that ****. Like I need people at work emailing my phone. I don't need to check Massassi, Google gives me a store's location, hours, and number. And if they don't, I just call them for hours and directions (gasp, human interaction!). It's not really a problem. When would I have a need to search wikipedia that would require me to use my phone? I have a computer at work, a computer at home, why would I want to look something up at the supermarket? I don't get it.

Anyway, I don't want to jack the thread, so go back to giving the guy advice. Not me.

Logic error, can't call a number you don't know

It's about convenience, that's all. If you don't care about that, then be an old man

Haha, well thanks for the input. I think I'm going to give the Pre a whirl when it comes time next month. Any major advice on that phone Matty?

Besides installing Preware? Not really. Dunno what you want to know

I guess I'll question you again when I actually have it so I know more about what I am asking. Thanks

1) If you don't really play with apps, get the Pre. You obviously already like it and it sounds like it will accomplish what you need it to do. So make it simple on yourself and just go for it. You'll probably get it for next to nothing if you call the guy I mentioned above.
2) Given your geographic location, I'd go with Sprint. It's cheaper than Verizon and it works.