I wanted to get some suggestions for a cell phone. I wouldn't use it too often but would like the basic features such as call ID, voice mail, ect. I've looked at TracFone but for there low level plan its 79 cents a minute. I was also looking at Verizon's FREEUP Service which looks nice. I would probably only making local calls so long distance doesnt matter and same goes for roaming. Have any of you guys tried either of these? BTW: I live in Raleigh, NC 27608 so I need something in my area obviously. Thanks in advance.
My cell phone is with Verizon and I got things that I don't even know about! I was impressed with their service and their different plans. I would check with them and tell them all you want and see what their prices are. I'm sure that they are competitive or better than anyone else.
Um, yes I need my cell phone. When you have three kids participating in four sports at four locations, co-ordinating things with the wife is a must. Plus, I could not imagine having my wife driving on the road at night without a cell phone. What if the car breaks down? Do I want her flagging people down on the side of the highway at night with three kids in the car? Hell no! Cell phones are a necessity. Cingular wireless is currently the best service on the market. Sprint was on top, till the flood in June wiped out a bunch of their switching stations. Voicestream is good if they have towers in your local area. Verizon has the best coverage in Texas, but the least minutes.
If you have Cingular in your area I would suggest them, that's who I use and I get bunches of freebies like Caller ID, Voice Mail, Text Messaging, etc. Then for about $15 I get free Nationwide Long Distance and free cell to cell calling. My cell phone bill has peaked at $55 and averages around $30-$35 a month. On my plan I get 500 daytime minutes and free night/weekend minutes. They're really good so I would suggest them.
Do not go with Voicestream. They always reported more minutes then u actually use. I have had several incidents along with several people that I know. I end up calling them every month (waste of time) to complain for calls i never made. THough they end up making adjustments, it was pretty annoying to do this every month. i used Sprint b4 this and am using it currently. So far no problems.
After my wife's carrier, Primeco, merged with AT&T, she started shopping around. She found Verizon to have the best minutes-to-amount charged ratio.
Voicestream also has the crappiest coverage. I have both one of those cheap Nokia 5190's through Voicestream and one of those Motorola Nextel 2-way pagers. The Nextel has something like 2x the coverage area of the Voicestream.
Err... PrimeCO merged with GTE (and Bell Atlantic) to become Verizon. I know because I've had Verizon service for the past 3 years and I did contract work for Verizon.
Yeah Otto, we've been very disappointed with Voicestream as well. It works fine for most places we go, but the reception bites BIG TIME in our home town. I can't use it at all from the house, which renders all the free long distance useless. Plus, most of our minutes are used within a five mile radius of our home, and reception is just crappy. I've complained, but I'm stuck with this contract till March. Then I'm switching over to Cingular wireless.
Isn't VoiceStream the same company or at least partly the same as Aerial? I used to have Aerial as my provider in Houston and they sucked big willy. Their billing department was probably second only to Dish Network in cluelessness.
Yes. Although I have not had any other problems with VS (billing, minutes, etc.). Just the reception in League City sucks.
AVOID SPRINTPCS LIKE THE PLAGUE!!! Spring PCS has the worst customer service. The only reason I still have it is b/c I got this awesome rate plan back in the old days.
I would recommend Verizon service though I would definitely recommend you stay FAR away from their prepaid service. I used to work for GTE Wireless/Verizon and it was my experience that the prepaid customers are very low on the priority totem pole. I remember sometimes there would be outages in prepaid for weeks at a time, literally. The reason there's a difference in service level is that the prepaid service routes through a billing system that keeps track of your air time minutes and charges them real time. In other words, the system checks to see if you have airtime available first to complete a call, unlike the regular service which immediately routes calls through and air time is later documented. This is basically a capacity issue with GTE's, or now Verizon's systems for prepaid and not something that can be fixed by an over the phone tech person. One other bit of advice is if you get service, go to what's called a direct Verizon dealer. There are some companies that contract out from Verizon and then there are the actual Verizon dealers who work directly for Verizon. You'll find the service, knowledge, and general help to be much better at a Verizon direct store.
Also, on the actual phones, you can never go wrong with Motorola. They're solid though can be a lil expensive. It's been my experience that Samsung's, LG's, and Audiovox are troublesome.
I will vouch for Verizon's national coverage. It's spotless. I drove from LA to NY, constantly checking what my reception. In the entire drive there was a spot in Oklahoma where I didn't have service. I had service everywhere else, even in the middle of the desert of Arizona or the Texas panhandle. Coverage in Manhattan is better than any I know. Verizon will be more pricey, but it's nice to just make a call from where you are instead of walking over to a window, hunched over, repeating 'can you hear me now?'
SprintPCS in Manhattan is "meh." Sometimes I get service, sometimes I don't. It's like Russian Roulette with Sprint. I get way too many "dropped calls" and analog roaming in Manhattan than I should be. I will say, though, that my new phone, the Samsung Uproar (the MP3 phone) kicks major ass. Small, light, clear sound, better service than my last phone (believe it or not...), and it plays friggin music! Can't beat that with a stick.
It's confusing. Does Verizon Wireless still exist in Houston? I was a PrimeCo customer. I automatically became a Verizon Wireless customer. Today, I automatically became an AT&T Wireless customer. I now have to exchange my cell phone to be compatible with AT&T Wireless. I'm assuming only the former PrimeCo customers in Houston were effected. If you go to www.primeco.com you are taken to a screen which allows you to choose your city. If you choose Austin/San Antonio, you are taken to Verizon Wireless. However, if you choose Houston, you are taken to AT&T Wireless.
Whoa. Then I take my comments to Dreamer back with my apologies. Apparently lots more crap has happened since I left Verizon. The original Verizon merger was between PrimeCo, Bell Atlantic, and another company whose name escapes me at the moment. I don't know how AT&T is involved in all this, but apparently they've bought at least part of PrimeCo. Sorry for the confusion.
