itguy05
join:2005-06-17
Camp Hill, PA
| V710 Debacle
Got me looking at alternatives....
Went to ATTWS where I got a cool T637 that worked flawlessly and ATTWS' network had matured well.
Stitched to Cingular and got a V551 that works flawlessly and is not crippled. The network is much better than Verizon (who makes their claim based on their own tests, not a 3rd party), the phone works, and is not crippled in any way.
Vote with your wallet - Cingular's network is as good as, or better than Verizon and the phones are not crippled.
Not to mention, running Windows on any device (computer, phone, PDA) is insane. It's not fit for any device.  |
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phantom6294
join:2002-02-27
Abingdon, MD
 ·Comcast
| Well... in my experience... Cingular's network is worthless. I was living in Texas and was moving to New Jersey. I came up to look for apartments and every time I tried calling with my cingular phone... it would sit there and say 'connecting' for about 30 seconds. Half the time it would finally make a call, the other half the time nothing would happen, and it would cancel the call. Customer Service claimed that the delay was because my account was based in Texas..................................... apparently, I sounded really dumb that day. My experience wasn't much better in Texas. At least three times, my call was dropped and I got thrown into someone else's phone call; they would hear me for a split second but then they couldn't, but I could hear both sides of the other conversation. Plenty more instances of dropped calls even with strong signals.
Also, as far as Cingular's network having "more bars in more places"... at my dad's house in the Blue Ridge Mountains... I don't get a Cingular signal for a area with about a 30 mile radius. My new verizon phone... full strength DIGITAL signal... even in valleys.
I have a friend who has cingular and on average, we have to call each other back at least 3 times during a 20 minute phone call because, assumingly, cingular's network dropped the call. I cannot recall a single incident where my verizon phone has dropped a call.
The final draw with me and Cingular was when a customer service supervisor FLAT OUT LIED TO ME. I terminated my service right then and there. It cost me the $150 to cancel since I was still under contract, but in the long run, I will end up in the positive.
So, in MY experience... Cingular's network isn't worth it nor is the customer service worth it. So, I voted with my wallet... and left Cingular. My Verizon v710 works everywhere I have taken it... and it always works. I certainly disappointed about Verizon policy towards Bluetooth... but ultimately it is a phone... and if I can't make phone calls... what's the point? |
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shutrbug
join:2000-10-18
San Jose, CA | reply to itguy05
LOL! I was playing with the Motorola Q in the M$ booth at CES and it hung completely while I was entering text in a message. The M$ rep who I was chatting with couldn't reboot it. He put it back on display in its hung state.:D |
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itguy05
join:2005-06-17
Camp Hill, PA
| reply to phantom6294
Funny you mention NJ - I travel to N. NJ (outside NYC) and S. NJ (Philly/Cherry Hill) and my Cingular phone has better service than any Verizon phone. As a matter of fact, I forward my work Verizon phone to my personal Cingular phone for better service. We won't even discuss the poor call quality of an overloaded CDMA system.
And travelling the PA Turnpike usually results in numerous drops for Verizon. With my Cing. phone, I often have 45-1hour conference calls driving the turnpike. No dropped calls, no major issues.
Are you sure your dropped call issue is not Verizon? I've had NUMEROUS occasions of VZW dropping the call with full signal. It's because of the way CDMA works and requires very tight power control - move your head and bamo, you can loose the call.
Either way, you have to use what works for. Verizon stopped working for me a long time ago. And since I have both services, I can compare both. |
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phantom6294
join:2002-02-27
Abingdon, MD
·Comcast
1 edit | Are you sure your dropped call issue is not Verizon? Fairly sure... at the time, I still had my cingular phone and the call would drop with my cingular phone and verizon phone; so I surmised the problems was at the other end of the call which was always Cingular. Call another friend who uses Verizon and we could talk for hours with crystal clear audio.
I probably should have mentioned I tend to think the phone itself can at times be the true culprit. Two different GSM phones on Cingular's GSM may provide vastly different performance... and the same difference in performance from two different CDMA phones on Verizon's CDMA network.
For exmaple, the first phone I had with Cingular was a Nokia 3360 (got it spring '02) and was very reliable. I eventually moved to a Nokia 6340i and went through three phones (in a year) and always had problems. My friend had Cingular and also had a 6340i and also had his phone replaced four times in a year and always had problems. Cingular employees always mentioned the 6340i seemed to be 'lemon' phone. I eventually moved to a Sony-Ericcson T637 but had problems with the network in Texas and it's DUN profile never would work with my Inspiron 8600 and built in Bluetooth. My Motorola v710 works flawlessly with DUN on the same laptop.
So... in the end, this is power of competition. I had trouble with Cingular's network, hardware, and customer service, so I voted with my wallet and discontinued my service. I have been impressed with Verizon's network, both reliability and coverage, extremely impressed with their customer service, and though they do cripple some bluetooth features, the hardware has been extremely reliable. For now... Verizon will keep my business. |
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