Behold the marketing muscle of the TFP: Cell Phones / Wireless plans
 

So here is your chance to sound off. The market for these things changes very rapidly and so I thought a new thread appropriate.

I need a new cell phone. The good news is that I am not paying. My new job is. So with that in mind, who has good coverage? What phones are the best?

I will start it off with the fact that I do not like Verizon. Their coverage is pretty darn good, but I have been a customer for 4 years and had some problems with them. I think I would like to look for someone else. In addition, I want to get a neato phone (maybe one of them camera thingys) and most of the Verizon phone are BOOORING.

Throw it out there. Let me know what to do here. Good and bad experiences are welcome.

Found Sprint PCS to be a bunch of hooey. They don't work well if at all in shopping malls, and I frequently find dead spots in the coverage. Since I used this while living in the chicago burbs, that shouldn't happen to the degree it did. Sound quality sucked too. Oh did I mention the service going out completely for a day or two on two separate occasions? Got a friend who loves Spring, so YRMV.

The SO and I are using Nextel now. Great service and price. It's worked everywhere we take them. We laughed at the walkie talkie function but use it all the time!

I'm in So Cal, too (North San Deigo County). I had reception issues with Cingular and have switched to Verizon - I'm very happy with it.

If work is paying - Nextel might be the way to go. Theat walkie-talkie feature is kinda cool.

It depends on where you are, how much you plan to use it, how much you travel, and what features you need. Otherwise, there's no real answer.

AT&T works everywhere I go...except within one block of my house. So, unless you plan on living with me, AT&T is alright.

they all suck...

check out consumer reports and their take on it... they unfortunately say that they all suck to some degree, but Verizon sucks the least.

I have AT&T and they have good coverage. Pay the least for everything and use it to the max without paying for more. That's the best advice I can give, cuz it doesn't matter which provider you have...

My only advice would be to avoid a 2 year contract if at all possible, that way if something better does come along, you can jump ship.

Well, since you don't want Verizon, Nextel is second in line, and first for business.

Sprint is fine if you don't plan to travel outside of heavily populated areas and off of major highways (Interstates) The signal is weak inside buildings due to their refusal to use analog signals as anything but roaming. Set a PCS phone to allow roaming, and you'll have full strength everywhere, and pay 45 cents per minute. The roaming signals overpower Sprint's, even in their pathetic excuses for service areas. Don't go for all-digital unless you stay in big cities. Positive poins include unlimited internet access from your phone as opposed to Verizon's system, which uses your minutes while on the web.

Nextel has spotty coverage, but overall has strong signals in most places. They cover where other places don't, like rural areas, or the entire state of Maine. They have a nice range of plans.

Cingular customers who I've asked all seem ready to throw the phone out the window due to service area problems. But they do roll over your unused minutes.

AT&T is better than Cingular from what I hear, but the coverage still can't match Verizon.

T-Mobile is fairly new, and I haven't heard much about them. They have camera phones, and they have GSM phones, which can be converted for international travel by switching a chip in the batery compartment. I haven't heard any complaints, but I haven't heard much about them at all.

I think that covers just about everything.

Man - thanks a lot for the review - especially Mr. Self Destruct.

I see some themes emerging. Thanks a lot. More information like this is great.

I hate AT&T, I was trying to get upgraded service and the lady couldn't hear me because, guess what? My phone kept cutting out, in my own house! So if you live in Portland OR, don't use AT&T for cell phone service. Does anybody in the area reccomend any other service than AT&T?