I decided to visit some cell phone provider stores to help me figure out what type of phone to get and what I would get or wouldn't get with various plans.
I went to a Verizon store and the guy there was friendly and attentive, but he didn't really give me a whole lot of information. He asked what I was looking for, and when I said I wasn't sure yet. I think I want a smart phone, but if I can find a really light weight and functional phone that did calendars and memos, that would probably suit most of my needs. He showed me one smart phone (Blackberry Curve) and one non-smart phone, and that was it. When I asked him about the plans, he just showed me the brochure and skimmed over some details.
When I tried to ask more detailed questions, he either didn't have the answer or his answer wasn't very satisfying. I did find out that with Verizon you are required to get the Blackberry data plan with your service if you get a Blackberry. This bumped the price up to iPhone levels, so it wasn't very encouraging. Verizon seems to have among the highest subscription prices to go along with their good coverage. I was definitely turned off by the lack of information in what you get or don't get with each subscription level, especially with the Blackberry plans.
I found out later that pretty much all providers are pretty vague about what you get with the Blackberry plans. You have to go to sites like crackberry.com to get any real info it seems.
I didn't totally discount Sprint, and since they were good to me a number of years, I decided to at least give them a try to talk me out of switching to a different provider. I also considered repairing my Treo 600 rather than going to a new phone. I have a $50 deductible, but it would mean I wouldn't have to make a new 2 year commitment in case another phone comes out that's a better fit.
The first Sprint Store I went to told me that they didn't have any technicians on site any more and there was only one store, the one at Lawrence and Steven's Creek Road, that had technicians. So I went to that store, and they were actually somewhat helpful. They took a look at my phone and told me that the antenna was broken, so that's probably why my reception was so bad. They were confident that a new phone would solve my reception problems.
When I told them that my wired earpiece is really flakey, they said that Treo's were notorious for wearing out the earpiece connections. He cleaned out the connections, but he said that was all that they could do there, and that I would have to go through my insurance to get a new phone if I wanted to get it fixed.
When I asked him about current phones, he showed me both the Blackberry Curve as well as the new Treos. I think he mentioned that I could get a Treo for free if I signed up for another two years. The Curve would cost a bit more. He also said that the GPS service from Sprint was the best of any service and you can get turn by turn directions as you drive. The Blackberry Curve from Sprint has GPS, but no WiFi.
Given how helpful they were, it put Sprint back on the map for phones I would consider. The other nice thing about Sprint is that their nighttime hours start at 7pm vs. 9pm for everyone else. They also are among the cheaper plans, and their plans include more things, like text messaging.
It must cost so little for these companies to support text messaging, since the bandwidth is so little, that it annoys me when they try to charge extra for it, especially when I don't use it very often. It will probably be cheaper for me in the long run not to subscribe to text messaging and just pay the per message charge if I decide to go with a non-Sprint carrier.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
In Search of a Cell Phone: Part II, Another Provider
Once I decided I was probably going to leave Sprint (my contract term had expired over a year ago), I started researching other options.
Naturally, being a Mac user, the iPhone was at the top of the list. However, there were a couple of huge drawbacks. It looked like I would have to fork over on the order of $100/month for a stupid phone. It was a very cool phone, but it was still a phone. My web surfing, document reading, etc. are done mostly on my real computers, not on my phone.
The second major problem was the coverage. I've heard lots of complaints about dropped calls and poor connections. My CEO said that his iPhone has horrible reception at his house and at the office, the two places where he uses it most. It also often drops off while I'm talking to him.
I really don't want to be paying more than any other service for really bad service. If I'm going to be paying that much, it had better be the best or close to the best service. I also hadn't heard great things about their customer service or support.
One good thing about AT&T is that they offer rollover minutes. This means that if I have some low usage months, I can get a cheaper plan to average out the minutes rather than having to get a plan based on my max usage.
All in all, if the iPhone were offered by someone other than AT&T, I could see getting it. But the fact that it's only offered by AT&T dropped it several spots on my list.
I've heard good things about Verizon and it seems that their commercials have a ring of truth to them, they really do have the best coverage. That was very attractive, especially after my experience with Sprint.
On the other hand, their plans are also among the the most expensive. They seem to nickel and dime you. No text messaging is included with internet service, 20 cents per message sent or received.
At this stage of my research, I was still tempted to go with Verizon for the good coverage. They also have a 30 day try it free program, where if you decide you don't like the phone or plan within the first 30 days, you can cancel and they'll put you back to the plan where you came from and won't charge you for the calls.
Naturally, being a Mac user, the iPhone was at the top of the list. However, there were a couple of huge drawbacks. It looked like I would have to fork over on the order of $100/month for a stupid phone. It was a very cool phone, but it was still a phone. My web surfing, document reading, etc. are done mostly on my real computers, not on my phone.
The second major problem was the coverage. I've heard lots of complaints about dropped calls and poor connections. My CEO said that his iPhone has horrible reception at his house and at the office, the two places where he uses it most. It also often drops off while I'm talking to him.
I really don't want to be paying more than any other service for really bad service. If I'm going to be paying that much, it had better be the best or close to the best service. I also hadn't heard great things about their customer service or support.
One good thing about AT&T is that they offer rollover minutes. This means that if I have some low usage months, I can get a cheaper plan to average out the minutes rather than having to get a plan based on my max usage.
All in all, if the iPhone were offered by someone other than AT&T, I could see getting it. But the fact that it's only offered by AT&T dropped it several spots on my list.
I've heard good things about Verizon and it seems that their commercials have a ring of truth to them, they really do have the best coverage. That was very attractive, especially after my experience with Sprint.
On the other hand, their plans are also among the the most expensive. They seem to nickel and dime you. No text messaging is included with internet service, 20 cents per message sent or received.
At this stage of my research, I was still tempted to go with Verizon for the good coverage. They also have a 30 day try it free program, where if you decide you don't like the phone or plan within the first 30 days, you can cancel and they'll put you back to the plan where you came from and won't charge you for the calls.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
In Search of a Cell Phone, Part I
After many years with Sprint, I'm finally ready to switch cell phone companies. I'm going to document my research in searching for a new company and phone, but first I'd like to go over why I'm ready to leave Sprint.
The thing that has kept me with Sprint for so long is probably their reasonably priced plans. Originally, their nights and weekends started at 7pm, later to go to 8pm, but still better than the 9pm of other providers. Also, they don't charge extra for SMS messages.
The prices also tend to be quite a bit lower than AT&T or Verizon.
I also attached Sprint Long distance to my land line phone, which included an hour of free long distance a month and didn't cost anything if I didn't use it, which I often don't.
Over the last few years, I've noticed that Sprint's coverage seemed to be getting worse and worse, especially at home. When I first started with Sprint, the signal was great for the most part, but now I get no signal downstairs, and the only way to make a call upstairs is if I have the phone plugged in and even then I only have 1 bar at most.
In fairness to Sprint, I found out later that the antenna on my Treo 600 is broken, but there are still other places where I get four bars without being plugged in, and I've noticed worsening coverage over a period of years.
In the course of my research, I heard that Sprint sold much of their cell network and are leasing back the towers, so that may be part of the reason for the reduction in coverage.
I didn't completely rule out staying with Sprint. If I were to stay, my options would have been to get my Treo repaired (I had insurance, but there is a $50 deductible), or get a new phone along with another 2 year commitment.
It seems like Sprint's service is getting worse rather than better and they appear to be losing customers in droves, so a 2 year commitment didn't sound like a great idea. For example, they now charge extra for detailed billing statements, so you can't even see the numbers you called without paying extra.
Also, in visiting several of their local Sprint stores, I found out that there is now only one store that has technicians who can diagnose problems on site compared to several just a few years ago.
Here are some of the pros and cons for staying with Sprint:
Pros:
been with Sprint forever (inertia)
decently priced plans
includes unlimited text messages with internet plans (unlike most other services)
nights start at 7pm (current plan is 8pm though) compared to 9pm for other services
pretty good nationwide coverage in all the places I've traveled
turn by turn directions for GPS-enabled phones better than other services?
Cons:
coverage appears to be declining
Sprint in financial trouble(?) and losing lots of customers
services (like detailed billing) getting worse or only available for extra charge
local technicians at Sprint stores going away
not on GSM network, so can't use phone in Europe
more and more dropped calls even when I had a strong signal
phone support people seem to be less and less knowledgeable
their account management web site is often down or slow
I'll follow up in future posts about my search for information about other providers and what I found out in my quest for a new cell phone.
The thing that has kept me with Sprint for so long is probably their reasonably priced plans. Originally, their nights and weekends started at 7pm, later to go to 8pm, but still better than the 9pm of other providers. Also, they don't charge extra for SMS messages.
The prices also tend to be quite a bit lower than AT&T or Verizon.
I also attached Sprint Long distance to my land line phone, which included an hour of free long distance a month and didn't cost anything if I didn't use it, which I often don't.
Over the last few years, I've noticed that Sprint's coverage seemed to be getting worse and worse, especially at home. When I first started with Sprint, the signal was great for the most part, but now I get no signal downstairs, and the only way to make a call upstairs is if I have the phone plugged in and even then I only have 1 bar at most.
In fairness to Sprint, I found out later that the antenna on my Treo 600 is broken, but there are still other places where I get four bars without being plugged in, and I've noticed worsening coverage over a period of years.
In the course of my research, I heard that Sprint sold much of their cell network and are leasing back the towers, so that may be part of the reason for the reduction in coverage.
I didn't completely rule out staying with Sprint. If I were to stay, my options would have been to get my Treo repaired (I had insurance, but there is a $50 deductible), or get a new phone along with another 2 year commitment.
It seems like Sprint's service is getting worse rather than better and they appear to be losing customers in droves, so a 2 year commitment didn't sound like a great idea. For example, they now charge extra for detailed billing statements, so you can't even see the numbers you called without paying extra.
Also, in visiting several of their local Sprint stores, I found out that there is now only one store that has technicians who can diagnose problems on site compared to several just a few years ago.
Here are some of the pros and cons for staying with Sprint:
Pros:
been with Sprint forever (inertia)
decently priced plans
includes unlimited text messages with internet plans (unlike most other services)
nights start at 7pm (current plan is 8pm though) compared to 9pm for other services
pretty good nationwide coverage in all the places I've traveled
turn by turn directions for GPS-enabled phones better than other services?
Cons:
coverage appears to be declining
Sprint in financial trouble(?) and losing lots of customers
services (like detailed billing) getting worse or only available for extra charge
local technicians at Sprint stores going away
not on GSM network, so can't use phone in Europe
more and more dropped calls even when I had a strong signal
phone support people seem to be less and less knowledgeable
their account management web site is often down or slow
I'll follow up in future posts about my search for information about other providers and what I found out in my quest for a new cell phone.
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