Night and Day difference vs Cingular
Written: May 24 '06 (Updated Dec 02 '06)
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Pros: call quality, reliablity, zero entry cost with nice phones, affordable plan for us
Cons: 24 mo contract required, not gsm type phones
The Bottom Line: The biggest no brainer I've ever come accross when shopping products. Especially vs. Cingular.
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| brucec32's Full Review: Verizon Mobile Phone Service in Jacksonville |
We got a Verizon family plan, two phones, for use in Atlanta and Jacksonville, after tiring of the degraded performance we got with Cingular wireless in the same two cities. Even after changing phones with Cingular, the reception was so bad it reminded me of how cell phones were about 18 years ago. Dropped calls, static, just totally unacceptable.
The Verizon plan we have is $69.99/month I believe, with 300 anytime minutes, and free mobile-mobile calling so we can talk as long as we want to each other. Long distance is also included, as is roaming. Not a power user plan, but we use very few minutes except when calling each other. We use the phones a LOT for that, so the plan is really cheap for us vs using land lines.
As far as reception goes, we could not be happier. We have had a total of ONE dropped call in the 3 months or so we've used them, and there is virtually no static or other problems. This is a reliable service, finally!
Included with our 2 year contract were two very nice Nokia candy bar sized camera phones. The phones are not bluetooth capable, but I never used that anyway. They have a modest camera and even a video recorder. I'd had a nokia before so the menus were very easy to understand. The phones were free before rebate and buying at letstalk.com gave us a credit that even covered our $50 or so worth of connection charges. So it was free to get set up.
The negatives I see are the inability to just go online and order a plan w/o getting some sort of contract obligation. I would like to at least see what the phones would cost w/o the contract. It is also unfortunate that they don't use the simm card technology cingular does so that you can switch your service between phones instantaneously. An example might be when you are going somewhere you might lose or damage the phone, you might prefer to pick up a used $15 phone and use it there, saving your more expensive unit for office/car/home use.
Billing is, so far, easy to understand, and accurate. Calls are itemized.
UPDATE: 9 months or so later, I'm still pleased with the reliability of the service and sound quality. I get a dropped call now and then, but not so often that it's annoying. And I NEVER experience any static like I did with cingular. In a fluke accident, I dropped my nice new phone in a drink cup in my vehicle, and didn't want to drop $200 on a new one. So I bought a cheaper Nokia model on ebay and was pleased that I could just log on online and activate it to replace my now-dead phone. It doesn't have the fancy features but still works reliably. I was worried that it would be a hassle vs Cingular's neat simm chips. But it was a pretty easy switch-over.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 69.99
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Epinions.com ID:
brucec32
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Bruce C
Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 131
Trusted by: 72 members
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