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Help me choose a cell phone provider
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Ok so, I will need to get a US cell phone in the fall and if you have any input whatsoever for cell phone companies, please share your experiences.
The things I'm looking for most is... how is the coverage? are calls dropped? how often do you have issues? are there hidden fees which aren't easy to find on the companies' website?
As well, I'm not familiar with cell phone technology, but I'm looking to buy a phone not offered as a contract phone anywhere in the US. If I buy such a phone, will I be able to use it with all companies? (LG Shine; is a GSM phone which works on 900, 1800, 1900 bands)
Thanks!
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virgin mobile pay as you go. four stars
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coverage is based on your area. some companies have better service in some locations than others. verizon is whats best in my area but at&t might be better in other areas
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i have verizon and it hasnt ever not worked and i live in the middle of nowhere
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just check out all the providers web sites. they all should have maps of where they have coverage and where they don't.
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i have verizon and have never had a dropped call. good coverage
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I notice a verizon trend here, it is the best where I live.
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dont get telus. its sucks ballsac
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if u get verizon, you can call and text me for free!!!!
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telus is canadian and is not bad at all, or atleast not in montreal.
i hear verizon is good. what kind of phone are you looking at? for a gsm phone, the htc s710 is fucking sick.
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where do you live? I have cingular/at&t and ive never had any problems. Im usually the one guy w/ service when we go camping and hiking.
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I used to have cingular, now I'm with verizon. the family decided to switch because everyone else in town has verizon so we get free mobile to mobile. I like them both, they both rarely don't have service. when I go camping I normally don't bring a phone, not sure about that but skiing some areas in VT are sketchy with service. Verizon doesn't have quad band phones. (so they're of no use out of the US.) Cingular/att does.
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I have cingular/at&t. absoltuely love it
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Ok so I'm quite sure that Verizon has the best coverage. The thing is, is that a carrier may have an area covered but the signal strength may not be the best, and there may be many dropped calls. I'm going to be right beside Sacramento, so there should be good coverage there.
Also, I heard that Verizon has TONS of hidden fees, and charges extra for what may seem like nothing. Is this true? I plan on paying 40$ a month plus whatever tax, and nothing much extra.
Also, I hope this doesn't sound stupid, but can a GSM phone work on a CDMA carrier like Verizon??
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verizon all the way. my family has a family plan with 1700 shared minutes a month, it has good coverage, plus free calls to anyone within verizon and it doesnt count against your allowed minutes. free nights/weekends most plans, you can also get a texting plan too. good service in my opinion
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i have a 40 plan form cingular. like 700-900 mins, dont rem. which. free calling between cingualr, which most my friends and family have. Plus rollover mins, which is bomb. its onyl 5 extra for unlimited texting too. since youare so close to sacramento verizon and cingular will have good coverage.
About the interchangeabilty of phones, cingualr uses sim cards, i dont believe that verizon does. So they wont interchange.
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I have US Cellular, and if you live anywhere in the east, it kicks ass. It's a little worse out in the west
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i dont have verizon but the calls are never dropped and the quality is KWISTAL CLEAAWR
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i have verizon and live in New England. The coverage is pretty good but there are some sketchy places like Vermont. i have a plan that gives me free texting to other verizon people, free calls to other verizon people, free nights and weekends, and a few other things i forget (its a family plan). most everybody around here has verizon so that all helps out a ton.
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I've heard the same of Verizon with alot of fees. If you are going to be near Sacramento pretty much any company should have good coverage.
When looking at the price of your plan, check to see if there are fees on Text Messaging, Voicemail, Internet/Picturemail/whatever they call it, stuff like that can get your on the extra fees if you aren't careful of it. Personally I like sprint, easy to use, good price, nice phones and pretty good coverage, but that is just personal opinion.
As for the GSM/CDMA, are you sure Verizon isn't GSM? I thought most of them were, I could be wrong though. A GSM phone should be able to do CDMA in most cases I think, but most CDMA phones can't move up to GSM. Most companies are GSM now I'm pretty sure so finding a good company with good coverage that has nice GSM phones shouldn't be a problem.
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