Like the first post it all depends on your area and what you are looking for your phone to do. I switched about 4 months ago from Verizon to Sprint and so far it has worked out great. I live in chicago and Sprint seems to work much better than verizon in some areas.

Good luck.

Also take advantage of the 14 day trial period.

I was with T-Mobile and I also switched to Sprint, At least in northern California the reception is much better than T-Mobile. I also got Sprint so that i can get their multimedia phone so i can watch news, short video clips and sports. But if you get a phone that has the multimedia player get one that says it is EVDO (hi bandwidth ) it makes a difference. They are pretty cool, i watch a lot of ESPN and Blip TV (fun video clips).

Check out all carriers but so far i have done well with sprint.

F.

cingular has 30 days

Your post caught my eye because I'm moving to Chicago in May for a new job. I'm currently with Sprint, but was trying to decide whether to renew my contract or switch to Cingular. Do you happen to know anything about Cingular service in Chicago as compared with Sprint?

I'll be working in the Loop. I don't yet have an apartment, but it probably will be north or west of downtown. I'm interested in voice quality and the fewest dropped calls possible.

Any insight on Chicago providers would be helpful--thanks.

I can tell you this about Cingular. I use to work there until June. It takes a long time for the minutes used to update. This causes a lot of overages. You would check your minutes when you think you might have went over, and it shows you have lets say 300 minutes, problem is this hasn't updated in like 3-4 days. There was always a disclaimer that we would reference customers back to in the contract. Its basically BS. Thats the only problem I found with Cingular. And that problem was expensive for me. As an employee I got a plan with 1000 minutes free, and I always had a bill of like $50 due to overages, and we got a discount of overages too lol.

Yikes--that's definitely not something I've experienced w/ Sprint. I suppose I could deal with that if I was careful, though.

Rollover is the solution for Cingular.

As long as you have a good bank of minutes rolled over from previous months, this should not be a problem. Or you could get early evenings for an extra $7/month. Evenings start at 7pm and go until 7am.

If you don't want dropped calls go with CDMA. If you want some good multimedia features go with Sprint. But if you don't care about either go with Cingular. I have heard that Sprint has good coverage from a friend who lives there. But check it out for yourself.

http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/coverage/ServiceAr ... »

Remember, roaming is included with the newer F&F plans...and you won't pay high overages...

Hmmm, thanks. What networks does Sprint roam on? Is that just for analog roaming outside metropolitan areas? Or could a Sprint phone also roam on, say, Verizon when the Sprint signal was weak?

I certainly don't want dropped calls, but that hasn't been much of a problem for my Cingular-using friends in other areas. Is Cingular more likely to drop calls in Chicago?

You can roam onto a Verizon tower when out of Sprint coverage, and it's included.

As far as dropping calls, I have a few friends with Cingular who complain of this fairly often. Whereas I have had Sprint for around 3 years and had maybe one or two dropped calls, total. Just going by personal experience. Try Sprint for the 14 days, and if you don't like it, just return in. I recommend the Samsung A920. Or the Sanyo 9000. 😁

I do not know much about how cingular works in chicago, but I work downtown and Sprint seems to work very well. I have an 8300 and do not get many dropped calls.

Good luck and welcome to chicago.

That's good to hear. I'm looking forward to getting to the windy city!

Hey, just wanted to chime in here and add my two cents worth.
I started out with Verizon, moved to Cingular, and then ended up with Sprint. I can say that Verizon had the best coverage overall and the fewest dropped calls, no matter where I went. Cingular was the worst, averaging three or four dropped calls per week, and this is an areas with max signal strength. I can't say that about Verizon or Sprint.
Now, regarding value, Sprint beats Verizon with the Fair & Flexible plan (Verizon $0.45/min overage) plus the 7pm nights option. Verizon does not offer these features. Plus, as mentioned in an earlier post, you can roam on Verizon's network if Sprint has no coverage, though you pay an extra $5 per month. You can always add this option ...
(continues)

Correction: You don't need to pay $5 for no roaming charges. All the Fair and Flexible plans now include it as a standard feature at no extra charge.

All carriers have their ups and downs, that's life, of course. But in terms of the most important thing in wireless, coverage...Cingular, Verizon Wireless, and Alltel are tops.

If you're just looking at the coolest phones at this time, Verizon Wireless and Sprint.

Cingular, Verizon, and Alltel are tops ??????
What the hell are you smokin ?