The thing about Verizon is that they just work, everywhere. I don't have coverage problems, I don't have data problems, I don't lose calls, I never get "system busy" messages ... stuff just works. With my discount I pay $47 / mo for 450 minutes, unlimited n/w, unlimited messaging, and unlimited web -- not a bad deal.

Service for me (about a year) has been fine, but I was supremely irritated at how they hobbled my Razr.

Now I have a Blackberry, and it is less crippled (but not perfect).

Wow, if only either of those ideas were true.

/10 years of VZW, 1 year of T-moble - the only difference is $35/mo

jaymzz: /10 years of VZW, 1 year of T-moble - the only difference is $35/mo

I wish I could use Tmo here, especially with their new "project Dark" rates. But they just cut out too much.

floor9: I wish I could use Tmo here, especially with their new "project Dark" rates. But they just cut out too much.

Coverage isn't as good, but I checked along the 5 hour drive home to my parents VZW had coverage for 10 minutes longer than Tmo did. And it's an extra 1/2 mile drive to get coverage from their house compared to VZW. Otherwise performance seems identical to me in terms of drop outs, missed calls, etc.

Did I mention $35/mo cheaper? I'll put up with a lot of mediocrity to save $35/mo.

I like how AT&T will drop my calls even when I have full signal. Then, they'll try and tell me I'm not eligible for a new phone even though my contract states that I get a new phone every two years and it's been over three years.

/Fark AT&T
//I got my free phone, assholes.

Meh, gotta back up ATT on this one. Went road tripping with my bud the other wee, same model phones (htc fuze/raphel/touchpro,whatever). I consistently had better 3g coverage, signal strength, and oh yeah, simultaneous data/voice.

/evdo what?

I had Verizon for 7 years, then moved to Europe for a year. When I got back to the states, I wanted to continue to use my European phones, so I went with AT&T.

A couple months ago, the pricks wanted me to pay $400 to get an iPhone AND re-up my 2 year contract (instead of $200).

I can't even use my mobile in my apartment, in the middle of LA.

Needless to say, when my contract runs out next summer, I'm back on Verizon.

floor9: The thing about Verizon is that they just work, everywhere. I don't have coverage problems, I don't have data problems, I don't lose calls, I never get "system busy" messages ... stuff just works. With my discount I pay $47 / mo for 450 minutes, unlimited n/w, unlimited messaging, and unlimited web -- not a bad deal.

My only beef is CDMA and them locking down their phones so only VZW crap runs on it. Open your damn phones VZW! Ppl will flock to you!

I wish there was more options than tmobile and At&T for GSM service here. I travel a lot and like to be able to just swap out sim cards when I'm in a different country

I am very happy with Verizon's service, but for the love of god, can you please carry a decent farking phone??? Even though it looks a little boxy to me I hope the Droid is decent.

I had Verizon in Baltimore, and the customer service was so bad I vowed to never, ever go back to them. Now my ATT coverage is so bad in Alabama that I may just have to.

/cellular companies uniformly suck, just in different ways

JoeyJoJo: I had Verizon for 7 years, then moved to Europe for a year. When I got back to the states, I wanted to continue to use my European phones, so I went with AT&T.

A couple months ago, the pricks wanted me to pay $400 to get an iPhone AND re-up my 2 year contract (instead of $200).

I can't even use my mobile in my apartment, in the middle of LA.

Needless to say, when my contract runs out next summer, I'm back on Verizon.

I'm confused. ATT made you buy an iPhone? Did you sign a 2 year agreement when you were using your phone from Europe? Why not just go month to month.

I really want the Droid, but Verizon burnt me bad on beeper service like 10 years ago.

How's the Moto Cliq?

The worst thing about my iPhone is that it's a shiatty phone, because of shiatty AT&T coverage.

Loved Verizon but when I moved to the beach, there was zero service. I had to cancel my contract and switch to AT&T (only provider with service there) but instead of raking me over the coals, Verizon asked where I lived and why I wanted to switch. They did charge me the early cancellation fee but sent a reimbursement check for the full amount without me having to complain.

I've experienced the worst customer service with Verizon on several different product lines.

Really, the worst I've ever experienced.

PerilousApricot: I wish there was more options than tmobile and At&T for GSM service here. I travel a lot and like to be able to just swap out sim cards when I'm in a different country

There's a shiatload of phones at VZW that are quadband GSM phones in addition to being CDMA phones.

A little off the subject-

If you want a so-called "smart phone", there are only 2 rational choices at the momemnt: An iPhone, or a Windows Mobile phone.

The Palm Pre and the Blackberry phones and the Android phones simply don't have the apps yet.

Plus, I agree that Verizon is the best carrier if you actually care about coverage (and you should). Verizon phones work everywhere. None of the other carriers can say that.

alywa: I had Verizon in Baltimore, and the customer service was so bad I vowed to never, ever go back to them. Now my ATT coverage is so bad in Alabama that I may just have to.

VZW uses outsourced call centers (albeit in the US) that are in turn staffed with people provided by temp agencies.

The whole part about Verizon buying Alltel had nothing to do with any of that?

I guess subby has never had to actually deal with Verizon customer service. I do on a daily basis, and I'll take AT&T's customer service over Verizon any day of the week. They're even worse than AT&T about crippling their phones too. And on top of that... no sim cards in their phones - so I can't just buy a new phone on ebay and pop my sim card in like I can on AT&T.

They do have good coverage here in DC though. But I don't see much difference around here in coverage from AT&T, so that's not really a mark in their favor either.

I'm planning on getting the Moto Droid when it comes out. My current phone is almost dead.

I had AT&T and before nation wide coverage, they essentially stole $400 from me in calling fees from NYC to DC. I promptly switched carriers to T-mobile. Their customer service wasn't bad, and their phone/data rates were pretty good, and far cheaper than any other carrier I've tried. However, it was such a hassle to find coverage areas where my calls wouldn't be dropped. The worst thing was that I couldn't get coverage within my own apartment. Eventually, I switched to Verizon. I've been with them for about 4 yrs now, and the service has been great, even if I am paying a lot more. Of course, that has to do more with the fact that I've moved away from basic cell phones and now use only smart phones, so the data plan kills me. Still, given the coverage area, I'm fine paying it so long as my service keeps working.

Scary thing is that I had better coverage in Indonesia then I do in Washington State. The phone had no contract, unlocked, and was about $25.00 (rp26,000); the SIM card was $5.00 (about rp55,000) good for three to six months. There were few if any dead spots over the island. Even had coverage on a volcano and in the jungle.

So why can a "third-world" country get not only better coverage but cheaper service?