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General discussion

Link to a website that rates wireless phone models.

Jun 1, 2005 11:04AM PDT

I'm considering changing wireless phone companies; presently I'm with Sprint which I've had very good service with in and around large to medium metropolitan areas but when I travel to visit friends and relatives in and around rural communities my Sprint phone is of no use to me; no signal is available.

I visited an Alltel store earlier today; some of my relatives who live in and around many of those rural communities also have cell phone contracts with Alltel which a few years ago was known as CenturyTel. Some say that Alltel is a good company while others say not so.

The Alltel store which I visited earlier today offered several different cell phone models; some seemed to be better than others. There were models by Audiovox; LG; Motorola; and a few other brands; the names of which I don't recall but the sales rep at the Alltel store was pushing the Motorola phones.

I know nothing about cell phones offered by Motorola and would like to do some research on both Alltel as well as Motorola cell phones and other brands of cell phones before I make my final decision on whether to go with Alltel and a Motorola cell phone or not.

Can anyone in this forum direct me to a website or websites that would list most cell phone models by manufacturer as well as also offer a rating system on each model; possibly also offer feedback from owners of some of the models on those websites which I could use as a guide to narrow my selection choice down on which model cell phone to go with and which wireless phone company is the best?


Big Steve
End Of Message
06/01/05

Discussion is locked

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Link to a website that rates wireless phone models.
Jun 1, 2005 11:41AM PDT

Try going to www.phonescoop.com. They have a list of all phones offered by every carrier they have in their database. Alltel is one of the companies in their database. While I don't have Alltel because they don't cover Indiana, I have roamed on Alltel with my old Motorola 120c phone and my calls dropped a lot more on Alltel than on Verizon Wireless (my carrier). I have the Samsung a650 from Verizon Wireless and tested it in lower Michigan on Alltel, and coverage is still spotty in parts of Alltel's coverage area, but the phone does hold a signal better than the Motorola 120c did. My brother has the Motorola V265 and says his phone drops just as many calls as his old LG VX4400. If I were you, if you consider Alltel for wireless service, I would recommend a Kyocera before Motorola or LG. From my experience with my old Kyocera 2235, it held a digital signal better than Motorola did. Nokia also seems to do well too. If they also carry Samsung, give their phones a look too. I don't see Samsung listed on phonescoop.com for Alltel, but Alltel might carry Samsung though and that website doesn't list it. At least Alltel has tri-mode phones since parts of their network is still analog. Verizon Wireless is practically eliminating analog backup on their phones, which isn't good for me when I go onto Alltel in Michigan. I only hope Alltel in Wisconsin isn't mostly analog when I eventually start visiting Wisconsin Dells.

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Re: Link to a website that rates wireless phone models.
Jun 1, 2005 7:03PM PDT

First; thanks for your post. I live along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and besides Alltel and Sprint; Verizon; T-Mobile, Cellular South, and ATT/Cingular Wireless are also available in my local area.

I had Cingular Wireless a few years back and the service was nothing to brag about so I'm not considering ATT/Cingular Wireless as a new carrier choice at this time.

While I was in that Alltel retail store late yesterday I had the chance to speak to several Alltel customers and most if not all of them told me to stay away from Kyocera and LG phones but to consider a Motorola phone instead.

I took a look at a Motorola V2652 which was a pretty nice phone; with a 2 year contract the phone would cost me $69.99 but if I decided to go with just a 1 year contract the phone would cost me $129.99.

Alltel also offered a much nicer Motorola phone; a model V710 which had a slightly larger screen as well as was also bluetooth compatible whatever bluetooth compatible means. With a 1 year contract that phone would cost me $309.99; with a 2 year contract that phone would cost me $249.99; too pricey for me although that phone did have a much nicer screen than the lower end Motorola phone that I took a look at; the V2652.

The Alltel rep did tell me late yesterday that once I did agree to sign up for new service with them I had a 15 day walk away period after the time I started new service. It would be nice if they offered a 30 day walk away period but unfortunately they don't. I wonder if any other providers offer a 30 day walk away period?

My primary use area for a wireless phone currently is all along the Mississippi Gulf Coast; going into Mobile, Alabama; sometimes traveling into central Mississippi near the Jackson, Mississippi area and south and north of that area is where I've run into problems in the past with my current Sprint PCS phone when I hit those small towns north and south of there that I hit areas having no service; dead spots. I also travel to the Houston, Texas area about 4 times a year.

So you say I should consider Verizon rather than Alltel? I never thought about Verizon. To answer your other question about Samsung phones; the Alltel store which I visited late yesterday did not offer any Samsung phones.

My Sprint PCS phone is a Samsung phone; a flip phone; camera; internet ready model, etc. but it does not have a speakerphone; something I definitely want on my next wireless phone. It took me a while to feel comfortable using my Sprint PCS phone but once I got familiar with it; I'll have to say it's definitely a step ahead of my previous phone which was a Nokia 2065A which I had when I was with Cingular Wireless which was a good basic phone but lacked all those other bells and whistles. Again; thanks for your comments.


Big Steve
End Of Reply
06/02/05

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Re: Link to a website that rates wireless phone models.
Jun 2, 2005 2:51AM PDT

I looked at the coverage map where Verizon Wireless serves and they barely cover your area, and they have almost no coverage in Mississippi. You can give Verizon Wireless a look if you want, but I don't know what the plans are in your area. They will likely differ in Mobile, AL than for the Chicago market. I don't know if the local plans in Alabama offer free roaming in the areas you trave as they do with the Chicago market. In that case, you might have to go with the Americas Choice plan just for that. Like Alltel, Verizon Wireless only allows 15 days to try out the service. To my knowledge, only T-Mobile & Cingular are the only ones that allow 30 days to try out the service. The best thing to do is ask people in your area what they have and what works for them. And I thought Verizon had a bad selection of phones, I see Alltel is even worse. My mom & sister had Cingular from 1999 - 2002 (when the service was originally called Cellular One in Indiana) and they liked the service until they changed the name to Cingular, then customer service went to hell from there. While they never had a dropped call, their service was always shutoff every month, and my mom would be on the phone with them every month with the receipt in her hand and who the Cingular agent was who handled the transaction. Eventually my mom & sister paid the $300 early termination fee ($150 per phone) just to get away from Cingular. They had Nextel for a year, but dropped them when the contract expired after they got lost in Rensselaer Indiana and went off the network, and couldn't make a call. They're with Verizon Wireless. If alltel were up in my area, I would have looked at them as a possible service besides my original choice, Sprint PCS. Regardless which service you try, make sure you read the fine print, and since Alltel serves most of Alabama, I would look at them first before Verizon Wireless. But Verizon Wireless is supposed to start adding coverage to Alabama & Mississippi before the year is up after they acquires some licenses from the company that owns Cricket. I however would not be the one to make the choice of the phone you should get. You want a speakerphone and that is a feature I'm not looking for. But the best knowledge of the service you want will come from the corporate salespeople and not the resellers. While most resellers will offer better deals on the phones and have some basic knowledge, the corporate salespeople can easily tell you if you're in their service area than the reseller would, and a corporate salesperson won't sell you service if you don't live in the service area, where a reseller might, and could be roaming.

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Rating of wireless phones
Jun 10, 2005 4:09PM PDT