vB Easy Archive - Tmobile or Sprint?

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Tmobile or Sprint?
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Posted by: tigreyez

Hello-

I am currently in a contract with TMobile that will be up at the end of November. My husband wants me to consider Sprint. We went to the Sprint store yesterday and I played around with the Palm Treo 755 & Palm Centro. They didnt have the Mogul out on display.

I would like feedback from any other person who has had the chance to experience service with both carriers or if they are with one carrier but knows of someone who is with the other carrier and they've had a chance to compare services.

My coworker has Sprint and she has the mogul and she says she has problems such as not being able to send text messages in our office building and some dropped calls but she puts up with it because her husband works for Sprint and she gets alot of free perks. Another coworker told me the internet is pretty sluggish with Sprint but the first coworker disagreed.

I can't say that I have any problems with Tmobile. They just don't provide alot of the bells and whistles that some of the other cell phone companies are providing which just enhances your cell phone experience. They provide good cell phone service. 9 times out of 10 when I pick up my phone, I can make and receive calls. I am just starting to notice sprint TV, vision pack, Verizon Vcast, other things that just add excitement to your phone and sometimes we feel like we are missing out.

Any suggestions? Should we jump ship?

Posted by: braindead5400

Those features will come to Tmobile soon, as soon as they release their 3g service.

As far as which is better for you, I suggest giving your location so that someone in your area on the forum can comment. I had many more problems with Sprint prior to making the move to GSM, but it's all location based.

The biggest pull for me however is the ability to use pretty much whatever phone I want to on GSM.

Posted by: braindead5400

Oh, and it might be helpful to actually ask in the Sprint forum. You already know how your experience has been with Tmobile, but find other people in your area with Sprint and see how they like the service.

Posted by: geoff.scottcomm

Sprint offers:

- Cheaper plans.
- Better voice quality.
- (Probably) better coverage.
- Far fewer dropped calls while you have a signal.
- Much, much better data.

T-Mobile offers:

- Inertia?

Posted by: DubDub

The decision should be based on which carrier provides the best service when and where you need it - where you live, work, travel, play, etc., not which phone is cool or which plan is cheaper.

Personal opinion on Treo and Palm, the design and technology is old as is the Palm operating system. I had 3 treo 600s and a 650 and all were pretty bad hardware wise, quality wise and kept randomly rebooting for no reason.

IMHO, if you are happy with T-Mo why leave? If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.

Posted by: tigreyez

Has Tmobile given a date for their 3G technology to reach consumers?

Posted by: geoff.scottcomm

Quote:

Originally Posted by DubDub

Personal opinion on Treo and Palm, the design and technology is old as is the Palm operating system.

So tired of hearing about this. Palm OS 5 was released nine months after Windows XP, which is used on several orders of magnitude more computers than Vista. There's no reason to release a new operating system, for a phone or a computer, if the current one works. In exchange for the unbearable stain of knowing that you're running an OS that's five years old, Palm OS 5 gives you unmatched stability, responsiveness, and extensibility.

Posted by: samsung.user

Just stay with t-mobile and get a killer unbranded phone.

Posted by: mch

Quote:

Originally Posted by geoff.scottcomm

Sprint offers:

- Cheaper plans.
- Better voice quality.
- (Probably) better coverage.
- Far fewer dropped calls while you have a signal.
- Much, much better data.

T-Mobile offers:

- Inertia?

I have both Sprint and T-mobile. They each have their advantages and disadvantages.

Sprint has cheaper plans if you use SERO. Otherwise, not so much.

Voice quality comes down to whether you prefer the sound quality of AMR-FR or 8K EVRC, and the particulars of the phones you are using. Personally, I think T-mobile provides somewhat better voice quality. The EVRC codec tends to sound somewhat muffled to me.

Coverage - Sprint wins here overall because of its network of roaming agreements. On the other hand, your local experience may vary. Keep in mind that if you roam too much with Sprint you'll get terminated.

Fewer dropped calls - certainly this isn't my experience. To be fair though, neither drops calls for me very often.

Faster data - Sprint certainly wins on that one.

some advantages of T-mobile over Sprint
- better customer service - Sprint can be a nightmare if things don't work out (billing errors, activation problems, etc.)
- ability to use unlocked/unbranded phones.
- the current GSM phones generally have better battery life than CDMA/EV-DO phones (3G/HSDPA won't though)
- H@H (although Sprint is testing a similar service in Denver)
- better international roaming
- no 50/50 rule. T-mobile won't terminate you for "excessive" roaming

My general advice to people: If the carrier you have works well for you, think hard about switching to another one.

Posted by: geoff.scottcomm

Quote:

Originally Posted by mch

Sprint has cheaper plans if you use SERO. Otherwise, not so much.

T-Mobile plans are also more expensive if you pay for twice the minutes that you need. What's your point? Get the best deal you can.

Quote:

some advantages of T-mobile

These are mostly non-issues:

Quote:

- better customer service - Sprint can be a nightmare if things don't work out (billing errors, etc.)

I knew this was coming, and it's the thing most people complain about with Sprint, but honestly, how often does this come into play? Besides, every cell phone company has terrible customer service. I've dealt with all of the top four, and they've all been godawful. So maybe Sprint gets an F and T-Mobile gets an F+. Big deal.

Quote:

- ability to use unlocked/unbranded phones.

It's true, but I suspect this isn't even an issue for most people who post here, let alone in the general population. It's very, very easy to not care about thils.

Quote:

- H@H (although Sprint is testing a similar service in Denver)

Sprint's Airave is much, much better than H@H. So much better. It should be rolled out nationwide early next year.

Quote:

- better international roaming

This much is true, of course; CDMA's giant failing is international roaming. I guess I've gotten so used to it that I just assume that when people are asking if they should go for CDMA or GSM, they've already looked into this and don't intend to roam internationally. But yes, if the OP is planning on taking more than, say, one trip to Europe a year that he needs his phone for, he should definitely not go with Sprint.

Quote:

- no 50/50 rule. T-mobile won't terminate you for "excessive" roaming

I don't think Sprint does this anymore either. And anyway, this shouldn't be a factor in this decision; check the coverage maps, and if a carrier isn't where you are, choose a different carrier. Whether or not they go as far as kicking you off for roaming too much, it's just a bad idea in general to sign up with a cell phone company who doesn't have service in your area.

Posted by: samsung.user

Being able to use any phone you want is a huge deal. I think more people care about it than you think. What does sprint have, maybe 2 good phones? Not to mentioned they are probably crippled to hell. Sprint shouldn't even be an option.

Go buy a real phone and stay with t-mobile. Leave the crippled carrier phones to the people that don't know any better.

Posted by: braindead5400

the biggest problem with branded phones is the price. If you break your phone without insurance or simply want a new one mid contract, you'll pay through the nose for it when a similar gsm phone could have been cheaper on ebay or one of the many stores that sell unlocked phones.

Posted by: Mark Larson

Quote:

Originally Posted by samsung.user

Being able to use any phone you want is a huge deal. I think more people care about it than you think. What does sprint have, maybe 2 good phones? Not to mentioned they are probably crippled to hell. Sprint shouldn't even be an option.

Go buy a real phone and stay with t-mobile. Leave the crippled carrier phones to the people that don't know any better.

What BS. Absolute bunk.

Posted by: Mark Larson

Quote:

Originally Posted by braindead5400

the biggest problem with branded phones is the price. If you break your phone without insurance or simply want a new one mid contract, you'll pay through the nose for it when a similar gsm phone could have been cheaper on ebay or one of the many stores that sell unlocked phones.

Really? Explain my Ultra Flip for $60 then.

Posted by: samsung.user

Your ultra flip? What is ultra about it? The ultra vga or 1mp camera without autofocus or flash? The ultra non mms capabilities? The ultra crippled bluetooth?

Its worth about $60.

I have no idea what phone you are talking about, but I am probably pretty close.

Sprint phones are lame. They best phones they offer have much better gsm counterparts anyway.

Posted by: Mark Larson

Quote:

Originally Posted by samsung.user

Your ultra flip? What is ultra about it? The ultra vga or 1mp camera without autofocus or flash? The ultra non mms capabilities? The ultra crippled bluetooth?

Its worth about $60.

I have no idea what phone you are talking about, but I am probably pretty close.

Sprint phones are lame. They best phones they offer have much better gsm counterparts anyway.

Hahaha samsung.user doesn't know his Samsung phones. You don't even know what phone I'm talking about, yet you try to put it down. Hahaha you don't deserve a proper response even, get a clue and come back. What are you, 14?

Posted by: samsung.user

If anything, you talking about the crippled d830. Its nothing special.

Go back to trolling the t-mobile forums. We have been missing you.

Posted by: braindead5400

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Larson

Really? Explain my Ultra Flip for $60 then.

I'm guessing that $60 isn't the retail price of the phone.

Take the red v3m for example, retail price is $260 on sprint while an unbranded gsm v3i can be had for $150

Posted by: tigreyez

Okay, so what is a killer unbranded phone? I currently have the HTC Wizard. I tried to flash to WM6 and bricked it. Tmo was nice enough to send me a new one without penalty. Got it, bricked it again. They sent me another one without penalty. I would like to update my phone I guess but I dont know what to go to. I like the palm treo 750w or 755w, I forget the # and the centro. I like the idea of being able to one hand my phone which I cannot do with my wizard. I dont know if they will ever offer centrol for gsm network and I'm not sure about Palm OS. I havent used it in about 5 years. I like the fact I can do all sorts of software mods with my phone to personalize it to me

And to the poster who said switching phones doesnt happen often? I've switched the type of phone I've had 4 times since November '06 so if Sprint limits this...that is definitely a deal breaker for me. I'm in love with the fact of having the hottest cell phone.

Posted by: braindead5400

It's not that Sprint limits it, it's just much more of a hassle since there isn't a sim card and there is a smaller selection of phones for you to choose from.

Posted by: Mark Larson

Quote:

Originally Posted by braindead5400

I'm guessing that $60 isn't the retail price of the phone.

Take the red v3m for example, retail price is $260 on sprint while an unbranded gsm v3i can be had for $150

You said this:

Quote:

Which is the opposite of the truth. Price is the biggest problem with unbranded phones. Why do you think so many people are buying the 8525/8925 instead of the unbranded Tytn/Tytn II? Its obvious to anyone with eyes that when a phone becomes available on an American carrier, its price drops significantly, both in the retail market and in the second-hand market.

The GSM Touch is $469+35 from mwp.com and it'll be $250 with a contract on Sprint, $450 MSRP. The Mogul can be had for $300 BRAND NEW or close from ebay/craigslist with no contract. Similar for the 8525. Show me an unbranded phone that is cheaper, and I don't mean a MOTOFONE F3. How much was a W810i before Cingular started carrying it?

I bought my Samsung m610 used for $60 on craigslist. You're comparing an MSRP on Sprint.com with some other source for the V3i, which is completely dishonest.

If i broke my phone mid-contract, I'd do the exact same thing I'd do on a GSM carrier, and go on ebay to buy a phone. And when I was on GSM, the unlocked/unbranded Sony Ericssons, Nokias and the like were still too expensive for me so guess what - I did my research and bought a carrier branded phone that was the best value for my money.

Posted by: Mark Larson

Quote:

Originally Posted by braindead5400

It's not that Sprint limits it, it's just much more of a hassle since there isn't a sim card and there is a smaller selection of phones for you to choose from.

Its definitely more of a hassle. You have to call in between certain times and although I've had 100% good service except one time where the lady told me my MSID off by one digit, its still possible to get a clueless rep.

Sprint doesn't charge and doesn't restrict the number of ESN swaps you do. I've done like 6 in the past 3 months.

By the way, a regular old V3 is $250 on ATT.com, a V3xx is $300 and a V9 is $500. I'm sure you can find an AT&T V3i cheaper on ebay than an unbranded one. What was your point anyway?

Posted by: samsung.user

That is definitely true. Going unbranded costs more. What you can do is sign the contract and get the phone that will make you the most profit, and sell it. But no matter what you do, you will always end up paying more for unbranded.

As far as a killer unbranded phone. It really depends what you like and how much you are willing to pay. If you are looking for business, or multimedia, or camera, or a little of each, or maybe a lot of each. Every manufacturer has handful of hot phones.

If you really want a palm, and sprint offers it for a good price, then surely not a bad way to go. Especially if it will keep you happy through the contract. The only problem is if you get bored with it in 6 months, and sprint has nothing you like. Then you are trapped. That is why gsm is so nice. There are so many phones to chose from, hard to pick which one you want. Compared to cdma when you have maybe 2 or 3 cool phones. It's totally possible that sprint will have a phone you want, but the selection is just too small.

And of course the fact you can swap sims out in seconds. Use your business phone at work, and then your camera phone when going out, and then your garbage phone when playing in the rain

Posted by: mch

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigreyez

Okay, so what is a killer unbranded phone? ...

Perhaps the Nokia E90. It really depends what you want to do with the phone.

Posted by: Mark Larson

Quote:

Originally Posted by samsung.user

The only problem is if you get bored with it in 6 months, and sprint has nothing you like. Then you are trapped.

If you have $500 for a hot new phone like the K850i or the N95-3, you may well have enough money for $200 ETF, get a free phone etc. Doesn't work if you're on a sweet plan like SERO though.

Also, its a complete PITA to keep contacts and calendars synced across that many devices. One reason why a Google calendar app integrated into phones would be nice.

Posted by: mch

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Larson

So what time should I call Sprint to maximize my chance of getting a CS rep that speaks English well and enough so that we can understand each other and isn't clueless?

To be fair, I've talked to some great CS reps at Sprint, and some really horrible ones that I couldn't really communicate with. The next time I need Sprint CS, I'm certainly willing to call at a certain time of day to have a better chance of getting a CS rep that I can communicate with.

Posted by: Mark Larson

Quote:

Originally Posted by mch

I somehow keep getting connected to Employee Services...

I usually say "Customer Service" then "Technical Issues" then "Other issues" or "Power Vision".