Verizon vs. Cingular / AT&T

I am in my trial period with Verizon after leaving AT&T and there are some big differences:

With Verizon Tri Mode phones you don't get a SIM card. So if your phone stops working for any reason and no battery life, all stored phone numbers are lost. GSM phones have a SIM card.

Next comes retrieving your Voicemail. With Verizon you have to press the pound key and then enter your passcode. With Cingular, you just enter your passcode or program phone to go straight to Voicemail without entering passcode. This is not as big an issue as the SIM card can be, but it does have a factor of making it easier and less time consuming with Cingular.

Finally, there is the greeting. With Verizon there seems to be no way to eliminate the recorded announcement that comes even when you select personal greeting. With Cingular/ATT you can cut out the system recording so that all that's heard is your personal greeting. Much better in my opinion to just have your personal greeting as it sounds more appropriate and saves time.

So, why am I still with Verizon? Don't know for sure

But will have to make a decision by next week whether to stay with Verizon. Since I am going to change phones from Motorola 265 to LG 6100, perhaps that will help me to decide - the only phone I like with Cingular with price being a factor (although V180 is free) is the Motorola V180 - I am going to try out Cingular with V180 coming this week and compare signal strength.

The one thing I notice with Verizon is they seem to have better belt cases for their phones - a plus in my book

Any comments?

So... You decide which service you like better by nitpicking tiny insignificant details? How rational.

1.) Do all GSM phones come with this "SIM" card, or just the one you had... I've personally NEVER seen one on any of my friends GSM phones which I use quite often...
2.) You're telling me pressing # inconveniences you? I'm sorry my princess. By the way, if you had sensitive information on your cell phone, I wonder how "convenient" it would be if you say... left your phone anywhere and someone tried the voicemail. huh.
3.) I'm assuming you're talking about voicemail, and a person talking before hearing your "please leave a message" recording (If not then whatever your talking about is completely irrelevent...)... So I dialed my number, waited however many rings, and all I heard was my message... Odd.

Not that I'm the biggest fan of Verizon, the only good phones they get are the few LG ones... and then LG doesn't offer tri-mode for it's latest phones...

But I think the most important thing to consider with a new service is 1.) Coverage and 2.) Charges...

I think it's been common knowledge for many years that Verizon Wireless easily has the best coverage (of course it depends on your area, but Verizon pretty much wins in every area....) and price wise I'm not so sure about, I don't actually pay for mine

Let me know how the 6100 is though (if I haven't been too harsh in my response 0

sorry ehhe I like to argue), I'm considering it myself!

All GSM phones come with a SIM card as far as I know. I asked Verizon about it and reason their phones don't have SIM cards is because it needs GSM.

The recording comes after my personal greeting: If you would like to leave a call back number, press 5. The recording may be dependent on the voicemail carrier as that's how it works with Cingular. However, with AT&T, you could eliminate it by changing a setting in voicemail when connected (personal options).

I happen to find that recording coming after my personal greeting absolutely ridiculous. Some people may actually get confused when trying to leave a message. There is no reason for it as voicemail through Verizon on home phone has no such recording after my greeting.

Verizon bills you one month in advance, unlike Cingular/AT&T. Kind of cheesy if you ask me. Why should I pay a month in advance? Well, I decided not to pay a month in advance and switched to Cingular

The only good thing I can say about Verizon is their phone I was using, Motorola 265, didn't cause interference with my home phone as the V180 does from Cingular, or was it because I didn't have the phone long enough?

You mention security, okay, but how about a SIM card? I mean, if your phone goes dead for some reason, then all your contacts are lost! How would you like that?

Oh, there is one other good thing I'll say about Verizon and that is they offer better customer service, and that is without question better than Cingular/AT&T.

Right now I'm trying out Cingular. Sorry, but never got to the LG 6100, although seems like a very nice phone for the money.

After saying all that, I still might try Verizon again just because of the interference thing. I have a new cordless phone coming operating on 2.4 gHz and if I still get interference, well, I might try Verizon again.

As for coverage/reception, I am getting at least one bar better at home with Cingular. I was getting 1-3 bars (usually 2-3) with Verizon, and get 3-5 bars (usually3-4) with Cingular.

Interesting what you said about inside and outside. I found that inside a supermarket with my Cingular V180 gets 1 bar more than what I got with Verizon's V265, and both get 5 bars outside.

If try Cingular you will be pleased. I tried Verizon, because I was told they had better coverage. Well that was not true. My Cingular phone picked up just as well everywhere i went. I travel quite a bit with my job so the only plans i am interested in are the nationwide ones. The coverage map for verizons Americas Choice plan looked good at first, but if you travel very much you will run into roaming areas and get charged out the butt. Cingulars nationwide plan has absolutely no roaming as long as your in one fifty states and also Puerto Rico. Verizon advertises this IN calling(which is free mobile to mobile), but it dosent even work everywhere while your phone is not roaming. Cingular has free mobile to mobile that work as long as your phone has service.... Basically i went to Verizon with an open mind, trying to better myself but i was disapointed. So i am going to stick Cingular. oh and one other thing i have a Quad band GSM phone that even though it may be roaming it will work all over the world. I know i have used it in France and Italy

Cingular will tell you "No roaming fees" that's a half truth. Since Cingular is gsm network, it is DIGITAL only!! Meaning of course its no roaming, how can they charge the customer for something they can't do in first place. Verizon atleast while "if" you roam least to can make an emergency call if you need to be reached --gives the customer that flexability. With a digital only, drop off the Carrier's coverage your done! NO SERVICE = ownage

I was getting dropped calls and No Service at home with Verizon so I had to switch to Cingular which gives me no problem making calls from my house. But I have to say that Verizon personnel gives better customer support than Cingular.

All depends where you live I suppose?

Verizon vs. Cingular / AT&T

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