Any opinions? Sprint is offering a free Curve w/ 2-year agreement. Anyone use these? Anyone in the NE use these that can comment on drop outs in the WA DC area?
Blackberry curve with Sprint coverage... Thoughts??
- Thread starter MAJ Badmotherfarker
- Start date
I would avoid using Sprint, especially if the Army makes you travel. Plus, beware of free phones. I used to work for one of the major phone carriers and they give free phones with 2 yr contracts to suckers, and for good reason. 1 year down the line when your phone breaks you are still obligated to that additional year w/ a broken phone. Use your insurance plan with the carrier and you get a refurbished phones. Buy a new phone and you have to pay full price ($250+). Cell phones are like any electronic components: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! And there's that old saying, "Nothing in life is free."
It's only a $100 phone so I'm not that worried about replacement. I'm sure I could find a Curve online for under $100.
Which one is it? The ones I see online are about $350 list price. To get one for $100, you have to sign a service contract.
Well, it's free with a 2-year service plan. And you can get a warranty for $6.99/month.
Again, be aware that this phone will not work overseas at all. Plus Sprint is across the board considered the worst carrier. If you want to get a phone that will work with overseas sim cards and foreign prepaid carriers you need to get either a t-mobile phone or at&t. At&t is the preferred one to get because they have quad band phones meaning they will work on all 4 world bands. (850/900/1800/1900) Sprint uses CDMA technology that is really only used in America, North Korea and some parts od South America. In my 5 years in the army I visited 5 of the 7 continents and I could always use a prepaid SIM card in my at&t phone.
From what I've read, Verizon provides roaming access for Sprint and the Sprint plan includes free roaming. Seems that that would give (at least in CONUS) Sprint the same coverage as Verizon at no additional charge.
True, but what will you do when you go to Japan for a month to co-train with foreign soldiers, or go to Bosnia for a 6 week welfare mission? Don't think for a second that your MOS or your rank will keep you CONUS. Plus, these small trips can be fun, until you are waiting in line to use the payphone while all the smart guys bought quad band phones and a $20 prepaid SIM and card. Not trying to pressure you, but I'm just sayin! Think about it.
Actually, I think my MOS will pretty much keep me CONUS. I'll be running a lab at AFRRI. As the PI (commanding officer) of a lab, they pretty much keep you on call 24/7.
Sprint has a 300mb/mo off-network roaming rule and 5gb/mo on-network. You can't roam EVDO (high speed net) off network on Verizon, but you can roam voice and 1X (slower speed, about 2 times dialup speed) data. Sprint has a 50/50 rule too, meaning you cannot use more then 50% of your minutes a month while roaming.
I really think you'd probably be happier on Verizon and maybe with their Blackberry Storm which is GSM compatible for overseas use. If you are in a different country you could probably put a SIM card in there for overseas roaming instead of paying Verizon huge money. Also, Verizon has the largest 3G high speed data network in the US.
If you don't need overseas use, you could get a curve or some other phone from Verizon instead.
Don't get me wrong, I hope Sprint succeeds as a company, but their coverage and the way they run their business has a lot to be desired. Also - I would rather have a tumor than be an AT&T customer.
I really think you'd probably be happier on Verizon and maybe with their Blackberry Storm which is GSM compatible for overseas use. If you are in a different country you could probably put a SIM card in there for overseas roaming instead of paying Verizon huge money. Also, Verizon has the largest 3G high speed data network in the US.
If you don't need overseas use, you could get a curve or some other phone from Verizon instead.
Don't get me wrong, I hope Sprint succeeds as a company, but their coverage and the way they run their business has a lot to be desired. Also - I would rather have a tumor than be an AT&T customer.
Coverage wise, Sprint is not as good as Verizon IN GENERAL. It all depends on where you are. Yes, there is some roaming between Verizon and Sprint, and it does compensate somewhat for their smaller footprint...but it's not perfect. Sprint's native coverage where you are will dictate your roaming. Your phone will "prefer" a crappy Sprint signal to a strong Verizon signal. That's by design...they want to keep your roaming to a minimum.
As far as data speed goes, another poster mentioned 1X vs. EVDO. Unless you are tethering your 'Berry to use as a data card, or a heavy mobile web user, you won't notice a difference with data speed. Most of the data (emails, pictures, etc.) are small data packets. You'll be hard pressed to notice a difference. Even with mobile web
Being in the military, you'll probably qualify for a good discount on service. Make sure you check into that with all carriers. Another option would be the Blackberry 8830 (either on Sprint or Verizon). It does not have a camera, but it does have slot for a SIM card that will allow you to use it overseas with either your carrier's SIM card or a pre-paid SIM (if you get the phone unlocked). I have an 8830 with Verizon and it works very well for me.
As far as data speed goes, another poster mentioned 1X vs. EVDO. Unless you are tethering your 'Berry to use as a data card, or a heavy mobile web user, you won't notice a difference with data speed. Most of the data (emails, pictures, etc.) are small data packets. You'll be hard pressed to notice a difference. Even with mobile web
Being in the military, you'll probably qualify for a good discount on service. Make sure you check into that with all carriers. Another option would be the Blackberry 8830 (either on Sprint or Verizon). It does not have a camera, but it does have slot for a SIM card that will allow you to use it overseas with either your carrier's SIM card or a pre-paid SIM (if you get the phone unlocked). I have an 8830 with Verizon and it works very well for me.
'In General' is really subjective. Maybe you mean in 'major metros', but not in the overall, especially in the state I am in. I will tell you that a Sprint phone is basically unusable where I am because there's a Sprint tower 10 miles away and it's just close enough to latch onto the signal when the wind blows right. It basically results in a dead battery and lost calls between the tower hopping between the 1 mile away US Cellular tower vs the 10 mile away Sprint one.
The better thing is that Verizon doesn't have a 50/50 rule or a off-network data roaming rule.
A friend of mine has a Sprint phone in Chicago and he can actually point out street intersections in the city where his phone goes dead.
Assuming you don't use streaming media, etc. maybe. As it goes I use Sirius Starplayr and some other apps that benefit from the faster speeds. I'll be happy when US Cellular lights up EVDO here, they already have it in other markets.
The other thing is that EVDO allows the phone to drop the data if you get a call. On the 1X networks, your call is sent to voicemail if you get a call while your data session is being utilized. This is extremely annoying and the nature of the technology.
The new touchscreen Storm on Verizon also has a SIM slot.
Unfortunately, the Storm is $200 plus Verizon is $150/month for the unlimited plan. With Sprint, it's a free phone and $99/month. Looks like Sprint coverage in DC is pretty good.
I'm a captain and a doctor. That's what the Army hires us for - to run the research labs. There are usually majors or LTC's that are station commanders and then captains that run the day-to-day in the individual labs.
I agree with those guys on the Storm. I am not a Verizon fan but they've integrated alot into that phone to work just about anywhere, and they do have the best network coverage. Plus, I know what you officers get paid. You can afford it!