Experience with my 1st couple of Sprint months

[jaymer]

With the exception of our service being a bit weak down her in south Valrico/Brandon, i've been very happy with the Sprint network. No significant problems getting internet access or phone unavailability.

Had the headset jack fail on my Toshiba 4050 and they replaced it.
My wife had something go funky on her Treo 600 and they replaced it.

The store on Brandon can be a 5-10 minute wait sometimes, but I really am satisfied with everything overal (weak coverage excluded).
There's a Verizon-branded Treo 600 now, so that might be an option for next year, PLUS I want a Sony-Ericsson P900, so we may change just to get a carrier that can support that phone after our 1-year contract.

jaymer...

[pilotbob]

We just got my son a new Virgin Mobile phone. It is a pre-paid jober. It is a nice color flip phone by Audio Vox.

The Virgin phones actually run on the Sprint network which seems to be pretty reliable around here.

My wife and I are on Altel. The network is great, but at about $70 a month... $39 phone 1 + $10 phone 2, plus taxes and fees... and we generally don't use even 10% of the time we get every month. So, if my son's phone works ok, we will probably get two more when our two years is up in November.

I figure with the minimum re-up requirements for the three phones we will spend about $60 every three months rather than what we were spending per month for two. (Son previously had a Tracphone, but the big old Nokia needed to be replaced.)

Anyone else using Virgin mobil? If so, what do you think?

Thanks,
PilotBob

[sfollenius]

I have virgin mobile. I used to have Verizon spending almost $90 a month. My wife and dont talk much on the cell phones and mostly need them for emergency situations. We now pay about $40 every 2 months so a significant savings. But you have to be careful the per minute charge is .25 for the first 10 minutes then I think .10 after that but thats a per call basis. We are very satisfied with the service, I rarely find that I have low signal strength anywhere in Tampa and Brandon. We have the Kyocera Slider and the other new Audiovox flip phone.

[pilotbob]

But you have to be careful the per minute charge is .25 for the first 10 minutes then I think .10 after that but thats a per call basis. We are very satisfied with the service...<cut>

Hi,

Thanks for the info. For low usage people like us this looks like the best deal. We figure at the .25 per minute that's 80 mins per $20. So, even if we spend $20 per phone per month, which I doubt we will... that's less per month for three phones than the two we have now.

As far as the rate, the way I read it... it is .25 per minute for the first 10 minutes in a day, then .10 min after that. For this the "day" is weird it starts at like 5AM... however for Virgin Xtras it is Midnight to Midnight.

Now, do you like the Slider or the Flip better? I want something I can put into my pocket (don't like belt clips) that won't get turned off or press a button inadvertently.

Thanks again,
PilotBob

[sfollenius]

Well I like the slider better as far as compactness, but I think the ringer could be a bit a louder, but there are a few ringtones that sound louder than others. The slider can use polyphonic ringtones and the Audiovox can actually play the new ringtones that are actually songs, but the quality is weak, like that you'd hear on am radio. The new audiovox has a more vibrant display, I believe it displays more colors. But overal I would recommend the slider, and it's much smaller. You may be able to find one on e-bay but they seem just as expensive as new for some reason!