[DigitalAce7]

Hi I'm not sure if this question has been raised yet as I couldn't find it in any current post on here so which is better Sprint or Cingular?
I thought I would go with Cingular because of EDGE but i just tried the mobile speed test that I found at one of the earlier posts and I am getting the following results on my TREO 600.

600k
85kbit/sec
1.696s latency
57.528s d/l time

which seems pretty good considering some people on cingular's EDGE network are getting slower. I average around 60 - 90 kbit/sec sometimes higher on my TREO 600. I currently have Sprint so i'm wondering if I should stick with Sprint or just change to Cingular? Is there any other reason any one can think of to switch? I can't currently think of anything besides reliability and I haven't had any problems with Sprint so far. please help me make a decision. Thanks all.
- DigitalAce7

[grndslm]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Remember that saying, 'cause you'll hear it a lot in the tech world and there's a good reason for it. It's true!

If you were to switch to Sprint, you'd find yourself paying more for slower data speeds and on top of that, there would be no possible way to buy insurance for any "pda phones". From my perspective, Sprint's the best in terms of pricing, reliability, quality, coverage, data speeds, etc....their customer support does suck the royalest of ding dongs, however.

Bottom line, stick with Sprint.

[reverendrhino]

Sprint, plus Sprint will always get the new Treo's first!

[NextDream]

I say stay with Sprint. Unlimited data for $15. I just read a cingular thread here where a guy had $135 in data charges alone in his first cingular bill. Add in the fair & flexible deal where 100 extra minutes is only $5.00 and its really no contest.

[donric609]

stick with what you have...

[Kaihmeyer]

I say stay with Sprint. Unlimited data for $15. I just read a cingular thread here where a guy had $135 in data charges alone in his first cingular bill. Add in the fair & flexible deal where 100 extra minutes is only $5.00 and its really no contest.

I was thinking that just the Data plan is worth it. Right now, I'm living at home, and I've had a Sprint 650 since December. My Dad got his Cingular 650 about 3 weeks ago. He and I have been watching and goofing around, testing which we like the best (we've been Sprint customer's since he started working for them 7 years ago, and hung in there after his Contract was up 4 years later,) and I was suprised to hear him tell me yesterday that he would choose Sprint over Cingular for a number of reasons, and his top two were the ones listed above. The biggest reason we got our Treos was because of how nice it is to be able to have a Remote Terminal Linux Session from your phone. PRICELESS when combined with a home-run website (meaning you just need the url, and dont' have to worry about the IP changing on you when you want to connect.) I can't tell you how many times I've had a Full-Screen WINE'd (Wine Is Not and Emulator) Window's app crash on me, and I've gone in and killed the process/program from my phone to fix 'er right up.

The #3 reason he had was that he stopped thinking that he was ever going to use GSM.

So the only REAL reason we can think of to go Cingular over Sprint is if you're an international traveler, and use GSM often enough to make it worth it. Then again, you could have your Sprint 650, and just buy a dinky GSM phone for traveling, and just pick up the pre-paid GSM cards as you go.

In short. If you can use the Data Plan offered by sprint, there's nothing that can beat it.

[peccary]

During the first month of a new contract with Cingular, they've accidentally deleted my free mobile-to-mobile calling, then, while fixing that, a CS rep removed my internet and SMS. Personally, I think life is too short to check your cell account every day just to see if any services have spontaneously disappeared. Has anyone had experiences like this with Sprint?

I'm trying to decide if there's any advantage to switching. Sprint clearly is the winner with data plans, while calls sounds better to me on Cingular (although that might be my imagination, and my last Sprint experience was 4 years ago). What have people's experiences been with Sprint CS been to make it (as grndslm's put it so poetically) "suck the royalest of ding dongs?" I've found Cingular CS pretty helpful and engaged in the past, but this recent flakiness drives me nuts.

Thanks!

[VetPsychWars]

I had a wondeful exoerience the one time I had to call Sprint CS. One good anecdote doesn't say much, I know, but it was great for me.

Tom

[ttrundle]

Sprint, plus Sprint will always get the new Treo's first!

Getting the first Treo's is NOT a good thing from what I've seen of the rollout of the T600 and then 650

[Pearl_Diva]

In my honest opinion, because CDMA(Sprint) is behind the times, you have to decide. GSM is the way of the world except the US(I don't know why!).

If you travel in the US only, Sprint will do because they have good plans. Although I drop so many calls from them. And Sprint CS was not at all helpful when I tried to return a lost phone to it's owner, they said "what do you expect us to do about it". I had to wait for the guy's son to call the phone so I could tell him I had his phone.

Cingular is nice and clear and no dropped calls, but their CS wasn't so great when I had a defective phone(NOT the Treo). They wanted me to just buy a new one, didn't even offer a replacement. However, I still want to move my other number from Sprint to them even though they're more expensive, because I'm just sick of Sprint. But if you're having no problems with Sprint, don't move unless you really need(or want) GSM.

[Minsc]

In my honest opinion, because CDMA(Sprint) is behind the times, you have to decide. GSM is the way of the world except the US(I don't know why!).

CDMA is definitely NOT behind the times. Quite the contrary, in fact. It would be nice if we all used one standard though. -or at least fully compatible standards.

[Pearl_Diva]

Then why do Asia and Europe have all the advanced phones before we do, and they're ALL GSM? I went to Orange and they have the COOLEST phones, NOTHING like what we get stuck with here! Even if you get a free phone, you still get cool one! All GSM. Nokia's Asia site blows the ones they sell here out of the water! The Treo is a fluke in cool design and technology, we have UGLY behind-the-times phones(in both design and technology) here much of the time.

[Minsc]

Then why do Asia and Europe have all the advanced phones before we do, and they're ALL GSM? I went to Orange and they have the COOLEST phones, NOTHING like what we get stuck with here! Even if you get a free phone, you still get cool one! All GSM. Nokia's Asia site blows the ones they sell here out of the water! The Treo is a fluke in cool design and technology, we have UGLY behind-the-times phones(in both design and technology) here much of the time.

Well the "coolness" of the phones has nothing to do with the underlying technology. (GSM or CDMA) There's definitely a bigger selection of phones for GSM since that's the most widely used technology. However, I wouldn't say any of them (at least the European ones) are any more "advanced" than the phones you get here. They might seem cooler because they're different, but technologically they're not much different.

The US has always languished behind Europe and Asia when it comes to mobile phones, but we're catching up. In fact, I'd argue that we've surpassed Europe (or will shortly) and are second only to Asia.

Also, just as an FYI, some of Asia (virtually all of Korea, in fact) uses CDMA.

[midmofan]

GSM is fairly exclusive in Europe and a few other places, not because it is an inherently better system, but because the governments effectivly mandated that system and have blocked CDMA in order to protect their state owned (or partially state owned) businesses which have the GSM networks.

[Pearl_Diva]

Well the "coolness" of the phones has nothing to do with the underlying technology. (GSM or CDMA) There's definitely a bigger selection of phones for GSM since that's the most widely used technology. However, I wouldn't say any of them (at least the European ones) are any more "advanced" than the phones you get here. They might seem cooler because they're different, but technologically they're not much different.

The US has always languished behind Europe and Asia when it comes to mobile phones, but we're catching up. In fact, I'd argue that we've surpassed Europe (or will shortly) and are second only to Asia.

Also, just as an FYI, some of Asia (virtually all of Korea, in fact) uses CDMA.

Please let me post a link to explain some of what I mean. http://shop.orange.co.uk/shop/show/handsets/all/all/3g

Where is that technology over here? If it's here, please show me. Sprint VISION phones might do this, I'm not sure. But I don't remember 3G being mentioned here.

[Pearl_Diva]

Here's something for QWERTY keyboard lovers: http://shop.orange.co.uk/shop/show/h...ia_9500/detail

Click "more features & specifications" and see what this phone has(all the stuff we love). Never saw it over here. And what is HSCSD?

[Minsc]

I don't know why they're calling those phones "3G", as it appears as though most (all?) of them are either using GPRS and/or something called HSCSD which stands for "high-speed, circuit switched data". Unfortunately, both are DREADFULLY slow. (Sprint's Vision is 2 - 3 times faster than GPRS)
The fact that they don't appear to support EDGE (GSM's current 'high-speed' option) is not too impressive. The rest of the features appear to be pretty standard stuff nowadays: bluetooth, photo messaging, Java, etc.

[Maxy]

I just switched from Sprint to Cingular, only because I need to roam in Europe (which I will try for the first time next week). My thoughts so far:

1. Cingular service is a little more costly.
2. Cingular service sucks a little bit more than Sprint's (hard to believe, I know), but the service in Cingular stores sucks a little less than Sprint's. I actually had a pleasant experience (ok, 'not horrible', might be more apt) once in a Cingular store--can't say that ever happened with Sprint. The Cingular website is unbelievably bad.
3. The voice quality seems better on Cingular.
4. Data speeds are about the same on Cingular, maybe a little slower.
5. I like the idea of getting a second, cheap phone (to take hiking or whatever) and popping in the SIM card.
6. I had a bad experience with Sprint's insurance, so the absence of its availability with Cingular doesn't seem too bad.
7. It doesn't sound as if Cingular's as uptight about using the DUN feature. I don't know, though, for sure.
8. Switching service (and phones i500 to 650) was a big headache. Think twice. (Getting a temporary phone in Europe, though, is more of a headache.)

In spite of all these complications, though, cell phone technology is a marvelous thing. It never ceases to amaze me.

[Pearl_Diva]

I don't know why they're calling those phones "3G", as it appears as though most (all?) of them are either using GPRS and/or something called HSCSD which stands for "high-speed, circuit switched data". Unfortunately, both are DREADFULLY slow. (Sprint's Vision is 2 - 3 times faster than GPRS)
The fact that they don't appear to support EDGE (GSM's current 'high-speed' option) is not too impressive. The rest of the features appear to be pretty standard stuff nowadays: bluetooth, photo messaging, Java, etc.

Is it slow in the UK, anyone know? I need to go there and of course, I will be using GSM.

[Minsc]

GPRS is GPRS. It's the same technology whether you're in the US, UK, or South Africa. And yes, it's slow.
I believe there is some EDGE in the UK if you have (or plan on getting) an EDGE enabled phone. EDGE is considerably faster than GPRS, more on par with CDMA 1x (Vision) if not a bit faster.