Newbie Reception Quality Question
Greetings,
I've been lurking in these forums a bit for the last week and just decided to register in hopes you all could help me.
I am a 2.5-3 year Verizon Wireless customer and have the old StarTac 7868. I'll be needing to upgrade my wireless plan in August as I'm planning to go cell phone only for the next few years while I'm in law school. I've been happy with my StarTac but am wondering if now would be the ideal time to upgrade my phone since I already have to extend my contract with my plan change.
My primary concern is signal strength and ability to receive and make calls. Because of this I want to stay with a tri-mode phone. I understand the difference between tri-mode and all digital phones, but what I'd like to know if all tr...
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I've been lurking in these forums a bit for the last week and just decided to register in hopes you all could help me.
I am a 2.5-3 year Verizon Wireless customer and have the old StarTac 7868. I'll be needing to upgrade my wireless plan in August as I'm planning to go cell phone only for the next few years while I'm in law school. I've been happy with my StarTac but am wondering if now would be the ideal time to upgrade my phone since I already have to extend my contract with my plan change.
My primary concern is signal strength and ability to receive and make calls. Because of this I want to stay with a tri-mode phone. I understand the difference between tri-mode and all digital phones, but what I'd like to know if all tr...
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Many people here (and on the HowardForums.com boards) swear by the Nokia 3589i. Not a really "cool" phone, but the general consensus is that it has the best reception of any of the current lineup of Verizon phones.
I have a variant of it (the 3585i) and I have been in some pretty rural areas in NH (where I live) and have always gotten at least one bar of coverage, and have been able to make and receive calls that were clear and were not dropped. This has not been so with some "sexy" flip phones that friends of mine were using.
--Way
I have a variant of it (the 3585i) and I have been in some pretty rural areas in NH (where I live) and have always gotten at least one bar of coverage, and have been able to make and receive calls that were clear and were not dropped. This has not been so with some "sexy" flip phones that friends of mine were using.
--Way
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I'll admit that the nokia 3589i has excellent reception. It's a great bad phone for being kinda basic.
If you want a flip-style phone go with the LG series. Excellent signal, great sound, but the battery life is kind of wanting. vx-4400 and vx-3400 I believe are the only tri-mode LG right now. (guys, gals can you verify the 4600 for me?)
Some people swear by the samsung series phones buuut I've never ever had good luck with them. Neither have our customers. If you get a samsung go for the a530 if you can still get it. There are 2 new models available but I haven't seen them at my store level yet. âšī¸
Right now stay away from the motorola series and the audiovox series. Lots of problems with the 8600 and the v60s is still in question ...
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If you want a flip-style phone go with the LG series. Excellent signal, great sound, but the battery life is kind of wanting. vx-4400 and vx-3400 I believe are the only tri-mode LG right now. (guys, gals can you verify the 4600 for me?)
Some people swear by the samsung series phones buuut I've never ever had good luck with them. Neither have our customers. If you get a samsung go for the a530 if you can still get it. There are 2 new models available but I haven't seen them at my store level yet. âšī¸
Right now stay away from the motorola series and the audiovox series. Lots of problems with the 8600 and the v60s is still in question ...
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waywith said:Ah, Waywith. The voice of reason. I agree.
Many people here (and on the HowardForums.com boards) swear by the Nokia 3589i. Not a really "cool" phone, but the general consensus is that it has the best reception of any of the current lineup of Verizon phones.
I have a variant of it (the 3585i) and I have been in some pretty rural areas in NH (where I live) and have always gotten at least one bar of coverage, and have been able to make and receive calls that were clear and were not dropped. This has not been so with some "sexy" flip phones that friends of mine were using.
--Way
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You don't have to extend your contract if you want to change your pp.
In regards to phones, I would purchase a phone(one that you like) then try it out in your area for a week. If you dont like it exchange it for another phone. You have 15 days from the day you activate your phone to try it out
In regards to phones, I would purchase a phone(one that you like) then try it out in your area for a week. If you dont like it exchange it for another phone. You have 15 days from the day you activate your phone to try it out
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Well, that is where your a bit wrong on the price plan change. If you switch your plan with verizon, there are a lot of different ins and outs that they have:
1) If you change from a local plan to an america's choice plan that extends your contract for at least a year.
2) If you are already on, say, the AC 39.99 and you got your phone in the summer of '03, then you are on the 0603 summer plan. If you wanted to change to get unlimited in-network or the "promotional" offers, you would extend your contract again because of these "promotional" offers.
3) If you are on a 39.99 rate plan or higher and you switch to a 34.99 rate plan or lower, you will be extended for 2 years. These "lower end" plans are deemed "promotional" also, and verizon j...
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1) If you change from a local plan to an america's choice plan that extends your contract for at least a year.
2) If you are already on, say, the AC 39.99 and you got your phone in the summer of '03, then you are on the 0603 summer plan. If you wanted to change to get unlimited in-network or the "promotional" offers, you would extend your contract again because of these "promotional" offers.
3) If you are on a 39.99 rate plan or higher and you switch to a 34.99 rate plan or lower, you will be extended for 2 years. These "lower end" plans are deemed "promotional" also, and verizon j...
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Nokia 3589i is the phone I have and it gets the best service of any VZW phone in the area's I frequent. Also, I have no problem making and rcving calls with just 1 bar of service whereas other phones I've seen will drop a call with 1 bar of service.
With 2 year contract it's currently $29.99.
1 year is $79.99.
Full retail is $129.99
Ebay it's about $50-$100
I recommend a leather holster, car charger, and handsfree headset.
Combo pack holster/car charger is 39.99 from VZW.com so that's an okay deal.
But I reccomend you purchase the headset direct from nokia.com so you get one that has full functionality. VZW just sells universal headsets...
I know you said you didn't want bells and whistles, but a faceplate goes a long way...
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With 2 year contract it's currently $29.99.
1 year is $79.99.
Full retail is $129.99
Ebay it's about $50-$100
I recommend a leather holster, car charger, and handsfree headset.
Combo pack holster/car charger is 39.99 from VZW.com so that's an okay deal.
But I reccomend you purchase the headset direct from nokia.com so you get one that has full functionality. VZW just sells universal headsets...
I know you said you didn't want bells and whistles, but a faceplate goes a long way...
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Thank you for all of the replies thus far. I've done some research and it seems I can't find anyone who's said a bad thing about the Nokia 3589. While reception is the absolute biggest selling point for me I'll be honest that I'm not thrilled about the size of the Nokia, It's just a little bigger phone than I was wanting but i'll have to go down to a store and play with one to get a better feel for it. I hadn't considered Nokia's before as I had a friend who had nothing but trouble with her Verizon Nokia, but it was an earlier model.
I'll be switching from the $40 400 minute America's Choice plan to the $40 600 minutes local plan. Seeing as I'm in school I don't see needing the nation wide plan anymore and could use the 200 extra minutes ...
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I'll be switching from the $40 400 minute America's Choice plan to the $40 600 minutes local plan. Seeing as I'm in school I don't see needing the nation wide plan anymore and could use the 200 extra minutes ...
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I might be the only sceptic to the nokia. Although a pretty good reception phone, the ones I've dealt with in my market seem to be a bit faulty when it comes to battery life and basic trustworthiness, but that's a personal opinion about nokia (I'm not the biggest fan so I am a bit biast!).
I would also take a look at the kyocera se47, lg vx4600, and since in my market they are cheap for what your getting, the samsung a650. Now the least reliable for reception is the samsung, and it has no external called id for being a flip phone (which I hate), but since you have a startac, it may not be a big deal. The Kyocera "slider" is a bit fragile but you have had your startac for a longtime, so I wouldn't be worried about that, and you may li...
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I might be the only sceptic to the nokia. Although a pretty good reception phone, the ones I've dealt with in my market seem to be a bit faulty when it comes to battery life and basic trustworthiness, but that's a personal opinion about nokia (I'm not the biggest fan so I am a bit biast!).
I would also take a look at the kyocera se47, lg vx4600, and since in my market they are cheap for what your getting, the samsung a650. Now the least reliable for reception is the samsung, and it has no external called id for being a flip phone (which I hate), but since you have a startac, it may not be a big deal. The Kyocera "slider" is a bit fragile but you have had your startac for a longtime, so I wouldn't be worried about that, and you may li...
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Dpruwm said:
Oh, and one last thing, as a luxury, I would stay with the flip phone for you, it's hard to convert back to straight phones when you've been with a flip for a while.
I converted easily to my 3589 after having the vx6000 and t730. But I'm just partial to bar-style phones. Especially Nokias.
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