Any good cell phone deals in Diego?

[SanDiegoLocal]

Hello everyone. It seems that there are alot of people here from the San Diego area so I was wondering if any of you could steer me in the right direction towards a good cell phone/plan. Of course, I would like the most amount of minutes for the least amount of money(who wouldn't) and I don't need long distance. Any suggestions? Thanks alot.

[psycho-]

Before anyone posts anything....

straight up best service is verizon wireless in San Diego. It's expensive, but if you don't want dropped calls and an analog network for backup,it's the way to go.



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Victor
http://psychokid.com
http://rurouni.org

[muffdivr]

hey i have a good friend that works for verizon wireless in chula vista though. im not sure if you wanna go that far if you dont live close by but she has the best deals and prices on lots of stuff. i work over at Qualcomm and lots of my coworkers go to her. if you want i can hook it up for you.

[SanDiegoLocal]

MuffDivr I might be interested if you could tell me what kinda deals she has. I went to the verizon wireless website and saw that the cheapest rate that they have is $35 for only 150 minutes. Does she have anything better than this because that seems kinda pricey.

[Dave_7]

Why anyone would choose cellular over PCS is BEYOND me. I am pretty sure that SprintPCS has 300 anytime/anywhere minutes for $30 a month.

Although, PacBellPCS has better coverage...from my experience. I think you can get a Nokia 5190 for almost nothing if you sign up for a year of service. The 6190 is much nicer, but it will cost you. I paid $160 for mine when I signed up and I thought I got a DEAL!!!

Now, I think you can find a 6190 for around $50-$100 with a year contract. But the 5190 is totally capable.

The PCS phones have automatic voicemail and pagers. If you have a friend who's going to get one, too... then PacBell has a free unlimited PB PCS to PB PCS plan which is nice. My phone is PacBell, my girlfriend's and her family's phones are PacBell, and even my parents' phones are PacBell now. So we can call each other without worrying about minutes.

Plus, with PCS, there's no roaming... which is ALSO nice.

There you go. Check 'em out.

Dave.

[Dave_7]

Oh yeah, I got mine at The Good Guys at El Camino Real off the 78. Go into a place like that and ask one of the salespeople if they can "do anything for you" when it comes to a PCS phone.

I've been in LA for more than a year now, so I don't know any names of the people at that store anymore.

But... they are the kinds of people who KNOW people who can hook you up. Or they can even take care of you themselves. They are commission sales people and they will do whatever it takes to make a few $$$.

Dave.

[This message has been edited by Dave_7 (edited 06-13-2000).]

[psycho-]

Ugh..don't make me get into this converstation anymore..but let muffdivr explain to you the differences.

Cellular vs. PCS? Those are just frequency ranges. It just happens that PCS ranges don't penetrate concrete and steel as well. PCS has been around only since 1997, after the bandwidth was auctioned off by the FCC in 1995 ( i think that's the year), so it has less buildout.

Stuff like roaming and long distance? That just totally depends on your provider and what they give as "features". Just because you have "PCS" doesn't mean jack squat. It just means it operates in the 1900 mhz frequency range (in the US, it's 1900)

Why get cellular? Around since 1979, most of them have been changed to TDMA or CDMA systems that match performance bit for bit w/ the "PCS" service. Because of the high density of towers in any particular urban area, Digital Cellular in San Diego through GTE wireless and Airtouch has the best signal strength of any bunch. Because it's been around, there's those little gaps that have been filled. Need any other reasons?

BTW, because most carriers (PCS services aren't considered phone carriers, but instead communication services)used to have an old analog system that's still in use, you can use that as backup when you're out in the boonies or when you're in underground parking garages.

Once again, if you want alot of minutes for cheap, PCS is a good way to go. They give alot of minutes for the money and allows you to use it as a replacement for the home phone. On the other hand, you should assess how many minutes you actually use, and then figure out if it's worth the tradeoff between getting the call through or just getting a bunch of bundled minutes. If you get a bunch of bundled minutes, but don't use it all, and comprimise it with poor signal and service, then you're shortchanging yourself.

BTW, in san Diego County, you can go to the company stores (don't go to authorized dealers) and purchase their phones. From there, you test both of them out for 30 days, find out your average usage, and then return one of the phones (or both ) for a full refund. Then, you'll know what suits your needs more. For me, I went from Sprint PCS to PB to Verizon before I became happy


Victor

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Victor http://psychokid.com http://rurouni.org


Little added something. Go to Deja.com and look at the most recent reviews:
http://x59.deja.com/products/reviews/user.xp?ANAME=&CPID=&PCID=12348&PCODE=&PDID=13108&PGROUP=&PNAME=&RID=&SORT=date

That's the way to go. Compare it to PB Wirless on deja.com along the wya if you want

[This message has been edited by psycho- (edited 06-13-2000).]

[Dave_7]

I have had PacBell service and been very happy with the coverage and the sound quality.

A friend of mine who still has a regular cellular phone calls me sometimes from Diego, and it drives me CRAZY with all the static and in and out... get a digital PCS phone and you will be happiest, I think. It sounds as good as a land line.

And the last guy is right... my parents got to try out a phone from PacBell for a 'trial' period and the salespeople were very helpful.

My point about those Good Guys-type salespeople... is that they are sometimes a bit seedy by nature... and know how to flip-flop a deal for you... on occasion. Ya dig?

Dave.

[psycho-]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dave_7:


A friend of mine who still has a regular cellular phone calls me sometimes from Diego, and it drives me CRAZY with all the static and in and out<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think you're missing the point. There is no difference between Digital PCS and Digital Cellular in terms of static. I mean, there are underlying differences in technology for different digital formats, like GSM (and it's likeness to TDMA), TDMA, CDMA.


What digital techology you use is what matters the most.

What your friend is using is an old AMPS/NAMPS analog phone. any plan beyond the lowest plans require you to use a digital phone in both carriers in SD County. So, you can only compare Digital to Digital, not Digital to Analog. Cellular has both digital and analog, while PCS is only digital. This proves valuable in more rural areas, like Mammoth or Yosemite or Julian, and such. My phone can actually be used as a safety device when I go trekking.

CDMA on my Verizon, using the Nortel IOS BTS systems is much more advanced than say....Pacbell's Ericcson GSM system in terms of call handoffs, call capacity, clarity, and security. If you've heard Sprint PCS when it's really clear, then you know what I'm talking about. CDMA's inherently designed better in those aspect.

Victor

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Victor
http://psychokid.com
http://rurouni.org

[psycho-]

You know...I used to think that traditional cellular services sucked big time. But then the logic is changing as cellular companies are becomming national.

Here's the logic why I chose digital cellular over digital PCS.

You're in digital mode wherever these "PCS" phones have digital.

You're in digital mode wherever these "PCS" phones are "Searching for serivce"

You're in analog mode whenever you're out of the range of digital service.

For me, I drive mountains whenever I go skiing and I think i'd totally jack myself over if i was stuck on HWY 395 w/o phone service should anything happen on my way to Mammoth.


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Victor
http://psychokid.com
http://rurouni.org

[oblivion77]

I would have to say that psycho- knows his stuff when it comes to cell phones. I would listen to him carefully.

[Dave_7]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by psycho-:
Ugh..don't make me get into this converstation anymore..but let muffdivr explain to you the differences.

Cellular vs. PCS? Those are just frequency ranges.


"Cellular has both digital and analog, while PCS is only digital."

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Get a PCS Phone and you will be happiest. The plans are simple and you get a lot of minutes along with great sounding calls.


Dave.

[This message has been edited by Dave_7 (edited 06-14-2000).]

[SanDiegoLocal]

Wow thats alot of good info thanks. I think I will head over to the Pac Bell store for a test drive(methaphorically of course). Do you guys know if PacBell has an analog backup in case Im not in digital range? Can someone clarify "roaming" for me if you don't mind? I want to go into the store with some good questions to ask the guy. Thanks for all your help Apex Addicts.

[muffdivr]

pacific bell does not have analog. they are "purely" digital. that's the only bad thing about them. try verizon wireless dude. they seem to be pretty good so far.

[Suspect_Device]

Hey guys,
I work in a Data Center on Scripps-Poway Parkway (Geico)and need a few phones. The PCS family plan sounds like a good and cheap way to keep us in touch within the building, but I'm worried about signal strength. Does anybody use PCS (or Cell) out in Poway or in a similar environment (lots of concrete and steel).
We use Pac Bell telecom for one of our T-span providers, perhaps our rep could give us a break?
Any advice would be appreciated!