It is pronounced INNtellos.

 

that we have all these knowledgeable peeps out here! Thanks for that explanation. I rented a cell phone for Europe last time I went. Worked out OK.

 

^^^

We have had Verizon for several years and the only complaint: Often NO SIGNAL in our house in a fairly built-up and affluent area.....and located on a hillside

Long story short, one of the tech reps told us that "LG phones do not have good reception....Motorola, Nokia and Samsung are much better". We just got new Samsung u540 phones and the reception DOES seem better...esp in our house. They are basic models (0 cost to upgrade due to Verizon's "Free Every Two" (years) plan )

Amazingly, the basic model has a camera, speaker phone, some music options, and some sort of GPS system We are grandfathered into a "Family Share" plan at 70/month....ends up about 83/month with taxes etc. That buys 450 minutes on 3 phones (incl my son's in DC). Since a lot of our calls are InNetwork (to other Vz users), nights or weekends; the 450 minutes "peak" is OK (all other calls are free).

 

I had Nextel for about a year. I swear i had better service 10 years ago than what they had. Cost me $400.00 to drop the service. It was worth every penny. We now use a company called Cell South, excellent service, i have nation wide coverage
with a 1000 minutes a month for about 60.00 a month.

 

I don't use the phone much and the reception is ok. The customer Service from Sprint/Nextel sucks.

I have 2 phones and my total bill is less than $35. We get 50 'Direct connects" and 100 minutes on each. We seldom go over.

 

We use Virgin prepay. $20 every three month, which is used to pay 10c per call to another Virgin phone, 20c otherwise.

Since 95% of our usage is to call each other, this works out to be cheaper than any other calling plan.

At home I use voice over IP from Vonage, unlimited calling domestically and several European countries and also includes all the extras that Verizon charges for (Caller ID, call transfer etc.) for $25.

 

Verizon -- they have the best coverage in the SE, but they are so arrogant when it comes to customer service. My phone is shared business/personal and the business side "encourages" Verizon to get the "in calling" benefit. But when I travel to Europe, being stuck with a CDMA phone is the pits.

Trying to be objective, the latest issue of Consumer Reports gives the top rating to Verizon

 

^^^ ...glad to hear that since we have just renewed a 2 yr contract w/VZ.

OTOH, I regret that they don't offer converage abroad. While I was still working, I had a Cingular/ ATT RAZR phone and used it (sparingly) for emergency calling in both Europe and New Zealand I could never get it to work in China in October...although I didn't try too hard

 

[QUOTE=martha,Jan 16 2008, 03:15 PM] We got a cell phone for Dean's mother because I didn't want her stranded on a roadside somewhere.

 

I believe that you are correct on a Blackberry prepped for Int'l use, Tony. When I was browsing in the VZ store last Monday, they did have an area with the upgraded phones for use abroad. I'm curious about which chip they are using. Be sure to call the VZ CS before you go....in case they have to change any settings on your account, etc.

When I was in New Zealand, my S2000-owning friend KiwiSue was flaggergasted that the US cell phone industry was so far behind the rest of the world. Look at the amazement on her face (note that she is in the DRIVER'S seat )