<p>Like, what is the best for NYC? What do most people have at NYU?</p>
<p>Cheers</p>
<p>Found that..</p>
<p>I have Verizon, and I think they have the best service, though they don't have as many fancy phones as some of other providers.</p>
<p>I also use Verizon, I've had a lot of trouble with Cingular in the past, its almost impossibe (for me anyway) difficult to get a connection on the Metro/Subway with Cingular. Verizon is pretty good in the connection department.</p>
<p>i dont need a phone, i have my nokia 8800, just need a plan..if they give me a phone i'll probably just sell it.</p>
<p>i was thinking verizon - had a cingular before and i hate them.</p>
<p>is it worth getting a push-to-talk system? do people use that much in the states? NYC? NYU?</p>
<p>Ta</p>
<p>DCH, are you familiar with the American system? Verizon doesn't use SIM cards like most of Europe, or at least Verizon hasn't in the past. T-Mobile and Cingular among others use the SIM card system so you might be able to just get the service from them and get their SIM card and use your Nokia. I know T-Mobile has some of the more affordable international usage rates from my experience traveling in Europe and calling the US along with calling Europe from the US. Push-to-talk (Nextel/Sprint) isn't very popular mainly because not everyone has it so you can only really use it if you have Nextel/Sprint which isn't the most widely used provider.</p>
<p>Hah..i assumed everyone would have sim-card systems, after my cingular and looking at my friend's t-mobile.</p>
<p>so i guess verizon is like japan.</p>
<p>well, i'll check out cingular again...with the pay as you go i just switched sim cards...but damn, i hate cingular. then again, i hate vodafone over here but it does what it does well, as did my cingular. check out t-mobile too...</p>
<p>oh, and thanks for the info on push-to-talk...already decided not to get it.</p>
<p>right..have decided to get a T-Mobile if I can help it, but will get a cingular if needs be.</p>
<p>I guess T-mobile might be your best bet, the service is better than cingular, and they use GSM phones, unlike Verizon which uses CDMA. I have to take a separate phone w/a SIM card if I'm out of the country so despite good service Verizon does have its down sides, but I take the trade off since I'm not out of the US that much.</p>
<p>Plz~~PPL teach me about the phone system in the U.S (seems so different from Japan!). </p>
<p>What do you guys personally believe to be the best provider? I have the choice of using Cingualar by paying $10 to my aunt's account or choose a diff. provider (which would cost around $30/month). I am considering Sprint because it has the Samsung phones that I want. Do you think its worth it or better to choose Cingular for cheaper? Which provider do most ppl use in the U.S? (isnt better to choose the provider with more people so that you will have better chance of unlimited talking).</p>
<p>Also, is there any problem to have non-NY area code? (mine will be TX, if I am getting Cinguar)</p>
<p>jhpark, you can call cingular if you move and want to get a new number. i have cingular right now and i get great service except when i go down to the boondocks known as corsicana, tx. i do wish i would have signed up with verizon because they use cdma instead of gsm (sim) which means better signal. cingular has me by the balls for two more years.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answer. I have some other questions though. </p>
<p>1) Once again, getting the phone in TX is no problem to use in NY right? It doesnt cost any to call people in diff. parts of the US right?
2) The plans have "anytime" minutes. Does that mean I can call anyone for free for that amount of time?
3) When are free nights/wk minute applied and does it only work to cingular users or other phones such as noncell phone and diff provider?
4) Also, same cingular users have unlimited talk time? Is that true?</p>
<p>I basically need an explanation about the content of the plans. I am surprised about the generotisity of their plans (compared with Japan).</p>
<p>And which phones do you guys recommend that's around $150-200?</p>
<p>shame you have to downgrade, right? i have a Docomo Foma 9 series, maybe the F902i or the F901iS or whatever, and i was ****ed when i left tokyo in the summer as i had to switch back to a 8800...you guys are so much more advanced than europe!</p>
<p>And europe is pretty far ahead of the states...so switching from japan to states would suck...if you like your phones!</p>
<p>That's why i want a GSM operator, i can use my european phones in the US.</p>
<p>yeah. I was surprised that the phone models were 1.5~2 years late of japan/ or korea. I guess its just too bad.</p>
<p>DCH-I am not sure about the diff. between GSM and CDMA. Can you explain?</p>
<p>I'm not too sure either as I'm only farmilliar with GSM and Japan-style phones, but im pretty sure Japanese phones are CMDA (or something very similar).</p>
<p>Basically GSM phones have sim-cards, so you can switch phones between users and whatever...really convenient if you run out of battery and you want to get someones phone number-you just stick your sim card in someone else's phone. So you get a phone and a sim card, and you can continuously switch around with them (i've kept the same sim-card for about 6 years but i've had 10+ phones).</p>
<p>I think CDMA basically is the set-up you're farmilliar with, where the phones are built as a one-piece...the number and the contacts are non-transferable. Whilst I would never get a CDMA in the states, it has it's advantages, namely better signal strength and the phones seem to use less power so you get a better battery life.</p>
<p>Basically, if you want to import some slick new phone from Europe, get a GSM. You have the freedom to choose phones, and like I say, running out of battery isnt a problem.</p>
<p>If you want better service/more customers, get a Verizon, as Verizon is the only CDMA worth getting from what I can tell.</p>
<p>But what do I know? I didnt even know the states used CDMA...</p>
<p>well i think sprint/nextel use cdma as well but their phones are worse than verizons. the DoCoMo phones are sweet. i dont really care about all the extra crap though. i got the razr because it was small, not because of the video and camera etc etc.</p>
<p>I'd pick T-Mobile over Cingular personally.</p>