01-27-2006, 01:00 PM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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Verizon Wireless - We Never Stop Working For Us?
"Verizon has been getting weasely with some of its customers in California who bought its Motorola v710 Bluetooth-�capable� phone on or before January 31, 2005. Preliminary approval of the settlement was granted in a California court for a class-action suit against the company because it didn't accurately tell prospective customers that its Bluetooth features weren't what they appeared to be. Verizon said the phone �works with a PC� but left out that part about how you can�t wirelessly sync photos or contacts or any other files using Bluetooth. Small detail, Verizon... Sounds like a slap on the wrist to the telecom giant. Perhaps the company should be required to state �We Cripple Bluetooth� on all its advertisements. When, oh when will this greedy, clueless company stop crippling Bluetooth?"
We've known of Verizon's little tactic of crippling Bluetooth for quite some time now, and many of us have even joked about it (I forget where exactly but I do remember a humorous remark that Verizon would charge $0.02 per keypress if they could). Seriously though, how much has Verizon's practices in this area stopped you from buying a Verizon-branded device? Personally I find it annoying but can't say it's my only reason for not switching to Verizon - is it yours?
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Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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01-27-2006, 01:55 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 718
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In my area, VZW and Sprint are the best in coverage, building penetration and high speed network though Sprint actually beat VZW to the punch with EVDO. But VZW has better "boonie" coverage. The CDMA carriers work better than the GSM ones in my region, though GSM phones continue to be the best, have the largest variety and are the most flexible.
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01-27-2006, 02:11 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 218
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Verizon's the only one that has good enough coverage that I can use my phone at home. I hate the bluetooth thing, but I need the coverage.
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01-27-2006, 02:22 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,520
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I've always been pretty envious of Verizon's coverage, especially in the DC Metro system. But no enough to give up the freedom of choice as it pertains to what phones I can use and what features I have access to.
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Phone: Nexus one Backup Phone: AT&T Samsung Jack; Future Phone: I'm Watching WP7; Media Player: Platinum Zune HD 32GB; Home Server: HP MediaSmart Server LX195 Console: XBox 360, PS3, Wii |
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01-27-2006, 02:35 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 24
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Well, this practice stopped me from buying from them yesterday. I was buying a Treo 700w or a VX-6700 from Verizon, but found that they crippled Bluetooth and could not use the phones as modems. I went with Sprint and got the PPC-6700.
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01-27-2006, 03:01 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 429
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I have Cingular, and I'm not aware of them crippling Bluetooth. We were on an AT&T Contract (we left Cingular only to get bought back in 3 months later) and figured we'd just go back to Cingular when our AT&T Wireless contract was up. I wanted to buy the Motorola v551 at the time, and while I was in the store I took a picture, fired up BT, whipped out my Dell Axim x30, fired up it's BT, discovered the phone, browsed it, and downloaded the picture to my Pocket PC. My wife didn't like me spending all that money on the Motorola phone, so I had to take it back and exchange it for a matching Sony Ericson z500a, which were buy one, get one free at the time. Supposedly it was on the condition that I could get a better phone down the road, but she seems to have forgotten that part...
While deciding what contract and phones I wanted, I did a ton of research. I had decided at the time that I wanted the Nokia 6620. My wife of course didn't want me to spend that much on a phone, but my research benefitted my friend who switched to Cingular and bought that phone with a data plan. He is able to use it as a BT modem for his Pocket PC so he can download email.
So in my experience, Cingular doesn't mess with the capabilities of its phones, and from the research I did last year, they do have better phones and better plans than Verizon, at least for my needs. The coverage in my area isn't bad.
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Current devices: iPhone 3G. Previous devices: Samsung Epix and 1st gen 32GB iPod Touch BlackJack II, iPaq 6945, iPaq hx4705, Dell Axim x30 high, iPaq 3765.
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01-27-2006, 03:15 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 56
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I was a long time GSM user on both T-Mobile and Cingular. I always bought unlocked, unbranded phones. The problem is that I grew tired of the spotty coverage on T-Mobile and the constant dropped calls, lousy call quality and mysterious voice mails that showed up 2 days after a call on Cingular. Anyway, I just switched to the dark side (Verizon) and although their practice of castrating Bluetooth bothers me, their coverage and quality beats the GSM carriers hands down, at least in the areas I frequent. Bottom line, I don't like the company or their practices, but the quality of their service is top notch.
Come on Cingular, get the networks integrated and fix your quality problems so I can come home to GSM when my contract is up in January 07!!
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01-27-2006, 03:17 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 58
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I live in Central Illinois and use Verizon because of their coverage. I work in the medical field and, coincidentaly, recently polled a number of folks throughout the hospital on what service provider they used. Oddly enough, everyone that used Verizon had no problems with coverage. Sprint, Cingular, and USCellular users all experienced numerous dead "spots" and poor reception within buildings, even worse, some had no signal in their homes. No one I spoke to used T-mobile even though they are now in our area. Personally, I use a Motorola V710 with my Ipaq 3970 "Bluetooth tethered" to browse and email using 1x wirelessly. No complaints. Yes they seem to charge me every time I sneeze, but most importantly I can make and receive phone calls whenever and wherever I want. To me, that is more important than convergence, size, or cool factor. That's the only reason I'm with them. Had I not been able to get my hands on a V710 and had there not been a class action lawsuit allowing me to use Bluetooth DUN, I would probably be much more disgruntled. As it stands, I consider myself lucky to have my cake and eat it too.
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01-27-2006, 03:59 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 20
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I live in southwest Idaho and we not only have cell phones in our area, but we also have EVDO! (a little back country humor there...) I recently purchased the PPC6700 through Sprint. I checked the Verizon offerings and decided on Sprint because of the Verizon Bluetooth issue. One Verizon 'sales' rep touted the profitability of the company as a major benefit during his pitch. When he indicated I would be unable to tether or do the other things I was asking about, I made the comment that evidently the company profit margin was more important than providing the features and services customers want. Next day I signed up with Sprint.
ATT reception was terrible on my SMT5600. I was able to get out of my contract with them because of the reception. That was after a one-year decade with T-Mobile, whose reception was even worse. Prior to that I had an old CDMA phone for 6-8 years (yes, the same dull phone!). My wife stayed with ATT and was assimilated into Cingular and has done fine. They gave me the option of assimilation when I was complaining about the 5600, but I did not want to extend my captivity another 2 years, so I bailed. Have been happy with Sprint since.
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Warptime
PPC-6700
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01-27-2006, 04:21 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23
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Strictly a coverage issue for me, Verizon is better then other carriers (where I live - Westchester County, NY). The crippled Bluetooth is definitely irritating, but if I can't get a signal, it doesn't matter if I can use the PDA phone as a modem.
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