Talk to your friends, relatives, neighbors, coworkers, etc and ask them what
phone they use and which provider they have and how it works for them.

Borrow a phone if possible to check it out for yourself - Then go with the
phone and service that seems to be the best.

I've had Verizon since 2000. We lived in an RV and traveled all over the
US. There were many, many times when I had coverage and neighboring
RVers with other service in the same campground did not. Generally
speaking, we noticed that CDMA carriers had  better service than
TDMA/GSM carriers. Verizon had the best CDMA coverage away from the main
highways.

With the exception of one call in 2002, I have had excellent support and
service from them. I also like the IN calling feature that allows me to
call anyone with Verizon IN service and not have the minutes count. Our
kids and grandkids are all on Verizon as are many of our friends, so we
can use the basic 450 minutes per month plan and still have minutes left
over at the end of the month.

I do not use my phone for anything other than making phone calls. It is
capable of playing music and TV shows. It has a GPS navagation feature
that can be turned on, it takes pictures and heaven knows what other
things it can do. It was given to me for free by Verizon (I have yet to
pay for a phone in over 7 years) and it gets a strong signal to make and
receive calls. That's all I want or need, so I can't be of any
assistance to you if you are interested in trick phones. I hope I've
helped you when it comes to making and receiving calls.

In my part of California, the Cingular flavor of AT&T had serious coverage
gaps.  Verizon does not.  My parents' TDMA phones were forced out by AT&T,
and AT&T changed their calling plan along with the phone replacement.  This
was contrary to what the rep quoted.  So, I had my elderly parents leave
AT&T and added them to my Verizon service on a family plan.

On a recent cruise along Mexico my parents had coverage both on shipboard
and ashore (for a price).

Verizon reps and technical support are in the US (not India) and do a great
job.  On a call, a few weeks ago, where I sought advice to help my dad with
a problem, the tech support rep volunteered to call my dad directly.  He
actually made the call and talked my dad through it.

Verizon is known for crippling features on their phones and charging extra
to enable the features, if they are available at all.  My parents and I
don't need anything fancy, so this was not an issue for us.

After a glitchy year with Verizon on the second year of my contract, I
signed up again with them.  They are fast becoming the pariahs of the
cellphone industry, however, imho.

I have discussed it elsewhere in this forum.  But here's another
problem, aside from the Nokia/Pantech phone going haywire and beeping
all night long so that I had to take the battery out of it to get some
sleep because it won't turn off.

I got some mysterious charges from Verizon, over $131 when my monthly
bill has always been around $70, so I went to verizonwireless.com to
find out WTH they were all about.  I logged into my account and got
the same message I have been getting for weeks:  "Account information
unavailable at this time.  Try again later."  I called and spent hours
yesterday morning trying to speak with someone with Verizon who can
speak and understand English.  Finally a nice lady came on who called
herself Emma.  She said I needed to re-register, so we went through
that process.  The next popup message from Verizon then said I was
already registered.  Which put me right back into the Twilight Zone
with those incompetents.  This morning I tried to log on, and the
message came onscreen that I was "already logged on."

So, yesterday afternoon early, Emma said she was going to do some
research, solve my problem, and call me back in 15 minutes.  I waited
all afternoon at the land line for her to call.  She didn't call back
as she said she would.  Now that's just a little of the misery and
frustration you will get dealing with Verizon.

I have been a Verizon wireless customer since 1996.  During this time
I have lived in:
-- NE Tennessee near VA border
-- MIssissippi Gulf Coast, until Hurricane Katrina destoyed everything
I owned
-- Knoxville, TN
-- Virginia Northern Neck

I have never had a serious problem with my Verizon service.  Yes,
there have been times when I was in deep rural areas in SW VA,
Southern WV, SE KY where there was no coverage or coverage was spotty
-- but no one else had coverage in those areas.

For the past year I have used Verizon's wireless National Broadband
for Internet access while on the road -- same story -- occasionally
I'll hit a spot where coverage is spotty but that's usually in deep
rural areas where all coverage is spotty.

I am now settled into a very rural area on the Northern Neck of VA
(find the town of Heathsville, VA).  Sometimes I get only 1 or 2 bars
but the phone works.  Also, I am planning to upgrade my PC card to a
Verizon USB727 modem for Internet access rather than go with satellite
access thru HughesNet.

Never had a problem with Verizon customer support, either in person,
over the phone, or online.

Of course, I use my phone as a phone -- I am not into downloading ring
tones, pictures, games, and all that other juvenile sh.t.  And, when I
have a problem, I call tech support and calmly explain my problem and
don't start off raving and threatening to take my service elsewhere.

Your mileage may vary.

At work, most of the employer-supplied gear is Sprint/Nextel, because the
bosses like to be able to DC you to yell at you.

Consequently, most of the employees have to carry TWO phones; the company
phone, and also
a Verizon phone (self-paid-for) for when they actually NEED to make or
receive a call.

It's almost a daily event for someone to borrow a Verizon phone to get a
call through. Literally can't tell you how many times I've heard someone
yell, "anybody got a Verizon here?"...

I echo the experience of those who don't text their 6th-grade friends all
day, nor need to check e-mail once an hour. If you put phones from all the
carriers on a table, and needed to pick one to depend on,  nearly everyone I
know, including the Nextel, Sprint, T-Mo, and ATTWS customers, will pick up
the Verizon phone.

As far as Customer Service, Verizon has come a long way. It's been years
since I've had a problem with them.

...And every time I call, I seem to "coincidentally" get a rep who speaks
English without an accent. Usually they are in NY or SC.

Yeah, their phone selection is a little cheesy, there are occasional
software issues between Moto and VZW (the LG's, custom-made for VZW, are
rock-solid though), and no question, VZW disables features for their own
benefit, but hands-down, making phone calls?? No comparison.

Dean

Last post from me, honest injun.  Switch from AT&T to
Verizonwireless?  Out of the frying pan and into the fire.  I just
tried out an AT&T cellphone in the counties and cities and airports
where I use mobile the most.  It worked fine.  So for me it's out of
the fire and into the frying pan.  Switch from stagnant VZW to fresh
AT&T.

Best of luck to you.

Bye to all the screechy little trolls.