Cell phones!

[Thermofusion]

My I-was-a-Sprint-customer-for-less-than-a-day story: I bought the Evo after checking Sprint's coverage maps, which seemed to indicate my part of town had decent-to-good coverage. Phone arrived, I activated it, couldn't get more than a bar outside or inside. Started driving around town, signal kept bouncing back and forth between a weak Sprint tower and a weak roaming tower. Called Sprint tech support, who kept complaining I was breaking up, to which I replied "no shit that's why I'm calling". Told them their coverage maps were made by monkeys and/or outright completely fabricated, to which they suggested I drop a couple more hundred bucks (plus a deposit) on some kind of virtual cell phone tower that would run off my home internet. I asked if they were being fucking serious and they said something smarmy, so I told them to go fuck themselves, took the phone to a Sprint store the next morning and cancelled my contract.

I also realize that maybe the reason I don't get good customer support on the phone is because I'm really a jackass when I talk to these folks, but I can't help it. I have some kind of deep lizard brain contempt for call center workers.

[mountmccabe]

I had Sprint for several years with no issues. I only switched to Verizon so I could get a Droid.

I have had no problems with Verizon; back on Phoenix my friend on   AT&T would not infrequently have to borrow my phone because he got terrible reception many places (plus the battery thing.) I had great reception in Phoenix, driving across the country and it continues in NYC.

I an glad I am grandfathered in with the unlimited data, even as I will switch to 4G when the Galaxy Nexus comes out.

Also that GN will have a built in app that will tell you what apps are using your data. Hmm, hope I will be able to turn monitoring off when I feel like it.

[jm]

My I-was-a-Sprint-customer-for-less-than-a-day story: I bought the Evo after checking Sprint's coverage maps, which seemed to indicate my part of town had decent-to-good coverage. Phone arrived, I activated it, couldn't get more than a bar outside or inside. Started driving around town, signal kept bouncing back and forth between a weak Sprint tower and a weak roaming tower. Called Sprint tech support, who kept complaining I was breaking up, to which I replied "no shit that's why I'm calling". Told them their coverage maps were made by monkeys and/or outright completely fabricated, to which they suggested I drop a couple more hundred bucks (plus a deposit) on some kind of virtual cell phone tower that would run off my home internet. I asked if they were being fucking serious and they said something smarmy, so I told them to go fuck themselves, took the phone to a Sprint store the next morning and cancelled my contract.

I also realize that maybe the reason I don't get good customer support on the phone is because I'm really a jackass when I talk to these folks, but I can't help it. I have some kind of deep lizard brain contempt for call center workers.

Yeah, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that "less than a day" is the opposite of a fair shake.  I mean, I have problems with T-Mobile coverage in NYC once every six months or so, but that hasn't led me to shit on them over the phone the day of.

[mountmccabe]

Also does all this make me a yuppie or, worse, Dave?

[jm]

Wait, Dave's a self-hating yuppie?

[elpollodiablo]

Wait, isn't Thermo Thom?

[jm]

unless he's been lying to us

[YojimboMonkey]

I would like to thank Thermo for mentioning that I am a cultured intelligent city type but I sensed a little irony in his tone. I have a finely developed sense for such things thanks to all that city culture and such.

[Thermofusion]

You guys are still easy to troll.

[DCDave]

Wait, Dave's a self-hating yuppie?

I'm not self-hating.

[Dick]

Hey guys what's the phone that I want if I want an android phone with AT&T

[Thermofusion]

As of this weekend, I'm finally at peace with the cellular gods. $35/month prepaid with unlimited data + the Groove IP android app = the killer combo. And until either of those things stop existing, I can't envision ever signing another contract.

[Illest Waffle]

how did you achieve this 35 dollar magical plan.

[Thermofusion]

Virgin Mobile, $35 for 300 minutes, unlimited data and text. They use Sprint's network, which in my case means I barely have a signal at my house, but it doesn't matter because at home all my in/out calls are over WiFi with the Groove IP app. Also any direction I drive away from my house, the Sprint signal only gets better, so I can continue to send and receive calls over the data network, again not using any of my paltry minutes. And we only have 3G here so I imagine it'd work even better for the more urban types. I understand dudes have been doing this sort of thing for awhile but to me it's a fuckin' revelation.

Also T-Mobile is offering a $30 plan, 100 minutes, unlimited data and text on any of their Androids but it's some kind of weird partnership with Wal*mart.

[YojimboMonkey]

Somebody recommend me a phone.

My company has been merged into another company and I have to get a new phone and start paying for it myself, but I will get up to $100/mo. reimbursed. I had been using Windows phones because of the type of work that I do, but the new company's email system is Google based, and Windows Phone 7 basically breaks everything that I do work-wise with my phone anyway apart from email, so I'm looking at either an Android phone or (unlikely unless there's a good case to be made) an iPhone. My current provider is T-Mobile but I can go with pretty much any provider I want. 

So I know that's not a whole lot to go on, but is there a phone/plan you think would work for me?

[Chet]

i have the HTC Sensation (it runs android os) and it is awesome. I believe there is a newer version called the Sensation XE.

[YojimboMonkey]

I guess I've had pretty good luck with HTC phones, or maybe not, mine has been falling apart for a couple of years now. Anybody have any suggestions? Or Android vs. iPhone commentary? Or carrier suggestions? Or any input? fuck looking for a phone anyway, they're all either fucking useless or too expensive

[Thermofusion]

I have the Samsung Galaxy S2 and I can't really tell much of a difference from my first Android (an LG something or other), besides than it being a little lighter and faster. But it's a good phone if you wanna go the Android route.

[YojimboMonkey]

SGS2 has been looking pretty good this afternoon as I've been researching the possibilities. How long have you had it? Does anything about it piss you off?

[Thermofusion]

I've had it about a month, no serious complaints. I have the Sprint version, rooted and running on Virgin Mobile to get the $35 plan. The AT&T version has a slightly smaller screen but I'm not sure how else it's different. It is super light. I like it!

[YojimboMonkey]

new phone is on my desk, charging. it's pretty.

[jm]

What did you end up getting? Anything in particular you especially like about it?

[YojimboMonkey]

well I haven't really done anything with it yet, though it should be activated any minute now. it's the sgs2 mentioned previously, I went with sprint because t-mobile were assholes to me, it's got a huge screen and I figure the functionality I need that isn't built in, I'll be able to get because of the huge android app pool. also my work email and a lot of my personal email is all on google apps now so I figured an android phone would be good for that. i dunno. it's pretty.

[YojimboMonkey]

it's pretty.

pretty awesome

[Thermofusion]

LOL I just got robo'called with a message saying my excessive data usage is "adversely impacting the network." According to 3G watchdog I've used just under 3 GB this billing cycle. This is on an "unlimited" data plan. At the end of the message it gave me a number to call so I can speak to a data usage counselor or something. I'm not even mad, this shit's funny. I'm gonna call the guy just to troll him.