[LincAg]

Well I can't find this anywhere though I'm sure its been debated before but here we go!

I am getting my first 8703e next month through my company and trying to decide between the sprint and verizon service. Cost is not an issue. Here's my deciding factors. Can you please help with personal experience? (Cingular is out b/c of data speed & tethering ability)

- Coverage in Texas and the midwest
- GPS ability
- Wireless data speed, especially when tethered to laptop
- Clarity
- Advanced features (any plus' over one carriers service vs. the other)
- Support
- anything else.

Who's the best in the CDMA arena for these devices? Thanks for the help.

[Texas_Traveler]

Where in Texas are you concerned about coverage? I am wondering if you have ruled out Cingular too quickly.

If you need coverage in the major Cities, Cingular has UMTS which should be fast enough. If you need coverage in rural areas, Cingular has at least EDGE in many places where all you are going to get is analog (i.e. no digitial) with Sprint & Verizon. I've done lots of traveling in rural Texas in the last two months and had coverage EVERYWHERE I've gone including fantastic destinations like Pawnee and Rising Star, Texas.

I believe you can tether with Cingular with an expensive data plan (not sure about that).

No GPS on Cingular. That might be a deal killer.

Good luck!

[ndirish2001]

Originally Posted by Texas_Traveler

Where in Texas are you concerned about coverage? I am wondering if you have ruled out Cingular too quickly.

If you need coverage in the major Cities, Cingular has UMTS which should be fast enough. If you need coverage in rural areas, Cingular has at least EDGE in many places where all you are going to get is analog (i.e. no digitial) with Sprint & Verizon. I've done lots of traveling in rural Texas in the last two months and had coverage EVERYWHERE I've gone including fantastic destinations like Pawnee and Rising Star, Texas.

I believe you can tether with Cingular with an expensive data plan (not sure about that).

No GPS on Cingular. That might be a deal killer.

Good luck!

Cingular's current Blackberries are only EDGE/GPRS capable. Therefore, the OP would not benefit from Cingular's nascent UMTS network.

[coreyg510]

While I am a Cingular employee and therefor root for Cingular on a professional level, I also like it on a personal level (I have a personal phone via Cingular). I really dont like either of the choices on this poll, but out of the two, Verizon is the better choice. Sprint just has no idea what the hell they are doing right now.

[FroogleThis]

I have not used a Blackberry on Sprint's network, but I did have two 'top-of-the-line' (haha) phones from them that I bought September 15 2006. I cancelled Sprint 2 weeks later and went to Cingular because Sprint's network is severely overpriced, and most importantly, I have never had such unreliable, disgustingly dissapointing service in the 8 years of Cell Phone ownership. My company goes through Verizon, and I had a BB (7250) with them, and when I tested the Tether feature, it was comparable to dial-up with full service.

BUT, if Cingular is absolutely out of the question (which would be for me if I HAD to pay the $75/mo tether fee), Verizon is what I would suggest.

Best of luck!

[seaneboyee]

I initially went with Verizon and their 8703e at the first day of it's release and then tried Sprint's 8703e on the first day of it's release and I switched back over to Sprint because Verizon's EV-DO isn't available in Hawaii yet and their plans are overpriced compared to Sprint. I was also very pleased that my cell phone worked during the huge earthquake last week Sunday. The GPS on Sprint's 8703e works very well too!

[LincAg]

Our IT says they aren't going to support tethering on Cingular because everything times out on the blackberry and there's no sign of the speed improving anytime soon.

I'm leaning towards Verizon but sure like the idea of having built in GPS on the sprint and the coverage maps look about the same.

[LincAg]

Originally Posted by seaneboyee

I initially went with Verizon and their 8703e at the first day of it's release and then tried Sprint's 8703e on the first day of it's release and I switched back over to Sprint because Verizon's EV-DO isn't available in Hawaii yet and their plans are overpriced compared to Sprint. I was also very pleased that my cell phone worked during the huge earthquake last week Sunday. The GPS on Sprint's 8703e works very well too!

Is Sprint's data network comparable to EV-DO in speed?

[Dubdub]

Originally Posted by LincAg

Well I can't find this anywhere though I'm sure its been debated before but here we go!

I am getting my first 8703e next month through my company and trying to decide between the sprint and verizon service. Cost is not an issue. Here's my deciding factors. Can you please help with personal experience? (Cingular is out b/c of data speed & tethering ability)

- Coverage in Texas and the midwest
- GPS ability
- Wireless data speed, especially when tethered to laptop
- Clarity
- Advanced features (any plus' over one carriers service vs. the other)
- Support
- anything else.

Who's the best in the CDMA arena for these devices? Thanks for the help.

What will you be using the BB for? Do you do a lot of web surfing? Or is just email, contacts, calendar, etc. ? Will you beconnected to BES with your company? If so, that will most likely limit your options on surfing, etc.

Verizon has far better coverage in the CDMA arena than Sprint/Nextel. From talking to the people I know with Sprint, it is either a love it or hate it relationship, most hate it.

Have you checked out the coverage maps for both Sprint and Verizon that are posted on their sites and in their stores? That would probably be the best place to start.

I think you might be eliminating the GSM side (Cingular and T-Mobile) before really checking them out. Both Cingular and Verizon offer the best coverage, followed by T-Mo and then Sprint. If you intend to travel outside of the US then Verizon and Sprint will not work. You willneed one of the two GSM services and from what I have heard, T-Mo is probably better in that regard. Keep in mind that if the phone doesn't provide the service you need, then it really doesn't matter how cheap it is!

I have found the speed issue to be rather inconsequential. Using a handheld device, you aren't going to even come near the upload/download speeds of a PC. I have both a Cingular BB and a Verizon data card for my laptop. The Verizon card gives me broadband-like speed forthe laptop, but I have found that I really don't need something that fast on the BB. I use it for email, contacts,calendar, etc. and do some light web surfing. It works well for me.

[smelf2]

Sprint has more EVDO coverage than Verizon.

Taken From Sprint's Website:
Mobile Broadband service is currently available in 466 major U.S. airports coast-to-coast. Sprint now offers Mobile Broadband in more than 220 markets (cities with a population of 100k or more) - now covering more than 152 million people.


Taken From Verizon's Website:
Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess, powered by our high-speed wireless broadband network, is currently available in 181 major metropolitan areas covering over 148 million people and is expanding coast to coast. BroadbandAccess is also available in 72 primary airports in the U.S.

Plus the ability to use GPS on your phone is a real plus. Telenav is a great service to have.

[seaneboyee]

I have yet to test out the Sprint EV-DO coverage around the entire island of Oahu, Hawaii but where I work, we have a large antenna for Sprint and I get consistent speeds of 115.2kbps. I also get that speed at work. It really works well for my needs as I can VPN into my home and office network and pretty much do everything else. I was able to download Windows Server 2003 SP1 which is about 250MB in about 30 minutes.

[lmc0434]

I have my 8703 with verizon and am very happy with it. Verizon does not allow the use of GPS with their phone but other than that speed is great

[FroogleThis]

Originally Posted by smelf2

Plus the ability to use GPS on your phone is a real plus. Telenav is a great service to have.

I would just like to comment on that: 1st of all, TeleNav is an ADDITIONAL $10/month of use. 2nd, their customer support is lacking if you are within the first 30 days of getting the service. Lastly, from what I noticed, if you have ANY roof or cover over you (in some cases a car roof) you can pretty much count on NOT having the service ability.

This may be different on a per phone basis, but my own experiences were far from pleasant.

[BayshoreTommy]

Absoultely no comparison, Verizon just works, Sprint is a mess, had it for a couple years off and on and nothing but problems, i switched all of my BB users over to Verizon over a year ago and to date have never had any type of issue.

[jimmymac_nyc]

Verizon fo sho!

[tsac]

Verizon has better nationwide coverage

[arcadienne]

I use verizon, and I NEVER have coverage problems. I do live in a metro area, but when I was w/ sprint, I would have frequent places in the city where my signal was zero - one particular place was right NEXT DOOR to the Sprint/Nextel store! haha. pathetic.

[emccaff]

I've had Verizon. The coverage was good but didn't work in my office so I switched to T-Mobile. People I know with Sprint say the coverage is not very good. I'd vote Verizon.

[jdposhkus]

I switched from a 7100i at the launch of the 8703e (Sprint) I get to do the beta testing for our organization, I am inclined to disagree, based on my own experiences, I find that my berry on sprint has just as many bars and more often has better more sustained EV-DO than my RAZR on VZW.
I don't regret switching from IDEN to CDMA I have no issues with customer service, as I have a salesman who takes care of any issues for me. I send him an email and he takes care of the issue. I have no issues with telenav I used it for over a year on my 7100i it works equally well thus far on the 8703e
I think just the fact that VZW has the GPS locked out is a huge strike against the unit even it is on the "best" vox network...I hate the fact that to buy a 15 dollar accessory at a vzw store, you need to take a number and wait in like 3 lines, the whole new every 2 thing is the most stupid thing going...

just my .02...