[muychingon]

Hello,

I have a Curve and I use ATT, however I have a friend who uses Sprint. I went to Radioshack to ask about the latest offerings from RIM on the Sprint network and the guy was pretty clueless.

Can anyone tell me how your experience with Sprint in the SoCal (specific to Orange County) was? Do you know what is the newest model blackberry that you can get with Sprint? and how does it compare to the Curve.

Thanks a lot for any feedback you can give me.

[dc/dc]

Amigo, consider searching prior to asking a question next time. Also, as you are asking an opinion question, you will get varied answers, so take all of them with a grain of salt.

Having said that, I would never buy a Sprint device again. Their service is basically garbage. If you choose to subject yourself to their crappy network, the newest device is the 8830. It is somewhat similar to the Curve, but there are plenty of differences. There are a lot of threads comparing the 88xx to the 83xx series devices.

[ArgonNJ]

Originally Posted by dc/dc

Amigo, consider searching prior to asking a question next time. Also, as you are asking an opinion question, you will get varied answers, so take all of them with a grain of salt.

Having said that, I would never buy a Sprint device again. Their service is basically garbage. If you choose to subject yourself to their crappy network, the newest device is the 8830. It is somewhat similar to the Curve, but there are plenty of differences. There are a lot of threads comparing the 88xx to the 83xx series devices.

Yeah, take his advice with a grain of salt. There is nothing wrong with Sprint's network, it is certainly as good as most and better then Tmobile any day of the week. Customer Service seems to be where most have a problem with Sprint. But to say that their network sucks, is less then genuine.

[koleary19067]

Dont live in Cal so I cant help you there
Lastest BB is the 8830

[careyana]

Agreed. Sprint service isn't as strong in some places as in others but I'd much rather use my sprint cell when I can versus CingAtt's network for my Blackberry cell.

[dc/dc]

Originally Posted by ArgonNJ

Yeah, take his advice with a grain of salt. There is nothing wrong with Sprint's network, it is certainly as good as most and better then Tmobile any day of the week. Customer Service seems to be where most have a problem with Sprint. But to say that their network sucks, is less then genuine.

Everywhere that I have taken Sprint, their network did in fact suck. I had a 7130e, and with both myself and Giselle having full signal, the call would drop intermittently. Usually during an important moment in the conversation when a call drop was bad.

Anyway, it's all opinion.

[dkf747]

My opiinion of Sprint's network is the same: it sucks.

[rambo47]

I tried Sprint for a short time in the NYC area and it was a horror show. I dropped them like a bad habbit and never looked back. I'm very happy (read: thrilled) with T-Mobile. If I were going with a CDMA carrier it would be Verizon.

[Naked Wife]

Wirelessly posted (NakedBerry: BlackBerry7520/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/103)

The 8830 is the latest Blackberry to hit Sprint and its comparable to the 8800 on AT&T. I've had Sprint ten years here in Texas and although the first two years were rough, I stuck with them for the price and because my usage back then wasn't so serious. Sprint has really improved in the past couple of years and many who bash them (not all) tried them long ago. Everyones opinion will differ, but coverage being equal I personally would pick Sprint for better pricing and faster data. AT&T does get all the new stuff first so if you're into having the newest device first, stick with ATT. Good luck!

[dc/dc]

Originally Posted by Naked Wife

Wirelessly posted (NakedBerry: BlackBerry7520/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/103)

The 8830 is the latest Blackberry to hit Sprint and its comparable to the 8800 on AT&T. I've had Sprint ten years here in Texas and although the first two years were rough, I stuck with them for the price and because my usage back then wasn't so serious. Sprint has really improved in the past couple of years and many who bash them (not all) tried them long ago. Everyones opinion will differ, but coverage being equal I personally would pick Sprint for better pricing and faster data. AT&T does get all the new stuff first so if you're into having the newest device first, stick with ATT. Good luck!

For the record, my last stint with Sprint was last summer with a 7130e and 7250.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by Naked Wife

Wirelessly posted (NakedBerry: BlackBerry7520/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/103)

Sprint has really improved in the past couple of years and many who bash them (not all) tried them long ago.

I'm using Sprin t right now, though not in Texas. I just took a trip from here to Michigan, and while it worked most of the time, it was difficult for my 8703e to stay at 1XEV (it's difficult everywhere I've gone with it actually) On T-Mobile EDGE or GPRS were very reliable.

[takeshi]

Originally Posted by muychingon

Do you know what is the newest model blackberry that you can get with Sprint? and how does it compare to the Curve.

You can find this info by visiting Sprint's web site and Blackberry.com. Use the latter to compare devices.

[AnthroMatt]

Sprint is just fine in Orange County.

[robertpetry]

Just my two cents, I travel all around the midwest, west and a little east (major cities). I have been on sprint and AT&T and I can guarantee the voice quality and data speeds are significantly better on Sprint. Period. And I almost never am without a signal.

That has been my consistent experience. Others apparently have had different experiences. I can't vouch for Verizon - I won't pay 30-40% more for the same thing.

I just moved from a Treo 700p to an 8830 and I love it. On Sprint.

[muychingon]

Thanks a lot for all the responses!

@ dc/dc
Thanks, yes I know to take this with a grain of salt, the responses so far are what I expected. I will do more research next time before asking, thanks! And thanks for all your other commentary.

@ArgonNJ, koleary19067, rambo47, dkf747
Thanks!

@careyana
Thanks, yeah I'm not very happy with AT&T's network, but the benefits of the Curve alone outweigh the issues with AT&T's network for me.

@Naked Wife
Thanks, yeah I am not planning on switching, this is for a friend. Yeah hopefully The companies like Sprint see the feedback and make improvements, it sounds like this has happened in the past 10 years with Sprint, in your area.

@takeshi
Yes, thanks. I took a look there first, but I don't like Sprint's site and I wanted to get opinions a little more than hard cold facts.

@AnthroMatt
Thanks! this is exactly what I was hoping for... except a few more.

Thanks to all of you for responding so far. It is greatly appreciated!

[muychingon]

Originally Posted by robertpetry

Just my two cents, I travel all around the midwest, west and a little east (major cities). I have been on sprint and AT&T and I can guarantee the voice quality and data speeds are significantly better on Sprint. Period. And I almost never am without a signal.

Cool, I did a quick non-scientific test just loading a few pages on a treo on the sprint network vs my curve on AT&T, and it was ridiculous how much faster the pages loaded in the Treo. Granted... they are two operating systems, and two different browsers... but as a quick subjective test, the results were not even in the same ballpark.

As far as the voice quality is concerned on my Curve, the quality is great so long as I have 2 bars or more. Anything below 2 bars I have to be super still or use my bluetooth headset while just leaving the phone in place. If I have less than 1 bar showing and I move the phone around (walking, switching positions etc) it chops up my call. On the Treo I tested, the call quality was as good, but it was as good with any kind of reception so long as the connection exists.

[robertpetry]

What I have found is that you either have signal or you don't with Sprint. If you don't it will cut out and either come back or die. On AT&T you get distortion and garbled speech (sounds like a robot or something) when the signal drops.

The Sprint signal in your area might not be as strong, but I think low signal is more usable on Sprint.

Again, just MHO

[muychingon]

Originally Posted by robertpetry

What I have found is that you either have signal or you don't with Sprint. If you don't it will cut out and either come back or die. On AT&T you get distortion and garbled speech (sounds like a robot or something) when the signal drops.

The Sprint signal in your area might not be as strong, but I think low signal is more usable on Sprint.

Again, just MHO

I agree. You're right about the speech though with AT&T, you get the whole Matrix effect.

[level9]

All comments about "such and such network sucks" are non-scientific, anecdotal comments. Meaning - that network might really suck in that person's area, but unless they live right next door to you, its tough to prove "it sucks everywhere!"

I have been on AT&T and Sprint, and both have "sucked" in different areas. The point is to find what works for you in the areas you will be in. Right now I am having fine reception with Sprint in most areas I go too, but I haven't been in every area across the country either.