Sprint PCS $35 for 1500 min/month with LD, 1 yr agreement

[KillaBee]

Sprint has so many wording discrepancies on their damn website.

Bones, I have a question. What does long distance really mean. On one part of the website it's defined as "Pay no domestic long-distance charges for calls made from anywhere on our nationwide network."

So here is my scenario. If my plan is based in the bay area and I go to Vegas or New York, can I make calls to anywhere and still not be charged long distance fees? Right now with my plan, if I leave the bay area and make calls back to there I get charged with 15 cents/min. Can't even hear my voicemail w/o paying the man 15, 30, 45...cents each time. If I upgrade to the new plan, can I go anywhere on the Sprint network and make calls w/o getting charged. Right now I usually just my friend call me back since incoming calls are free regardless of where you are.

Thanks for all the help Bones. Nice to know there is at least one person at Sprint who is smarter than a bag of dirt.

 

[SUOrangeman]

I have used Sprint PCS as my *home* service for over a year now in the Washington DC area. I recently jumped from 500 anytime + LD for $50 (no annual agreement) to 500 anytime + 500 N/W + LD for $50 (one-year agreement). I'm gonna hafta check on this new one for $2000, if I read things correctly.

-SUO

 

[TKE96]

Ok with the long distance stuff:
If you are on the SPRINT PCS DIGITAL NETWORK, meaning you have a signal on the digital spectrum(indicated by a bold D on your lcd display, you can call anywhere in the 48 states for just your minute charge. If you are on an analog roam, or digital roam off the Srint Network, then additional charges apply.

For example:
I went to Orlando FL. I made calls from there to NY for just my minutes subtracting from my plan. On the drive back, I went off the Sprint network(lack of coverage in the area I was in) and had to make a call, so I got charged the roaming fee to connect to someone elses network.

Otherwise all calls are the same on the SPRINT PCS DIGITAL NETWORK. Local=Long Distance(48 states)=Same charge

Hope this helped!

 

[Santa]

WHAT?!? TKE96 are you sure about losing the first incoming minute? Man I thought that was one of their key selling points and they are trying to take that away?

Surprising what a thread can do when a representative from that company starts posting in it. I noticed this thread has been blowing up my email for the past 2 days.

 

[TKE96]

Yeah it sucks about the first incoming minute part. I was surprised to hear that when the CSR told me this. She even offered to, and did, check my account to check to see how many times my 1st incoming minute was free to see how it would affect me.

 

[|mpeg|]

Well Sprint lied to me already they said it would ship friday night and recieve it saturday. I called last night they said it wont ship till monday, but they didn't even sound to shure.

hows sprint pcs in hawii specifically maui?

 

[Spindler]

a note on the no LD charges anywhere on the sprint pcs network.

it doesnt matter where you call or where you are in the united states as long as you get a "entering Sprint PCS area" screen on your phone, you will not get any additional charges other than using up the minutes in your monthly plan.

if you do not get the "entering Spring PCS area" , you will be roaming on another company's network and thus, have to pay for roaming charges.

just keep in mind, if you are in the los angeles and san diego area, there will be *many* areas where you will not be able to get a sprint pcs signal at all. its simply horrendous. pacbell and verizon is definitely a lot better.

 

[huey1124]

Spindler:

I read the posts on Anandtech and don't usually post replies, but in this case, I have to strongly disagree with you. I've been using SprintPCS for past 2 years (and I have used several other services since 1992), and I would say Sprint is excellent especially in California. I am in Los Angeles/San Diego area, and the coverage is so good that I no longer use long distance carrier from home phone. I go all over San Diego and Los Angeles area, especially on weekends, and I am almost never out of service area. This is same with San Jose and NYC when I travel. I remember from a post a while ago, someone said that it's not Sprint who is necessarily at fault, but it may be your phone. He said he went through 3 different brands of phones, before he found a phone that worked perfectly with SprintPCS. Luckily I didn't have to go through all that hassle, and my first phone (Sanyo) purchased with SprintPCS works perfectly. My girlfriend has Pacbell service with a Nokia phone, and I have much better coverage area than she does. And one thing that sucks about Pacbell: if you try to call a Pacbell PCS number during peak call times, you frequently receive messages that says that call did not go through. My gf is also annoyed at this, and she's considering switching over to Sprint.

I also have Sprint as my home LD carrier, and my $5.95 monthly fee is waived since I also have SprintPCS service. I used to use home LD whenver my minutes were about to run out (5 cents/minute anytime from home), but I no longer have to, thanks to this post.

 

[crazyRay]

For those of you who are ALREADY PCS customers, please note that if you switch to any of these plans, you will lose FIMF if you had it on your plan.

Without FIMF, your usgae may look much, much higher, which sometimes can negate the benefits of the promotional rate.

FIMF is First Incoming Minute Free.

 

[KillaBee]

Thanks everyone for the clarification.

Huey1124: I totally agree with you about Pacbell always being busy during rush hour. I think here in the bay area they totally oversold their capacity. I would say 80% of the people I know have Pacbell since they used to give you that free Nokia phone.

 

[kinkyboy702]

So, can anybody tell me the best phones to use on the sprintpcs network? Can somebody post like the best 3-5 phones that work well with sprint. Thanks!

 

[cgclausen]

Is it just me or are cellular phone providers giving you lots of off peak minutes and few anytime minutes. Personally I would rather have 500 anytime minutes than 250 anytime +1250 off peak. The only time they are really useful is on the weekend, and not all providers consider weekends &quot;off peak&quot;. It seems to me that they are just trying to make their plans look good &quot;1500&quot; minutes for 35.99 does look pretty good, but you won't come close to using 1250 off peak minutes, and could easily use up 250 anytime minutes. </RANT> Ok that enough ranting now. Just think if you are really going to use those off peak minutes.

 

[kinkyboy702]

i think most cellular phone providers do consider weekends as offpeak minutes. personally, i've never heard of offpeak minutes not including weekend minutes, but anyways, considering that i'm a student, i would usually use a phone only at night or during the weekend when i'm hanging out with my friends, so i don't think offpeak minutes are bad at all. of course anytime minutes are a lot better, but considering that i would use the phone more during the offpeak minutes makes me happy to know that i have so many.

 

[MyBuds]

I work in retail sales in a cell phone department, so I'm familiar with most plans and services. Despite near free employee plans with other providers, I've stuck with Srpint(I'm only 17, and not yet eligable for sprint's employee plan.) I do admit they have the WORST customer service that I have ever dealt with, although I've rarely had good experiences with the half dozen cell phone providers I've used. They scammed me out of over 100 dollars 2 months ago, offering me &quot;50 free minutes to ease my pain&quot; as the CSR put it. At that point I kept them only to keep my phone number.

But I do admit, as others have already, that their national coverage, rates, and features are far superior to any other provider. I don't have free long distance in my plan, but if I'm on vacation my friends can still call me, and no one is charged long distance. The rates are great, but I'll have to talk with my store's sprint sales rep about taking away the first minute free. And I love the wireless web. I can check the realtime balance of my Netbank account, see status of eb@y auctions, get movie times, driving directions, and email/IM on AOL.

Just talked to my rep and sprint is also doing away with free vanity numbers, charging something like 60 dollars to fulfill a request.

Overall this is a good deal. Just be prepared to deal with bad CSR, and the dropped calls that you'll get with any provider.

 

[|mpeg|]

hey if you respond to this thread do you mind leaving what phone you have with sprint or getting, just curious

 

[zuffy]

Got Samsung and used to have teh Motorola StarTac phones... both are excellent in service pickup and battery life.

 

[flot]

I too have to say I have dealt with some real &quot;winners&quot; when it comes to sprint PCS support... for that reason when I went to change plans on saturday, I went to the local Sprint PCS center. I tell the guy behind the counter how I want to change plans, etc, and he goes &quot;oh you don't want to do that.&quot; And I'm like &quot;Well you know I looked over my usage and I think I can get by with 250 daytime minutes&quot; and he's like &quot;nope, you go from 1000 anytime to 250/1250 and you'll be sorry.&quot; and I'm like &quot;LOOK, that's what I want to do.&quot; and he's like &quot;you know, you didn't have to come here. They do all this stuff over the phone.&quot;

And I look at him and I go &quot;well then what exactly do YOU do?&quot;

And he goes &quot;um... all the uh.. other stuff.&quot;

I would have yelled at his manager, but the employee was doing that anyway. Literally, yelling across the store &quot;Hey bob, uh, where's that 1500 minute plan in the system? I can't find it.&quot;

Anyway I think Mr. Personality got me switched over correctly... I did NOT have to change phone numbers... and yes the first incoming minute free was dropped I believe about 6-7 months ago.. I lost that when I switched from my 300 min to my 1000 min plan in july. Kind of sucks, because I like to forward my calls to my cell phone, which means every time I do it I get charged for a minute.

BUT despite all this - yes I'd still recommend sprint if their service works well in your area. (ie good reception) They really aren't out to screw you with the free long distance stuff, what they say is what you get. I've travelled in and out of Miami, Atlanta, New York, D.C., and use my phone all I want, no worries. And it has always worked well in those metro areas.

 

[saimike]

attn sprintpcs folks:

why doesnt sprintpcs offer the nokia 8260 like att? that phone is too cool ...

 

[BaseHead]

whoa, I just turned on my ericsson cf788 after 4 months of non usage/charging, its got its charge, I didnt expect dat , what do you guys think I should get for the San Diego area? im looking for something around 20$ not to chat but to coordinate while out.

 

[andrey]

hey flot, which URL do you go to check eBay from your phone ?

 

[hwho]

OK, here is my 2 cents on SPRINTPCS for the Bay Area. Down in SF, the service is great, i don't have any issues. But down in Silicon Valley, the service is iffy.. too many obstructions like the mountains and hills.. I use to live in Austin, and it was ok.. pockets here and there.. but nothing too bad.. The best coverage i noticed was in NYC. If you look at the coverage maps, the east coast has better coverage area than the west coast. I also have a GSM pacbell phone, and it is better in the valley, but it still drops calls. The deal with sprint is a pretty good deal.. i'm going to call and switch to it. The fact that Sprint doesn't roam in the major cities is a plus. I have to pay roaming charges with my pacbell if I leave CA or the NV calling areas. Which really bites!! I have had sprintpcs service for 2 years... it has gotten better... fyi, i don't work for sprint... this is just my experiences with them.

 

[BONES[MCK]]

Killabee:

I know the wording can be a puzzle in itself. Let's break it down. If you have a plan based on your local calling area specific to where you live and you call anywhere out of it, you will be charged $.15 a minute. Now if you travel to a another area out of that local calling area with a plan setup like this, you become local to THAT market. So what this means is that as long as you are calling FROM the area you're in TO the area you are in, that is just a local call and not long distance since you are not calling out. You become local wherever you go. Think of it as any phone call out of where you currently are will charge you that rate even if you check your voicemail.

If you have a service plan with Long Distance built into it, the rest is a moot point as you can call from anywhere on the Sprint PCS network to anywhere across the country, even places we don't cover yet. If you are getting a Sprint PCS signal, you are golden. If you phone is dual band, you have the ability to roam to analog and pay $.69 plus long distance a minute in-between areas of coverage or $.39 plus long distance a minute if you happen to be in a Sprint PCS coverage area and you are having trouble getting a signal. Make sure your phone is set to &quot;digital only&quot; and not &quot;Automatic,&quot; a phone specific menu option, as this keeps you from getting any surprises on your next statement since you will be aware of the type of calling you are doing. This helps increase your battery standby time as well. Hope this helps.

 

[BONES[MCK]]

We haven't had a Nokia product in our lineup since the 5170 and the 6185. While there are many stories circulating for the reasoning behind this, my overall understanding of it was that the quality of those products over time was &quot;up there&quot; with most of the other phones in our portfolio. Perhaps there will be an answer to that in the future. Those concerned with which of our phones are the best to get can take a look at the following. Here's what I personally recommend:

TouchPoint 1100
- Great single band &quot;StarTac-Like&quot; flip phone with a Caller ID window on the outside of the flip. Strong battery level and is capable of Digital Roaming the in few states that have something implemented. Agressive styling, compact, vibration, headset jack and easy-to-use scrolling menu system. Made by LG, a well-known PC/Cellular component manufacturer.

TouchPoint 2100
- Dual Band phone with vibration and a nice translucent purple/blue face and an integrated speakerphone. Easy menu system like the phone above. No headset jack though. Simple product that looks pretty cool.

Sanyo 4500
- Upgraded version of the 4000 model that gives it a face lift to a silver faceplate, integrated speakerphone, updated scheduler, calendar, Dual Band functionality, vibration, headset jack and an audible Caller ID announcement when the phone rings. This one is really pretty nice.

Motorola Talkabout
- Similar to the StarTac in its look with an improved keypad which is easier to dial, adjustable battery plate covers for colors and sports teams, Dual Band, vibration, headset jack and a belt clip. Solid performace for the athlectic types as it feels a bit rugged.

Motorola V Series
- Currently the smallest/lightest phone on the North American market at 2.9 ounces. I use this one personally and I love it. Includes Single Band functionality that convert to Digital Roaming in supported areas, Holographic screen to view it in any form of light, vibration, headset jack, and a belt clip. A little on the pricey side, but still a great choice.

Samsung 6100
- Was the smalled/lightest phone in our lineup until the V series showed up. I personally recommend Samsung products beginning at this model and up. Single Band, Voice Activated, animated menu system, vibration, headset jack, memo recorder, and calendar. Solid performer that is priced right.

Sansung 8500
- Dual Band flip phone similar to the StarTac that is pretty much a direct carbon copy to the 6100 with a larger screen and cross-key menu-driven system.

There's bound to be something here for just about everyone. Battery levels for each of these phones hoversin the 125 - 145 hour standby time range with about 2 1/2 - 3 hour talk times. Realistically you should be averaging about 75% of those totals since temperature and signal strength has a lot to do with this. Hope this helps.

 

[ajdowntown]

hey guys, just adding my humble opinion here...

for my money, sprint has been a great company, but now with this new promo, it will be an even better deal. I am gonna call tomorrow and see if I can get my plan upgraded. BTW, In my travels from boston to Philly to DC, and even rurual Virginia, I have had fairly good reception. I have run into very few places along the east coast that doesn't have good service.

I am using the samsung 3500, I think this is the coolest phone in the world.

Oh, has anyone found out if returing customers can get that free wireless web deal thrown in too? That would be way too cool if they did.

So, for a college student on a tight budget, this is definitely a HOT DEAL!!!

 

[crazyRay]

Click Here for locations of the Sprint PCS Towers!