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Cell Phone Services--Cingular or Sprint?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by New Revelation, Sep 17, 2006.

  1. New Revelation

    New Revelation The Master Captain

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2006
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    Location:
    Liberty, TX
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    I've been out of the cell phone loop for quite a long time, as I am not cell-phone dependant. Right now I only have a prepaid wireless Tracfone right now that does well for me for occasional use. However, I think when my Prius comes in it will be a 2007 model and having ordered the package with BT capability, I would like to know some info on what phones with BT compatibility would work well with the Prius. I dont have alot of people to call so I am not too worried about the phonebook transferring ability at this time, but would be a plus feature to consider in the future case that I may use it.

    As for service, I want to go to a carrier that has decent nationwide service as far as reliable signal strength goes and not have to deal with dropped calls as much, especially when driving long distance road trips. I know here we have Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile as well as the other carriers, so I am curious as to what current models of the phones with BT capability is usable with the Prius. I know my sister uses Sprint, but I am not too big a fan of them though.

    I visited a Wal-Mart store a few weeks back and looked at some phones...almost all of them have BT capability, but whether they will work with the car remains to be seen. I am thinking that certain models may only work correctly with the car. And I never realized these phones have so many functions, having a camera phone, playing MP3 files and videos, and yet I have no use for any of those features. I have all seperate components to use those features, and they work alot better too. But then again, I seem to be the type of person that only looks for what I only need, and that's to simply use the phone to talk. Maybe its a teen thing. :unsure:

    Anyway I would like to make use of the handsfree function of the BT and be able to use it in the Prius...I'd figure it would be a cool feature to use. I also read about the BT headsets, but I don't know what those look like and how they work. I am familiar with Bluetooth but up till now I never really knew what their main function was.

    I have read some older threads here about the phones in searching but as we all know phone models change all the time as well as the services. I would like to know of the current stuff thats going on and phones that are currently in use. If anyone can help me with some info or point me to some sites where I can read more info, that would be great.

    I guess you can say that I sometimes still live in the 20th century when it comes to some things because I am still old fashioned on some things (and I am almost 30 years old) but it would be nice to try to enjoy the wonders of the 21st century. One main reason I am buying my Prius because I like technical computer-based stuff since I am technical and mechanicly-minded, and to be able to talk to people handsfree on the phone while driving seems quite awesome. :)
     
  2. dachshund

    dachshund New Member

    Joined:
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    I'm using Cingular, which works just fine. Every location is going to be a bit different, I imagine.

    I have successfully paired a Treo 650 and Nokia 6102 with the Prius. It seems that Bluetooth is reliable enough to connect devices. The only problems I have with the Treo is that it doesn't always connect, and it has such poor call quality as a phone, that I was motivated to switch to a regular phone. The Nokia has occasional digital noise, where a couple of words get mangled once in a while.

    I find that trying to read reviews of cell phones is tricky because others' experiences with phones is all over the map. Quality control seems to be a constant issue. The razor is real popular, but I've read lots of user reviews that say it's "junk". Same with the Nokia I'm using. :)
     
  3. Aviator

    Aviator Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2006
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    Location:
    Harlingen, Texas
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I'm a Sprint customer and I bought a new Katana phone made by Sanyo. This phone has excellent pairing characturistics with my Prius and I was able to upload my entire phone book in one operation. The sound and signal quality have been excellent as well.
     
  4. aaf709

    aaf709 Ravenpaw of ThunderClan

    Joined:
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    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    Lots of BT phones work with the Prius, but not every phone will give you the same features. On some the ring will come from the speakers, others won't. Some give Caller ID, others won't.

    I have an e815 which works well, but because I have Verizon, I can't send the phonebook (OOP is disabled on a Verizon phone). I got a T-mobile phone (Sony Ericsson T68i, which also works with Cingular) off eBay to use for the phonebook.
     
  5. dreichla

    dreichla New Member

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    Location:
    Connecticut
    I use Cingular and am not exactly happy with the service. It seems the reception has gotten progressively worse along areas in which I used to have Cingular service. I can't tell you how many calls have been dropped over the last few months (their big selling point on their commercials).

    I've heard Alltel is a good service since they piggyback on the major carrier's towers. Maybe I'll try them next.
     
  6. New Revelation

    New Revelation The Master Captain

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2006
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    Location:
    Liberty, TX
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    I used to have Alltel and it was ok, I havent experienced too many drops in service. My sister has Sprint and she always comments that her calls drop off alot of the time in different areas. I looked at the LetsTalk website and they have alot of phone models available depending on what service you plan to go with.

    I may check into Alltel again, and maybe Cingular.
     
  7. EddieF

    EddieF New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2006
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    Location:
    Kansas City
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I use Sprint and have the Samsung 920. Just uploaded my contacts to my new 2007. Works really well.
     
  8. Jeannie

    Jeannie Proud Prius Granny

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2006
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    Location:
    Central New Jersey
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    I have a Nokia 6102i from Cingular. I'm only an occasional cell phoone user and it works fine for me.

    I have a blue tooth headset, but I don't use a cell phone often enough for it to be worth it for me. I can see that they'd be a good idea, though, for someone who uses the cell phone a lot outside their car
     
  9. slipperytoast

    slipperytoast Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 16, 2005
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    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I have Cingular in NYC with a Sony Ericsson T637i. Good coverage, easy bluetooth integration with my '05 #6, never really had any problems.

    Recently I bought a Blackberry Pearl from T-Mobile, the only carrier that has it right now. It's a very good phone with great email features, but somewhat wonky bluetooth performance with the car. I think it's the phone and not the car because my SE works so well. The Pearl didn't pair with my Prius on the first or the second and third tries, on the fourth try it mysteriously paired with the car. The successful sequence of procedure is now fuzzy in my memory banks because I tried so many times. While it's paired the phone would somehow lose the bluetooth connection for about 10 seconds and reconnect again, this would go on the whold time and it's a real pain when someone calls during those 10 or so seconds and you thought it was connected so you're talking in the car but your caller only hears your faint voice in the background, and they can only be heard from the phone when you realize in time to put it to your ear. It was just one of the many issues I had with the phone, it also doesn't work with my Mac (yet, pocketmac supposedly is working on an update to officially support the phone, some peopel has gotten it to work on their Mac with the latest version of pocketmac but I don't consider that supported), and T-Mobile's coverage is just not as good as Cingular, yet, so I returned the phone before the 2 weeks return period.

    I've heard good things about the other Blackberries so I'm not giving up on them, I ordered a 7130e from Amazon last week, hopefully it will suit my needs better than the few-more-firmware-updates-before-it's-ready Pearl 8100.
     
  10. ST8

    ST8 New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2006
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    treo 650 from sprint. Works awesome. No problems. The prius bloototh works way better than my jabra or treo headsets.
     
  11. withersea

    withersea DNF is better than DNS

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2006
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    Location:
    TN
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I have Cingular with a Moto V557 and it works fine. I have one spot on my way home from work which will almost always drop calls. Funny since this is their big selling point. I never had dropped calls with Suncom, but their cutomer service was not very good and you really have to read the fine print in their contract.