So I was super excited to pick up the new Blackberry 8800 yesterday. I jump back and forth between Cingular and Verizon often...had the bb8700c on cingular and now i'm using the 8703e on Verizon. Basically I switch to Cingular for the new phone, then when it gets to Verizon I switch back because they have better service. Until today it was a never ending cycle.

I got the BB 8800 yesterday afternoon and was super psyched about it, but ran into a problem this time. My 8703e on Verizon is just TOO GOOD. It does everything I could ever want, never has a problem, and gets perfect service everywhere. While the 8800 is a nice phone, it just doesn't offer enough over the 8703e to be able to put up with the worse service. The deal breaker is that the Cingular phone can not make or receive calls from my livingroom (where I spend a huge majority of my time) and the Verizon gets full service.

Anyway, that's my story. The 8800 is going back to the store today and I'll just have to wait until VZW can put something new out.

every carrier has pockets of dead spots where no signal will come through.

If you never leave the USA, then Verizon is probably the best choice but if you travel abroad, Cingular is best. I know a lot of people here use t-mobile but even their phones work abroad, their coverage is not as good as Cingular's (at any price IMO).

What a joke!

Why do you say that Cingular does not Cut It! ?

YOU are the one who live in the wrong place! <vbg>

ALL carriers, including your Verizon has places that are not covered.

You already indicated that you knew that Cingular did not have good service in your house and yet you went and got the phone with Cingular service anyway!

Yep, what a joke!

As far as your current phone, keep it! The 8800 is not for everyone and there is quite a choice for Blackberrys now!

T-Mobiles coverage is smaller compaired to Cingulars, however their pricing is better. Kind of a trade off.

T-Mobile however is much larger internationally than than Cingular esp in Europe becuase Deutsche Telekom.

You switch between the two so Cingular must have worked before in your living room right? If it didn't, why would you consider purchasing this device then?

An 8800 version for Verizon will be out later this year, you can try that one out.

You should use a carrier that works around your life, not because it is the only carrier that has a shiny new "it" device...

I can already see some MAC users are going to be very disappointed with the iPhone for Cingular with its dead spots ("I switched to Cingular for this phone and I can't use it now because of no service"). Some people just never learn.

Gotta agree with everyone on this one. Cingular and Sprint are the only two carriers that I get a signal with in my house. Everytime a cool phone comes out on T-Mo or Verizon, I check their website coverage locator to see if they've improved service in my area and that's my reality check.

Ansiously waiting for Sprint's 88xx, while cingular gets the good bb's first, no way EDGE compares to EVDO..plus call quality on sprint (cdma) is way better at least in CO. Was with Cingular for 5 years, 4 of them a bb user, did not know what I was missing until I tried.

I'm with this guy. I currently have the 8800, but anxiously await my Sprint 8703e. Every time I switch back from Sprint to Cingular and get reminded how good Sprint's call quality sounds (at least where I use it in Denver).

I'll have no regrets going back to the 8700 series (as long as I get it on Sprint). I get the GPS and I get to use it as a Blackberry and modem for less money than Cingular wants for just Blackberry service.

If you look in the OS thread, I think I saw Sprint in the .alx

i really like the 8800 interface though. i guess i'm going to stick it out for another week or two and see if i get used to the few dead spots.

Yes Stinsonddog..I did see it, got preety excited about it!
But then, you know how CDMA providers are...maybe the end of the year..AHHH!
But hey, I'm preety happy with my 8703 and the ability to use as a modem with no issues or extra settings plus EVDO.

Plus Sprint's coverage in the ski rsorts is waaaayyyy better than Cingular's
And for your info..its gal, lady , girl or whatever..not guy..

You've actually compared browsing on EDGE and EVDO Blackberries side-by-side?

Yes, when openning home page, preety much the same, after that, no comparison, I tested numerous times openning delta.com.
Tethering, NOOOOO comparison, EDGE=28.8k modem

Wouldn't take much, would it?

Another option would be to unlock the 8800 and try T-Mobile in your house. I had VERY good luck with T-Mobile when out and about (however it had the same problem at my house with a signal that dropped in the corners of my kitchen) -- but everyone's location is different.

Also, do NOT forget if you are new to sprint -- you can use sprint.com/sero to get a $30/500 minute plan. While this works best for non-BB phones (because the plan includes unlimited EVDO but NOT BB data) -- I find Sprint tremendous to get special deals. I had them provision my line for 6pm NW, 500 Text and they just gave me $100 instead of mailing in a Q rebate I was not eligible for.