Cell Phone Advice

I am looking to buy a new phone for the wife and myself...Currently we have SprintPCS. I am not overly thrilled with the service and the phones tend to work poorly in places like target or walmart or any large buildings with metal roofs (from what I understand metal roofs can be normal interference but I see plenty of people walking around talking on their phones without a problem).

Any suggestions? Anyone happy with their phone or service? I am also looking for a family plan service for just two phones....the ones I have come across require a third phone. What type of phones do you guys use? Any specific company you recommend?

thanks

I've got cingular right now and I've generally been pretty happy with it, no major problems and I seem to get a signal most everywhere.

I had nextel for 2 years and I had nothing but very poor customer service experiences with them. My phones got shut off repeatedly for no reason, and when I tried to close the account it was a huge pain in the ass.

I've had Verizon for 5 years, very happy with the service etc, try http://www.consumer.gov/Tech.htm for a few tips.

I had sprint for about 2 years and HATED IT, it sucked.

Right now I have TMobile, and am happy with it. All my friends have phones too, and Cingular has gotten mixed reviews, but I have never owned one, so I'd take matty's advice on them over mine.

My one friend has Nextel, which is very cool if alot of your friends have it because you can do the walkie talkie thing, but I hear it is more expensive because of that, so its generally not worth it if you cant use that feature.

Verizon is by far where I hear the most good things. I havent heard any complaints conering verizon, so that might be your best bet.

I defintley can understand getting away from Sprint though, they screwed me over so many times for generally crappy phone service.

DONT GET NEXTEL! It's expensive and the service is generally bad. Not to mention the phones, though they are slimming, are often bulkier than most carriers.

Sprint and Nextel just merged, so from what we've heard here...


STAY AWAY FROM SPRINT/ NEXTEL

Thanks for the tips guys...at least i have narrowed it down to cingular and verizon. it makes it easier when you can get cnsumer opinions. thanks

Consumer reports rates Verizon as the best, Nextel as the worst

your best bet is to use both Verizon's and Cingular's trials and see which one suits you best...or, talk to people who have used one or the other...

here in the DC area, i've had Verizon for almost 5 years, CS is great, network coverage is great...my only complaint is the way they structure other items (TXT, Web, etc)...it's already one of the more expensive selections (especially if you have more than one line), and i would like to see more things in the package...