UPDATED LINK For Full Story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2003Sep27.html



"PDA Man" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> washingtonpost.com
> Focus on the Big Picture: Where the Phone Works
>
>
> By Rob Pegoraro
>
> Sunday, September 28, 2003; Page F01
>
>
> Getting a cell phone should be simple.
>
> But competitive markets that run on rapidly evolving technologies rarely
> are. Picking a wireless-phone service demands a lot of homework, between
the
> fine-print-laden price plans, the varied coverage areas and all the
add-ons
> packaged with voice service, such as text messaging and Web access.
>
> It's easy to focus on the one thing you can instinctively grasp: the phone
> itself. But that's a mistake. A cell phone's job is to let you talk to
> people, not take pictures or play MP3s. And that happens only where the
> phone gets a clear signal.
>
> The most important thing to gawk at in a wireless carrier's brochure or on
> its Web site is not the catalogue of phones. Nor is it even the price
plans.
> Instead, inspect the coverage maps -- both of them.
>
> First, eyeball the map of the Washington area to see the carrier's digital
> reach. None of the six firms doing business here (AT&T Wireless, Cingular
> Wireless, Nextel, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless) cover all
> of it. Cingular leaves out the Eastern Shore, Verizon hits a wall west of
> the Blue Ridge, AT&T omits a generous chunk of Charles County, and so on.
> (Don't forget to ask neighbors and co-workers which services they like.)
>
> Then look at the carrier's nationwide map. You'll see immense gaps that
may
> overlap the roads you take and the places they lead you to, whether it's a
> college, a beach house or Grandma's house.
>
> The second issue to ponder is a wireless carrier's digital dialect. Four
> technologies are in use: CDMA ("Code Division Multiple Access," offered by
> Sprint and Verizon), GSM ("Global System for Mobile communication,"
offered
> by AT&T, T-Mobile and soon Cingular), iDEN (Nextel's "Integrated Digital
> Enhanced Network"), and TDMA ("Time Division Multiple Access," sold by
AT&T
> and Cingular).
>
> I've written before that, since these standards all provide about the same
> voice quality, the differences among them don't matter. That's no longer
> true.
>
> Rest of Full Story http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/w...anguage=printer
>
> Vist my new WEBSITE for PALM/PDA Users http://PalmPlace.blogspot.com WIN A
> FREE ALUMINUM PALM /CLIE CASE . Ends Midnite on Tuesday
>
>
>

---

› See More: UPDATED LINK For Full Story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2003Sep27.html



"PDA Man" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> washingtonpost.com
> Focus on the Big Picture: Where the Phone Works
>
>
> By Rob Pegoraro
>
> Sunday, September 28, 2003; Page F01
>
>
> Getting a cell phone should be simple.
>
> But competitive markets that run on rapidly evolving technologies rarely
> are. Picking a wireless-phone service demands a lot of homework, between
the
> fine-print-laden price plans, the varied coverage areas and all the
add-ons
> packaged with voice service, such as text messaging and Web access.
>
> It's easy to focus on the one thing you can instinctively grasp: the phone
> itself. But that's a mistake. A cell phone's job is to let you talk to
> people, not take pictures or play MP3s. And that happens only where the
> phone gets a clear signal.
>
> The most important thing to gawk at in a wireless carrier's brochure or on
> its Web site is not the catalogue of phones. Nor is it even the price
plans.
> Instead, inspect the coverage maps -- both of them.
>
> First, eyeball the map of the Washington area to see the carrier's digital
> reach. None of the six firms doing business here (AT&T Wireless, Cingular
> Wireless, Nextel, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless) cover all
> of it. Cingular leaves out the Eastern Shore, Verizon hits a wall west of
> the Blue Ridge, AT&T omits a generous chunk of Charles County, and so on.
> (Don't forget to ask neighbors and co-workers which services they like.)
>
> Then look at the carrier's nationwide map. You'll see immense gaps that
may
> overlap the roads you take and the places they lead you to, whether it's a
> college, a beach house or Grandma's house.
>
> The second issue to ponder is a wireless carrier's digital dialect. Four
> technologies are in use: CDMA ("Code Division Multiple Access," offered by
> Sprint and Verizon), GSM ("Global System for Mobile communication,"
offered
> by AT&T, T-Mobile and soon Cingular), iDEN (Nextel's "Integrated Digital
> Enhanced Network"), and TDMA ("Time Division Multiple Access," sold by
AT&T
> and Cingular).
>
> I've written before that, since these standards all provide about the same
> voice quality, the differences among them don't matter. That's no longer
> true.
>
> Rest of Full Story http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/w...anguage=printer
>
> Vist my new WEBSITE for PALM/PDA Users http://PalmPlace.blogspot.com WIN A
> FREE ALUMINUM PALM /CLIE CASE . Ends Midnite on Tuesday
>
>
>