Voice and Data at once...

[Ravenbrook]

I know that I can surf the net and talk on the phone just fine with AT&T on my iphone. But I'm sick of the iphone and I'm wanting to go Android. I've considered the Captivate and it looks like a great option. I also like the Droid X. I live in central Florida and I've noticed more and more dropped called with AT&T. My only issue is with the lack of voice and data at the same time with Verizon. I know I don't use it that often but there are a few times that I use an app while on a call that uses the net and with Verizon that won't be possible.

My question is to anyone who had AT&T and switched to Verizon, do you miss the ability to surf and talk at the same time? Am I making more of this than there really is?

 

[IOWA]

I know that I can surf the net and talk on the phone just fine with AT&T on my iphone. But I'm sick of the iphone and I'm wanting to go Android. I've considered the Captivate and it looks like a great option. I also like the Droid X. I live in central Florida and I've noticed more and more dropped called with AT&T. My only issue is with the lack of voice and data at the same time with Verizon. I know I don't use it that often but there are a few times that I use an app while on a call that uses the net and with Verizon that won't be possible.

My question is to anyone who had AT&T and switched to Verizon, do you miss the ability to surf and talk at the same time? Am I making more of this than there really is?

Did you know you can't even do this on the majority of ATT's network? Only while on 3G. EDGE = No Voice + Data. That being said, if your near wifi, you can use voice + data at the same time.

 

[Ravenbrook]

Where I live (Orlando) the 3G coverage is pretty good. And I spend the majority of my day out working in a vehicle so the wifi connection isn't a reliable option.

 

[takeshi]

My question is to anyone who had AT&T and switched to Verizon, do you miss the ability to surf and talk at the same time? Am I making more of this than there really is?

I made that switch but can't really comment as my former device was EDGE.

Seems like you should know if it's a deal breaker to you or not. A lot of people didn't seem to know it was an issue until at&t's marketing department told them it was. Even if there were others that switched from at&t to VZW it doesn't mean that their preferences are identical to yours.

Worst case, you have 30 days (IIRC -- double check with VZW) to cancel without ETF. Make the best use of those days.

 

[IOWA]

I made that switch but can't really comment as my former device was EDGE.

Seems like you should know if it's a deal breaker to you or not. A lot of people didn't seem to know it was an issue until at&t's marketing department told them it was. Even if there were others that switched from at&t to VZW it doesn't mean that their preferences are identical to yours.

Worst case, you have 30 days (IIRC -- double check with VZW) to cancel without ETF. Make the best use of those days.

Yeah I'm willing to bet 99% of people didn't even know about it until ATT made a "big deal" about it.

 

[UncleMike]

I've never been able to do voice and data at the same time, having bounced between Verizon, Sprint and Nextel for my entire wireless existence. Only a few times have I found myself on the phone and using an app that required data, which as stated above, works fine on Wifi.

My biggest (yet still small) concern with the lack of simultaneous voice and data is that if I'm on a call and ignore a 2nd incoming call, letting it go to voicemail (Google Voice), I won't know if the caller left voicemail or not until after I disconnect the original call. I think I could work around this with SMS notifications, but haven't bothered because it really isn't that big of a deal for me.

 

[Deleted User]

I've never been able to do voice and data at the same time, having bounced between Verizon, Sprint and Nextel for my entire wireless existence. Only a few times have I found myself on the phone and using an app that required data, which as stated above, works fine on Wifi.

My biggest (yet still small) concern with the lack of simultaneous voice and data is that if I'm on a call and ignore a 2nd incoming call, letting it go to voicemail (Google Voice), I won't know if the caller left voicemail or not until after I disconnect the original call. I think I could work around this with SMS notifications, but haven't bothered because it really isn't that big of a deal for me.

you're a GSM virgin. have you ever touched a simcard before?

 

[ari-free]

Seems like you should know if it's a deal breaker to you or not. A lot of people didn't seem to know it was an issue until at&t's marketing department told them it was.

It was kind of a joke when their flagship device was an iPhone with no multitasking vs multitasking android phones on Verizon. But now that they have captivate, they can claim they have the better multitasker.

 

[UncleMike]

you're a GSM virgin. have you ever touched a simcard before?

Only with my Nextel and Boost (I forgot about Boost) phones. It may have been possible to do voice and data at the same time on those phones, but the built-in browsers sucked, and it was impossible to run Opera Mini (J2ME) while on a call. So while data may have worked simulteniously with voice, the only things that could use it were background processes.

I actually liked the idea of being able to move the SIM and effectively change handsets on the fly. My primary phone (an i580) had a camera, and was not allowed in certain areas of military bases. In those situations I could easily change to my non-camera phone without the need to have a secondary phone number or active account.