Thinking about getting the LG Optimus V....questions though!

1. I've never experienced any outages. Anywhere I've gone I've always had service and at least a 1x data connection in the middle of the desert.

2. Um.. It's unlimited data...

3. AT&T is the reason I switched to Virgin. I had nothing but problems with AT&T dropped calls galore and I couldn't even get service in my house. Plus they are way overpriced.

If you have coverage in your area, witch according to the map you do. I'd say go for the V or if you feel like waiting you can get the Motorola Triumph when it comes out next month.

There were some data issues over the past few months, but everything has been pretty good for the past month. VirginMobile/Sprint did some upgrades to their network, and that cause some temporary outages. This is to be expected during upgrades, and most people have reported better 3G speed/coverage since the upgrade.

If you are on campus with wifi almost everywere, you won't be using 3G much anyway. WiFi is soooo much faster than 3G.

I personally wouldn't go with AT&T, mainly due to their inferior network. Even the Spring/VirginMobile network seems more reliable.

The problem with any cell network is based on location you cannot go buy someone elses experiences in a different location,your best bet is to try before buy,i live 35 miles west of New York City,so i have no issues with coverage within my home area,the phone and text works flawless,but i have had data issues at times,if the coverage works in your area, VM is a no brainier,cannot beat the price.but do not take the opinions of someone who lives in bigger market.

Virgin Mobile is basically Sprint. And I have driven around rural Ohio, West Virginia, PA and only lost service once, briefly, in the mountains north of Wheeling WV.

If you're not spending a bunch of time in the backwoods, you should be fine. Sprint (and by extension, Virgin) have a tendency to underestimate their coverage maps vs. at&t and Verizon. The data drops were for a day or two here and there not long after they released the phone, was a network load issue with the new subscribers. Voice and text never went down, just data. As far as at&t goes, I'd stay away. My dad has it with work on a Captivate, data is faster, but it doesn't work as consistently and phone calls drop about every other time I call him. Plus, it's really expensive. Virgin and Boost (both owned by Sprint) have the best coverage of any of the prepaid carriers that offer smartphones with unlimited data. (Verizon has no-contract prepaid at a fairly competitive rate now, but the phones are all terrible)

What I meant is that AT&T has a horrible reputation for dropped calls.

I have to speak from experience on this comment.

I went from AT&T to VirginMobile (Sprint) because I liked the unlimited feature @ $25 and the fact that i had a nice smartphone.

Signal and quality depend on geographical area i'm convinced. If you are in or close to a Large Metro area, then you will have sufficient signal and good quality.

We have a sprint tower in 4 small towns here where I live. however, the antennas for Sprint share towers with AT&T and Verizon. they are only fed with a (1) T-1 line, this maximum throughput as far as data speed would be about 1.2mbps. Signal quality on the same tower is only good for about 9 miles away from the tower.

I experienced ALOT of dropped calls, I mean ALOT! My house is about 7 miles away from the tower, and I could barely make a call in my house (of course, I have a landline at home, so using the phone at home wasn't really necessary).....

What concerned me the most was the abillity to use the phone when I was out on a road trip (not necessarily on the interstate where there are scattered towers)......driving 50 miles from Nashville, TN to the small city where I live, I definately COULD NOT depend on this phone to serve me in case of an emergency. ZERO BARS 80% of the time.

So.....I heard about the THRIVE from AT&T...The almost exact phone as the Optimus V. In the same area, no less than 4 bars. As a matter of fact, the THRIVE isn't as battery hungry as the Optimus (and it has alot more pre-loaded crap).

Data Packages on the THRIVE, are of couse, a total joke! ANY DATA PACKAGE on AT&T is a joke (even on contract). I mean come-on
100MB of data for $15? But then again, WI-FI is available in more and more places these days. I tried the 100MB plan in case I needed to quick check email or need the GPS feature out on the road, and i've only used 30MB in 15 days.......the phone stays on wi-fi most of the time, and data stays OFF.

Calling minutes aren't that bad. I chose the 10 cent a minute talking plan.
I never used all of my minutes on the Optimus V (in fact, I always had 100+ minutes left).

SO, in comparing phones, there is basically no difference (they are both LG's Optimus---named differently).

BUT, you can't really call AT&T "crap" and "inferior". In my instance, I call Sprint "crap" and "inferior", only because of the coverage in rural and small towns. AT&T has just about coverage anywhere, Sprint is spotty.

So, in evaluating which carrier and phone you should go with sometimes some evaluation of coverage areas, and perhaps a "trial run" with that carrier. In the end, chose a carrier that gives you the best coverage.

The value in an "$25 unlimited text and data plan wtih 300 minutes" isn't much of a value unless its tower coverage is "GREAT" in your area.

JerryScript said:

If you are on campus with wifi almost everywere, you won't be using 3G much anyway. WiFi is soooo much faster than 3G.

I personally wouldn't go with AT&T, mainly due to their inferior network. Even the Spring/VirginMobile network seems more reliable.

Click to expand...

And Sprint's any better? All depends on where you're using the phone and the carrier's coverage.

I'd have to say Verizon and AT&T have the "better" coverage areas.

JerryScript said:

What I meant is that AT&T has a horrible reputation for dropped calls.

Click to expand...

that's the only way to evaluate if you're thinking between two carriers.

Choose the one that best fits your needs and has the BEST coverage.

In my case, the AT&T THRIVE has "great" coverage, but a "crap" data plan (but wi-fi makes up for that), and the 10 cent a minute plan suits me. (and never a dropped call).

Most retailers have a 30 day return policy, you can take the one back that gives you less than satisfactory results, and the most you'd have lost is a little time for trial and error, and maybe $25 for a trial month.

pierretong said:

hmm alright sounds like I will have to do a trial run with both phones once I get to my college and see which one is the best. Thanks for the opinions! (any other thoughts would be appreciated)

Click to expand...

Perhaps the thousands of articles, blogs, consumer complaints, and general knowledge of AT&T dropping calls is the biggest hoax in recent history then?

Read up on why iphone users wanted an option other than AT&T, you will find the main complaint is dropped calls.

I never once mentioned coverage

Take 100 people.....Each person will have a different experience and a different opinion!

I chose the THRIVE over the OPTIMUS V because it just simply worked better for me.

JerryScript said:

Perhaps the thousands of articles, blogs, consumer complaints, and general knowledge of AT&T dropping calls is the biggest hoax in recent history then?

Read up on why iphone users wanted an option other than AT&T, you will find the main complaint is dropped calls.

I never once mentioned coverage

Click to expand...

JerryScript said:

Perhaps the thousands of articles, blogs, consumer complaints, and general knowledge of AT&T dropping calls is the biggest hoax in recent history then?

Read up on why iphone users wanted an option other than AT&T, you will find the main complaint is dropped calls.

I never once mentioned coverage

Click to expand...

AT&T is by far a ripoff, but where i live all cell providers service is excellent,so like Greg said it is all about location,use what works best.so to say AT&T sucks for everyone holds no truth otherwise they would be out of business.

for low frustration level, try this phone: John's Phone | The World's Simplest Cell Phone

at least you won't take time from your studies messing with texts

seriously, i would recommend the virgin mobile. since there is no contract, you can try it see if it meets your needs. if not, ebay the phone and try something new.

btw, i went from verizon to virgin simply because i wanted a smart phone but i am unwilling to pay $100/mo for it. i am happy with my virgin phone but i am an engineer and i have a lot of patience. after several tests and trials, i have come up with 'voodoo' that gives me fairly reliable 3g. btw, i have never had problems with texts, phone calls, wifi or bluetooth, just weird 3g connection issues.

my findings for the optimus v: don't install juice defender. i simply manage the radios myself. no widgets that mess with the 3g on/off. i only use the power control widget. my phone is not rooted. i only load one app at a time and test it for a few days.

3G watchdog should do that just fine. As far as the accusations about dropped calls, yes, it is a real problem with AT&T. And 100MB of data really isn't much at all, if you end up liking virgin, why not just keep it?

I've had my Optimus V activated for nearly a week. Phone & text features work fine, but no data as of yet. Sunday, a customer service at Assurance Wireless said the problem would be corrected within 72 business hours, rush ticket...NOT! I called today and they said 5-7 days. Not to mention they didn't put me on the plan I requested; VM unlimited text and data, 300 talk.

I had an iphone on AT&T's gophone service. I spent $60 a month in data (was around $80 if I used the phone or SMS). Now my kids have my iphone and I got the Optimus V. Don't miss the iphone or the bill.

EKRChicago said:

I've had my Optimus V activated for nearly a week. Phone & text features work fine, but no data as of yet. Sunday, a customer service at Assurance Wireless said the problem would be corrected within 72 business hours, rush ticket...NOT! I called today and they said 5-7 days. Not to mention they didn't put me on the plan I requested; VM unlimited text and data, 300 talk.

Click to expand...

Assurance Wireless is a bit of an odd one, it's run by Virgin Mobile, but has different plans and such. If you have an older phone, you could always just swap phones into a new Virgin account and port the number. AFAIK, there are no data-enabled plans from Assurance, sometimes reps get confused.

telepheedian said:

Assurance Wireless is a bit of an odd one, it's run by Virgin Mobile, but has different plans and such. If you have an older phone, you could always just swap phones into a new Virgin account and port the number. AFAIK, there are no data-enabled plans from Assurance, sometimes reps get confused.

Click to expand...

Right. To activate the data, you would have to change off the Assurance deal and onto a regular Virgin Mobile account.


ETA: wifi will probably work.

lou61166 said:

The problem with any cell network is based on location you cannot go buy someone elses experiences in a different location,your best bet is to try before buy,i live 35 miles west of New York City,so i have no issues with coverage within my home area,the phone and text works flawless,but i have had data issues at times,if the coverage works in your area, VM is a no brainier,cannot beat the price.but do not take the opinions of someone who lives in bigger market.

Click to expand...

Actually there is a way he possibly could TRY it... I bought mine @ Target after talking to that section's manager, and had explicitly asked him about their return policy, and he said just keep the receipt 90d to return. I also inquired about box/conditions/re-stocking apparently they don't do any of those extras but I'd just have to assume they wouldn't take a physically damaged phone back so better take GOOD care of it while "trying".

Also doesn't VM (or was it sprint?) have a coverage map thing where you enter a zip code and it gives a color coded map with their "official" signal coverage "quality" and 3G data coverage?

Thanks for the head's up! I am now on the REAL Virgin Mobile. They really do make you work to get that $25 plan!