Verizon vs Sprint? Plans/Phones Help please?

[HoneyGirl]

This thread is a repost, was suggested I post in this forum instead.

I'm a college student who is currently on my family's family plan with verizon. We have four lines on our family plan with 1400 shared minutes, unlimited texting, free nights and weekends. My mother and father use the LG touch (not sure if they are paying for data currently) and my brother and i have the alias 2. My mother thinks its a bit pricey and can't decide if she wants to stay with verizon or pick up and go elsewhere. From what I can tell from searching around Sprint seems to be the next best thing to verizon, especially price wise. I am however weary of sprint's smartphone/android phone quality. I have heard the HTC evo 4g is on par with the HTC thunderbolt and of course the evo 3d is coming out within the week, but im having trouble finding out what the cost difference would be between the two companies.

Also, I was considering breaking off from the family plan if she takes too long deciding and picking up my own plan. I saw that verizon is offering the HTC thunderbolt amongst others for free on monday so long as you pick up a 2 year long contract with it. I think this is very tempting..however, with studentrates.com they have a promo going where if you buy the HTC evo you get..

Mail-in Rebate - $(100.00)
$50.00 Account Credit - $(50.00)
StudentRate Rebate - $(25.00)
HTC Rebate through StudentRate* - $(20.00)
Free Car Charger - $(35.00)

Also the activation fee and shipping fee are waived.

So i'm having a lot of trouble deciding what to do. Im a college student with a pretty limited income and only really want unlimited texting, free nights and weekends, at least 450-500 minutes and unlimited data package while nabbing one of the best phones out there at the moment so in a year from now i wont be too far behind in smartphone tech.

I know thats a bundle of questions and comparisons, so anyone who is familiar with this game can see why my head is spinning trying to figure it out.

 

[ninja_reject]

Your first worry should be who has good service in your area, your parents house, your school, whatever. I would stay with the family plan if I were you. Much, much cheaper. Verizon doesn't seem to have unlimited texting. They have three bundles, the best being 5000 texts plus unlimited Verizon to Verizon calling for $20. The cheapest 450 minute package with unlimited data, and that texting plan, is $90 a month, plus taxes and surcharges. So no less than $100 a month. By the second month, after your student rebates are gone, I think you might start to regret a Verizon individual plan.
Sprint individual plans are better, 450 minutes, unlimited texting and web for 69.99 a month, plus $10 monthly fee for having a smartphone. If you think you can handle it, go for it.

 

[vnyislesv]

I don't care what phone you use or your plan, Sprints network is so far behind Verizon it might as well call itself, Boost Mobile. Oh wait...

 

[2strokenut]

I don't care what phone you use or your plan, Sprints network is so far behind Verizon it might as well call itself, Boost Mobile. Oh wait...

Lol. If you only knew what you actually talking about

 

[ElasticNinja]

Carrier fanboys
*sigh*

 

[mak916]

You should, as was pointed out above, find which service is best in your area. In many places Sprint and Verizon are pretty much equal. When it comes to roaming, Sprint roams on Verizon for free. All I have to say is do a little homework. See which direction each network is going. But if your looking to get the most out of your money, go with Sprint.

 

[HoneyGirl]

I think verizon may be a little bit better, but probably not by much. I think the big difference in my area (Boston) is probably verizon has faster download speeds but i doubt that really matters much. Thanks for the tips.

 

[ArmageddonX]

I agree it totally depends on your area. Where I currently live Verizon is king; but if you go 20 miles east there is little or no signal but Sprint coverage is amazing. AT&T in my entire city is really poor.