Tikkabik

So I've spent the last few days with our new Verizon Wireless cell phones -- VX6000 models from LG -- and I can safely say that coverage is much better with these phones than it was with AT&T.

Much of what I've read of the difference between TDMA -- the networking standard our olde AT&T phones employed -- and CDMA, Verizon's system -- seems to be what the editor in chief of my magazine refers to "inside baseball." That is to say, interesting on a technical level, but not substantive when it comes to the actual user experience. So I don't expect that's the major reason why we're having better luck with the our new Verizon phones.

There's no question that the LG phones are infinitely better equipped than our two-year-old Nokias. But the proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating, and in general, the Verizon phones have been more reliable. Today I was out with my mother running a couple of errands -- she got a couple of phone calls on her AT&T Nokia phone that were no-go's. She couldn't understand what her callers were saying and they couldn't understand what she was saying. But we called them right back on my Verizon phone, and with one exception (a known dead spot that they're planning on building a tower at in the near future), it worked just fine.

I'm a relative neophyte when it comes to these newer phones, but from what I've been able to divine so far, I'm pretty much locked in to the licensed services for wallpapers, ringtones, games, and other content for these new phones through Verizon's "Get It Now" services. If anyone knows otherwise I'd really appreciate a heads up, because frankly, I'm finding it rather confusing.

One shortcoming, of course, is that I don't have any way of getting my contact information from my Mac to my phone, and this is a problem I was aware of before I committed to them, so I'm not surprised or particularly disappointed. I'm aware of at least one open-source option to get info from the Mac to the LG VX6000, however -- if anyone's familiar with any other ways to do this, please drop me a line and let me know.

So, lack of Bluetooth and iSync support notwithstanding, all told, I consider my switch to Verizon Wireless a good move and an excellent value -- I'm experiencing better network coverage, bought one phone for fairly short money and got the other for free, can share minutes with Bonnie so she's no longer on a comparatively expensive pay-for-minutes "Free2Go" plan, and can call other Verizon Wireless subscribers for free. We still have a few penalty-free days left to decide for sure whether we'll stay with them or move on to someone else, but barring any catastrophes, we'll probably stick with them.