I was an AT&T customer since way back in the days of McCaw Cellular (about 10 years), and was frustrated like the rest of us about the quality of coverage and sound on their system.

I was reluctant to change carriers as all the people whom I want to talk to had my old cell number with AT&T. I just figured sooner or later AT&T would get it's act together and better their coverage.

One day, I was walking through a mall and I saw the Kyocera SmartPhone. This seemed to be all that I was looking for, a Palm Pilot combined with a phone. I called AT&T and asked if they offered this phone on their system and they told me, no, they didn't and no, they weren't planning on offering it. You see, it's not as simple as just programming the phone to use on AT&T's system. The phone can only be used on systems that allow it.

In New York, you have basically two choices beyond AT&T. Verizon and Sprint. I have a friend with Sprint who is miserable, so I chose to take the plunge and go with Verizon. I had to change all my business cards and email or call everyone I know.

What you might want to do if you choose to change from another system is to change your calling plan to the lowest cost available on that system, then change your voicemail answering message to let people know you have a new number and you won't be checking this number. Within a month, you can disconnect your old service.

All that being said, how is Verizon? Well as far as coverage and clarity of calls is concerned, it is miles ahead of AT&T. I use my phone from Portland, Maine, to Pittsburgh, to Washington. I have used it on vacation all over California. While I used to drop about 30% of my calls on AT&T, I average 1 a MONTH on Verizon. It's night and day as far as that is concerned.

The call clarity is perfect, and the system never goes down. The only problem I have had recently was on Sept. 11, but that can be understood.

Now, the only problem I have had with Verizon is the in-store service. I had to take my SmartPhone back to get it repaired (my fault, I dropped it), and was told that they would get it back to me in 4 weeks. What this means is that I am without a Palm Pilot for 4 weeks. I can't access any of my phone numbers or my schedule. This is a major inconvenience for me, and I don't think it should take 4 weeks to fix a phone.

Besides that, I can't say enough about Verizon. They have the same calling plans as AT&T (if not more), at the same prices (if not better). I have the plan that allows for 2000 minutes at $200, no long-distance, no roaming. This is about what I had at AT&T.

If you don't roam, you can choose 3000 minutes.

Take my word for it, Verizon is the best of what's out there, and no one is even close.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 200