I recently moved from So. Cal to the Bay Area. I was very happy with my service down there and had very good reception. I got my Nokia 5190 for free with the service. It's been a good phone and had good reception there. My fiance got a Nokia 3390 with Cingular service. There is no reception inside her house, she has to sit by the pool. Not the best way to use those unlimited minutes in November. My 5190 gets slightly better reception.

Also, with the new plans, we frequently miss each others' calls. I get System Busy a lot more than I ever did in So. Cal. The most annoying thing is that the voice mail notification sometimes arrives hours after she leaves voicemail.

I am going to get a new cell phone now, time to ditch the old 5190 for something smaller. I've been vacillating between Verizon and sticking with Cingular. I love the calling plans, and I love the fact that all of California is one home calling area. I even get good coverage all along the 5 fwy. On the other hand, I need good reception, that is ultimately the most important feature of a phone and service.

If you travel a lot within California, definitely get Cingular. Otherwise, I haven't made up my own mind. If I do go with Verizon, expect to see an update comparing the two.
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Update: 6/13/2003
Well, it's been a while since I reviewed this service. I decided to go with Verizon Wireless and my wife has stuck with her Cingular service. My Verizon Wireless phone has worked great in almost all areas where my wife's phone gives up. I went with a LG V111.

Cingular's free roaming in California wasn't a big deal once I went with Verizon's Regional Plan which gave me the whole West Coast.

On the other hand, Cingular seems to have resolved some of the other issues. Voicemail now seems to get through quickly enough. We don't get system busy as often.

On the whole I would go with Verizon, except for one glitch. Our apartment turned out to be the one place where I don't get a good Verizon signal. Still, I'm sticking with Verizon for now.

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 29