Jumping Ship: Is T-Mo the way to go?

[TheCellularPhone]

I recently moved to Charlotte and I'm getting pretty fed up with Virgin Mobile overall. The customer service is horrible(outsourced, IMO). Coverage is fine except when I'm at home(which, for now, is where I am the most). It's pretty much non-existant except when I'm on the top floor and when I do get a few bars on the lower floors of the house, sometimes I get a "you are within range of a Sprint private network. Please move outside the network and try your call again" message. The only reason that keeps me from making the jump is the plan I have(1200 anytime minutes and unlimited everything else for $40/month). Seeing as it's this bad, Sprint is not an option(my brother has Sprint and has similar problems). AT&T has great coverage here, but I don't like their smartphone choices for Android phones, which is what I'm interested in(you pretty much HAVE to get the iPhone).

Anywho, I'm wondering if anyone in the Charlotte area has had a good experience as far as voice AND data coverage. I'm looking at getting either the myTouch 3G Slide(heard it was a good starter phone for first-time Android users) or the G2, but not sure if I'll have the cash to put down now(I live in South Charlotte if that helps). I love their plans, but I've heard mixed opinions on coverage from the research I've done online so far. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Telekom]

I recently moved to Charlotte and I'm getting pretty fed up with Virgin Mobile overall. The customer service is horrible(outsourced, IMO). Coverage is fine except when I'm at home(which, for now, is where I am the most). It's pretty much non-existant except when I'm on the top floor and when I do get a few bars on the lower floors of the house, sometimes I get a "you are within range of a Sprint private network. Please move outside the network and try your call again" message. The only reason that keeps me from making the jump is the plan I have(1200 anytime minutes and unlimited everything else for $40/month). Seeing as it's this bad, Sprint is not an option(my brother has Sprint and has similar problems). AT&T has great coverage here, but I don't like their smartphone choices for Android phones, which is what I'm interested in(you pretty much HAVE to get the iPhone).

Anywho, I'm wondering if anyone in the Charlotte area has had a good experience as far as voice AND data coverage. I'm looking at getting either the myTouch 3G Slide(heard it was a good starter phone for first-time Android users) or the G2, but not sure if I'll have the cash to put down now(I live in South Charlotte if that helps). I love their plans, but I've heard mixed opinions on coverage from the research I've done online so far. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I hope you're aware that saying "Charlotte" is at best vague. Reception conditions can vary wildly from one neighborhood to another. Reception may be very different in Uptown Charlotte vs. Myers Park, Dillworth or South Park. It all depends on where the nearest base station is to where the important places for you are.

[ComicalMoodyDan]

In general I've found that in the Carolina's Verizon and AT&T seem to have the best coverage. I would recommend against T-Mobile as they are the old SunCom network in the Carolina's which was neglected. T-Mobile has improved it but the network still leaves a lot to be desired.

[TheCellularPhone]

Just wanted to say thanks for all your help, guys. I did end up going with Verizon mainly for coverage and I got an awesome deal through a third party for setting up with them. Again, thanks so much.