Jack, Indeed my experience with Verizon has been excellent all along. The sales people were very nice and helpful(even switching faceplates for me at no charge) and the service has been phenomenal. I usually get 4 bars even without extending the antenna on my phone. Verizon seems to have incredible coverage in my area. It's good to know that if I decide FreeUp isn't cutting it that I'll be able to get the same great coverage and service with a post pay plan from Verizon.
I switched from AT&T Free2go to Verizon's FreeUP back in April and I have to say that it is the best decision I've made. Not only has Verizon been cheaper per minute, but getting the 200 off peak minutes with the $50 card is a major bonus. Plus I'm liking the fact that Verizon is nation-wide. One problem I had though was I originally got that Audiovox CDM-100...what a piece of crap! In 2 weeks it died. I ended up getting the Motorola V120c. It didn't cost me anything (I actually ended up getting $5 back) because of the warranty. But I really do love the V120c...it's a heck of a lot better than the Nokia 5165 I had with AT&T. JMHO. I'm quite happy now that I'm with Verizon.
perky, That audiovox phone looked like a POS plus it was only a dual mode so I opted to get a Kyocera 2135(luckily I got one with a black faceplate). I thought about the motorola 120 but ultimately I liked the menus on the Kyocera better. Overall though, it sounds like we've had similar experiences. My Nokia 5165 on ATT was terrible. A friend of mine has one using Cingular and it is very bad as well. Frequent echoes and delays while talking. Very poor call quality. My kyocera is much much better. I've been very happy with freeup and will definitely go with Verizon in the future for a rate plan should I need one.
I have a Nokia 5165 and I haven't had a problem with call quality on it so far. Most people can't even tell I am on a wireless phone when I am talking on it.