Who actually uses analog?

When I travel to the boonies of Indiana analog is the only choice. It sounds OK if you arent moving so having analog is a big deal for me since I'm up there at least 3 times a year.

 

i live in nyc and when youre in the student lounge anolog is all we get

 

Have you ever been to Texas?

Verizon has the best coverage by far in Texas, but trust me it would be nothing without analog roaming. Analog Roaming is a must for Texans since there are not enough towers in Texas because it is such a big state. Just go look at the Verizon America's Choice All-Digital Plan, it is horrible! Would I be caught without analog capabilities? No way unless Verizon adds a lot more towers in Texas.

 

I too used analog in Indiana. Also, every single one of my calls where I worked last summer in northern Calif were analog. I have used quite a bit of analog in my day.

hee hee, this is my 1000th post!

 

Northern Michigan....analog or nothing, those are your options.

 

...also try driving to Lake Placid, NY....last time I was in that area I could only get analog.

 

Yeah right about people claiming to actually make calls in analog mode.

I'm in San Diego and I never go into analog because of the excellent coverage but if I do force my phone into it, 90% of the time the call won't even go through. And if it does happen to go through, the communication is so static, loud, unreliabe, and noisy that a conversation can't be held for more than 10 seconds! Not to mention that battery life is horandous in analog mode and that it is inherently unsecure because it is so easy to eavesdrop.

Let's move on people, analog is a technology of the 50s, it's 2003 and the world is in the digital age. Camcorders are digital, TVs now, Radios are becoming digital, just about everything.

It is time to put the nail on the coffin of analog and burry it once and for all!

 

We who live in the 21st century love to have all digital all the time. However here in the United States at least we have no choice but to use analog occasionally. You say lets give the analog a rest just because you never go to analog, but what can rest of us do when the phone goes into analog. We never force it, it just goes into analog. We would like to force it back to digital in those times but we can't. So don't tell us to give it a rest and treat us like we are some country bumpkin who enjoys having a phone that goes into analog. You are not the only person living in this world. Think of other people too. Have some compassion!

 

You missed my point, as always!! By any means, don't turn this into something of biblical proportions, I know it's Easter but this has nothing to do with compassion!

The whole point of that tirade was that it is pratically, just about impossible to hold a conversation in analog mode!

So how can people claim to be able to make calls in analog when I can't even hold a 10sec conversation due to the noises, the static, and the background hiss!?

 

I see the discussion on analog is getting personal and not technical so lets set the record straight.
I live in the Santa Monica mountains in Los Angeles. I get digital signals and analog signals. The towers in my area are "micro " and when they are overloaded, the analog signal kicks in. My phone seeks signals in digital or analog, whatever is available. If my phone was digital only, I would lose 20 to 30% of my calls. If you want digital service only, try America's Choice on Verizon (Check out the map for west coast) and you will see many areas are not covered. This lack of digital service and the fact that many digital towers use analog when overloaded, dictates my need for analog...like it or not.

 

Rafale,

You're coming across with the attitude of "why use analog people when it s@cks big time, it's time to jump into the digital age..." This should be directed at the carriers - 'cause they're the ones doing the upgrade! Of course people want digital service! Given a choice between digital and analog, of course I'm not gonna focrce my phone to analog service! There were several examples posted here such as analog service in remote regions like when you are driving to Lake Placid, NY. People want the insurance and comfort of being able to make urgent/important calls in remote regions if needed, not to carry hour long conversations!

Yes Analog has lots of static but is very usable in many areas. Perhaps you have a phone that has crappy analog service. Prior to digital service going many years ago, my friends had analog service. Not crystal clear by any means but we could at least carry on a conversation.

 

Rafale,

I have had digital calls that were much less clear than those in analog. This was rare, but digital isn't perfect. Only big problem I had with analog was that my phone (v60i at the time) got very hot while making calls because the battery was used to much quicker. Analog is nice in big mountainous areas too where a digital signal might not be as effective.

Where in SD are you? I had the great misfortune of growing up in El Cajon.

 

Hi.

Here in England when i first got my first cellphone in around 1995 analogue was all there was and it was ok
but wasnt so hot. It really depends on how well analogue is implimented in the country or by your network
provider.

It was installed in our country pretty strongly so it wasnt bad, not brilliant but was easily usable.

They did phase out analogue in the UK a few years back and now all you can get is Digital.

You`d think they`d do the same over in the US... mad!

 

Here in Northwestern Lower Michigan all I can get with my alltel is ANALOG. I hate it! Alltel needs to get their act together and convert their network. Otherwise in michigan there is digital coverage everywhere.

 

Mags, what about taking a nice 5 hour drive or so (including ferry ride) from Vermont over to Lake Placid? You would have complete digital coverage the whole way?

 

When I go north or on Highway 29 either to Greenbay or EAU CLAIRE im on ANALOG, thank god I have the $10/month roaming package but am switching to AMERICA plan soon that Sprint has raoming included at no additional charge or long distance anywa I have to use analog all the time when I go south or East or West in Wisconsin. Sprint is good when your in the network once you go out here comes Analog. My girlfriend just purchased a TRI-MODE Nokia 3585i and of what Ive seen I think its Digital roaming, therer is a D=Digital and then when run off sprint it has a R=Roaming then right below it it says ANALOG ROMAING, so is this ANALOG! I havent called Sprint to ask them about this yet, and I dont even know if Sprint has digital roaming agrements with other carriers in WISCONSIN. I cant say cant get the answers I want and I dont know how I can get those answers either, just want to know who is the digital roaming carriers in Wisconsin for SPRINT. I dont know this question belows here but sorry!

 

Bsilvertab, Cellular One of Northeast Michigan has CDMA. They are the A carrier I believe.
You guys, Analog can travel 20+ miles on flat ground, when digital can only do about 10 at the most.
Analog is great because it is the tried and true system. You get nearly perfect reception in areas where you only get one bar of digital. Analog is great.

 

One, I live in NorthWest Michigan. Two, Cellular One dobson it TDMA, nextel iden, NPI wireless GSM, Sprint CDMA, and Alltel ( TDMA because of old CenturyTel Equipment). Analog is nasty. I am plagued with horrid battery life and no features like text messaging and over the air PRL updates. Alltel needs to turn on their CDMA NOW because they have been pushing the CDMA phones since Sept! The coverage is fine in TDMA digital so it won't change to much when the CDMA is in effect, it hopefully will get better. Cellular One Dobson is the A carrier (sysid 1335) and Alltel is the B carrier (sisid 1336).

 

Ok, sorry about the East/West mix up...

 

I get analog signals frequently, sometimes even "No Service" if you're deep in a certain building. Particularly when I am in areas such as AZ and NV, sometimes all I get is an analog signal. But do I use it? Nope. For some reason, perhaps luck, I've never had to use my phone in those regions. So for Verizon users, the "A" probably shows up often but we either purposely don't use the phone when it's in analog mode or we just don't have a need to. Either way, analog is still worth its weight in gold. It's basically like our nation's 911 system.. I've only had to use it three times in my life but that doesn't mean I'd be alright with it being stripped away. You have people like a member with the name of "Rallykid" that make good use of analog.

 

I went off into analog once for 30 seconds but i didnt make a call.

I havent visited any other states with my cell phone and i really dont travel much outside of NY so i dont know how much analog appears in other areas, but since i dont travel much i really don't need it.

I understand the need for it by certain people living in other areas, and maybe thats why verizon has seprate release dates for the 530. I don't know if the dates are real but cali is suppose to get it may1st and desert region june 2 something like that lol sorry i forgot.



Rafale
How is it living in San Diego I hearnt its 80 all year round and beatiful. How are the women

 

Cingular, tmobile, and att all uses digital only. For a network as big as verizon to use analog seems to be a crime. I mean they have more cell tower than any provider and if they switched all of it, they will be even more stronger. Why don't they do it? I sure would like to have complete digital service from company with the most cell sites. I am sick of getting analog from verizon. Come on verizon get to it!

 

Huedae, Cingular and ATT both have their share of analog in their own 800 MHZ markets. I have used ATT analog in florida, and Cingular has analog here in wisconsin, and in MANY places where cingular bought the many ameritech's and cellular one's.

 

There are alot of places I get a signal w/ my VW phone and my brother gets no signal with his T-Mo phone.

When i was in central CT, I had to use analog or nothing...

There still places where it isn't cost effective to put up a digital tower right away.

That's like asking, "Why isn't everyone on broadband?" ANd it's not because it cost more. I know alot of ppl who would like bb, just isn't available...

 

Analong should be used for one reason and one reason only. If you are in car trouble flat tire call on your cellular phopne and no digital around to pick analog will be there it will pull a signial from no were to call 911 and analong would be used for that reason only. Then when we do roam it will be digital roaming. That I can see happening soon in every market of the each state. I persnally hate anlaong all together. It is just bad, bad, bad! I have used analong a few times, take about dropped calls. I can maybe hold a call if I have one bar or so, but it takes awhile to lock on and no static will happen. Its so wered talking on analog. That is someone calls me I will maybe answer if I have at least 2 bars on analog. THats a big maybe. This is tyhe 21st century like the person said a few replays back or so. Let just use analog for special puposes only. ANd have Digital roaming in place in all states. ANd hadly any carriers sell analog phones anymore. So lets get the S**T together.

 

I really don't understand this hatred of analog.

I used analog almost exclusively for 4 months last summer in California and my biggest complaint was that the person I was talking to sounded so much louder in analog mode than in digital mode. Very little static, no dropped calls except when my battery died, and certainly better than nothing!

 

Keep in mind VZW has been upgrading all of it's towers to digital like a bat out of hell... The biggest problem I see is you will lose some of the Analog only roaming partners. You could always keep an analog capable phone locked away in the car in case of an emergency in an analog only area. I'm with some of the other users... I'd just assume not use it at all if I were on an analog signal.

With my T720 where I get full signal with digital if I force to analog I might get 2 bars at the most.

When I sell this phone to customers... another potential benefit I see is that it will keep them from accidental roaming. (ie. SW Va on the border with Kentucky)