Comments on: Sprint takes gloves off, aims for Apple's chin

It's on! In a new ad campaign, Sprint is pointing out not just that its plans are cheaper overall, but that its Palm Pre can do things Apple's first-gen iPhone can't.

[brynn08]

ATT excellent customer srvc reps ???? so the same reps that yelled at my friend when we went into the store to ask a question about his iphone ??? the same excellent srvc rep ?? uhh ok budyy...last time i checked...NO carrier offers flawless csr.....nor coverage.....and to take back what you said about sprint coverage map...i have both sprint and att(my mom family plan) and i carry both devices.....i get more srvc on my sprint phone than my att phone....so why exactly is ATT beefing up there 3G network right now ? oh thats right.....40% of iphone users/ATT customers are droping more calls....i believe ATT CEO said " we werent prepared for the type of data usage of our customers" what a bone head CEO.....im glad you dont mind paying $20 extra a month....your not saving $240 ......thats more expnsive idiot....the only reason ATT is in a gd situation rt now..is becuz of the iphone.....come talk to me about facts.....not your idioitc opinoinated views

[purcell429]

(Tries to decipher...) I think we can all agree here that EVERY phone company has bad customer service brynn08, but unfortunately for Sprint, they still have a bad rep over problems that perhaps were in the past, but it is still a hurdle any potential customers have to get over.

And of course no Carrier offers flawless coverage! It depends on where you live, that's all! But if you look at coverage maps, both ATT and Verizon cover more areas than Sprint does. But Sprint has a larger 3G coverage area. Sprint is worthless where my family is from, I don't even know of a Sprint store in the area. But Sprint works just fine where I live now.

And by the way, I pay $5 per month for my iPhone. Sure, I don't get unlimited texts, but, I can make Skype calls, and tether my phone to my laptop for free. I can also use my phone in pretty much the rest of the world. What's the better deal??

[brynn08]

@ Notaphonegeek



lol...purcells just another naive ATT/iphone user.......brainwashed and gettin nickel and dimed by ATT....lol

[purcell429]

So I am naive for paying an extra $5 a month for an iPhone, and a network that will work OUTSIDE of the US??? Right...

[TextMailManiac]

Uhhh, Sprint's network works outside of the USA too, including in places where your iPhone won't, like Korea and Japan. Western Europe is not the "entire world," and "minor" countries like China and India are primarily CDMA, not GSM.

[brynn08]

the only things ATT has going for them is #1 the iphone.....#2 SIM card....# global coverage....but wait...no need for global coverage...i only travel outside the US....on occasion....its not that serious....i predominently travel within the US....so again ATT works for you....just dont mention it having a superior network...bcuz sprint is ranked #2 nationwide(or US) behind VZW....and ranked #1 in the west region which consists of 6 states.....im glad your only paying $ 5 more...but earlier u said $20....so umm which one is it buddy ??? bcuz i knw ATT will milk u for un data($30) and un text($20) = ouch !!!!....in todays society thats all aamericans do is use data and text.....so again....if u dont mind paying extra for an inferior network.....i tip my hat to you......have a wonderful day !!!

[purcell429]

Well hey, i'm an "aamerican" too, but i don't need to send 5,000 texts a month. So it's only $5 more for me, it would be $20 more for you if you want unlimited texts. So fine, the state you live in has great sprint coverage, other states do NOT (In my own experience, both Michigan and Pennsylvania have significant service gaps).

[brynn08]

p.s thats why they say never look at coverage maps...bcuz it doesnt depict where u can and cant get calls.....supposedly the area where i live.....gets no srvc...when i looked at sprints coverage map.....guess what i get full srvc....im suprised u go by "coverage maps" thats pretty pathetic...i absolutely agree with you coverage depends on where u live....just dont tell me...ATT network is 3 times bigger than sprint....sprints 3G is 2nd largest to VZW.

[purcell429]

I was referring to total coverage area, not 3G.

[brynn08]

and if u agree that every carrier has bad csr...than dont say ATT has excellent CSR...bcuz thats what u just said.

[purcell429]

Oh, sorry, that was called SARCASM. I was telling you to contact Sprint's "Excellent" customer service reps. (The use of the word Excellent in the previous sentence was done with sarcastic intentions.)

[brynn08]

well thats good...and i was in michigan for business 2 weeks ago....from detroit to grand rapids....to lansing.....excellnet coverage....i live in southern california....sprint and verizon own cali network wise.......but it just irritates me that ppl bash sprint becuz of there past....sorry....but thats just it....its in the past....sprint CSR reps right now are much bettr and more trainied...including there customer care....sprints starting to get notice for the 'network' now...which has never really been too bad =) everyone experiences coverage and CSR issues with diff carriers.....i just wish ppl would lash out at other companies not just sprint....

[Notaphonegeek]

LOL Brynn08, I had never been to this site before and never knew how obsessed some of these people are about their phones and service. It's also funny that before I got my pre, my Grandmother died in the middle of nowhere Iowa (West Bend to be exact). My father and brother had AT&T and had terrible signal and mine was just fine. In fact they needed to use my phone to call back to DC (where they live). I live in the outskirts of Orlando and have no problems at all. In fact I travel all of the time and rarely have a signal problem. I just originally came here to see what else people were saying about my new phone (I love it), and what I find are people bashing it for stupid reasons. Like I said before, my son's pre will be in this week as will my wifes. I'm glad purcell likes his phone and service, he just seems a little obsessive to me.

[brynn08]

@ Notaphonegeek.....exactly....some ppl kill me...literally !!!!! some ppl love to hate on sprint.....i cant help it if sprints network is more superior than ATT.....let alone the Pre is arguably the greatest device i've owned!!!!!! i laugh at ppl and there ignorant comments.....bascially there either ATT/iphone *********** or VZW worshippers !!!!! lol =)

[hrb5711]

There is a lot of kettles calling pots black on here.

I see a few problems with this new "ad".

1. Sprint/Pre should not be going straight at ATT/Apple. They are going to lose, hard. Apple will win this fight hands down.

2. Sprint/Pre instead should be going after the people with "dumb" phones looking at smartphones, which I'm sure in the next few years everyone will own some sort of smart phone. So they might as well start grabbing converts now. So instead of going for the iPhone they should be going after dumb phones, esp with Sprint's cheap plans. They could grab an excellent base there.

3. I am an iPhone user but I don't think of it as a smart-phone, it is more a social-phone. I owned a Blackberry, HTC, and my last smart phone was the Samsung Omnia. I never liked smart phones but I liked what they did. Like full touch, full web pages, email, etc. These phones just always had a lot more stuff then I needed. I had finally had it with Verizon (for reasons other then the phones). I finally tried the iPhone, mainly because everyone says it is the best phone. And it fit me perfectly.

I don't need to be able to run 8 programs at once. I don't need to tether it to my laptop. I never in my life used MMS, just regular text. And I have never recorded a video on a phone. All these things the iPhone is missing didn't bother me one bit.

I just love it because it follows my logic for how things should work. I spent hours studying the manuals on the other phones and I have never cracked the one on my iPhone.

Basically what I am saying is not all people are looking for the things the Pre (and other smartphones) do. Sprint shouldn't be saying "hey we can multi-task!" in it's ads. Because most regular people don't really care about that (as has been shown with the iphone). The Pre shouldn't be called anything like the "iPhone killer" it should try to distance itself from the iPhone as much as possible and show people it is a different phone, instead of an iClone. With the 3G now down to $99 they won't win a fight head on against the iphone. They need to try another way to turn peoples heads.

And as far as ATT service, I have had the phone for over 30 days and driven from San Diego to D.C. and didn't have one dropped call. Service will be different for everyone. And with price? I was paying almost $200 a month for Verizon with a black berry and Omnia w/ 700 min and unlimited text. Just paid my first bill for ATT&T and minus the activation charges I am paying $150 for two iPhones w/ data, 700 min, and unl text.

[brynn08]

@ hrb5711

i wouldnt say sprint is going at ATT is going to lose hard.....given the fact that if it wasnt for there exclusitivy....ATT wouldnt be in a gd position right now....saw on the news the other day ....alot of ppl are unhappy with ATT right now....40% of iphone users are complaining of dropped calls and slow internet usage...and we all know sprint was gettin torched in the customer srvc dept....but ATT is not all that either....went to the store with my friend bcuz he had a question about his iphone...and the ATT CSR rep was a complete *******.....but hey not all att reps are like that....so thats understandable....however i find it odd...that u travel from san diego to dc.....i drove from diego to houston last month....and dropped several calls....my main line(sprint) had more service than ATT.....but sprints plans if you are a heavy texter and data user....cant be beat...period....this article is comparing sprints unlimited to ATT and verizons.....but at least your not like all the other apple fan boy idiots on here....i can respect that =)

[Jac_Thomas]

Did blackberry do something like this with the uhh... what was it called? Their iPhone killer too.

I have T-mobile (locked into a contract and the price is cheap cheap because of emp benefit), I cannot get an iPhone, nor can I get the Pre, so I am going to get the new Google Phone v2 from T-mobile when it comes out.

People who are getting all pissy and bent because others like one thing vs another, need to take a step back and seriously look at what you are saying. You aren't bring more to your side by being angry.

No I don't work for ATT, Nope I dont work for Apple. I do own an iPod Touch, iMac and Macbook Pro, because I see the value in it. I worked for MS for 11 years and won't bad mouth them (well maybe a little on Windows ME, but that is a different story). Just because someone likes something and cant get something else to work, is no reason to jump up and down and scream spy.

This ad is creative and fairly smart. Maybe it will do well, or maybe it will just go the same way as the touchscreen Blackberry. Who knows. Time will tell. Best luck to the winner. (I hope its the new google phone =)

[Cirothe]

@ externallain, so your counter is comparing the Pre now to the 2 year old iPhone with its 2 year old OS?

Well DUH! Of course the Pre is better than the original iPhone when it was first launched. That was two years ago when Apple was using 2 year old technology.

The Pre was just released, and it doesn't compare to the iPhone 3GS running 3.0. Not by a long shot.

And if anything, you could say Apple only has 2 years of experience in the smartphone industry, while Palm's been in it for, what, 6 years now? And they're just releasing a phone that can even compete with the iPhone.

Call me an Apple fanboy all you want, and be wrong. The only Apple products I own are a 3 year old iPod 5G that I never use any more and an iPhone 3GS. I'm just pointing out a very idiotic comment.

[flyingfalconn]

I think Apple makes it mandatory that Any Apple Users Must Tell Every person they Know that Apple is the best. Personally I can Give a S#$t about Apple but I don't got tellin every Apple User I will never Switch. They sure Need to tell Me I need to Get Apple.
All the people I know have it for the Apps, the Fun N Games or cuz they already own an Apple. These are the People that Love their Apple. All the Biz People I know R Not Crazy about it @ all. When I point out the Touch Pro 2 with WinMo, Most want to make the change with Sprint.
Everything has it Good or Not so Good Features. People Buy S#$t for what they Need, Get Over It.
Apple Fans Get Over It!!!