Archived from groups: alt.cellular.nextel,alt.cellular.verizon (
More info?)
I currently have Verizon PTT phones for myself, my wife and mother. Also,
My Brother-in-Law and Sister-in Law have Verizon PTT. We all recently
switched over from Nextel.
Verizon PTT is VOIP. It first has to register with a central website, then
be directed to another website for traffic control and resource balancing
purposes. This adds delay, latency, wait time; whatever you want to call
it. Some have experimented with going into the service menu on their phones
and changing the URL to a Secondary site to drop some of the wait. I don't
consider that to be a permanent fix, nor a dependable one, as customer base
grows or usage area changes.
Nextel gives a nearly instant result, and passes whatever portion of the
digital signal it can gather up from thier limited coverage. You could have
a perfect conversation on one exchange and a digital waterfall if either
person moves a few feet. It is a toss-up.
Verizon will give you a relatively clear conversation with much fewer
digital artifacts in most cases. It comes down to making a decision between
always having instant connection and not always having understandable
communications (Nextel) or having delayed routing and relatively clear
communications (VZ).
If all of you usage is under a Nextel coverage umbrella, then Nextel is
probably the hands-down choice. However, if you live in the land of
reality, and travel throughout fly-over county or expect to have continuous
contact availability with others, you may want to consider Verizon, or
another carrier that has a similar large footprint in rural areas or away
from Interstate Highways.
I still maintain a Boost prepaid phone to keep up with past Nextel contacts,
and we have "zones" established around our houses that are most likely to
provide understandable communications using the Nextel PTT system. Not
exactly a model of portability, but still relatively quick contact time and
overall good communcation; provided you stay within a few feet of the
optimum RF Footprint - out here in fly over country.
On the subject of the VX 4700, the family is using 5 of those now. They
have been durable so far. Mine has been dropped quite a few times, with no
damage. My brother-in-law works in a Bodyshop, and his sees quite a bit if
abuse. I wouldn't put them up against one of Nextel's mil-spec ruggedized
models, but would feel comfortable on a match up between the 4700 and one
of big M's more recent trendsetter models. I also don't try to play chicken
on my skateboard with an oncoming H2 Hummer. This is a subjective
comparison, and some degree of previous thought will provide a higher degree
of dependable results. Asking about the phone on the net before purchase is
far better than jumping in, and seeing what you got later.
There are a few bugs in the firmware of the 4700, one being a fixed PTT
Alert volume; and it is way too low in comparison with Nextel's.
A good feature of VZ's GIN enabled (Get It Now) phones is the ability to get
"backdoor" high speed internet connectivity by using the phone tethered to a
PC for peak minutes used or free nights and weekends.
You can expect to pay an additional Premium of $10.00 per user if you go
with VZ PTT ofer VZ Cellular only. On the family plan, VZ was offering up
to 4 free VX4700 phones with the purchase of the first one. That would max
out at $50.00 additional per month if you activated 5 on the family plan.
as you can see the cost of PTT with VZ does command a premium.
With the VX4700s, the family (all previous Nextel customers) are far more
likely to dial one another than to gambler on the other being able to hear
6the low volume PTT Alert tone that the phone has.
I personally feel it will get better, as more carriers use either the
Motorola VOIP or FastChat Client software to provide a PTT alternative.
Competition will eventyally shake out a dependable service or eliminate it
from the option list. It is a matter of time and how much you are willing
to spend...
"Jimmy D" <jimmyd@anon.com> wrote in message
news:sKhse.7608$fa3.1695@trndny01...
> Ok, I read all the posts and no one seems to have used the Verizon Push to
> Talk. That is the main reason for my post. I am looking for users on the
> VERIZON PUSH TO TALK and what they think of it compared to Nextel. Are
> there any former Nextel users who made the switch?
>
>
>
> "Jimmy D" <jimmyd@anon.com> wrote in message
> news:yjHre.7356$5s1.237@trndny06...
>>I am currently with Nextel and their Direct Connect is my primary means of
>> communication. I am thinking of switching to Verizon and using their
>> PTT.
>> I went to a retail store over the weekend, and the rep assured me that
>> the
>> second rollout of Verizon's PTT is right there with Nextel. Is there
>> anyone
>> in this group that has the new service with Verizon, specifically with
>> the
>> new LG VX4700. Thanks for any input.
>>
>>
>>
>
>
Nextel is a trunk radio system, iDen. Its cellular-
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