WARNING: NOT TO BE READ WHILST UNDER THE
INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL OR IN THE PRESENCE OF
BLUE-EYED SHEEP:
Well boyo, I purchase a Qualcomm PCS phone and
have made a general short synopios of my initial trail.
Read the following at your own risk!!!!!!!!
The following is a test of the CDMA PCS service
of PrimeCo in the Houston area. This study is
broken down into 4 parts. 1. Overall assessment
of service; 2. Digital PCS compared to cellular
service; 3. PrimeCo's marketing and cost structure.
4. Summary.
1. A Qualcomm QCP-1900 phone was purchased and this
is the only phone available at this time. It was a
no hassle purchase in a Saturn showroom atmosphere.
Very friendly and honest sales approach. They also
strongly encourage making a call on demo phones
display throughout. The purchase and paperwork took
less than 5 minutes.
The phone was a 'right out the box ready to go'
purchase. The lithium ion battery was approximately
half charged . Visual inspection shows a fairly well
constructed device. The ear piece is a standby/locking
device. This has to be moved upward to unlock the
keypad and to answer an inbound call. The phone is
approx. 6in x 2in x 2in approximately and lightweight.
It has a display window hat show signal strength, battery
charge, banner (programmable; PrimeCo is the original
program), date and time plus a small lock icon in the
lower left corner.
The display has a main menu with the following:
1. Volume; 2. Call info; 3.Billing; 4. Security,
5. Features; 6. Display; 7. Alerts; 8. System.
These are the various features available on the phone.
Simple to use and self explanatory. It has a 99 phone
book and recent call history. It has a alert for messages
and text paging.
My general impression of the calls made is favorable.
It is definitely a fractional code rated digital circuit.
Whether this will be noticeable to the average consumer
can't be determine by myself, as I'm a trained communication
person who tends to notice slight noises or nuances of a
circuit. The familiar voice called was recognizable and
clear while driving in a car. They notice a small amount
of background noise, but that is in a vehicle not known
for it's quite ride ('86 Mustang SVO, author's toy).
The first time using this small a phone had a moment or
two of adjusting the ear piece, but was not a problem.
I travel around the city of Houston traveling at 65 mph.
Handoff was never noticeable expect two occasions.
Both times there was a echoing that disappeared within a
moment. D/E also notice this problem (another train
communication person). There also was some instances
of what I term 'picket fencing'. These were rare in
40 minutes of talking and quickly disappeared. Arriving
at the D/E house, it worked throughout a two story brick
building. Not once did the call drop.
In general the voice quality was very acceptable, but
not outstanding or toll grade. Coverage was excellent
and handoff's were for the most part not noticeable.
2. PCS service compared to analog cellular is definitely
superior. Handoffs, the voice clarity and background
noise are far superior. One of my big complaints over
the years with cellular was the fact after ten minutes
of talking on a small phone, the heat in your ear was
annoying and uncomfortable.
With the CDMA PCS, because of the low power the phone
only became warm after 20 minutes of talking and comfortable
throughout the exercise.
3. PrimeCo's marketing approach, as stated earlier, reminds
one of General Motors approach with Saturn car. Folksy,
friendly, no hassle let the product sell it self approach
was effective. Generally, the sale people were very up
front and honest. The acknowledge the early startup problems
of coverage holes, echoing at some sties and the occasional
picket fencing. This honest approach has a refreshing
divergence for the consumer.
The service at present has two plans. One is $30 a month
with $.25/min charge or $50 with 100 free minutes and
$.21/min charge. No activation fee, no long term contract.
Various add-on features like voice mail and caller ID are
free until Dec 31 in the Houston market for the life of
your service. One feature that has appeal to myself , for
$5 a month I can de-activate the service and retain the number.
I travel at long periods of time outside the U.S. and it is a
feature that has great appeal to myself. Normal charge for
Caller ID and voice mail will be $1/mo each. Any call to any
place in Texas is toll free.
The phone will have a software upgrade in about two weeks.
These are to be free.
4. How PCS and CDMA will fair in the marketplace,
can't be determine by myself. My purpose for purchase
was a second telephone line in my business and home that
has local mobility. There have been strong pro and con
positions taken about CDMA technology and I think that
somewhere in the middle of these position lie the truth.
The fact that there is a picket fence and echo problem at
one site isn't a condemnation of the technology or the
equipment. It more than likely a function of installation
and testing. There probably is some software problems and
a six month debugging period would be a fair time to finely
hone this service. I find it superior to cellular on many
fronts. The cost of service is high, but I think that with
head up competition will realize a lowering in the coming
year or two.
One comment about the phone itself. The earpiece that
is raised or lower, is a potential weak part of this phone.
In my opinion, a sturdier locking in the up position would
ensure long life and prevent accidental hanging up on callers.
These opinions are conclusions by myself without any pay or
compensation.
For those that would like to contribute to the cost of conducting
this trail, send pocket change, cheap wine or women to:
Chris Reeder
Houston, Texas.
Happy, safe and profitable New Year to All. |
