[cbassett]

Carrier service will obviously vary greatly from area to area, here's my .02 on a few of the big boys for the SillyCON Valley:

Nextel: crappy service just about everywhere, except where I didn't need to make a call.

Cingular: Better coverage, but still lacking in important (for me) areas like San Jose, Milpitas, Fremont, basically many areas in the south bay.

Both of the two above had about zero coverage once you were a rocks throw east of Sacramento.

ATT (TDMA): much, much, much better than the previous two. A couple [nearly] dead zones within my primary usage areas, otherwise great coverage. My MOT v70i isn't nearly as strong in terms of reception as my wife's "antique" Startac.

I'm probably jumping to Verizon in December, unless ATT has their GSM network sufficiently expanded, and their "walkie-talkie" service online. My wife has had Verizon for years, and even now she can get signal coverage, sometimes full bar, when I have none. She also gets more coverage up Ice House Road than I do.