[neodorian]

They have a bad reputation. For a long time they were looked at (at least in my area) as a second-rate provider only used by people with bad credit.

Their advertising stinks and I think a lot of people follow the whole bandwagon idea where you pile on the unpopular company.

Also, a lot of it has probably got to do with past experiences. Lots of people probably used them 5 or 6 years ago when they weren't so hot and got a bad impression. Sprint didn'd have a lot going in their favor back in the day. They were notoriously bad with customer service and coverage.

That said...in my experience, for the past 4 or 5 years I think they have done a lot to come back. I have used them for a while simply because nobody has been able to beat their prices for me. They also tended to get a lot of the best smartphones first until a couple years ago. Back when the only smartphones were Treos and WM phones, Sprint always had the best choices. It wasn't until the newer Blackberrys and iPhone and such that the other big US carriers had much in the way of popular smartphones. This coincided with the popularization of smartphones in the general public so as far as they are concerned, I think Sprint is the one company that never had a blockbuster device.

I personally use my phone primarily for data and a small amount of voice. I never talk on the phone during weekdays since I am at work so I only have a cheap $29 daytime plan for 200 minutes. My unlimited 3G data package is $15 and a buy a block of texts for $5. In total, my bill is only $50 plus tax which is far lower than any of the other major US carriers would offer me. I considered shopping around 2 years ago when I got my Mogul (thought about a Tilt) but VZW and ATT all told me that if I wanted a smartphone, unlimited data would cost me at least $45. That has fallen a little bit but nobody has come near the $15 rate I get from Sprint.

I get excellent speeds in my area and I am never without signal unless I'm literally in the middle of nowhere (last time was when I was in Yellowstone National Park).

So...if you are a relatively satisfied Sprint customer like me, let's hope the Pre generates enough buzz outside the phone-nerd crowd to turn around their public image and give them a chance to compete. I personally find them to be the least obnoxious of the major US providers when it comes to rates and policies but that doesn't mean much if they can't gain mass appeal.