The Sprint website starts off with some polish and flash, but loses it when you realize the actual product pages leave a little to be desired. The main page offers up a dazzling set of options, as does the Digital Lounge and the services page, but this is where it ends. The phone and plan pages are simplistic, but still easy to navigate. There are basic filter features of which you honestly don’t need as the phone selection isn’t so robust that a simple scrolling cannot handle the search process.

• The Simply Everything Plan.
• Samsung Instinct phones available.
• Guitar Hero 3 mobile.

Plans are similarly laid out in a scroll down style, but the main draw here is the Simply Everything Plan. This plan combines all options into one monthly price. It is a very simple, well thought out plan that should attract to a wide array of consumers. Another attraction is Sprint’s distribution of Nextel Direct Connect phones and plans, which is still a staple in many places of work.

The Digital Lounge is a nice little gem of the Sprint site. Not only is it an attractive page, but the amount of media available is impressive. Music, games and TV options are all searchable and downloadable to your Sprint phone.

All in all the Sprint website is a mixed experience. Some pages are truly dazzling, while others are very basic. The options in both phones and plans are not as robust as those of the competition, but the Digital Lounge will more than compete. The support isn’t ideal, but with a decent knowledge base, most problems should be easily solved online. They earn 5.0 Stars!

The Verizon Wireless website greets you with some animations and a slide show and prepares you for an interactive experience. There are many exciting and interesting features on the site, but there are also a lot of questionable additions and exclusions. The selection of phones that are provided is impressive, but the lack of a sortable filter leaves you wishing there was one. The amount of plans available is great, but each plan is a click to another page instead of lining them up together on one page. This not only makes it harder to compare plans, but also means another page has to load which can take some time since the Verizon website isn't the fastest.

• Free Chocolate phone with contract.
• New LG Phones.
• Free overnight shipping.

Verizon does shine in the content download area. A quick visit will provide you with ringtones, games, GPS programs and even television shows. You can truly turn your Verizon phone in a mobile media station through Vcast and other options. The ability to customize your phone with ease is also a high point.

Following that, the support page leaves a lot to be desired. The FAQ's seemed to be a bit short, as does the online knowledge base. You have standard forms of communication available, (phone, email, letter), but the lack of online interaction is noticeable.

At the end of the day, the Verizon Wireless website is a pleasant shopping experience. You can easily purchase a great phone and plan and even customize it with some new downloads. What is missing is overshadowed by what is included and some users may never notice the difference. We give them 5.0 Stars!

The Alltel Wireless experience was a pleasant one. With a soothing color palette and Chad's big smile, the website has a very friendly feel. This theme is carried consistently throughout the website without fail. This is a nice feature, but what we are really concerned with is the shopping experience.

• My Circle with unlimited texting.
• Summer phone selections and deals.
• Prepaid Wireless option.

Alltel offers a nice selection of phones and plans, but unfortunately you might not be able to purchase them online. We tried approximately 10 zip codes with no luck at getting to the next level, this is simply disappointing. A consumer visits the site with the intentions of handing over their hard earned money for a phone and plan, and unfortunately Alltel is not yet ready to handle a myriad of locations.

This setback aside, the amount of plans, accessories, media and software that Alltel offers is more than enough for the average cell phone user. The customer support lacks some of the higher end features such as online chat and a user forum, but it does provide you with a large knowledge base to search through. This seemed to be a fair trade off, and if it isn't there is always phone and email contact options.

Alltel provides you with a very nice shopping experience, provided you are in a location that they can service. If you are, then Alltel is a viable option for your call phone needs, if you aren't then it is unfortunate as the site provides a very nice experience. Alltel gets 4.5 Stars!

If you're looking for a bare-bones phone company that won't charge an arm and a leg and won't require any long-term commitments, MetroPCS might be for you. If, on the other hand, you want cutting-edge phones and don't mind long-term contracts, you might be happier elsewhere.

• Philadelphia now has coverage.
• MetroFlash plan available.
• Unlimited and family plans.

The phones that are offered are very limited, whereas the plans provided are very good. The plans, in particular, are presented in a great format that leaves no confusion as to what you are getting. The features and downloads are nice, but somewhat limited, and the coverage area excludes many potential customers.

Another problem is the location factor. MetroPCS has a very limited service area. Many of the people who would use this service might not be able to due to this fact. This, in addition to the lack of phones and lack of service, made us feel that MetroPCS won't be the right service for most of our readers. StarReviews gives them 4.5 Stars!