jp10558Premium
join:2005-06-24
Willseyville, NY | Verizon is killing what (little) value for money there is I don't see why it needs to be inevitable nor require a second mortgage... If it costs too much, just don't use it. As much as I hate to sound like TK, I feel like if a company refuses to offer value, I refuse to buy the product.
I recently had my cell die. I was fine for a week without it. I was able to get an old phone a friend had for free hooked back up so I'm back to the same cost as before. If work had required I have a cell phone (which mine doesn't), I'd have asked them to pay for it, and if they refused I'd have counted that cost in when asking for a raise, and I'd have looked into a tax write-off.
During my time deciding what to do about a cell phone, I considered a Droid, but figured that not only did I not really need to pay $150 (don't have a contract, so I could have signed one to get a deal), I really didn't want a contract (still) and moreso didn't want an additional $540 a year for the current mobile net access pricing, forget about it going up... I just don't need to read my e-mail that much, and where I do need to read it, I have a desktop where costs are more reasonable (free to me at work for instance).
Maybe I'm stingy, but I'll either need to be making a bunch more money, or costs will have to come way down on data plans for me to seriously consider mobile data access.
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Opera 10(Build 1750); Windows XP Pro SP3;Intel C2Q6600; 3GB DDR2 1066; 1M/128k DSL; Antivir Personal; Comodo Internet Security 3.10;Proxomitron 4.5j Sidki 2009-06-06,GPG ID:0x0A1C6EE3 |
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 BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | said by jp10558:I don't see why it needs to be inevitable nor require a second mortgage... If it costs too much, just don't use it. As much as I hate to sound like TK, I feel like if a company refuses to offer value, I refuse to buy the product. Almost like saying if food is too expensvie don't eat. Now I know a cell phone isn't life and death but the point is there is no reason for a company to be an ass about things. Verizon can still make billions while keeping customers happy. I suggest they try it.
Oh by the way Verizon requires most people to get a data plan if they upgrade thier phone even if they don't plan on using any data. Now you can't tell me that's ok. |
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openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
kudos:2 | Don't get a "pseudo-smart phone" and you don't have to worry about a data plan. |
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| reply to jp10558
You can now buy an unsubsidized smartphone like the Nexus One; use WiFi for almost all data needs; and get a pay as you go plan from the cell company for voice. |
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tomz17
join:2004-01-09
Newark, NJ | said by fAcEtIOUs:You can now buy an unsubsidized smartphone like the Nexus One; use WiFi for almost all data needs; and get a pay as you go plan from the cell company for voice. ... except that carriers have wised up to this.
Verizon will require a data plan for any smartphone (they know which ones are smart phones based on ESN). There is no "I will use only wifi, and pay for my 3g data a-la carte option"
Even AT&T now supposedly uses the IMEI to FORCE data plans onto customers!
Furthermore, there is no low-cost pay-as-you-go data plan in the US. The cheapest for GSM is AT&T's $5 for 1 megabyte, or $19.99 for 100 megabytes. Their prepaid voice rates are pretty ludicrous, though! The cheapest for CDMA is probably pageplus, with their 20 or 50 megs of included data. |
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| said by tomz17:except that carriers have wised up to this. Verizon will require a data plan for any smartphone (they know which ones are smart phones based on ESN). There is no "I will use only wifi, and pay for my 3g data a-la carte option" Even AT&T now supposedly uses the IMEI to FORCE data plans onto customers! This is the part the really pisses me off. Subsidized phones (where they give you a discount for signing a contract) requiring a data plan if its a smart phone, ok. It's just their way of guaranteeing a return on the discount. Still a bit of a scam, but I'm ok with it.
But if I bring a paid-in-full phone in for activation, they STILL force a data plan when I don't want/need one. That to me is a matter the FCC needs to take up.
Though as proven with the phantom data fee, the FCC is toothless.
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Intel Q6600 @3400Mhz/GA-EP35-DS3P/4x 2048Mb G.Skill/WD Raptor 300Gb/3x WD20EADS 2TB/2x PNY GTX 260/Silverstone 850W/Custom water cooler |
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 Simba7I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT | reply to jp10558
One alternative is those Straight Talk plans I see alot on TV lately from Walmart and Tracfone.
$30/mo for 1000 Anytime/1000 Mobile-to-Mobile/30MB of Data
..or $45/mo for Unlimited Everything
..but you are restricted to their phones.. which kinda sucks. I'd love to swap my ESN's between my Touch Pro and a Straight Talk phone.. or see if Straight Talk would even consider adding my phone to a plan.
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Bresnan 15M/1M|MyWS[P4HT@4.01GHz,2GB RAM,2x1TB HDDs,Win7]|WifeWS[P4@2.4GHz,1GB RAM,60GB HDD,Win7]|Router[2xP3@1GHz,640MB RAM,18GB HDD,Allied Telesyn AT-2560FX,Kingston KNE100TX,2xDigital DE504,Compaq NC3131,iPro/1000DP,Blitz BWI715,Gentoo Linux] |
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| im all of about a week from dropping Verizon and taking my droid to metro pcs , just the money I will be saving is worth the etf.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" |
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| reply to Simba7
said by Simba7:..but you are restricted to their phones.. which kinda sucks. I'd love to swap my ESN's between my Touch Pro and a Straight Talk phone.. or see if Straight Talk would even consider adding my phone to a plan. Another alternative is page plus. You can activate any verizon phone on their service
Hint : Swapping ESN's is technically possible on the Touch pro with certain versions of the radio rom, but it is sadly illegal in the USA. Verizon has also removed all MOU and vcast data in the new plans effectively removing any financial advantage of spoofing a phone on verizon. |
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| reply to tomz17
said by tomz17:Furthermore, there is no low-cost pay-as-you-go data plan in the US. »www.boostmobile.com/ |
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 CylonRedPremium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | reply to BF69
Verizon has never forced my IL's or wife to get a data plan when they got phones last year - of course none had a PDA or the like. Just regular phones. I am off contract with Verizon and no where is it mentioned if I get a new phone I have to get a data plan (or text plan for that matter).
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Brian
"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain |
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| said by CylonRed:Verizon has never forced my IL's or wife to get a data plan when they got phones last year - of course none had a PDA or the like. Just regular phones. I am off contract with Verizon and no where is it mentioned if I get a new phone I have to get a data plan (or text plan for that matter). "Smart" phones require a data plan. Regular phones do not.
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Intel Q6600 @3400Mhz/GA-EP35-DS3P/4x 2048Mb G.Skill/WD Raptor 300Gb/3x WD20EADS 2TB/2x PNY GTX 260/Silverstone 850W/Custom water cooler |
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Simba7I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
1 edit | Which if you get a plain ol' phone, you probably won't have to get data.. but with most of the "new" phones being a "Smart Phone", you'll be stuck with one like it or not.
..even the LG Titan.. It doesn't run Windows Mobile, Palm, or iPhone OS.. But it's still considered a "Smart Phone" due to its' HTML browser (which if I get told that one more time, I'm gonna deck someone due to being a complete idiot).
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Bresnan 15M/1M|MyWS[P4HT@4.01GHz,2GB RAM,2x1TB HDDs,Win7]|WifeWS[P4@2.4GHz,1GB RAM,60GB HDD,Win7]|Router[2xP3@1GHz,640MB RAM,18GB HDD,Allied Telesyn AT-2560FX,Kingston KNE100TX,2xDigital DE504,Compaq NC3131,iPro/1000DP,Blitz BWI715,Gentoo Linux] |
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BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | reply to openbox9
said by openbox9:Don't get a "pseudo-smart phone" and you don't have to worry about a data plan. Hey smart guy Verizon's new rule is ANY phone that can access the web, which is is about ALL of their phones they offer, requires a data plan now. |
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BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | reply to Camelot One
said by Camelot One:said by CylonRed:Verizon has never forced my IL's or wife to get a data plan when they got phones last year - of course none had a PDA or the like. Just regular phones. I am off contract with Verizon and no where is it mentioned if I get a new phone I have to get a data plan (or text plan for that matter). "Smart" phones require a data plan. Regular phones do not. Actually nearly ALL phones Verizon offers are consdiered "smart phones" if it can access the web you need a data plan.
The reason why you and your wife weren't forced to get a data plan is because you got phones LAST year. This is a new requirement. And yes as long as you don't change your current plan you are grandfathered in. Change your plan in any way and if you have a phone that can access the web you WILL be required to get a data plan that starts out at $10 a month. Even if you never intened to use it. |
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CylonRedPremium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | In which case they can kiss my.... And I can probably get all 4 of us to switch to Cincinnatti Bell. Although we do not change the plan unless they can do a 450 minute plan instead of the 700 minute family plan.
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Brian
"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain |
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 jonnyzPremium
join:2003-03-20
Canfield, OH
 ·Armstrong Zoom ..
| reply to Camelot One
You can still get around this with ATT in contract or on Pay As You Go (I have done both):
1. Bring an old $20 unlocked GSM non-smartphone to them, get a contract with non-smartphone data, and swap the SIM into your unlocked GSM smartphone of choice.
2. Buy a GoPhone plan with the crappiest phone possible and swap the SIM into your GSM smartphone of choice.
And I highly doubt they come after users via IMEI for data plans. My Nokia E51 has never needed a data package - I use WiFi for all my data - not to mention the IMEI changes during unlocking in many GSM phones.
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Join the RC5 team. |
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bn1221
join:2009-04-29
Cortland, NY | reply to BF69
Hey smart guy Verizon's new rule is ANY phone that can access the web, which is is about ALL of their phones they offer, requires a data plan now.
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Not true. The LG Chocolate Touch and the NV3 still can be purchased without the recurring fee. They do make you sign for the 0.00 pay as you go data plan but I have 20 or so NV3s that are my flat monthly 450 minutes for 34.95 |
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bn1221
join:2009-04-29
Cortland, NY | reply to Simba7
Straight talk uses Verizon CDMA for that so you can't swap SIMs. They are rolling out Blackberry support soon. I have a ton of BB8830s I want to use a full keyboard text phones - don't really need data just need a keyboard and don't want to pay VZ 29.99 data for a bleeping phone. |
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tomz17
join:2004-01-09
Newark, NJ | reply to fAcEtIOUs
Is stand corrected, but unlimited iden... no thanks... if you want to go that route, then you should also consider the free QNC on pageplus! |
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