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Getting Droid and cancelling data plan

I get where most of you are coming from with the "why would you get a Droid without a data plan" question and for most people it won't make sense. However as a previous poster stated for people who are near a WiFi hotspot for the majority of the day it really is a waste of money to spend $30 a month on a data plan. I am actually currently doing what another poster suggested, I have a Ipod touch which I use to check email, browse web, etc. and a separate phone to make calls. I am typically near a WiFi hotspot for most of the day and would really like to buy a smartphone, preferably an android based one, with a voice only plan. Now if I was able to get a voice only plan, I certainly would not expect Verizon to sell me the phone at the same price as people signing up for both data and voice. They have a data only plan, why can't they offer a voice only plan. I am actually going to look into the dataplan w/skype option that colnago suggested that sounds interesting.
 
Stormin said:
I wouldn't want to do that because the company would be able to spy on you. They can look at private e-mails sent on company equipment.
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HuH ?!? We're talking about mandatory $29.99 data plans. Where did company spying on you come from? The guy just said he was a verizon employee and that the $29.99 data plan is mandatory for all PDA's. Certain employees are issued devices to use with their "work" email which is already monitored whether its on the blackberry or on the desktop. Those of us who use our own phones and are given 1/2 off the $29 they can't check my Gmail.

If you dont use the data then you'll be better off with some sort of Electric Organizer from the WinCE days.
 
DeathFromAbove said:
I have a Ipod touch which I use to check email, browse web, etc. and a separate phone to make calls. I am typically near a WiFi hotspot for most of the day and would really like to buy a smartphone, preferably an android based one, with a voice only plan. Now if I was able to get a voice only plan, I certainly would not expect Verizon to sell me the phone at the same price as people signing up for both data and voice. They have a data only plan, why can't they offer a voice only plan. I am actually going to look into the dataplan w/skype option that colnago suggested that sounds interesting.
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When I travel internationally with my HTC Eris, I turn off the phone radio and use Skype with Fring to make calls over Wi-fi or 3G, if available. Unlimited data is usually an extra dollar a day but roaming calls in some locations are like $1.79 per minute!
 
I don't want a data plan, because, obviously, I am a cheap skate. However, I do want a good text phone, AND if we are able to use the phone's browser on a WiFi network, then I AM still able to use data services. I do not need 3G service at all. However, since these new phones are becoming more and more computer like, I think it is a great tool to have to be able to access files, music, etc, just like I would on a computer with an internet connection. Also, $30/month/line is ridiculous. I wish when these data plans started that NO ONE would have bought into them, well at least not until the plan was dropped to say like $5/line. I believe that ALL data services should not cost more than $5/line and the only power I have to affect change is to NOT buy into it - economics 101.

So, if any techies out there can help with a phone (either droid or not) that has a browser capable wifi only option, with SMS text, a decent camera and the other usual goodies, PLEASE SHARE it with us.

Thank-you,

A thrifty-shopper,
the12no
 
cuskit said:
Yikes! Back it down there a bit fellow! Nobody is telling YOU to buy it. It seems that YOU can't grasp it that YOU live in a great Wifi area! Most "work" prohibit personal use of cellphones and since most business Wifi's are locked they are not a viable source, schools are just a few locations of every BIG AREA towns and how many adults are still in school?, malls are in short demand in rural areas (83% of the country), unless you live in a "project" area - most residential zones have homes too far apart for effective connection "steals" from neighbors, etc. But we are all happy that YOU live in a good Wifi area. Just that most are not that fortunate.

Not looking for raised hackles here - but you have to lighten up and understand how the world may differ a bit from your situation - which might be considered an envious plus for some. Any homes for sale on your block? :) cuskit
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The majority of what you posted is erroneous, if not entirely made-up on the spot. As a high-ranking employee of a very prominent cell phone manufacturer, I can tell you that most power users (those whom utilize high-speed data services and their corresponding programs) live in areas where WiFi access is widely available; if you need a figure to better visualize, try ~70%+. Users from "rural areas" most often stick to prepaid or low-tech services, upgrading their phones only when they break or become appreciably obsolete.

The user to which you responded understands that no one is "forcing" them to purchase the data plan. What they wishes they had, though, was the option to purchase a new phone at the discounted "upgrade" price without compulsory data plans attached to their monthly plan. Most providers have made their $25-30 data plans (Internet, MMS, navigation, etc.) a requirement for continued use of particular smartphones. Should you remove the data plan from your account, the phone will cease to function; of course, most users will never come close to removing the data plan from their account, since they'd be immediately rebuffed by the *wonderfully trained* customer service specialist.

As to the next poster that claims the data plan comprises the bulk of a provider's profits, that will be addressed in another post.
 
kyler13 said:
I'm okay with your complaint within the limits of buying the phone at full price. But if you want the phone at a nicely subsidized price of $199, I hate to tell you that Verizon covers the large majority of the cost based on future earnings over the length of your contract. If you did not subscribe to the data plan, well, Verizon would be basically giving you a deep discount and taking a loss on the phone. Now, that wouldn't be fair to the ~80 million other customers, would it?
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You claim that Verizon would take a loss if offering their smartphones at "discount" upgrade prices without the supplementary data plan? How I wish I could laugh at that; unfortunately, I now know too much of the indecorous markups in this godforsaken industry.

Even at the usual $120-200 upgrade pricepoint most Android phones are sold, the mark-up is at least around 80-100%--on the low end. 80% would include only new releases and exceptionally popular phones. Currently, T-Mobile sells the BlackBerry Bold 9700 at, if memory serves me, $130 if the customer qualifies for an upgrade; RIM charges T-Mobile ~$45 per device. In that case, the markup is nearly 200%. While demonstrative of a RIM product and not OHA, OHA products often approach the same markup. Of course, the true net profits of a service provider require the inclusion of far more variables to give an accurate portrait, but, suffice to say, it's ridiculous to claim a service provider would take a loss if their smartphones were not bundled with data plans (data plans that, incidentally, yield a markup far in excess of even the smartphones sold at "discounted" upgrade prices).

Now you know.
 
IAmTheTruth said:
You claim that Verizon would take a loss if offering their smartphones at "discount" upgrade prices without the supplementary data plan? How I wish I could laugh at that; unfortunately, I now know too much of the indecorous markups in this godforsaken industry.

Even at the usual $120-200 upgrade pricepoint most Android phones are sold, the mark-up is at least around 80-100%--on the low end. 80% would include only new releases and exceptionally popular phones. Currently, T-Mobile sells the BlackBerry Bold 9700 at, if memory serves me, $130 if the customer qualifies for an upgrade; RIM charges T-Mobile ~$45 per device. In that case, the markup is nearly 200%. While demonstrative of a RIM product and not OHA, OHA products often approach the same markup. Of course, the true net profits of a service provider require the inclusion of far more variables to give an accurate portrait, but, suffice to say, it's ridiculous to claim a service provider would take a loss if their smartphones were not bundled with data plans (data plans that, incidentally, yield a markup far in excess of even the smartphones sold at "discounted" upgrade prices).

Now you know.
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I'm sure you know, that your using the subsidized price to determine how much the phone costs. A Blackberry Bold 9700 is roughly $450 dollars with no subsidy. Going by the numbers you gave, RIM probably sold it to T-Mobile for roughly $200. They would still be taking a loss initially by offering the phone for $130. The contract, with the plan, would more than make up for it over a period of 2 years.

You are right in it being a dirty practice though. We get really get ripped off in the US.
 
the12no said:
I don't want a data plan, because, obviously, I am a cheap skate. However, I do want a good text phone, AND if we are able to use the phone's browser on a WiFi network, then I AM still able to use data services. I do not need 3G service at all. However, since these new phones are becoming more and more computer like, I think it is a great tool to have to be able to access files, music, etc, just like I would on a computer with an internet connection. Also, $30/month/line is ridiculous. I wish when these data plans started that NO ONE would have bought into them, well at least not until the plan was dropped to say like $5/line. I believe that ALL data services should not cost more than $5/line and the only power I have to affect change is to NOT buy into it - economics 101.

So, if any techies out there can help with a phone (either droid or not) that has a browser capable wifi only option, with SMS text, a decent camera and the other usual goodies, PLEASE SHARE it with us.

Thank-you,

A thrifty-shopper,
the12no
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I got the Acer Liquid for about $360 online shipped & unlocked new. It has snapdragon 768 Mhz cpu, 480x800 3.5" capacitive screen, 5 MP camera, wifi, bluetooth, GPS, accelerometer. I use it with tmobile prepaid where I don't have a data plan but use wifi mostly. I get all the benefits of a PDA + wifi surfing + cameraphone with low monthly bill.
 
I got the Acer Liquid for about $360 online shipped & unlocked new. It has snapdragon 768 Mhz cpu, 480x800 3.5" capacitive screen, 5 MP camera, wifi, bluetooth, GPS, accelerometer. I use it with tmobile prepaid where I don't have a data plan but use wifi mostly. I get all the benefits of a PDA + wifi surfing + cameraphone with low monthly bill.
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Brilliant. That's what I plan on eventually doing. The only regret is that I want an EVO, but Sprint is too short sighted to notice that not everybody wants a dataplan.
 
Why would you have a droid without the data plan. There are other phones that would work much better without data plan. Personally having a droid, I wouldn't recommend it as the device has to have that data plan in order to function/operate/update properly.
 
You can do everything on WiFi that you can do on 3G/4G, granted you have connectivity.

I have WiFi in 99% of the places I'm at, on a day to day basis. I don't care to have internet access on the road for an additional $30/month. I don't think that's worth it, as I'm already paying $50 for home internet service.
 
nobdoor said:
You can do everything on WiFi that you can do on 3G/4G, granted you have connectivity.

I have WiFi in 99% of the places I'm at, on a day to day basis. I don't care to have internet access on the road for an additional $30/month. I don't think that's worth it, as I'm already paying $50 for home internet service.
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Well, almost everything. You can't send MMS's without data being enabled. And you won't receive updates unless you flash them yourself.

Also, I'm not sure if the Moto Droid has the same problem, but on my Eris, in the market place, you can't download apps over wifi. I have no idea why, but it will get stuck at starting download. The solution I found was downloading it over 3G where it works everytime.
 
Most android phones function fine over wifi instead of 3G (especially if it's unlocked). Only a few that are sold by carriers and locked to them have restrictions such as no market updates over wifi. It's silly.
 
To the OP:

Honestly you have to think about it this way:

If you don't want to pay for the data, save yourself $200 and buy a multimedia phone that wouldn't use much data anyways. The Droid is a high performance smartphone. If you got one, and didn't get data (which from many posts here is seeming to be impossible), you're wasting your money because the high price of the phone is because of all of it's cool abilities.

It all come down to which is a bigger cost to you. Not having a droid to save $30/month, or paying it to get a fully functional performance device with absolutely no limit in the data you can use. If you REALLY don't want to pay for the data, just stick with the BB from work.
 
I find it hard to believe that you someone would have wifi 99 percent of the time, Unless you lived, ate, and worked at a hotel or a Krystal's! LOL
 
Densely populated cities have lots of wifi signals. Some cities have municipal wifi service, so literally every block is covered. Also Android is a great platform that has tons of apps that don't need constant data. A feature phone just can't compare. I use google voice with free SMS. Use Wifi for data. The only costs is actually about $.10/min talk time.

My monthly costs using Android on prepaid is about $15. 2yr cost plus phone is about (24 x $15 + $400 = $760. If I get a subsidized and mandatory $70/mo data plan and voice minutes, it comes out to (24 x $70 + $199 = $1879). That's a savings of $1,100 over the 2 years. Until I find a tree that grows money, I'll keep this.
 
Jayziac said:
Densely populated cities have lots of wifi signals. Some cities have municipal wifi service, so literally every block is covered. Also Android is a great platform that has tons of apps that don't need constant data. A feature phone just can't compare. I use google voice with free SMS. Use Wifi for data. The only costs is actually about $.10/min talk time.

My monthly costs using Android on prepaid is about $15. 2yr cost plus phone is about (24 x $15 + $400 = $760. If I get a subsidized and mandatory $70/mo data plan and voice minutes, it comes out to (24 x $70 + $199 = $1879). That's a savings of $1,100 over the 2 years. Until I find a tree that grows money, I'll keep this.
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Nice to see you found something that works for you. Too bad not all of us have that luxury.
 
Ok. To get back on topic, I understand exactly where the origial post is coming from. I have a similar dilemma:

I was fortunate enought to win an Incredible. I'm currently using a moto droid. So I'm going to switch my mobile lifestyle to the incredble but give my moto droid to my sister who can't afford to pay th 30 extra a month. So to re-ask but with clarity:

Is there a waay to get around verizons stupid scam of having to pay for 3g with everyy smartphone? She wants to use the droid like a normal phone for calls, doesn't care about always being connected.
 
no, but you do realize that the phone will always search for a data connection. Unless you turn 3g off and in which case you will not receive mms. The way smartphones are created now, thats just they way they work. Thats why they require the package. If she just wants to use a phone, why not pick up a cheap flip from ebay.
 
How many times is this going to be asked?? Its been over 9 months since Verizon requires data plans on ALL 3G data devices. The only one that doesnt is the "Feature Phones". I can't believe people still ask.
 
Switch to Tmobile or AT&T that uses sim cards and get an international android phone like the Acer Liquid. Works like a dream without data plan (using free wifi).
 
Does that mean you can't add a line for $10 a month to a family plan, to upgrade to a phone when not elligible, and then port whatever number you want to that phone?

I read about people doing this, but it wouldn't really be financially vaible if you have to carry $10 + $29.99 a month just to upgrade early.
 
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