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Time to give up ???

M

mobilenoob

Newbie
I am a long time verizon customer in So cal and have been using a "feature " phone for the last 3 years . I recently had an android pad for awhile and enjoyed using the OS . I really don't " Just have to have" a Smart phone ... I don't run a business or need one for work .

I have talked to two employees at retail verizon stores and to someone at a kiosk at costco . They are all sticking to $29 a month for the data plan . no exceptions . I don't plan on going fo $360 a year in addition to the up front cost of the phone ; So basically I'm either going to just get a Feature phone upgrade for free an probably be a little pissed at verizon for being so ridged and acting like it's a bull economy or something .




The funny thing is that I found a site that has a " {phonenator} " (stupid name eh ?:D ) And it has menus that you walk through to whittle down the phones you might find that hit your own sweet spot for your want .


I inevitably ended up with phone that weren't availablee from verizon AT ALL.



Is my observation that verizon is setting up their product line to basically have no middle ground Correct ?? It seems like after the feature phones , there is an immediate leap to $$$$$ city !!!!.

The pisser is I could get a phone with wi-fi and use it at the house or hotspots , but nnnoooo ,.. I must have the 3G or nothing !!



Any tips or anything I have missed ???

It's not going to save money having my wife on Verizon and me on another carrier is it ??

Are the choices really this stark ????:(



TX

.
 
Ok So I read about the top 5% of the bandwidth user being throttled ... So is it that they have lots of techies who use all the toys and BW so they need to have the network infrastructure, maintenance and expansion subsidized?? Basically I would use the 3G aspect very rarely and would be in the bottom 5% !!!!!!

I would just as soon have a plan where I'm charged for what BW I use or at least some granularity instead of one size fits all ...... They must feel that there is sufficient demand for them to make it a take it or leave it proposition... So If it's to rich for my blood then don't let the door hit me on the way out !!!!


I guess I'm going to wait for the worm to turn and for them to decide they want in betweens like me ! Let me know when your network doesn't need me to be a forced subsidizer instead of a subscriber !!! What ever happened to CHOICE ???
 
mobilenoob said:
I am a long time verizon customer in So cal and have been using a "feature " phone for the last 3 years . I recently had an android pad for awhile and enjoyed using the OS . I really don't " Just have to have" a Smart phone ... I don't run a business or need one for work .

I have talked to two employees at retail verizon stores and to someone at a kiosk at costco . They are all sticking to $29 a month for the data plan . no exceptions . I don't plan on going fo $360 a year in addition to the up front cost of the phone ; So basically I'm either going to just get a Feature phone upgrade for free an probably be a little pissed at verizon for being so ridged and acting like it's a bull economy or something .




The funny thing is that I found a site that has a " {phonenator} " (stupid name eh ?:D ) And it has menus that you walk through to whittle down the phones you might find that hit your own sweet spot for your want .


I inevitably ended up with phone that weren't availablee from verizon AT ALL.



Is my observation that verizon is setting up their product line to basically have no middle ground Correct ?? It seems like after the feature phones , there is an immediate leap to $$$$$ city !!!!.

The pisser is I could get a phone with wi-fi and use it at the house or hotspots , but nnnoooo ,.. I must have the 3G or nothing !!



Any tips or anything I have missed ???

It's not going to save money having my wife on Verizon and me on another carrier is it ??

Are the choices really this stark ????:(



TX

.
Click to expand...

Yawn. huh? so.....you want to drive a bmw and pay kia prices for it. never heard that before.

Is it really necessary for people to continually complain about paying too much? Here are some options: cricket, tmobile, metro, virgin.

Really. These carriers are not the department of social services. You are not entitled to the latest and greatest smartphone at prices you want to pay. go elsewhere and pay less if you can not afford it. For the love of god, stop whining about it on forums. We heard you the first 4 billion times. Life does not change because you want it to. If it doesn't fit into your budget, learn to scale back and stop complaining.
 
The Kin OneM and Kin TwoM both have wifi and are listed as feature phones. They may have some of the other features you are looking for. I really don't care if you stay or go, I just hate the threads that have misinformation. You say there are no options for using wifi unless you want to pay the data fee as well. That is not true.
 
Take a breather butthead. If he wants to come here and complain, he has every right to. This isn't the 'praise Verizon' forum, it's the Verizon forum plain and simple. That means you have to take the good with the bad. You too have a choice, if you don't like to read complaints, then once you get a few lines into a post that seems to be just that, back out of it. All of us can get frusterated with the world at times and vent about it. No harm in that.

As for choice, it does seem to be dwindling on Verizon, I agree. You can actually buy any Android device and use it on wifi without even being activated though. You don't have to purchase a 3g plan at all. You'd still be able to use the navigation, mp3 player, browse the internet if connected to a wifi signal. Some have even figured out a way to use either Skype or one of the other VOIP services to make calls on them over wifi without having a 3g signal.

So while being stationary anyways you could actually do quite a bit with a deactivated Droid. The only real drawback is that you wouldn't really be 'mobile', since you'd have to depend on a strong wifi signal to do those things on it. And lord knows that's not always easy to find, even when standing right next to a wireless router!
 
butthead007 said:
Yawn.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed ! ; yawn to drawing that same old worn page from the elitist playbook .. I'm sure you've heard the term " what the market will bear "...... If we let the leaders gouge , then all the lesser competitors will follow the leader.
butthead007 said:
huh? so.....you want to drive a bmw and pay kia prices for it. never heard that before.
Click to expand...

There are those who can very easily afford the Beemer , but who make a rational choice to not.... As for jumping straight to the far end of the spectrum ( the KIA ) that's just rhetoric . I go for toyotas... ( on a side note , Read the book " the millionare next door " pay paticular attention to the part about F-150's !!!)


butthead007 said:
Is it really necessary for people to continually complain about paying too much? Here are some options: cricket, t mobile, metro, virgin.
Click to expand...

Thanks for mentioning those other carriers .. and, by the way ; the alternative to wanting to bargain and negotiate over price isn't pretty .... comrade.


butthead007 said:
Really. These carriers are not the department of social services. You are not entitled to the latest and greatest smart phone at prices you want to pay. go elsewhere and pay less if you can not afford it. For the love of god, stop whining about it on forums. We heard you the first 4 billion times. Life does not change because you want it to. If it doesn't fit into your budget, learn to scale back and stop complaining.
Click to expand...

whilst I'm sure that typing that made you feel better somehow , It's rubbish .
A consumer pining for more choices is not equivalent to asking for a handout . Analogy isn't always the best tool for debate , but at least you could TRY!!



Thanks for playing our game:)
 
mpciii said:
The Kin OneM and Kin TwoM both have wifi and are listed as feature phones. They may have some of the other features you are looking for. I really don't care if you stay or go, I just hate the threads that have misinformation. You say there are no options for using wifi unless you want to pay the data fee as well. That is not true.
Click to expand...


That was ignorance , not malice . Thanks for pointing that out !!!
 
Last year I bought my son a used LG Ally and activated on Page Plus (a Verizon MVNO). With Page Plus you can get a 1200 minute + 1200 text + 50MB data plan for $30 per month. Or, you can get unlimited talk & text + 20MB data for $45 per month. With either plan, roaming is $0.29 per minute. They also offer pay-as-you-go plans (that's what my son is on).

Since his Ally was on Android 2.1 at the time (not inherent way to disable mobile data) I had Page Plus disable data on his phone. With this setup, the only thing that doesn't work is MMS. But most (if not all) Android 2.2 devices should be able to disable mobile data on the device itself - giving complete control over how and when data is used.

If Verizon has good coverage in your area, a used phone on Page Plus might be your best bet if you don't want to pay $30 per month for a data plan.
 
butthead007 said:
Yawn. huh? so.....you want to drive a bmw and pay kia prices for it. never heard that before.

Is it really necessary for people to continually complain about paying too much? Here are some options: cricket, tmobile, metro, virgin.

Really. These carriers are not the department of social services. You are not entitled to the latest and greatest smartphone at prices you want to pay. go elsewhere and pay less if you can not afford it. For the love of god, stop whining about it on forums. We heard you the first 4 billion times. Life does not change because you want it to. If it doesn't fit into your budget, learn to scale back and stop complaining.
Click to expand...

Nobody is wanting something for nothing in this thread, and I can understand the frustration with VZW having nothing "in between" when it comes to both phones and plans.

There is no Samsung Alias anymore (A nice qwerty keyboard, media friendly feature phone)... You either get an ugly clamshell phone for free, a toughened clamshell for $200 (With contract), or a Smart Phone.

In the Smart Phone lineup, you have a huge selection. But, all require an unlimited data plan. Useless for someone who really just wants a nice looking feature phone, that is media friendly.
 
I am in the same boat with Verizon. I have an ENv3 which was activated before the mandatory data charges and it's a wonderful user friendly phone. At this time I have no where to upgrade to. Upgrade may be an incorrect word here. I just would like a newer phone since it's been several years. I don't need all the online options, just a decent phone. What I'm left with is a limited selection of mediocre phones.

I am looking at Page Plus also in order to have a broader phone selection.
 
MikeAce00 said:
My blackberry tour sure feels middle of the pack these days
Click to expand...

I'll hand you that. Maybe the Blackberry line is the "middle of the road" as far as phones go.

But, you still have to either have unlimited data, or no data. And, since the Blackberry is a smartphone, you MUST have the unlimited data.

I really think the OP was wishing for more choices with VZW. I like VZW's reliability, stability, customer-facing features (I can pay my bill from my phone, over the internet, or several ways; I can manage my account easily; they are flexible as far as plan arrangements; etc).

It's just the lack of choices with VZW.
 
PSkeptic said:
Nobody is wanting something for nothing in this thread, and I can understand the frustration with VZW having nothing "in between" when it comes to both phones and plans.

There is no Samsung Alias anymore (A nice qwerty keyboard, media friendly feature phone)... You either get an ugly clamshell phone for free, a toughened clamshell for $200 (With contract), or a Smart Phone.

In the Smart Phone lineup, you have a huge selection. But, all require an unlimited data plan. Useless for someone who really just wants a nice looking feature phone, that is media friendly.
Click to expand...

I still don't understand why people would discount the Kins. I'm an Android user but if I wanted smartphone capabilities with no data plan and wifi, I would definitely go for the Kin2. As many have said before, there are choices, I just think people want exactly what they want the exact way they want it and that can't always be had. There will probably never be a high end smartphone without some sort of data plan attached to it.
 
mpciii said:
I still don't understand why people would discount the Kins. I'm an Android user but if I wanted smartphone capabilities with no data plan and wifi, I would definitely go for the Kin2. As many have said before, there are choices, I just think people want exactly what they want the exact way they want it and that can't always be had. There will probably never be a high end smartphone without some sort of data plan attached to it.
Click to expand...

I saw the Kins. They look like cool devices, but not something that would work for me (They look like keychain fob toys).

Not a reason it wont work for anyone, but not for me ;)
 
They should of kept the 150mb plan but limited it certain smartphones. I have a droidx and use 1000gb a month but before that I had a BB Tour that only used 90MB a month and I'm not really using my Droidx that much more then then I did the Tour....I was constantly on both. I think the reason is that when you're using a BB all the data has to first go through RIM's servers and get highly compressed...at least that's my understanding. Not sure how much OS6 BB devices are using data wise.
 
Octane is OK, intensity is junk imo, Convoy and Brigade are both rock solid...nice thing is the convoy can be purchased for less than 200 with NO contract! and its a great phone.

I'll also second the android on page plus scenerio, VZW network metro prices...if you can handle the crappy cs its great ;)
 
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