Need suggestions on verizon phone+plan...

[zixxer]

My work has paid for my phone for the past 6 years - I've never actually bought/paid for a cell phone or service ever.


I have verizon, and want to stick with them - is there any phone in particular that works well and is thin?

How about the service? I don't talk that much, and mainly with other people that have verizon, but I do send a LOT of txt's....

 

[lokiju]

Well if you plan on doing a lot of texting and want a slim phone then you should check out the Moto Q. I'm sure someone will the Black Berry Pearl but since thats not available through Verizon, I'd say the Q is your best bet.

Posted all this via my Moto Q btw

 

[zixxer]

Yeah I like the Q a lot - $200 seem like a good deal? That's through best buy...

edit:

also, anyone know if the costco return thing applies to phones?

 

[freebee]

Krzr. Now in red! You have pointy asian thumbs? If not, this option won't work.

I'm still not sure why they can't use voicesignals (which is built into all the verizon phones) to do speech to text conversion. No need for qwerty based keyboards.

Edit: It appears voicesignal did come out with voicemode software. My krzr doesn't have it.

 

[zixxer]

Hmm.. maybe - the Q really looks cool though - is it true that a '2nd gen' is going to come out soon? If so, that sucks because I have to get new service this week, and that means I lose my "new contract" credit, right? I get to keep my old verizon phone though - I wonder if I can transfer service to that until the new Q comes out, then sign a contract and get the $200 whatever off...

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: lokiju
Well if you plan on doing a lot of texting and want a slim phone then you should check out the Moto Q. I'm sure someone will the Black Berry Pearl but since thats not available through Verizon, I'd say the Q is your best bet.

Posted all this via my Moto Q btw

If it's just for texting and not PDA type stuff, you might as well just get the EnV

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: zixxer
Hmm.. maybe - the Q really looks cool though - is it true that a '2nd gen' is going to come out soon? If so, that sucks because I have to get new service this week, and that means I lose my "new contract" credit, right? I get to keep my old verizon phone though - I wonder if I can transfer service to that until the new Q comes out, then sign a contract and get the $200 whatever off...

They announced a couple new versions, but they are for GSM networks only (Verizon runs CDMA). I've been researching the Q heavily because my contract is up in April and my wife wanted a phone with calendar options. After looking into them I decided I want one too Here's my thread from a couple weeks ago on it:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=38&threadid=2004267&enterthread=y

You can get it for $125 AR from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Q-Phone-...002-3092929-0784863?ie=UTF8&s=wireless

Here is the package that I am planning on right now:

Motorola Q (black)
Extended battery (Seido 2100mAh)
2gb MicroSD card
Screen protectors (3-pack)
Bluetooth headset
Bluetooth GPS (EMTAC mini-S3 Bluetooth GPS with WAAS)
Car charger
Spare A/C adapter for my laptop bag

The Q is more of an advanced phone than a PDA. Think of it as a cell phone with a larger screen and text input. It doesn't have a touchscreen or wifi, but it does fit nicely in your pocket and is very good at certain applications. The main functions that I will be using it for are Phone, Calendar, and Google Maps Mobile (along with the GPS). I will also use it for Notes (to-do lists, jotting down email addresses, etc.) and Data (gas, traffic, weather, movies). A friend of mine showed me his Q and let me play with it a bit and I really liked it. It fits easily into your shirt or pants pocket, it's simple to use, and it does everything I want. I also looked at Treos and Blackberries, but they are overkill for what I want it to do. As far as pricing goes, here's what Verizon has to offer:

450 minutes/unlimited data - $80
1350 minutes/unlimited data - $110
4000 minutes/unlimited data - $170

I'm currently planning on going with the 1350 minute plan, since I use my phone for business as well as personal use. It's a little spendy, but this way I don't have to pay $600+ for a dedicated GPS unit (I actually like Google Maps a lot better). They have 4 text messaging options:

Pay Per Message - $0.10 per SMS, $0.25 per photo/video
Unlimited IN Messaging PLUS 500 additional messages - $10/month
Unlimited IN Messaging PLUS 1000 additional messages - $15/month
Unlimited IN Messaging PLUS 2500 additional messages - $20/month

"IN Messaging" simply means that sending text messages to other Verizon users is free. I use SMS for everything from sending messages to my wife to running scripts on my work servers, so I'm planning on getting the 500 message package (I don't usually use over 100 a month). I would also recommend getting the Total Equipment Coverage insurance plan for an extra $6 a month. My wife convinced me to get it when I got my first phone, a Motorola v710 - it came in handy when I accidentally dropped the phone in the toilet, they sent me out a new one pretty quick. The Q isn't exactly a cheap phone either. The EverythingQ.com store has a lot of nice accessories:

http://store.everythingq.com/

Here are some user communities and other resources for the Q:

everythingQ
Q Users
Motorola's homepage for the Q
Motorola's Q Wiki
Howard Forum (huge cell phone forum)

And last but not least some reviews:

CNET review (photos, video, article)
Amazon user reviews
PC Mag review
Phone Scoop data (plus user reviews)
InfoSync review

 

[dainthomas]

If you text and you're with verizon, then you want the env.

 

[Raduque]

Originally posted by: dainthomas
If you text and you're with verizon, then you want the env.

:thumbsup: It's currently, I believe, 179.99 on 2yr contract, and with your NE2 and $50 MIR it'd be 29.99 total. 79.99+tax upfront unless you go online.


Edit: the EnV isn't a particularly thin phone, though..... 8600, RAZR and KRZR are our thinnest phones.

 

[Al Neri]

marked

 

[Al Neri]

and here I thought I would only get the free phones from now on >

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: zixxer
Hmm.. maybe - the Q really looks cool though - is it true that a '2nd gen' is going to come out soon? If so, that sucks because I have to get new service this week, and that means I lose my "new contract" credit, right? I get to keep my old verizon phone though - I wonder if I can transfer service to that until the new Q comes out, then sign a contract and get the $200 whatever off...

I think that credit last for a year...check with them. I waited quit some time before newing and it was fine.,

 

[lokiju]

Originally posted by: zixxer
Hmm.. maybe - the Q really looks cool though - is it true that a '2nd gen' is going to come out soon? If so, that sucks because I have to get new service this week, and that means I lose my "new contract" credit, right? I get to keep my old verizon phone though - I wonder if I can transfer service to that until the new Q comes out, then sign a contract and get the $200 whatever off...

2nd Gen did come it and it's called the Q Pro IIRC, from what I read there isn't a ton of feature updates and it's more stuff that helps in a corporate environment using Exchange and also lets you edit office docs out of the box.