My daughters both need new cell phones and we are not to the end of our 2 year contract. I want to buy them a phone that has a qwerty keyboard and they prefer a touchscreen. I found all kinds of information on the internet that said the Verizon was no longer requiring a data plan for the Rogue, but when I purchased one and went to activate it, I was asked which data plan I wanted. I am now looking at the Brightside (much more expensive) and want to be sure it does not require a data plan before I purchase it.
Are there any other phones out there I should be looking at while I list my Rogue on ebay?
Thank you,
Julie
For the reason that I am going to explain below, I hope that you have not listed the Rogue on ebay yet. If you have listed it, I believe that ebay permits the seller to cancel the auction if there are not yet any bids on the item.
The Rogue was among several phones (including the LG enV3, the Samsung Reality, the LG enV Touch, and the Casio Brigade) that Verizon for awhile classified as "Enhanced Multimedia Phones" which for awhile required a $ 9.99/mo data plan
This person explains what you need to do when the website claims that one of these devices still requires a data plan.
https://community.verizonwireless.com/thread/780417
"You can call Verizon, have them activate the phone without a data plan, and place a data block on it (or do this in a Corporate store). If you activate it on-line, add the data plan and then call Verizon and have them remove it and put a data block on the line."
Don't list your phone. If you pop into a verizon store they can activate without data. I got my husband a used ENV3 and that's what I did because I got that message too. Mary
You could also consider the discontinued phones the LG Versa and the Samsung Reality/u820/u370 available at places like ebay and amazon
What's cool about the Versa is that the keyboard is not only detachable but it protects the screen while it's attached. There are pictures of what I'm talking about half-way down this page:
http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/LG-Versa-Review_id2112
The Reality/u820/u370 is a great phone but, based on customer reviews. doesn't seem to tolerate very well living in a environment where it's going to get banged against other things (a purse or pants pocket full of keys, change, etc). It also has a bug that was never addressed by Samsung where music should be played either through the speaker or bluetooth headphones because the phone will probably freeze while headphones are plugged into the phone.
If these family members are into recording video, turning personal photos into wallpaper for the phone, or playing back video then the Brightside is a step down from the Reality/u820/u370.
And if they rely on using the alarms on the phone for reminders/appointments/waking up, then based on the discussions on this forum the alarms on the Brightside have an issue that has yet to be addressed by Samsung and Verizon.
If they are reluctant about the idea of keeping a touchscreen phone in a phone case and if the touchscreen phones that you are the most interested in are the discontinued models that no longer have a manufacturer's warranty, then my vote is that you consider acraftylady's suggestion for the enV3 for the extra durability. There is an option for insurance on Ebay phones that is mentioned at the bottom of the auctions called SquareTrade
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