What a rip off.....

[Wiletoo]

The Droid, as with the Blackberry, costs an additional $30/mo?  What if I don't want data, e-mail, etc.  I just want the phone, but I'm being forced to pay for an upgrade to get data.  This is a complete scam and just another way to suck every dollar out of people. 

Thanks Verizon!!  Contract is almost up....it's time to switch to another carrier.

[Butthead]

You're incorrect about getting around data requirement doing an OTA device change. The data plan is tied to the device type, so once the esn populates, data plan it is..

All carriers are moving to requiring data plans for smartphones. Sorry.

[WildatHeart]

I had the same experience. I don't like giving Apple my business and that's why I chose Verizon in the first place. But, if I'm going to have to pay the Apple pricetag anyway ... may as well jump in the pond with everyone else.

[techspert]

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WildatHeart wrote:

I had the same experience. I don't like giving Apple my business and that's why I chose Verizon in the first place. But, if I'm going to have to pay the Apple pricetag anyway ... may as well jump in the pond with everyone else.

---

Nevermind the fact that Apple gives you less bang for your buck in hardware and nickels and dimes you on things like battery replacement compared to any other phone.  The dealbreaker for me is that you lease the iphone, you don't own it.  It's one thing to replace the phone on warranty with a refurb, but if you send it in for a new battery, they simply send you another "refurb" with a new battery that you don't know how many times it bounced off the floor by the last "owner".  F- that.  No other cell phone manufacturer I know has THAT kind of pricetag.

[supitsmike]

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WildatHeart wrote:

I had the same experience. I don't like giving Apple my business and that's why I chose Verizon in the first place. But, if I'm going to have to pay the Apple pricetag anyway ... may as well jump in the pond with everyone else.

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That's like saying "well because Nike shoes are great tennis shoes, I might as well dress with baggy pants and long T Shirts because a lot of guys dress that way."

That doesn't make any remote sense.

Droid is an amazingly powerful phone. You can make it yours, what you want it to be, the specs on it are ridiculous.

[edllorca]

I found out today about the dataplan requirement too.  It is what I call blackmail business.  Verizon is starting to act arrogantly toward its customers and doesn't relaize that that is the fastest way to become #2 or worse.  If I want a droid and no data plan what does it matter to them?  If they want me to have a dataplan they should make it worth my while not blackmail me.  that is what true business and competition is about not this whole crap about phones only being available from this venrdor or that and now worse even the dataplan blackmail.  Frankly I am not going to renew my contract now and may switch to another provider.

Another dumb thing I saw looking into the droid was about applications.  I went to android.com/market to check out apps and saw only a few with no access to much information about them but there was a note that said you have to access the store via a handset.  That's brilliant.  On the one had I have a computer with a two 21" screens and a fat dsl line on the other hand you have a 3.7" screen with a slow expensive pipe.  Which of those two do you think is better?  Wh is the GENIUS that said no they can't research or buy apps from their desktops?  Get that guy fired and everybody else that approved that idiotic idea.

Geez Verizon, get a grip here you have completely lost touch with reality on this one, after all the jerkaround with the plam pre!  No wonder sales of the droid have started slowly...Verizon is working hard to prevent their customers from getting what they want.

Ed

[techspert]

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edllorca wrote:

I found out today about the dataplan requirement too.  It is what I call blackmail business.  Verizon is starting to act arrogantly toward its customers and doesn't relaize that that is the fastest way to become #2 or worse.  If I want a droid and no data plan what does it matter to them?  If they want me to have a dataplan they should make it worth my while not blackmail me.  that is what true business and competition is about not this whole crap about phones only being available from this venrdor or that and now worse even the dataplan blackmail.  Frankly I am not going to renew my contract now and may switch to another provider.

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You're half right here.  You should be permitted to pay for retail for the device and opt to not subscribe to a data plan, or pay per megabyte.  But when you sign the contract and take advantage of the subsidized price, I see no problem with the data plan requirement.  They're absorbing $360 up front so you can get the phone at $199, and if you're an NE2 customer, you can get an additional $50 discount.  If you choose to switch providers, know that AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile all will require you to pick up a data subscription with a smartphone.  Good luck.

[somegirl]

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edllorca wrote:

Another dumb thing I saw looking into the droid was about applications.  I went to android.com/market to check out apps and saw only a few with no access to much information about them but there was a note that said you have to access the store via a handset.  That's brilliant.  On the one had I have a computer with a two 21" screens and a fat dsl line on the other hand you have a 3.7" screen with a slow expensive pipe.  Which of those two do you think is better?  Wh is the GENIUS that said no they can't research or buy apps from their desktops?  Get that guy fired and everybody else that approved that idiotic idea.

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http://www.cyrket.com - browse the full Android App market from your pc. Seems to be experiencing a high load at the moment (Hm, wonder why...) so it's a little slow, but it DOES exist.

[gerio]

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WildatHeart wrote:

I had the same experience. I don't like giving Apple my business and that's why I chose Verizon in the first place. But, if I'm going to have to pay the Apple pricetag anyway ... may as well jump in the pond with everyone else.

---

If you like a pond where you can't make or receive a simple phone call without a dog and pony show, then dive right in.

I've been for that swim, I caught a liferaft back to shore. Then to the Verizon store.

Geri O

[timwingram]

The phone does have wifi on it so you could use the cheap fat pipe of the dsl connection also to sync and almost anything you wish. I dont know if the GPS would work since it looks as though it goes to the internet to find things like that and if you are in a car it wouldn't work.  My problem is that they are wanting to charge $30 a phone for data for each phone.  Right now I have the smartpack from Alltel and 4 phones cost me $199 a month and with the plan they have it would cost $300 a month that is an extra $2400 over two years for the same internet I have on our touch pros.   DSL $19.95 a month(unlimited computers)  Internet shouldn't be this pricey

[EricSeipel]

The thing about all you people that i dont completely understand is, why do you want a phone whose main selling point is [Exchange support/POP/G-mail(with push?)], [Google Maps/Navigation], [Mobile web browsing] yet don't want to pay for a data plan that takes advantage of those features?

Yes, I realize there is a WiFi connection... that eats battery for breakfast.  If your just looking for a PDA, then get a PDA. someone Mentioned the ipod touch, i like the HP iPaq hx2750, and palm has some also.

You say "but i want the cool apps!!!" a vast majority of them need data of some sort to work.  "Hey let me scan this barcode to see where i can find it cheaper... crap acme grocery store doesn't have wifi".  "I wonder how my football team is doing, lets check out the app... oh wait the train home dosent have wifi"

For the people that think its stupid to have the appstore accessed from the phone, this is at least partly a security thing so that people don't pirate paid apps.  you will not that there is no inherently easy way to get your apps off of the phone, that is a design feature not a flaw.

Before you flame me, how about you think about what i said, instead of just blindly yowling.

[element22ag]

I don't understand this thread - its complaint is like saying you're outraged that you just bought a high end laptop and found out you also have to pay for an internet connection.  To me it just makes sense that you'd have to pay for data for a phone that runs the internet.  And whats the deal with wanting this specific phone as just a phone?  Thats like buying a Porsche and only driving 35 with it.

[timwingram]

My complaint is that I already have data on my phone and to change from touch to motorola they want 30 dollars extra per phone.  4x 30 is 120 more than what I am paying now.     I have very high end pc's and they all run off high speed internet.  Many pc's on data connection.   Yes I know it is mobile internet but still they are way overpricing.  Data is not that expensive to provide. Verizon , ATT and most all the phone companies are the internet they pretty much own it..  (or at least 60% of the connections)

[gwhitbeck]

i had a thread about this too but i was actually somewhat confused at that time.  i thought the $30 was for nothing, not realizing it was an actual data plan that included 5GB of data transfer per month.

it is kind of goofy though from this point of view: since it has wifi, why couldn't i just use it wherever there were hotspots and not get the data plan? for me at least, that would be an "ease into the extra $30". i could decide if i want it or not without immediately taking the plunge and forking it over.

however, now that i own it i see that the data is really a part of this system. so in a previous post the comparison was getting a laptop and then finding out you need to pay for internet service makes a lot more sense to me. plus skipping from hotspot to hotspot would suck.

i can use it at work, at someone's house that doesn't have wifi, on the road for gps, etc.

[youknowit]

that phone probably costs $600 for verizon to get it from motorola. They sell it for $200. Verizon is negative $400 already.

They would never make a profit if you weren't forced to get the data package. Its business, they're in it to profit.

You don't need it to survive, you really don't. Are you complaining to caddilac that their cars are too expensive? Its not a necessity by any means.

[rjones]

I'm wondering why anybody would want a DROID without a data plan. The data connection is what the DROID is all about because it gives access to the Web and Google's search capabiities. It's an expensive toy if all you need is a game player and phone. There a many other devices that fill that bill for much less money.

[aeaster245]

I don't understand how anyone could resist using data with this phone.  If Verizon really wanted to make loads of money then they should let them have the phone w/o the data plan and pay per MB.  

While we are on the subject, where can I find how much data I have used since Friday?  What do they charge per MB?    I.m curious to see how much my bill would be

[defkorn]

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aeaster245 wrote:

I don't understand how anyone could resist using data with this phone.  If Verizon really wanted to make loads of money then they should let them have the phone w/o the data plan and pay per MB.  

While we are on the subject, where can I find how much data I have used since Friday?  What do they charge per MB?    I.m curious to see how much my bill would be

---

There is an app in the Verizon section of the App Market called "My Verizon" that will give you anything you need to know about your account, or you can go to their website and check your account.  I think its $1.99/MB or somethign rediculous, get an unlimited data plan. 

[timwingram]

I guess most of you do not know what open source means..   Google OS is an open source product that means  Google gets paid nothing for the OS.. They will make their money from you using the phone and saying Pizza. Well when you say pizza it comes up with the closest place that you are near that pays google a fee.  I think verizon should make money but if you think this phone cost them $600 a phone you are crazy.  Most people think that phones are expensive well they are not. Microsoft

charges a little for the Windows Mobile software but it really isnt that much.   Electronics in the phone is very min.  Think about the computer for example how much they have came down in price in the last few years, The netbooks cost $300 and  the verizon subsidizes the laptop by $100 if you buy the internet plan at what $50 to $60 per month?  Keep in mind they are really only paying under $200 for the netbook because they buy wholesale and buy so many.  Venture to guess they buy the phone for less than $200 and give it  markup of 3x to since it looks so sweet.   But I am such a nice place to do business give me a 2 year inflated contract and I will sell you this phone for my cost.  Yes you have to make a profit but the $30 extra a phone for data is very very high. I am voting with my pocketbook and staying with the touchs I have and yes they all 4 have data plans and cost less then $200 a month.  And I dont think it is worth and extra $3200 in a two year period to have 4 of these phones instead of 4 windows phones.

[EricSeipel]

Perhaps this is my ignorance... and i'm sorry if it is.  Have any of you had a phone that uses data, but doesn't need a data plan(meaning you don't pay for data)?  Every phone i have ever had was either a Plan-and-Data, or a Plan-Pay-Per-MB... So you all want to pay per MB? This would be an amazingly expensive process.  If you think you can swing with a per MB plan think about all the things that this does with data.  Im happy with my cheap minutes and $30 data.

[Laytimator]

I can understand those who say the phone is useless without the data plan, but it would be nice to know that if I lost my job, I could cancel the data plan to scale back and still keep my phone/calendar and use only wifi sparingly.

[gerio]

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gwhitbeck wrote:

i had a thread about this too but i was actually somewhat confused at that time.  i thought the $30 was for nothing, not realizing it was an actual data plan that included 5GB of data transfer per month.

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This is incorrect, and to your benefit.

The data plan for your phone includes unlimited data. It's the air cards and the MiFi card that is capped at 5 gigs.

Geri O