VZW Data plan changes

[DancinJack]

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/06/20/ex ... 0-for-2gb/

I suggest everyone grab an unlimited plan before July 7 if you don't want to pay these crazy prices. 2GB wouldn't be bad, but why not grab an unlimited plan for the same price? I talked to someone that works at VZW (a friend from college) and he said that you DO get to keep your unlimited when upgrading if you wish to. Just in time for iPhone 5 users to get shafted, if they were to come to VZW that is.

[tfp]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a smart phone on VZW?

[DancinJack]

iPhone if you want iOS.
3G Android - Moto Droid X2
4G Android - Samsung Droid Charge

[Dizik]

I'm seriously considering dropping Sprint for Verizon so I can be grandfathered into the unlimited data plan. The only thing that sucks is that I'm not 100% crazy about any of their current LTE phones. Samsung Charge is nice and all, but I'm not a big fan of Samsung's TouchWiz. That could be remedied by using another launcher (a la LauncherPro, ADW, etc.). The Thunderbolt is nice, but the battery life is about the same as my current EVO 4G, which isn't that great. Then there's the LG Revolution which by all accounts is a good phone, but not a great phone. If only Verizon would launch the Droid Bionic already, I would jump ship in a heartbeat. Though I'm sure Verizon is purposefully delaying the launch of the Bionic until after they move to the tiered data packages. I'm not too fond of buying a phone right now that I'm not crazy about only to have to pay full price for the phone that I do want down the road.

After looking over my data usage the past 12 months on Sprint, I've never hit 2GB of data. I thought about waiting until my contract is up with Sprint next year and then switch to Verizon and get the 2GB data plan. However, I don't live in a WiMax saturated market and have barely been able to use it. So chances are if I were able to use Verizon's LTE, I would more than likely hit the 2GB threshold rather quickly, especially if I were to tether my tablet to it.

Reason's to not jump ship:

• Sprint's ~$200 early termination fee for both lines on my account
• The first month's bill with a new carrier is always insane.
• Not in love with Verizon's current LTE phone lineup

Reason's to switch to Verizon:

• LTE
• LTE
• LTE

[Synchromesh]

I don't think iPhone 5 will be coming out. By all accounts it looks like next iPhone will be something like 4S, ie modified 4. And it shouldn't get LTE until next year anyway.

I'm looking to get rid of my horrible Android junker named HTC Eris for a new phone soon. Hopefully VZW will be able to provide something decent instead of this pos. But I'm very unlikely to buy anything HTC after this horror of a phone. iPhone is a possibility but relearning the OS all over again doesn't excite me too much. I wish they had a better selection of 4G droids too.

[Corrado]

I don't think iPhone 5 will be coming out. By all accounts it looks like next iPhone will be something like 4S, ie modified 4. And it shouldn't get LTE until next year anyway.

I'm looking to get rid of my horrible Android junker named HTC Eris for a new phone soon. Hopefully VZW will be able to provide something decent instead of this pos. But I'm very unlikely to buy anything HTC after this horror of a phone. iPhone is a possibility but relearning the OS all over again doesn't excite me too much. I wish they had a better selection of 4G droids too.

Theres not much to learn when it comes to iOS. If you know how to use Android, you can figure out iOS very quickly and vice versa. iOS does some things VASTLY better than Android, and Android does some things VASTLY better than iOS. Mainly the notifications, but thats changing in Sept or so with iOS5.

[Dizik]

I had an iPhone 3G and it was a good phone while I had it. Since moving over to Android, though, I have no interest in getting an iPhone again. Android is better suited for my tastes, especially when it comes to rooting, customization, etc.

[moog]

I hear you can get out of your contracts without penalty now - great if you just bought a new phone from them.

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3064139

[DancinJack]

Verizon Wireless officially confirmed today that it will replace its unlimited data plans with tiered options starting Thursday.

Spokeswoman Brenda Raney told FierceWireless that consumers will have their choice of four data allotments: $10 for 75MB per month, $30 for 2GB per month, $50 for 5GB per month, and $80 for 10GB per month. The cheapest tier is avaialble only for feature phones. Subscribers with an iPhone or a WebOS, Android, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone 7 device will have to choose one of the remaining three options.
As expected, existing customers will be grandfathered in with the $30 unlimited plan, even with future handset upgrades. Raney also confirmed that overage charges would be $10 per GB of data, regardless of plan.

But that's not all. The carrier also is adjusting its LTE mobile hot-spot service, available on handsets like the Droid Charge, LG Revolution, and HTC ThunderBolt. So far, all customers have used the mobile hot spot free of charge and without bandwidth restrictions.
Starting Thursday, however, subscribers currently using the feature will have to pay an extra $30 per month for unlimited access. Anyone who adds the hot-spot option after July 7 will pay $20 per month, but they'll get just 2GB of data to use however they see fit.

Verizon's news means that Sprint will be the last of the major wireless providers offering customers a truly unlimited data plan. T-Mobile comes close to giving its subscribers as much data as they'd like, but speeds are throttled should users go over their allotted amount.
Many mobile users who are anxious over which rate plan is right for them might want to take a look at a few recent bills. According to recent findings from Nielsen, the average Android user goes through less than 600MB per month. It's possible that some of you could end up saving money each month should you wind up with the right usage-based plan.

There we go, from VZW.

[Captain Ned]

I upgraded the 2 non-smartphones on my plan this past Sunday just to get the grandfathered unlimited plan for all 3 lines. Buy tomorrow and you can still get unlimited 3G.

I bought 2 Droid 2 Globals and moved my original Droid to my daughter's line. The D2G is infested with MotoBlur so I've already rooted and flahed mine to a new ROM. Given how the wife is complaining about battery life, I'll be rooting & flashing hers tonight.

[DancinJack]

Yeah, called and changed mine to unlimited last week to keep it. Will be nice when I upgrade from my OG Droid later this summer.

[Dizik]

I jumped ship from Sprint to Verizon on Monday so I could hop onto the LTE bandwagon. The wife and I picked up some Droid Charges, and we're pretty happy. I'm not a huge fan of TouchWiz, so I might eventually root it and load a custom ROM. I've read recently that both the Galaxy S II and Droid Bionic might launch as early as next month. If that's true, then I might use Best Buy's 30 return policy and grab either one of those phones. I'm not too crazy about the thought of Blur on the Bionic, so that would make me lean towards getting the Galaxy S II. However, there's been no official statement stating that the Galaxy S II is even coming to Verizon. I know that the previous Galaxy phones were released on the 4 major carriers, which would mean that it's likely the S II is indeed coming to Verizon, but you never know.

[DancinJack]

If it does come to VZW. Get the SII no question about it - at least over the Bionic.

[Dizik]

Today at work we had a fire alarm, and we were outside for quite a while waiting for the fire department to show up and give us the "all clear". While standing in the parking lot and suffering through 105°F temperatures, I decided to run a Speedtest run. To my surprise, I was provided the best download results yet: 32.36 Mbps! Holy shiznit, I'm in love with LTE!

If it does come to VZW. Get the SII no question about it - at least over the Bionic.

Is that a personal preference, a la preferring TouchWiz over MotoBlur? Or is there something else that you make you come to your conclusion? The Bionic is reported to be launching with a qHD display (960×540), versus the WVGA (800×480) on the Galaxy S II. Though, I've read reports that the Bionic might launch with a pentile display, which be an instant deal breaker for me. The Super AMOLED screen on my Charge is absolutely gorgeous, and the Galaxy S II will be supporting the same (or similar) display.

On the other hand, lots of people prefer Motorola's sturdier build quality over Samsung's choice of cheap feeling plastics. Both phones will be running dual-core processors, with the Bionic possibly running a 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 compared to the 1.2 GHz dual-core Hummingbird on the Galaxy S II. Both will be also LTE phones provided the Galaxy SII does come to Verizon. I would think that purchasing one largely boils down to personal preference, and not necessarily higher-end specs on one phone or the other.

=Ninja Edit=
I failed to mention that the Galaxy S II has 1GB of RAM versus the 512MB on the Bionic. So, that's +1 for Samsung.

[DancinJack]

I don't reallllly have a preference from the "themes' that companies put on their phones. I'm lucky enough to have a more or less vanilla Froyo build on my OG Droid. I do agree that Moto phones tend to have better build quality, at least with the ones I've had in my hands.

Really though, I just don't know if VZW is going to get the SII. Is LTE that big of an issue for you? If so, you may just want to wait to see when the Bionic comes out. My only worries about that phone have been the delays. I've also heard rumors lately that it may or may not be Tegra2 inside anymore but rather a different dual core SoC. Just wait as long as you can to see what is coming out. I just saw some adds for the bionic today on a website. You may be in luck!

http://androidheadlines.com/2011/07/reb ... st-ad.html

So from that stuff I read I saw August 4th in quite a few of them.