Cellular Phones and Service
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,488
axiomite
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OP
axiomite
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,488 |
Well, I've read and tried to digest the opinions of hackers and strangers at Howard Forums and elsewhere. Now, I come to my friends for advice.
We've been on Verizon for many years and are basically satisfied with coverage and bill accuracy. Our deal is up and so I'm shopping. And where else would I go for consultation about how to spend money on things with buttons?
Here's what I am pondering: 1. Stay with Verizon and get Motorola V3m Razrs. There are millions of them, and people seem to know how to hack the bejeezus out of them. Even without SEEM hacks, I can probably still synchronize calendars and phone books. 2. Stay with Verizon and get 1-2 Motorola Q's instead of Razrs. Windows Mobile. Stream your slingbox to your mobile device. Oh, the possibilities. Oh, the cost. 3. Shop for Razrs or Windows mobile devices at Cingular, mostly for form factor and the satisfaction of executing consumer choice. The pricing doesn't seem to be hugely different.
I don't like the looks of Sprint/Nextel for a variety of reasons, and the T-Mobile coverage in my area is not great.
It'll be me and the wife on a shared minute plan. I'm still on the fence about the data plans being under my threshold of pain. I'm mostly interested in good, small phones upon which I can converge at least some PDA-type information. This whole deal is completely unsubsidized and non-integrated with employer concerns.
So, what say you, my technology savant friends?
bibere usque ad hilaritatem
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Re: Cellular Phones and Service
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 170
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 170 |
I have Verizon as my carrier. I have the LG VX-8100 with Blutooth and I love it. My wife has the RAZR phone and she is less than impressed. I find it very easy to download ringtones (1000's availble for almost free on Ebay) and I love using the Blutooth in my BT enabled car (Acura MDX). I think there is a really good deal now for the 8100 and you could probably get it for free after rebates. I would check it out.
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Re: Cellular Phones and Service
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,488
axiomite
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OP
axiomite
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,488 |
Royce, why doesn't your wife like the Razr?
Don't you have to use VCast (or whatever V-Screwing term they're using nowadays) to buy all your multimedia content from Verizon?
bibere usque ad hilaritatem
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Re: Cellular Phones and Service
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,859
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,859 |
I haven't heard good things about the Razr either. Pretty much all they having going for them is that they are small. I have a Treo 700W, which is nice having the mail sync and everything else, but it's expensive and probably not worth the cost if work wasn't helping with the monthly payments.
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Re: Cellular Phones and Service
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 828
aficionado
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aficionado
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 828 |
i dont have personal experience with the Razor but my b-in-law and wife have them and like them. also all Razors are not created equal. the verizon version is said to be better with better software.
------------------------------------------------ Leave the gun, Take the canolis.
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Re: Cellular Phones and Service
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 558
aficionado
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aficionado
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 558 |
Tom- Here in the NW you're probably best off sticking with Verizon. I know they lock down their phones and don't carry the most bleeding edge stuff but they have the most comprehensive cell network in OR/WA.
Mark
"That's some catch, that Catch-22." "It's the best there is."
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Re: Cellular Phones and Service
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,488
axiomite
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OP
axiomite
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,488 |
Thanks, guys.
Yeah, Mark, I think you're right about provider. Apparently, there is a whole army of geeks who have successfully hacked the Razr to enable the Motorola capabilities that Verizon wants you to pay for. I'm not sure I have the stomach for that yet. Ultimately, I'm going to narrow the choices and let my wife decide.
bibere usque ad hilaritatem
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Re: Cellular Phones and Service
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 16,441
shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 16,441 |
What ever happened to phones being phones? _____ This message sent from my Blackberry™
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Re: Cellular Phones and Service
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 170
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 170 |
Quote:
Royce, why doesn't your wife like the Razr?
Don't you have to use VCast (or whatever V-Screwing term they're using nowadays) to buy all your multimedia content from Verizon?
You can find multi-media content along with a USB cable to download MIDI files on eBay for about $6. The disc I got with my USB cable had about 1000 ringtones. They are the same ringtones as the ones you pay $2 for on V-Screw.
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Re: Cellular Phones and Service
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,422
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,422 |
My wife's Verizon contract was up just 2 weeks ago, and we hunted high and low to see what we should do as well. Other companies have "nights and weekends' starting at 7PM unlike Verizon's 9PM, other carriers also give you about 500 or more minutes for the same cost of Verizon's 400... I used to have a Verizon phone provided by my former employer, but when I switched jobs, they put me on a local US Cellular plan, which so far has been OK for work, but I don't see the bill, and the phone that they provided me honestly is the biggest block of plastic and copper wiring I've seen in a while, but that is a different story.
Anyway, all in all she stayed with Verizon. Hard to beat their coverage, even if it is 400 minutes instead of 500, and we switched our home phone from Qwest to Vonage, so we have free long distance 24/7, so no need to worry about when nights and weekends starts.
She was going to get a pink Razr. It looks cool and such, but we talked to two different Verizon salespeople at two different stores and they said that they see more Razrs come in for repairs, replacement, or to get a different phone because they break a lot. I think that the Razr is too thin for its own good and thus loses durability. She ended up with what we found as a well reviewed phone, the LG VX8300. We were hoping for something without a 1" antenna sticking out of it (that is what broke on her existing Verizon phone and we've been counting the days for the contract expiration to get a new phone), but the other options either were too "guy-ish" (her word), or didn't have the features she wanted, or were no longer available after we researched our carrier options.
You can hack just about any phone, it just takes a data connection kit, and the right software found on the internet. You should be able to add ringtones to just about any Verizon phone, and games to some of them as well.
Some of the phones come with storage slots for little SD memory cards and such, so there may be an easier option to "hack" the phone that way as well. I know I am going to try it with my wife's phone when it gets here tomorrow or Monday.
Good luck.
Farewell - June 4, 2020
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