Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Cellular Phones and Service

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

What ever happened to phones being phones?

_____
This message sent from my Blackberry™

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.

I'm amazed you had the patience to post that from your Crackberry. It's bad enough on mine, but on yours...

I didn't really send it from my blackberry. I need to pick my next phone for the new it group. they're suggesting an iPaq with GPS...

Two things about the Razr. First, I really don't see why people think they're small. I guess they're a little thinner than most newer flip phones, but they're also longer and wider, which I think actually gives them a bigger foot print. I guess they look cool though. Secondly, I know a few people who have them, and everyone seems to complain of poor speaker quality, in that it isn't very loud and can be difficult to hear the caller. Now these are v.2, so maybe the new v.3 is better, but I suggest checking that out.

Thanks, Craig. One thing I like very much about the razr (and the cingular windows mobile devices) is that they don't have any antenna sticking out of the top of the phone. I hear you about footprint, but they are quite thin and not having that stupid nub at the top seems good. Thank goodness for trial periods, eh?

Anybody tried the Verizon Q yet?