Title currently says it all, I currently have a feature phone under Verizon, and I'd really like one a them newfangled Androids, but Verizon's pricing is waaaay too expensive for my tastes. it came out to pretty much close to 95.00/mth under them, and that's with a 2 GB data limit. Sprint's plan looks pretty attractive, with the smartphone charge it comes out to $80/mth, which after taxes will probably be around 85 based around current cell phone bill fees. What I wanna ask is, is it a good decision to switch to Sprint? Is there anyway other than dropping to limits on certain things that I could get something cheaper with Verizon? What's a good plan to get a Droid phone without paying a king's ransom?
If it helps, I'm currently in Massachusetts, and my current plan with Verizon allows unlimited texting and data, but isn't compatible with Smartphones. I'll be using Christmas money to pay for the actual phone, so I'm not that worried about price, but I want a phone that's relatively recent and won't have much of a problem running current stuff a couple years from now.
Posts
If you absolutely need a reliable connection, travel frequently, tend to roam every which way locally, or need dependable talking/data coverage while in transit (i.e., you're on the train and need to be on a conference call the entire time), then things like Verizon's coverage become more valuable. Otherwise, you're paying several hundred dollars more per year when you could be getting away with T-Mobile on the cheap.
It looks like if you can afford it, get an unlocked phone. Then you can pick your carrier and you won't have the ridiculous charges you would get on the major carriers if you got a phone at a subsidized cost with a 2 year contract.
My current plan is to get an unlocked smart phone and go with T-mobile, and spending $40-50 a month instead of $70-90. It is more expensive up front, but you end up saving over the course of the 2 years your contract would have been.
I personally prefer verizon because their coverage is crazy good. And if you're not planning on using your smart phone as a tether, it is impossibly hard to hit the cap if you're in range of a wifi signal most of the day.
I have a verizon phone with unlimited texting so I don't know what the OP is having issues with. My cellphone has two smart phones with unlimited texting, unlimited internet and the basic service plan for $120 ($40 of which is the double service/insurance/text agreements) a month. I don't know why the OP is getting shafted on that.
The second phone on a plan is waaaaaaaaayyyyyy cheaper than the first. $95 a month is pretty typical Verizon pricing.
The data is very slow, but usable.
I could actually downgrade my service to something like $70 a month if I only had a single phone if I recall, but I'd get like 200 minutes, no unlimited texts and have to pay for data too. But still, I use it in place of a home phone so fuck it, that's $60 right there.