Getting new phone on Verizon...

[Zephik]

I'm ordering a new phone on Verizon and I've filled out all of the billing and shipping information and everything else, then it says processing order, etc etc., then it says I have two options. Option one is a $125 deposit? uh, what? I'm confused by this. So do I need to pay for the phone, the plan, activation AND a deposit?? The deposit is more than the phone + plan combined! I'm so confused. Then option two is some kind of pay-as-you-go plan which replaces the messaging only plan I wanted, but it doesn't require a deposit.

What the hell is going on here? It sure would be insanely nice if they, you know, explained what they're talking about. But nope, no explanation or information, just pick one or the other.

Edit: Thanks Google, what would I do without you...

So apparently it's because I have pretty much no credit or my credit isn't good enough, so if I default on a payment then they use that to cover it. Makes sense, but now I can't get a phone. So... hmmm. Next paycheck goes towards rent, then the next paycheck I'll be able to get a phone. Awesome. /sarcasm

[SXRguyinMA]

gotta love that crap

[Mark_Hardware]

I had to pay that deposit when I was with verizon, cept I had two lines so that meant two deposits.
Later, I ended up with Sprint cause they only wanted a $50 deposit. meh

[Bopher]

When me and the wife were looking for phone we ran my name first through T-Mobile and they wanted $500 for the deposit and that only gave us 1 line. Then we ran her name and she needed no deposit and was approved for the max 5 lines. Sometimes I hate credit reports.

[simon275]

Kinda off topic but I heard Verizon in the states is CDMA. For Real?

[Trace]

Yep, verizon and Sprint are CDMA in the US

T-Mobile and Cingular(ATT) are GSM

[SgtM]

This is why I've been with AT&T since 2001. They were the only company that didn't want some outrageous deposit.

[Drum Thumper]

I can't remember what I had to pay for a deposit, but I do remember getting it back after a year.

Oh and Rick...Verizon is finally getting into the game and getting a potential Iphone killer.....mwhahahaha.

[Zephik]

This is why I've been with AT&T since 2001. They were the only company that didn't want some outrageous deposit.

Yea, they just want outrageous monthly plans instead. HA! :p

I want that damn iPhone so bad, but no way no how could I afford the monthly payment though. It's like what? $90 a month just for a decent plan? I get basically the same thing for $35 with Verizon, although that's mostly because I don't use calling hardly ever.

[billygoat333]

I heard that verizon was getting the iphone is january... is that not true?

[aintnothang]

It would be cool. I run the verizon game.

[Zephik]

I heard that verizon was getting the iphone is january... is that not true?

Well I think the AT&T/Apple contract ends in 2010, so... maybe... but with the Droid and all, I doubt it. The Droid is about as claimed "iPhone killer' as you can be. It would be pretty odd to release a phone like that and strut it around as such like that only to get the iPhone the following year.

It'll be coming to other networks eventually though. Everyone is basically just waiting for the contract to end. My guess is that it'll probably stay GSM.

[SgtM]

I heard that verizon was getting the iphone is january... is that not true?

Not true. The iPhone is GSM, Verizon's network is CDMA. Though, Verizon did come out and tell Apple that the ball is in their court. I don't see Apple making a CDMA version just so Verizon can carry it. I think it's gonna be interesting to see what Droid does. Looks like a cool phone.

[Zephik]

I don't see why they wouldn't. It wouldn't be like they would have to redesign the entire thing from the ground up or anything. All they have to do is swap out the chip and make a few other fairly minor changes. That or start making them with both chips, like some phones have. I think it'd be worth it with there being so much money to be made with an iPhone/Verizon combo. Even if they charged a bit more for a Verizon edition to cover the extra costs, people would still flock to them. The price of the phone has never been an issue, all the money is made through the monthly payments. The iPhone definitely does not cost $50 to make let alone half that just to turn a profit, they get away with it because that's not where the money's at. So with that mentality, I would think whatever little extra cost would be worth it in the end to have the iPhone on the US's largest/2nd largest carrier.

Then again, what do I know? lol But it does seem like the cost of the phone or the cost to make the phone to be precise, doesn't really matter a whole lot when you look at how much you'll make with all those contracts. The end justifies the means in other words.

But like I said before. Verizon has Droid now, which is a literally proclaimed iPhone killing phone. So I'm not sure if that plays into anything at all...

[x88x]

The problem with making a CDMA iPhone is that they would have to either put both radios in there (don't really see that happening with space constraints) or they'd have to have two production versions of the iPhone running at the same time...not something they would be likely to do without first having a large, guaranteed market. Also, tbh, most of the people who would buy the iPhone are probably in or near cities, where there are plenty of GSM providers. Also, Verizon's data plan sucks..$50/mo just for the data portion...compared to ~$30/mo for the data portion with most other carriers I've checked.

[Zephik]

The problem with making a CDMA iPhone is that they would have to either put both radios in there (don't really see that happening with space constraints) or they'd have to have two production versions of the iPhone running at the same time...not something they would be likely to do without first having a large, guaranteed market. Also, tbh, most of the people who would buy the iPhone are probably in or near cities, where there are plenty of GSM providers. Also, Verizon's data plan sucks..$50/mo just for the data portion...compared to ~$30/mo for the data portion with most other carriers I've checked.

That's true, I never really thought about the space constraints... although, Apple is pretty good at making things fit in small areas. lol

Well you hear people constantly wanting/asking/hoping for the iPhone to come to Verizon. I think Apple will at least give it a good amount of thought just because of that. Whether it's realistically do-able or not is hard to say. They're only charging $50 for the basic iPhone right now though, so boost that up to $150-$200 to cover the extra "special" costs maybe? I'd be totally down for that. Although... would everyone... hmmm. I guess we can wait and see how well Droid does. That will at least hint to some numbers, to see whether they're there or not. Motorola, HTC and Blackberry seem to be pretty confident that there are numbers there anyways. There is also Samsung and LG as well with the Rogue and EnV Touch which are Verizon's best sellers/most reviewed right now. With phone's getting replaced basically every two years, Apple wouldn't have to wait long to start seeing numbers I think. Edit: Besides, it's VERIZON and the IPHONE lol. You don't get much larger than Verizon and the iPhone is always a guarantee big time seller.

Yea, GSM is everywhere. But so is CDMA? And when comparing AT&T and Verizon, Verizon has the better track record of least dropped called and being in more area's. The advantage of going with Verizon is simple, look at how big they are and that's without the iPhone. Apple was originally interested in Verizon for a reason.

Verizon has better plans than AT&T last I checked.

Verizon:
$70 = 450 Minutes, 5 Friends & Family, Unlimited Mobile to Mobile, Unlimited Night and Weekend, Unlimited Data, Unlimited Text, Pix & Video Messaging, Mobile Email and for $10 more you get V Cast Video and VZ Navigator.

AT&T
$99.98 = 450 Minutes w/ Rollover, Unlimited Mobile to Mobile, 5000 Night and Weekend, Unlimited Data, Unlimited Text, Pix & Video Messaging and for $10 more you get AT&T Navigator.

or...

$94.98 = 1500 Text Messages instead of Unlimited.

or...

$84.99 = 1500 Text Messages instead of Unlimited + No AT&T Navigator.

or...

$74.99 = 200 Text Messages instead of Unlimited + No AT&T Navigator.

So there you have it. Verizon is not only cheaper, their plan is better too. I just took all of those numbers directly from their websites, by the way. (Verizon has more Data Plan options, but I didn't list them since the $70/mo Plan pretty much covers everything you'd want/need and for cheaper than AT&T)

Oooh yea, also, Verizon has Messaging only options for $35 a month for regular phones and $55 a month for smart phones such as the iPhone. So if you don't use calling, there is another reason to like Verizon. The messaging only plan included unlimited everything with calling at forty cents a minute aka two dollars every five minutes.

Plus you get less dropped calls and technically more coverage in more area's than AT&T. Although, a lot of area's where Verizon isn't at, AT&T is. So together, that's like full coverage! I mean, you would REALLY have to live in the middle of nowhere to not get coverage between ATT and Verizon. lol

[x88x]

They're only charging $50 for the basic iPhone right now though, so boost that up to $150-$200 to cover the extra "special" costs maybe? I'd be totally down for that. Although... would everyone... hmmm.

That's the question; how many people would be willing to spend that much more for an iPhone with Verizon. I know I wouldn't want to spend 3x the (subsidized) cost of the phone just to get on Verizon (though personally I don't want an iPhone at all, so maybe I'm a bad example).

My point with the GSM coverage was that there is both GSM and CDMA coverage throughout most cities, and the majority (maybe not most, but probably a majority) of people who want smartphones in general tend to live in or around cities; so I don't think that there would necessarily be a guaranteed market, since where the majority of the potential customers live, they can get just as good coverage with a GSM provider already.

I had missed that $70 plan with Verizon...why they don't have a link to that under 'data plans' idk... Still though, look at the AT&T plans again; you can get a comparable plan for $75/mo, and again with Sprint and T-mobile for about the same (last I checked, a few days ago). I didn't look at SMS for Sprint and T-mobile, because I don't use those, but I'm pretty sure they had unlimited on those plans. I was looking primarily for unlimited data with some voice and sms thrown in.

[Zephik]

I compared the plans with the iPhone and I listed pretty much all the options that they give you. The cheapest was $75 and compared to Verizon's $70, it's not even comparable let alone usable unless you never use texting. Maybe I'm missing something? I didn't see any other options with the iPhone though...

That's the main thing holding me back from the iPhone. You have to pay almost $100 just to get a decent plan, whereas with Verizon its only $70 and you get pretty much everything.

Verizon's website is pretty goofy. You go to this area and it's like what you said, but then you go to this area and it's like what I said. Hmmm. I wonder... if the plans that I listed are regular phone only and not smartphone while the smartphone plans cost more? I can't seem to find that information out, anyone know? That'd be very disappointing if true. There is literally no reason to charge a significant amount more just because a phone has a smart OS like Windows Mobile. I wonder if the iPhone would be a smartphone? You have phones like Rogue and EnV Touch which aren't. Hmm.

Damn, you may be right about the plans after-all. Man, I don't want to have to recreate that list all over again, that was a pain in the butt. lol

[x88x]

With offerings like the Rogue and EnV, the main differentiator between smart and dumb phones is that smartphones run a real OS (Win-Mo, iPhone OS, WebOS, Symbian, Maemo, Blackberry OS, ..I think that's it) and tend to have beefier hardware as a result. So, yes, the iPhone is a smarphone.

That's a good point about the $70 plan maybe only being for dumbphones; idk, you'd have to talk to a Verizon rep. Let us know if you do. The only reason I can think they would have different data plans for smartphones is that they tend to use more traffic than dumbphones do. For example, most (if not all) dumbphones don't have a full-featured browser, so they wouldn't create nearly as much web traffic.

[aintnothang]

how much is unlimited texting on verizon?

[x88x]

how much is unlimited texting on verizon?

Depends what else you get in your plan. IIRC, it's $5/mo to add it to an existing line though.

EDIT:
And, no, to my knowledge, Verizon does not have a plan that's just texting.

[Zephik]

how much is unlimited texting on verizon?

Good question. I think Verizon has changed a lot since I last used them. Everything is so confusing now, it's kind of ridiculous.

They have unlimited mobile to mobile on basically any and every plan/function. But outside of Verizon, I think it starts at $5 for 250 text messages, $10 for 500 text messages, $15 for 1500 text messages and $20 for 5000 text messages.

Most of my friends and family are on Verizon, so it doesn't count as a text message when I message them. Pretty nice. Although the $10 is more than enough for me and I consider myself to be a pretty heavy texter.



EDIT:
And, no, to my knowledge, Verizon does not have a plan that's just texting.

Go to plans, scroll down and click view all. Then scroll all the way down again. Voila, messaging only plans for regular and smart phones. $35 will get you unlimited everything except calling, $55 will get you the same but on a smart phone and with cheaper calling rates. To determine which phone is which, if it's listed under phones, then it's a regular phone, if its listed under blackberry or smart phone/pda, then it's a smart phone.

As far as I know, no other carrier offers a messaging only plan for so little.

[aintnothang]

I have the $5 for 250 right now. never want to go over tho.

[Zephik]

It's starting to look like Verizon and AT&T are actually about the same price for smart phones, from what I can tell anyways. They really go around the bush with this kind of stuff, nothing is listed or advertised in plain daylight so it's kind of confusing.

I think AT&T might be a bit cheaper smart phone wise, although, you do seem to get more features with Verizon. Meh, I give up though. I head is too jumbly to figure this out right now. lol (Edit: LOL @ "I head is", yea, I rest my case. XD)

In other news, did you guys know that in china, you can get basically unlimited everything for like $20 a month? There are definitely a few good upsides to having huge ass population, one of them being that if you're a tele-company you have more subscriptions than the entire US population. lmao