Do You Need a Data Plan?

[HolyGrail]

Well this is a quote from the OP.

"All I want is a phone that is like an ipod touch with ability to get apps (android apps are fine), has built in GPS that is free (just like you would get if you buy a gps unit at the store) can get on a WiFi network to surf the internet, and be able to play games, store music and video/movies for playing with a good and intuitive interface."

Obviously if he wants it like a Ipod touch. he knows won't be able to make phone calls, so......


The answer to this question is yes, you can use the Droid like a ipod touch. Yes it can still go on the market place, use GPs, and get on your Wifi network, use the internet, play games, store music, without activating it on verizon's network. How is this not answering the OP's question?

Ok, so if you want to spend money on a device that is suppose to be a phone and not activate it, I guess that would be an option.

1) to use gps you have to still be then connected to wifi, who has wifi in their car/bike/backpack? The data plan is what gives you the maps. So even if you get a itouch without the gps it's the same thing.

2) if you want videos and apps/games why get the a smartphone. The itouch or zune HD would be far less expensive and give you better battery life for music and video. The itouch also gives you access to nearly half the apps on the itunes market.

So get a phone with a data plan if you want all the features. Otherwise the perfect device for this guy has not be created yet.

I agree, but I don't answer a question with more questions. Only the OP knows why he/she wants it to work like a ipod touch. I just answer the question, and leave the why questions to myself.

All an Ipod is, is a Iphone without the phone. So why can't the OP have Droid be a Droid Pod without the phone if he wants :happy:? Not my place to tell someone what to do with their device.

 

[STiMULi]

ONE DOLLAR A DAY.

That is all it is for the unlimited plan and for this phone if you are in the right area that ONE DOLLAR makes it rock!

Sure, I use WiFi while in the house or around trusted HotSpots but as far as the security and mobility is concerned (not to mention the usability of the GPS in 100's of applications), why, honestly, why, would anyone spend the bucks on this magnificent piece of electronics and not get the data plan for the concern of ONE DOLLAR A DAY?

(Save the I can't afford the $30 flaming because you can if you can afford the phone)

If you want a cool toy that can make (VOIP) phone calls from and you only need access to WiFi networks get yourself a Touch.

I have a Touch and as soon as there is the controlability of the Android based handsets are commonplace for automobile headunits and some iTunes like store that lets me import my podcasts and audiobooks with the same ease I will ditch the Touch and never look back.

 

[gocflamedragon]

Well this is a quote from the OP.

"All I want is a phone that is like an ipod touch with ability to get apps (android apps are fine), has built in GPS that is free (just like you would get if you buy a gps unit at the store) can get on a WiFi network to surf the internet, and be able to play games, store music and video/movies for playing with a good and intuitive interface."

Obviously if he wants it like a Ipod touch. he knows won't be able to make phone calls, so......


The answer to this question is yes, you can use the Droid like a ipod touch. Yes it can still go on the market place, use GPs, and get on your Wifi network, use the internet, play games, store music, without activating it on verizon's network. How is this not answering the OP's question?

Ok, so if you want to spend money on a device that is suppose to be a phone and not activate it, I guess that would be an option.

1) to use gps you have to still be then connected to wifi, who has wifi in their car/bike/backpack? The data plan is what gives you the maps. So even if you get a itouch without the gps it's the same thing.

2) if you want videos and apps/games why get the a smartphone. The itouch or zune HD would be far less expensive and give you better battery life for music and video. The itouch also gives you access to nearly half the apps on the itunes market.

So get a phone with a data plan if you want all the features. Otherwise the perfect device for this guy has not be created yet.

I agree, but I don't answer a question with more questions. Only the OP knows why he/she wants it to work like a ipod touch. I just answer the question, and leave the why questions to myself.

All an Ipod is, is a Iphone without the phone. So why can't the OP have Droid be a Droid Pod without the phone if he wants :happy:? Not my place to tell someone what to do with their device.

Re read the ops post, he is asking to use it as a phone not just an ipod touch. The op wants to be able to use it to make calls and be able to act like a ipod and only use the data when at a wifi hotspot to avoid paying the data plan and that's just not happening.

 

[HolyGrail]

Ok, so if you want to spend money on a device that is suppose to be a phone and not activate it, I guess that would be an option.

1) to use gps you have to still be then connected to wifi, who has wifi in their car/bike/backpack? The data plan is what gives you the maps. So even if you get a itouch without the gps it's the same thing.

2) if you want videos and apps/games why get the a smartphone. The itouch or zune HD would be far less expensive and give you better battery life for music and video. The itouch also gives you access to nearly half the apps on the itunes market.

So get a phone with a data plan if you want all the features. Otherwise the perfect device for this guy has not be created yet.

I agree, but I don't answer a question with more questions. Only the OP knows why he/she wants it to work like a ipod touch. I just answer the question, and leave the why questions to myself.

All an Ipod is, is a Iphone without the phone. So why can't the OP have Droid be a Droid Pod without the phone if he wants :happy:? Not my place to tell someone what to do with their device.

Re read the ops post, he is asking to use it as a phone not just an ipod touch. The op wants to be able to use it to make calls and be able to act like a ipod and only use the data when at a wifi hotspot to avoid paying the data plan and that's just not happening.

Well he's first original post didn't say he wanted to use it as a phone, and that it what I was answering. If he stated this clear later then I stand corrected. In any event, I'm sure with all the post in this thread his question was answered.

 

[keiichi25]

Well this is a quote from the OP.

"All I want is a phone that is like an ipod touch with ability to get apps (android apps are fine), has built in GPS that is free (just like you would get if you buy a gps unit at the store) can get on a WiFi network to surf the internet, and be able to play games, store music and video/movies for playing with a good and intuitive interface."

Obviously if he wants it like a Ipod touch. he knows won't be able to make phone calls, so......


The answer to this question is yes, you can use the Droid like a ipod touch. Yes it can still go on the market place, use GPs, and get on your Wifi network, use the internet, play games, store music, without activating it on verizon's network. How is this not answering the OP's question?

Ok, so if you want to spend money on a device that is suppose to be a phone and not activate it, I guess that would be an option.

1) to use gps you have to still be then connected to wifi, who has wifi in their car/bike/backpack? The data plan is what gives you the maps. So even if you get a itouch without the gps it's the same thing.

2) if you want videos and apps/games why get the a smartphone. The itouch or zune HD would be far less expensive and give you better battery life for music and video. The itouch also gives you access to nearly half the apps on the itunes market.

So get a phone with a data plan if you want all the features. Otherwise the perfect device for this guy has not be created yet.

Uhm... You don't need to be connected to WiFi to use the GPS. You need a connection if you want to use things like Google Maps and such that pull data from the network versus storage. Please note, GPS devices, like Tom tom and the like, as well as in-dash car GPS systems do not require internet access to work. They can be updated at a computer, but once separated from it, they function of information stored. I even have an old Pharos GPS and Microsoft Streets for a PocketPC that did that.

Secondly, he did want to have it as a phone, just not use the Data portion of it. Unfortunately, the Android OS, from the get go, will want to link to a G-mail account upon activation. While you have the option of using an App to turn off the 3G network ability, you still have to activate and download the app, which means you have to wait til you find a WiFi spot to do such a thing.

I will state, I originally didn't want to do the whole data plan thing myself with my phones. I had an LG Chocolate 3 and was planning on using it as my preferred music player (given the microsd could go up to 8 gigs and what not and it had an FM transmitter which is cool if you wanted to listen to your music and was using a rental car) However, the Motorola Droid, I opted for the Data plan for a few reasons:

1) Much better browser than what I was seeing with a company Blackberry Storm (Also on Verizon)
2) App downloads... With previous phones, was much more likely to get updates to apps or getting something interesting when I took the time to look for it. Blackberry had a craptastic way of getting apps and I didn't want to buy apps for my phone if it wasn't going to really wow me. The droid, on the other hand, made the looking for apps much more worthwhile in most cases and spent more time on the Droid looking for interesting things than I did for the Blackberry or the previous phones.
3) Since I no longer work for the company that I had my Blackberry with... I found my Droid useful for keeping in contact with mail and also for appointments. The Maps function has also helped several times, and given there is no mobile WiFi, having the Data Plan for when I need to do navigation was helpful.

 

[ryanmc]

Hey guys, I managed to get a Droid Incredible activated on the Verizon network without having to pay any data fees. I wrote the full story on my blog (How I got a Droid Incredible on the Verizon Network without having to pay a data fee | JusTech'n) but in short I used one of Verizons parters who does not charge for data. The plan I chose only has 50MB of data, so I keep data turned off, but with WiFi I get 98% of what I need. Yes, I cannot use google maps naviagation, but there are plenty of inexpensive offline GPS apps out there that work great (hopefully google will hear the cries of its users and supply an offline version Are there any plans to make Android Google Maps/Navigation available offline, when internet connection is not available? - Google Mobile Help).

The bottom line is that I am saving a ton of money because I don't have to pay the data fee, or the high price for the Verizon plans. In addition because I am technically using a prepaid plan I also don't have to pay any taxes or fees.

Hopefully those that are also interested in this will have the same luck that I did.

If you are interested in having data for less, then you may want to check into Boost Mobile. They have a $50 unlimited plan (talk, text, and web) and they claim to be able to support CDMA phones.

 

[sooperhooper]

These plans are such a ripoff. I hope they get theirs in the end.

 

[DroidX1999]

So you don't need a plan for any Verizon phone that says you need it? Thats what my mom also said about the data plans. But the small stores at lets say the mall or walmart always says you need the data plans. I'm hoping to get a Droid X in January. Thanks for the info.

 

[pksmart]

My Droid 2 is not on Verizon Yet, but I make calls.

I just got my brand new Droid 2 from ebay. I specifically did not want to buy from Verizon and pay for 2 more years of $ervice. My contract with Verizon is up in April and I plan to go with another wireless service at that time.

This is mainly because Verizon started to bill my Alias 2 for a data plan. I fought and fought with them for months before they took it off, but I never got a refund for the months they charged me. (Alias 2 is a dumbphone)

In the mean time, I have used my new Droid 2 for GPS - I traveled from Texas to Arizona for Thanksgiving and used the GPS function Navigation with Google Earth without problem. I connect to wireless networks to browse the internet, make/receive phone calls, grab my emails and sms. I love using Google sky and have spent hours star gazing. I downloaded music and videos to my Droid and they Rock.

I make/receive calls through Google voice. I set up sipdroid and make all my calls for free. I had this set up on my laptop and was doing the happy dance when I was able to set it up on my Droid!

Since this is a Google phone, my calls and texts work seamlessly. Everyone I call/text see my normal Google Voice number, and I see their ID when they contact me.

All this works without a Wireless Carrier.

And I did all this in within the first week of owning the phone - and I have never used a smart phone before.

You know I will root, right?