Verizon Cell phone / blackberry / wireless broadband???

[hazmat]

Thinking of a new cell phone. Verizon is the first choice as their coverage is better in my area (I have ATT/Cingular now & often can't get a signal or dropping calls).

Stopped by the Verizon booth at BJ's wholesale last night. I was overwhelmed with choices...

So - someone please school me on what my options are. The phone dude was steering me towards on of the blackberrys

Desires
phone (duh)
speaker phone option would be nice
email (a device with a keyboard seems appropriate)
web (tbn anywhere )
sync contacts / calendar with PC
the VZ navigator looks cool but seems to be incompatible with the blackberry
camera would be nice, but not required

Lastly - I'd love to be able to access the internet from my laptop anywhere - would that require one of the PC "modems" / cards or can I plug it into the cell phone somehow??? Just answered my own question - I can plug it into a "modem enabled" phone (blackberry etc.) Is that included in the "data plan" that goes with the phone???

 

[jimg]

I looked at the BB for my business but will wait for iphone to become more widely available. ATT has 6mos exclusive sales rights then I think its up for anyone who wants to sell it.

Be aware that Verizons wireless internet is not unlimited as they advertise. It has a 5gb/month cap. After that its unclear what happens. Ive read they either cut you off assuming youre doing something illegal or charge a huge fee/min. You should ask about that. Its written in the fine print of the contract. I did the 30day try out and found the service wasnt very fast...somewhere between dialup and dsl in their extended net. Its even slower outside of that. It looks like theyre pitching this service to people that only read the occasional email but little else. I agree that having the net anywhere is pretty neat. If you can live w/i their parameters and rules then its a pretty good deal.

 

[MikePA]

For work, I have a Verizon BB and an ATT wireless card.

When the wireless card connects to their HS (High Speed) I get over 1 meg download speeds according to Internet speed tests. When I connect via the EDGE network, it's at least half that.

My first two BBs were with Cingular. First one had the QWERTY keyboard, second one the smaller keyboard. The Verizon has the QWERTY keyboard. I prefer the QWERTY keyboard. Neither is well suited for long replies, but the larger one is easier. We use the Blackberry Enterprise Server at work to route our Lotus Notes emails to the BBs. Works fine for reading emails and making relatively short replies. It lets me be aware of issues when away from my PC and handle emails that need less than a half dozen or so sentence replies. Anything longer than that, and I use my laptop.

While I can surf the Internet via the Verizon BB, no way I do it regularly. The screen is simply too small. No matter how the vendor handles it, with scrolling around the web page, I found it more trouble than it's worth.

Verizon offers a tethering option that allow you to use a cable to connect the BB to your laptop and use it as a modem. Since I already had a wireless card, I didn't opt for it. Plus ATT is unlimited bytes on their wireless card.

I also have a RAZR (my own cell) and if you really need to do email, get a BB. Also really evaluate how much you'll surf the web. For me, it was one of those things I tried for a while, then the novelty wore off.

 

[HUCKthe1]

Verizon offers the teathered service to the phone , but look at the cost of their data service charges using the phone. I have the Palm 700WX and love it. Email is great and all your other wants are there too.

You cant get VZ Navigator with this phone, but for $200 I bought a bluetooth GPS and TomTom mapping software. I dont have to connect to any network to get dirrections and it is nice planning on my laptop before updating my phone.
My 2 cents worth.

 

[salopez]

navigation is coming for the BB. the tethered modem for the PDA/BB devices is only 15 per month so not bad.

The new aircards are much faster then they were even 6 months ago.

I have a vzw phone, blackberry, and aircard for work....very happy.

 

[gordon21]

Go to Verizons coverage map. It used to be crude and vague. It will now let you zoom in just like mapquest. It will take you down to blocks of coverage less than 250 yards big. You can easily see coverage holes on their map due to geography. If you have a deep ravine, it would probably show as no coverage. The aircard is $59 per month unlimited usage. Another poster mentioned a 5 gig limit. That might be for a new version of the plan or a lower priced one. Using mine for business and some personal use, I download typically only a few meg per day. 5 gig would allow 166 meg per day. Thats a LOT of files or images. The speed will be whatever is on the nearby towers. In major metropolitan areas, the download speed is over 2 meg. You can get a minimum of 115K anywhere, which is still double the speed of dial up. It is really cool to be somewhere remote and be able to connect. Places like 6 miles offshore in a boat, mountaintop, etc The aircard will not drop connections as you drive. Many times I have been using mine while my wife drove on the interstae at 75MPH. I could go 50-80 miles at a time without dropping the connection. There are several cards available. The basic ones are free. (pay $50 and then get a $50 rebate)

 

[crbr]

Thinking of a new cell phone. Verizon is the first choice as their coverage is better in my area (I have ATT/Cingular now & often can't get a signal or dropping calls).

Stopped by the Verizon booth at BJ's wholesale last night. I was overwhelmed with choices...

So - someone please school me on what my options are. The phone dude was steering me towards on of the blackberrys

Desires
phone (duh)
speaker phone option would be nice
email (a device with a keyboard seems appropriate)
web (tbn anywhere )
sync contacts / calendar with PC
the VZ navigator looks cool but seems to be incompatible with the blackberry
camera would be nice, but not required

Lastly - I'd love to be able to access the internet from my laptop anywhere - would that require one of the PC "modems" / cards or can I plug it into the cell phone somehow??? Just answered my own question - I can plug it into a "modem enabled" phone (blackberry etc.) Is that included in the "data plan" that goes with the phone???

Use their internet site and get their promo deals. Forget the booth Barkers. I just swapped from Sprint < spit > to Verizon and shopped internet, then called customer sales and they readily acknowledged the internet promos. They will deal with you or allow you to fall into their set prices. I am a horse trader and got what I considered a bargain deal. The equipment and accessories are peanuts. They want the two year commitment at most any deal.



Don't forget to port your number unless you want a new one.


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[riptides]

I use Verizon with my MOTO Q phone. I have the broadband (EVDO)connection and use both Bluetooth and a USB cable for using the phone with my laptops for internet connectivity.

At home, I use Verizon with a new access card with their upgraded rev A offering under EVDO. This is stuck in a wireless router giving anyone with access to my private network on the farm WiFi to EVDO rev A connectivity.


There are NO EVDO Rev A Phones OUT on the market.
There are plenty of EVDO rev A cards and USB modems out.

The speed differences between the EVDO revisions are NOTICEABLE and in my setup, a two fold to three fold positive increase.

And, Verizon has the best coverage for my area, YMMV.

-Mike Z.

 

[hazmat]

Thanks Guys - I'm off to check out the coverage map. I'm equidistant (~5 miles) from 2 major highways & the cell coverage seems to have a little lull here (some small hills 200-300 ft).

 

[Testman]

try these websites, phonescoop.com or howardforums.com. They are basically a message board like TBN, has info on all carriers and their products, as well as forums for each carrier. Also VW should have Data consultants available to answer any data related questions.