"Jumping the gunn..." (?)
Actually, I think any of the older Android versions will be OK for all I'm looking to do. I was just not positive that the A855 would function without "activation" by Verizon (I did see a post the other day that Verizon will no longer activate these on a data-plan- which, if true, is fine by me!)
I'd love to just use the "phone" part as a dumb/"brick" phone and then use the wi-fi on campus for quick email checking, etc.
I'm presuming this should work out - at a minimum - as the Wi-fi PDA paradigm & then "best case" just activate the phone part to replace my LG Envy & have no data-plan charges! (?!?)
I'll let everyone know how this works out... :)