New to Droids and text messaging question

[bleve]

The wife and I both got Droid A855's this past week through Verizon. Been loving the phone (slightly overwhelmed) but confused on one thing. We specifically asked the sales person (@ Walmart) if the $29.99 data package included text messaging and we were told it does. Now I'm not so sure, can anyone clarify? We don't anticipate texting very much but it would be nice not to have to worry about getting dinged for every little message my friends send. I have emailed Verizon and I'm waiting to hear back but thought this might be faster.

Thanks and I'm sure I will have a ton of questions and lurk a lot.

[khelek]

The wife and I both got Droid A855's this past week through Verizon. Been loving the phone (slightly overwhelmed) but confused on one thing. We specifically asked the sales person (@ Walmart) if the $29.99 data package included text messaging and we were told it does. Now I'm not so sure, can anyone clarify? We don't anticipate texting very much but it would be nice not to have to worry about getting dinged for every little message my friends send. I have emailed Verizon and I'm waiting to hear back but thought this might be faster.

Thanks and I'm sure I will have a ton of questions and lurk a lot.

No, I'm afraid that the $29.99 plan is data only -- you have to buy a text plan separately ($5 for 250/month, $10 for 500 + unlimited vz2vz/month).

That said, if you use Google Voice, you get free SMS, provided texts are sent to and from your GV number. Limitations are no multiple recipients, no MMS, and....I can't remember the other.

PS -- welcome to the Droid family!

[mwhartman]

Welcome! I may be wrong but the $29.99 is data only which I do not believe includes texting. I believe you can purchase 250 text messages a month for $5 or unlimited for $20. I would give VZW customer service a call (*611 on your phone) to verify.

Mike

[bleve]

The wife and I both got Droid A855's this past week through Verizon. Been loving the phone (slightly overwhelmed) but confused on one thing. We specifically asked the sales person (@ Walmart) if the $29.99 data package included text messaging and we were told it does. Now I'm not so sure, can anyone clarify? We don't anticipate texting very much but it would be nice not to have to worry about getting dinged for every little message my friends send. I have emailed Verizon and I'm waiting to hear back but thought this might be faster.

Thanks and I'm sure I will have a ton of questions and lurk a lot.

No, I'm afraid that the $29.99 plan is data only -- you have to buy a text plan separately ($5 for 250/month, $10 for 500 + unlimited vz2vz/month).

That said, if you use Google Voice, you get free SMS, provided texts are sent to and from your GV number. Limitations are no multiple recipients, no MMS, and....I can't remember the other.

PS -- welcome to the Droid family!

Thanks for the quick response, I was just starting to look into that idea but when I got to Google voice it said there were no numbers available in my zip or area code. I'm not real clear on how Google voice works so maybe I just need to read up on it.

[khelek]

Thanks for the quick response, I was just starting to look into that idea but when I got to Google voice it said there were no numbers available in my zip or area code. I'm not real clear on how Google voice works so maybe I just need to read up on it.

No problem, glad to help!

Alternatively, if folks you would text are also smartphone users (specifically BB and iPhone users), you can use Kik Messenger Beta - Android app on AppBrain to freely chat with folks on the 3 platforms, provided they all download and install the app. It's like BBM, but among multiple smartphone types, not just Blackberries.

Good luck!