I have a few questions prior to buying a droid

[DJAngelicon]

Hi guys, I have a few questions about this phone if you guys can help me with some answers.

1. Can you use the phone in a WiFi Hot Spot to surf and download and not get charged or do you still get charged?

2. Do you need to have the data package in order to use WiFi, Chat, Surf Web, etc..?

3. What is the battery life of the phone?

4. What is the gold piece near the keyboard?

That would be all for now Thanks In Advance!

 

[Martin030908]

Hi guys, I have a few questions about this phone if you guys can help me with some answers.

1. Can you use the phone in a WiFi Hot Spot to surf and download and not get charged or do you still get charged?
Yes you can!!!! Doesn't cost anything to use wi-fi.
2. Do you need to have the data package in order to use WiFi, Chat, Surf Web, etc..?
To use wi-fi you do not need data package, but to buy the Droid you have to have a data package so it's a mute point.
3. What is the battery life of the phone?
It varies depending on user.... but you can easily get a full day of heavy usage out of it.
4. What is the gold piece near the keyboard?
D-pad.... a waste of keyboard is what it is But it helps with games! (like NES emulators!)
That would be all for now Thanks In Advance!

I filled in some answers

 

[minmongoblin]

Hi guys, I have a few questions about this phone if you guys can help me with some answers.

1. Can you use the phone in a WiFi Hot Spot to surf and download and not get charged or do you still get charged?

2. Do you need to have the data package in order to use WiFi, Chat, Surf Web, etc..?

3. What is the battery life of the phone?

4. What is the gold piece near the keyboard?

That would be all for now Thanks In Advance!

1) Using Wi-Fi doesn't contribute to your 5GB limit with the data plan (which you HAVE to get)

2) See above

3) Pretty choppy the first few days, but that's expected because you'll be toying around with it getting it the way you like. After that, depending on use, just charge every night or every other night

4) A directional-pad that let's you move the cursor while typing.

 

[DJAngelicon]

WoW! Thanks for the uber fast response. Well I was also wondering getting mine from wirefly.com and it seem I don't need to select data package with it. So I still might get the phone with a family plan but just no data package at the moment. Maybe is a deal that the site has but not sure I will look over it again carefully.

 

[CorvetteAustin24]

MinMonGoblin, you're confused on the data plan. The data plan we have is unlimited. 100% unlimited. The 5GB only is for tethering your phone, for example, using your phone to give your laptop an internet connection.

Also, DJAngelicon, if you plan on using the phone with verizon, it has to have the $30/month data plan. There's no way to get a voice plan without the data plan. I suppose you could buy the phone and just use wifi and no voice, but that would be weird.

 

[DJAngelicon]

oh i c, man that sucks why forcing people to get data package on top of the regular service just to get voice?

 

[rebornlaxer]

Just get the phone it is amazing you will love it!!!

 

[Martin030908]

oh i c, man that sucks why forcing people to get data package on top of the regular service just to get voice?

All smart phones now require a e-mail/data package. Just the way it is.

 

[MrCapcom]

dag you guys are waaaay too helpful lol I wanted to help but most of everything is answered lol gj guys!

My 2 Cents Get it

 

[DJAngelicon]

yea but to pay for two phones two data package and service would just kill me. lol

Well Thank you all for the answers but due to Verizon forcing people to have the data package with these smart phones I might have to go with something not so restricted. The phone I love a lot just the cost per month is in my opinion not worth it for me at this time.

 

[Martin030908]

yea but to pay for two phones two data package and service would just kill me. lol

Well Thank you all for the answers but due to Verizon forcing people to have the data package with these smart phones I might have to go with something not so restricted. The phone I love a lot just the cost per month is in my opinion not worth it for me at this time.

Correct me if I'm wrong here guys but I don't think it's just Verizon. If you buy a smart phone on any carrier, you have to get a data plan of some sort.... right?

 

[hookbill]

yea but to pay for two phones two data package and service would just kill me. lol

Well Thank you all for the answers but due to Verizon forcing people to have the data package with these smart phones I might have to go with something not so restricted. The phone I love a lot just the cost per month is in my opinion not worth it for me at this time.

Correct me if I'm wrong here guys but I don't think it's just Verizon. If you buy a smart phone on any carrier, you have to get a data plan of some sort.... right?

I think I remember people using the Storm and not needing a data package that way, like on AT&T with the Storm. They used EDGE, IIRC.

 

[DJAngelicon]

Also BoostMobile you can have unlimited from everything for a low payment of $50/mo. Unlike Verizon that charge you $30 on top of a family plan that is $89 and is not unlimited I believe. Getting 2 Boostmobile phones plus Magic Jack = lots of saving. :icon_ banana:

 

[asmallchild]

Hi guys, I have a few questions about this phone if you guys can help me with some answers.

1. Can you use the phone in a WiFi Hot Spot to surf and download and not get charged or do you still get charged?

2. Do you need to have the data package in order to use WiFi, Chat, Surf Web, etc..?

3. What is the battery life of the phone?

4. What is the gold piece near the keyboard?

That would be all for now Thanks In Advance!

1. It depends if the WiFi Hot Spot charges you or not. WiFi itself is inherently free.

2. You need to have the data package to activate the phone.

3. It's decent, not great if you are coming from a dumbphone. I have yet to drain the phone <50% of battery life in one day although I would be considered a light user. Either way, charge it when you sleep and the phone should be more than enough to last you 24 hours even with fairly heavy use. I do keep a phone charger in my car as I hear navigation tends to gnaw away at the battery life. Plus if I'm using it as my primary navigation device, I'd like it to have juice when I get to my desired destination.

4. The gold piece is a D-Pad. Not very useful normally but great for games. Especially since there is no multitouch on the screen yet.

 

[sc4fpse]

Hi guys, I have a few questions about this phone if you guys can help me with some answers.

1. Can you use the phone in a WiFi Hot Spot to surf and download and not get charged or do you still get charged?

2. Do you need to have the data package in order to use WiFi, Chat, Surf Web, etc..?

3. What is the battery life of the phone?

4. What is the gold piece near the keyboard?

That would be all for now Thanks In Advance!

I see most of these have already been answered, but I'll reiterate the answers for just kicks.

1. Yes, the Droid does have wi-fi capabilities. However, when purchasing the Droid, you are still required to have the $30 data plan with Verizon.

2. See #1. While you can strictly use wi-fi for browsing the web if you desire, you still have to pay for the $30 data plan. There's no option here. It's a requirement. Aside from money, the reason that you are required to have a data plan is that you just won't have nearly as good of an experience with the phone if you lack a data plan. You really do need one to take full advantage of the phone. Without a data plan, the phone would be pretty lame. Might as well just get an iPod touch and a dumb phone then.

3. It's really, really hard to give an accurate estimate for battery life. Some people claim they can get up to 2 days worth of battery life with minimal use. I might be able to believe that, but given that I love my phone too much to deny it much attention for 48 hours, I haven't personally been able to confirm or deny this. I'm at 7 hours 30 minutes off the charger, and I'm sitting at 50% battery life. That's having run at 100% brightness for most of the time the screen was active (was walking outside, and playing music between classes), browsing the internet quite a bit before class, and listening to a half an hour of music. I figure that's pretty good, or par for the course. YMMV, of course.

4. The d-pad. Very convenient for small-text links, or, as previously stated, for emulators of any sort. Really nice for emulators.

edit: Case in point for number 3, I suppose. I've been working on homework for the past hour and a half, and other than quickly checking my email when my notification light was blinking (screen at 0% brightness), I didn't use my phone at all. Time off the charger is now over 9 hours, and still at 50% charge.
edit2: 10.5 hours, 50% charge still.