I liked the phone. It was snappy, it was fun. All the apps were great.
The problem was the value of the Verizon plan.
My business partner (we are both real estate agents in the Pittsburgh PA area) has T Mobile and the G1. When we were out and about the last 3 weeks since I got my droid, I was dropping more calls than her, and getting less bars than her more often than not - especially indoors. So with all due respect to big red maps, I wasn't seeing any kind of network advantage over her when it counted most.
It wasn't a real big difference though, and certainly nothing remotely significant enough to make me even consider giving up my new baby. The real kicker was the plan. I got my first bill, and for the sake of this argument I will even be generous and not consider the additional fees and the charging ahead that Verizon does - causing my first bill for 35 minutes used to be $297 and change. POW! Ok, so for monthly unlimited texting and 1400 minutes between my wife and I, I was paying $119.99. This was a consumer (non business) account and since I was getting a smart phone, I had to pay for the $45 separate data plan, rather than Verizon packaging it for me to take some of the bite out of that price. So before taxes and fees I'm looking at about $165 for 1400 min and texting for my wife and I, and data for my device only.
On T-Mobile, it was cheaper to get sep lines for my wife and I. Pretty basic too. I pay $79.99 for unlimited minutes, texting and data for my new HTC Touch Pro 2, and got my wife another texting based non smart phone and a plan that includes 500 minutes (plenty for her) unimited texting and data for $49.99 for a total of approx $130 before taxes and fees.
If I wanted unlimited minutes on Verizon (as all my colleagues kept insisting I would need) I was looking at adding about another $90 to a plan that was already $35 higher than what T-mobile was going to charge me for unlimited minutes and that was not even counting the data for my wife!!! No comparison. Especially since I seem to be getting a stronger T Mobile signal here in my home than what I was getting with Verizon - admittedly I live in a "dead zone" and need to get a repeater either way, but the bottom line is that Verizon wanted to charge me $120-$140 per month MORE than what T-Mobile was going to for comparable plans.
I was at first lamenting that I could not take my beloved Droid with me and was looking at the Moto Cliq, the MyTouch and the Samsung Behold 2. None of them were really doing it for me when compared to the Droid I was having to give up. That is when the salesman at T Mobile asked me if I considered altering my focus and looking at a Window's Mobile device - specifically the HTC Touch Pro 2.
He described it as a laptop and I have to say that after spending a couple days with the device I have to agree. The being able to use it as a tethered modem out of the box for no extra charge is a huge bonus and the ability to manipulate excel and the other microsoft office programs is also key for me in my daily business. While not as snappy, bright or fun as the Droid and other up coming Android devices, the trade off is more business and general functionality imo - and it's one I am having to say I am feeling good about making, ESPECIALLY considering the price.
Just thought I would share.
The problem was the value of the Verizon plan.
My business partner (we are both real estate agents in the Pittsburgh PA area) has T Mobile and the G1. When we were out and about the last 3 weeks since I got my droid, I was dropping more calls than her, and getting less bars than her more often than not - especially indoors. So with all due respect to big red maps, I wasn't seeing any kind of network advantage over her when it counted most.
It wasn't a real big difference though, and certainly nothing remotely significant enough to make me even consider giving up my new baby. The real kicker was the plan. I got my first bill, and for the sake of this argument I will even be generous and not consider the additional fees and the charging ahead that Verizon does - causing my first bill for 35 minutes used to be $297 and change. POW! Ok, so for monthly unlimited texting and 1400 minutes between my wife and I, I was paying $119.99. This was a consumer (non business) account and since I was getting a smart phone, I had to pay for the $45 separate data plan, rather than Verizon packaging it for me to take some of the bite out of that price. So before taxes and fees I'm looking at about $165 for 1400 min and texting for my wife and I, and data for my device only.
On T-Mobile, it was cheaper to get sep lines for my wife and I. Pretty basic too. I pay $79.99 for unlimited minutes, texting and data for my new HTC Touch Pro 2, and got my wife another texting based non smart phone and a plan that includes 500 minutes (plenty for her) unimited texting and data for $49.99 for a total of approx $130 before taxes and fees.
If I wanted unlimited minutes on Verizon (as all my colleagues kept insisting I would need) I was looking at adding about another $90 to a plan that was already $35 higher than what T-mobile was going to charge me for unlimited minutes and that was not even counting the data for my wife!!! No comparison. Especially since I seem to be getting a stronger T Mobile signal here in my home than what I was getting with Verizon - admittedly I live in a "dead zone" and need to get a repeater either way, but the bottom line is that Verizon wanted to charge me $120-$140 per month MORE than what T-Mobile was going to for comparable plans.
I was at first lamenting that I could not take my beloved Droid with me and was looking at the Moto Cliq, the MyTouch and the Samsung Behold 2. None of them were really doing it for me when compared to the Droid I was having to give up. That is when the salesman at T Mobile asked me if I considered altering my focus and looking at a Window's Mobile device - specifically the HTC Touch Pro 2.
He described it as a laptop and I have to say that after spending a couple days with the device I have to agree. The being able to use it as a tethered modem out of the box for no extra charge is a huge bonus and the ability to manipulate excel and the other microsoft office programs is also key for me in my daily business. While not as snappy, bright or fun as the Droid and other up coming Android devices, the trade off is more business and general functionality imo - and it's one I am having to say I am feeling good about making, ESPECIALLY considering the price.
Just thought I would share.
