Prepaid service on a Motorola Droid (or Milestone) in US?

[MountainX]

Has anyone set up prepaid service on a Motorola Droid (or Milestone) in the US? I'm looking for feedback and recommendations.

I love the phone and Android 2.0, Google Voice integration, Dolphin browser, etc.

I am not currently locked in to any carrier. I'm just looking for the best prepaid voice & data plan that will support all features of the Droid, including turn-by-turn navigation. (BTW, is cellular data always required for the GPS to work well, or will the GPS get a fix quickly even where there is no internet connection at all?)

I only need cellular voice and 3g data a few days a month. I don't want to pay for a normal monthly contract. But I want all features of the phone to work when I need them.

Any recommendations?

 

[MountainX]

Paul,
Thanks. I will PM you because I want to try this.

 

[PaulAndroidMan]

Ok. Sounds good.

 

[SwordOfWar]

This is a bad idea, I tell you.

I went to the site for 10 seconds, for 30 bucks a month you get some decent stats (like 1,200 texts, 1,200 minutes etc..), but only 50MB of data.

Thats basically useless. Forget watching any youtube videos, streaming any music, visiting more than a few website pages per month, etc...

If your going to get a smartphone and you want to freely use all of it's features, you NEED an unlimited data plan.

A few weeks ago my DROID phone was accidently put on the wrong number (i have a family plan with multiple lines) and this line did not have unlimited data. In 15 or so minutes on my way home, I racked up 17MB of data listening to Pandora radio (an app you can download for music) on the way home.

Verizon said they will correct the error for me, but otherwise that would have run me about 30 or so dollars right there.

So just to let you know, without an unlimited data plan, your going to cripple the DROID to death! Well, unless your super rich and don't mind the insane data charges for going over your limit (or in your case, being cut off after the 50MB is reached)...

It seems like a huge waste to buy such an expensive and feature rich phone, if your not going to get the most out of it. I don't think you do the phone justice without an unlimited data plan. Its ALMOST as bad as a car without gas.

Get a select plan from Verizon (plus the 30$ monthly fee for smartphone) and just use everything the phone has to offer 24/7 to get the most out of it. I leave my pandora on all the time, use apps that grab updates from the internet, browser the web, look at youtube videos etc.. since I'm paying verizon all this moola. Since i pay a flat fee, i don't have to worry about running out of data or overcharges.

 

[gdoane]

I don't think you can predict how much you'll use your next phone by your last phone usage. Especially not a smartphone with a full keypad.

My progression in Smartphones went from a Samsung A920 flip phone (Sprint) and my text messaging was practically non-existent. It had (for its time) a pretty impressive screen but I never got into the whole 1-click-2-click-3-click thing that passes for typing on a typical 12-key DTMF pad. So I didn't use it a whole heck of a lot even with an unlimited data plan, and had to ask myself why I was spending that kind of money.

My next phone (the one that just got fired and replaced by the Droid) was a Motorola Q (Alltel) and the one compliment I really have to give props to is that physical keyboard. That thing is NICE!! Maybe too nice though, as it's a notorious butt-dialer and it's the last candy-bar phone I'll ever buy because of it. Still, my text messaging went through the roof (over 1000 per month) because I COULD DO IT. Texting use went up by some 900%. This phone could do things my last phone really wasn't good at, and I started using them. If I could put the Moto Q keyboard on the Moto Droid, that would be the perfect phone.

I've had the Droid for a week now, and here's what I expect will happen:

The texting that I used to do on the Moto Q, that's not going away. In fact, with Google Mail and the Exchange, that's probably going to nearly double.

The big increase is going to be the voice search. I was at a restaurant with relatives on Thanksgiving Day and one of my Uncles asked what the football scores were. Voice Search time. I hit the voice search on the Droid and had his scores in about 30 seconds flat. Impressed the heck out of everybody (even me!) and I know I'm going to be using that a LOT. Good thing I have an unlimited data plan because Verizon won't be making much money off of me when I'm using their network for voice commands.

It'll be fun to see the stats, though.

 

[MountainX]

It seems like a huge waste to buy such an expensive and feature rich phone, if your not going to get the most out of it.

It is possible to get the most out of this phone with WiFi and voice. 2g/3g is only needed when WiFi isn't available.

For me, since I have WiFi 90% of the time, I could even make do with 2g the small amount of the time when WiFi isn't available.

On my Nokia N900, I can use my T-Mobile prepaid sim card for voice and I can use WiFi. That setup gives me full functionality of the phone. My total cost is about $8/mo and it has been that way for about the last 2 years.

That has saved me thousands of dollars and I don't lose any functionality (certainly not 90% of the time when I have WiFi).

I think the same thing should be possible on the GSM Motorola Milestone. I just need to ensure that turn-by-turn navigation will work with either no data or with just 2g.

 

[SwordOfWar]

I don't think you can predict how much you'll use your next phone by your last phone usage. Especially not a smartphone with a full keypad.

My progression in Smartphones went from a Samsung A920 flip phone (Sprint) and my text messaging was practically non-existent. It had (for its time) a pretty impressive screen but I never got into the whole 1-click-2-click-3-click thing that passes for typing on a typical 12-key DTMF pad. So I didn't use it a whole heck of a lot even with an unlimited data plan, and had to ask myself why I was spending that kind of money.

My next phone (the one that just got fired and replaced by the Droid) was a Motorola Q (Alltel) and the one compliment I really have to give props to is that physical keyboard. That thing is NICE!! Maybe too nice though, as it's a notorious butt-dialer and it's the last candy-bar phone I'll ever buy because of it. Still, my text messaging went through the roof (over 1000 per month) because I COULD DO IT. Texting use went up by some 900%. This phone could do things my last phone really wasn't good at, and I started using them. If I could put the Moto Q keyboard on the Moto Droid, that would be the perfect phone.

I've had the Droid for a week now, and here's what I expect will happen:

The texting that I used to do on the Moto Q, that's not going away. In fact, with Google Mail and the Exchange, that's probably going to nearly double.

The big increase is going to be the voice search. I was at a restaurant with relatives on Thanksgiving Day and one of my Uncles asked what the football scores were. Voice Search time. I hit the voice search on the Droid and had his scores in about 30 seconds flat. Impressed the heck out of everybody (even me!) and I know I'm going to be using that a LOT. Good thing I have an unlimited data plan because Verizon won't be making much money off of me when I'm using their network for voice commands.

It'll be fun to see the stats, though.

Indeed. There overcharge rates for data is out of this world. Its like 1-2 bucks EACH MB that you go over. Only a mad man would accept that, haha.

-------

I know the Navigation uses GPS to get your position, but it does also use a data signal. I believe it uses the data to download the MAPS and satellite views, etc... And if you don't have a data plan, there is no telling how well it would work, if at all...

I'm pretty sure you need data to use the navigation app. It won't work with just the GPS.

 

[gdoane]

It is possible to get the most out of this phone with WiFi and voice. 2g/3g is only needed when WiFi isn't available.

For me, since I have WiFi 90% of the time, I could even make do with 2g the small amount of the time when WiFi isn't available.

On my Nokia N900, I can use my T-Mobile prepaid sim card for voice and I can use WiFi. That setup gives me full functionality of the phone. My total cost is about $8/mo and it has been that way for about the last 2 years.

That has saved me thousands of dollars and I don't lose any functionality (certainly not 90% of the time when I have WiFi).

I think the same thing should be possible on the GSM Motorola Milestone. I just need to ensure that turn-by-turn navigation will work with either no data or with just 2g.

It's definitely running data. I found that out first-hand.

Playing with the GPS really, I didn't need it because I knew the route, I voice-commanded "Wal-Mart" and was presented with a route that included Broadway road in Phoenix. I'm an off-Broadway kind of guy and besides, Broadway road is under construction and being a lot more familiar with the area (I kind of live here) than Google is (even though they live here too) I decided that the GPS gal was wrong.

I would not be turning onto Broadway. Screw that. Not happening. I don't like driving in construction zones with those cones and signs and idiots merging at the last minute like they didn't know three miles ago to get into the left lane.

I figured the GPS gal would be ticked off and tell me I missed the turn, and surely the GPS Police would be waiting for me at the next corner with helicopters and fighter jets and a task force van to make me obey the GPS gal.

Apparently, disobedience to GPS gal is not a felony crime and all GPS gal did was recalibrate the directions through the network and get new ones, which coincided with my original plan all along.

The upshot is, the phone couldn't have done that without hitting a data plan. It had to download new instructions for the new trip directions to the endpoint.

I'm not always going to listen to GPS gal. I know this area better than Google does. I've lived here for 35 years and they've been here for like 3 years.

They say Droid Does. Well, Droid Does backseat driving. You are allowed to disagree with it.

 

[New2u]

PLEASE PLEASE!!! Explain to me how this is pre-paid ANYTHING! Every single "card" you can buy with the exception of minute voice card only cards are all

"Once you activate this plan, it will be renewed automatically every 30 days. Your account will be debited $29.95 each month, so you must have this amount available in your account for automatic renewal."

That's not prepaid, it is just like every other carrier in the US. What a scam. So not only do people that buy this stuff think they are getting a prepaid service, if they don't have the funds in their account... BAM! BAM! Overage charges.