Is Data Plan a Necessity
 

The nice phones from Verizon require a data plan ranging from $15-$30 a month. How many people have this and can't live without it now? I have been happy with my 'feature' phone and a data plan would be a self indulgent luxury. But I can see it being invaluable for someone constantly on the go. What does it do besides portable web access? Don't people spend enough time online as it is?

Most carriers subsidize the retail price of the phones via the 2yr contracts, which include the profits from data plans. There's the give for the get.

ATT's minimum data plan is not a lot of usage time. If someone really depended upon that feature of their phone, they 'd have to go to a bigger plan. I use mine some, but try not to go over.

Exactly, data plans are big money makers for the carriers. Personally, I use my "phone" for much more data than voice, including tethering my laptop when I don't have wi-fi access. My kids constantly watch video on their phones.

I have unlimited talk, text, net for $35/month on my iPhone. Those other carriers can really charge a lot for those plans.

I bought an unlocked Droid and use McDonalds, hotel or airport WiFi when I absolutely need it. No data plan now although I am looking at maybe adding a low cost plan just for some of the APPS

is that $35 extra over what base $cost?

Unlocked? Which carrier?

All smartphones on Verizon require the $30 data plan. The "dumb" phones are optional, but from my own personal teenage opsy I'd say block all data if you don't intend on using it.

For my Blackberry, i'm using the data plan right now so I'd say it's pretty important:P

For work, I use the blackberry version of Footprints Nomara. It's nice to close out requests on the go without a computer.

ultra cheap...
 

I bought a Treo 680 off of craigslist - I am very familiar with Palm OS- and syncs to my work outlook just fine.

I have the bare bones minimum phone minutes plan, no data (I havent tried to see if I can 'pull' data w/o a plan - with my luck, it'd work and I'd get charged.

I do miss having a work-funded unlimited data plan (changed jobs) but just having a smartphone with a well developed (and backed up) address list, tasks, MP3 player and a few old school games ("Taipan") is enough. Money is too tight for $30/m of data.

-John

I am T-Mobile so I bought an unlocked UK version Droid that has a SIM card. I use it as a very capable phone with occasional WiFi use at home and work and if I need it on the road I use public networks. This doesnt allow me to use the GPS or other WiFi based features but I dont really have a need for it. There are some tantalizing APPS out there that would be nice to have but I have resisted so far and my bill is for simple standard phone use. I think Verizon network doesnt use SIMs so you are a little bit at their mercy.

You are correct. Although Verizon and Sprint are in a transition for broadcasting technologies, they both use CDMA whereas AT&T, T-Mobile, and the rest of the world use GSM. We sadly don't have sim cards :(

Depends on your situation. In my case, I text google for business location and phone numbers so I am not too particular and don't get even a smart phone. In the case of my wife, she used to have a phone and a PDA because she has a program on it to keep track of the different formularies for different insurance prescription plans and it tells her a lot more than just the dosage. That needs to be updated on a daily basis since things change so it is essential to get a blackberry so she can merge 2 devices into 1.

I couldn't live without a smart phone, I spend about 1/3 of my time traveling. I frequently don't have Internet access for a computer, so my smart phone and my 3G iPad are the only contact I have with the outside world. My phone also serves as my gps when I'm driving.

No. With sales tax it comes to $37.xx. No "recovery fees" or gov taxes added on. So $35 gets is all. Its not 3G, but its fast and works well for me.