questions → does this phone exist?

vote-for9vote-against +9 -0

Does this phone exist?

My ideal phone does not use a dataplan but uses wifi for web access and for apps. It has GPS and speaker-phone capabilities. Best if I can use it with Verizon. Does such a phone exist?

by dps47
asked 7 months ago

9 Answers answer

Sort By:

vote-for3vote-against

I could be wrong, but you can buy any smartphone and not activate a data plan, can you not? Or do they make you carry data?

woothulhu
7 months ago

vote-for5vote-against

Verizon requires a data plan with any data-capable phone.

omnichad
7 months ago

vote-for2vote-against

Same with AT&T

tsfisch
7 months ago

vote-for2vote-against

I know if you buy a phone through verizonwireless.com and it is a "data" phone, they used to force you to activate a data plan with the phone.

Edit: @omnichad beat me to it.

joshaw
7 months ago

vote-for1vote-against

Motorola Q can be activated without a data plan. I don't believe it has gps but it is technically a smart phone.

coolphilip04
7 months ago

vote-for2vote-against

@coolphilip04: that phone is sooo dumb. :)

I was told by a Verizon sales associate about a year ago that any phone with a QWERTY keyboard that has any sort of useful capabilities requires you to have a data plan. Now, AT&T used to allow you to put your SIM into a phone without carrying the data package as long as your contract didn't require one (if you bought the phone out-right) but I believe that has since ended.

I used a BB with AT&T for years with no charges for data, but my sister in law tried to use my old phone and immediately got charged a fee

capguncowboy
7 months ago

vote-for3vote-against

If you already have an open acct with your carrier, you could purchase a smart phone from a second hand source (or ebay?) and just activate it on your acct. Make sure you only ever use your wifi connection. I've had friends use a second hand phone in this fashion. On Verizon.

thumperchick
7 months ago

vote-for2vote-against

My girlfriend's got an HTC Incredible on Verizon. She's forced to pay for a data plan (she took the lowest tier). Her bill's still $100/month. On Sprint, I've got unlimited data for $70/month, and a work discount. $58/month, full data and texting, more minutes than I use by 10x. Just saying.

khellendros1984
7 months ago

vote-for1vote-against

When regional carrier got gobbled up by AT&T I had (still have actually, I love the thing) a smartphone I bought off eBay before the carrier purchase was completed. The old carrier couldn't care less that I didn't want a data plan. However, the first time I swapped the SIM card from the stupid phone that AT&T forced me to buy into my phone I get a text telling me they've automatically "upgraded" my plan by $30/month because I have a "smartphone."

After talking to some of the tech support guys, it seems that every time a device connects to AT&T's network, they log the IMEI number of the phone and (apparently) run some checks.

I managed to, after a freaking 45 minute phone call, get the AT&T service rep to block the data on my account. And she was not happy to do it, but I think I had her convinced that I would stay on the line for her entire shift until she did what I wanted.

TL;DR It may be possible, but I wouldn't bet on it.

secretagentman02
7 months ago

Stats

Asked
7 months ago
Asked By
dps47
Answered
9 times
Viewed
550 times
Voted Against
0 times
Voted For
9 times

Similar Questions

Related Deals

Hey, log in or sign up first!

Whatever it is you're trying to do can ONLY be done by registered, logged-in Deals.Woot members. Why? Because they're better people than you. Don't worry: you can easily improve yourself by logging into your Woot account or signing up for a new one.

Sorry

This is only for people who have bought woots

We restrict voting to users who have purchased something from one of the other Woot stores. It's not just because we want your money (which we do) - it's the best way to be sure all the votes are coming from real people and not spam-bots or phony accounts. The best way we can think of, anyway. For now.

You can always get voting rights by buying something from one of Woot's other sites:

Purchases through Deals.Woot don't count, because in that case you're not buying anything from us. And we don't have your account information for those purchases.

If you think you've bought something from Woot before and still can't vote, make sure you're logged in with the same account you used to buy from us.

Geez, why so negative?

You have to vote up more before you can vote down.

Don't get us wrong. Negativity has its place. And downvotes are just as essential as upvotes when it comes to making Deals.Woot a useful place to find deals.

But when your votes lean so heavily toward the dark side, we have to wonder. Go vote up a few things. Accentuate the positive for a little while. It'll do you some good, and it'll do the site some good, too. Then you can get back to dealing out the smackdowns, OK?

Too late, we all heard you!

Hmm... you're wanting to take your vote back?

Well, that's a bit tricky. See, we do a lot of stuff with your vote, using it to work out the popularity of what you voted for, compare that to all the other things voted on, tally up our leaderboard, work out your reputation. Someday we'll do a little cartoon showing just how hard your vote is working.

Anyway, taking votes back messes all that up, so we give you five minutes, in case you just mis-clicked. After that we've got to say no take-backs. Luckily, votes are free, so feel free to throw them around left and right wherever you see fit.