I’ve finally decided on the route I’m going to take when it comes to picking up a new cell phone within the next couple of months. For a while I was really leaning towards the Apple iPhone but I’m starting to believe that it’s more or less just a fad that’s eventually going to pass. However, the iPhone knock-off’s really aren’t that bad. I’ve been shopping around and I’m thinking of going with either the Samsung Glide or the LG Dare, hosted by Verizon of respectively. While many people dislike Verizon, I have to say that my experience with them in the past wasn’t half bad.
I had a two year contract with them and my phone really didn’t have a vast amount of excess features that I would never use. My only issue was in regards to text messaging. None of my friends like to talk on the phone anymore, they prefer to go completely through text messages and when you’re on a prepaid plan it’s kind of hard to keep throwing money onto the phone couple of weeks. Granted, it takes me about a month to really need to add service in which case it only costs me $20 but when you use the phone strictly for emergencies and you’re left with no minutes at the end of the month it really can be a hassle.
So what do you do? This situation may only work out well for me, not too sure about my readers. I only ever have the phone on me when I’m driving. There are some people out there who use it as their sole form of communication – something I see no point in considering there’s always a land-line around me (I work from home, remember?) However, being as my friends are text-message fanatics, my minutes are still eaten up.
So my intent is go sign up with Verizon Wireless, getting the $39.99 a month plan that includes unlimited in network calling, as well as nights and weekends (starting at 9:01PM – it’s not 9PM that’s how they screw you). With that plan, I’ll spend an extra $10 a month and sign up for the unlimited data option which gives me the ability to send as many text messages and photos as I please. I’m not really someone who goes out of my way to snap pictures and send them to friends, but there are times when you go past something really cool looking that’s worth documenting and you don’t seem to have a camera on you. Now, my digital is small enough where it can fit in my purse, but what’s the point of carrying it with me when I’m really never going to use it? It’s always in my purse when I never need it, and never in my purse when I do. My cellphone, however, is always with me. So I believe this would be the perfect option for me.
So I sat down and did the math. While Sean really wants to have a cell phone, if I’m the only one who’s leaving the house to go to work then there’s no real point in him having one (at this moment in time). So I’m going to sign up for the $39.99 a month plan, and purchase the LG Voyager. It gives me a full keyboard to keep up with text messages, something I really happen to like when you really read into things. It also only costs $100 for those signing up with a 2-year contract. With the addition to the $39.99 package, I’ll be spending $10 a month on 500 sms/picture messages which includes unlimited IN NETWORK messages. Anyone I’d message is with Verizon so it wouldn’t cost me a dime to talk to them. The $0.99 monthly charge for ring-back tones is appealing, and spending $1.99 on a detailed bill just seems worth it to me so I can keep track of exactly where everything is going.
So my monthly cost (before taxes) would be around $55. That’s not too bad considering I’m basically paying for unlimited resources (based solely on the fact that all phone calls and texts will be made in-network). Cool huh?