Switching to Verizon, which phone?

[Agonizing Fury]

Ok, here's the deal, after having AT&T for many years, I have moved to an area where I get between no signal and 1 bar inside and no signal and 2 bars outside. I've thought about signal amps and external antennas, but to be honest it's about time I let this AT&T account go (it is in my ex-wife's name from 2 marriages ago). Anyways, my current roommate has a Verizon account and has offered to let me add a line to his current account (and it's the only provider that actually gets a signal out here).

Here's the issue, I can't stand what Verizon does to their phones! no bluetooth file transfers, can't put my own files as ringtones, can't download mp3s from the net and assign them as ringtones....The crippling of the firmware goes on and on. The amount of things verizon disables in their phones to force you to purchase everything you own a second time through them (or force you to transfer through their pricey 3G service) is unnacceptable to me. Why, if I already own a CD, should I have to purchase the ringtone of the song for 8x the cost of that song, for a crappy sounding 30 second clip??

So what I am looking for is a phone that works on verizon, but that I can put the phone manufactures (or a 3rd party's) firmware on and still have access to the phone's intended feature set. I don't need a complex phone. Here's what I'm looking to be able to do.

- Bluetooth file transfers (including images taken with the camera phone, and transfering mp3s to the phone to use as ringtones, or with the phone's media player)
- Stereo Bluetooth support
- Text & multimedia messenging
- Browse web with opera mini
- removable microSD (or comparable removable media)
- 1.3 MPix camera (or better)
- other extra features are fine, and price is not the most important object, but below $200 with 2 year contract would be preferable.

Any suggetions for me?

 

[jayn_j]

FWIW, my LG Voyager on VZW does Bluetooth file transfers just fine. I agree on the ringtone issue. I believe the Voyager will meet all the other requirements as well. Web browsing access is an extra fee though, as is their fake GPS. Thae latter does have an upside though as you can purchase access for a day instead of monthly. That allows you to get found if you really manage to get lost without a proper GPS handy. I've used it once and it was a lifesaver.

Lets see.
BT File xfer - yes, including camera and video
Stereo BT - Yes
Text, picture and video messaging - yes (there is a charge for unlimited texting. The per text charges are killer). I really like the flip open kbd.
web browser - Yes (either monthly unlimited or by the minute)
removable microSD - Yes
1.3 mp camera. Yes. Actually 2 mp.
I think it is currently around $70 with contract.

 

[Ramy]

Go with the Touch Pro. Very customizable and I love it.

 

[JamesJ]

Go with the Touch Pro. Very customizable and I love it.

touch pro is nice, also the blackberry tour is getting ready to launch and that will be a really nice phone, the omnia is a very nice one as well if you dont need a physical keyboard...really the thing that is sticking out to me is that you will need a smartphone as the opera browsing cant be done on a regular old phone, and with that you will need a data plan as they require one, and really they dont "gimp" their smartphones as much as they do their regular phones and they have even recently unlocked the gps on them.

 

[LER]

Be aware that the Verizon version of the Touch Pro is short memory, and needs some TLC to unlock the GPS. (Compared to the Sprint version).

 

[stogie5150]

If you own an LG phone all you need for ringtones and walls is bitpim. I have a LG Versa and my wife has an env2, and I have no issues making my own ringers and transferring them to the phone, no hacks needed. Same for Walls.

I can't comment on bluetooth file transfers because I don't use them.

Been with Verizon since their inception in this area, 1999. Best coverage hands down, but man do they cripple the phones...

 

[thowe21]

I'd wait for the Tour which comes out next week, here's a review of it:

RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 (Verizon Wireless) Smartphone reviews - CNET Reviews

 

[TheForce]

If you own an LG phone all you need for ringtones and walls is bitpim. I have a LG Versa and my wife has an env2, and I have no issues making my own ringers and transferring them to the phone, no hacks needed. Same for Walls.

I can't comment on bluetooth file transfers because I don't use them.

Been with Verizon since their inception in this area, 1999. Best coverage hands down, but man do they cripple the phones...

stogie- BJ's just sent me an ad-email on the env3. Looks like a nice PDA phone. I couldn't believe the price at $79.95 for BJ's members. Says it has qwerty kb and 3 mp camera with flash and focus. Should make someone a very nice PDA phone by the ad copy.

 

[jayn_j]

stogie- BJ's just sent me an ad-email on the env3. Looks like a nice PDA phone. I couldn't believe the price at $79.95 for BJ's members. Says it has qwerty kb and 3 mp camera with flash and focus. Should make someone a very nice PDA phone by the ad copy.

My son has the env-2. The only problem is that it periodically pocket dials, especially for numbers on speed dial. Basically, it is too easy to disengage the keyboard lock. Hopefully fixed in the env-3, but you should check.

 

[JamesJ]

stogie- BJ's just sent me an ad-email on the env3. Looks like a nice PDA phone. I couldn't believe the price at $79.95 for BJ's members. Says it has qwerty kb and 3 mp camera with flash and focus. Should make someone a very nice PDA phone by the ad copy.

correction, it is NOT a pda phone.

 

[Ronnie-]

correction, it is NOT a pda phone.

True, but it is close, right? It would do as such for most

 

[ab187]

If you own an LG phone all you need for ringtones and walls is bitpim.

Thanks for the tip

 

[mdram]

gofor an omnia

- Bluetooth - check
- Stereo Bluetooth support - yep
- Text & multimedia messenging - yep
- Browse web with opera mini - yep
- removable microSD (or comparable removable media) - up to 16gb
- 1.3 MPix camera (or better) - 5mp
- other extra features are fine, and price is not the most important object, but below $200 with 2 year contract would be preferable.

there are alot of custom roms out there for it including winmo 6.5
head over to Samsung Omnia - Samsung Omnia and see whats availabel for it

 

[JamesJ]

True, but it is close, right? It would do as such for most

hmm cant answer that honestly, what do you want out of it?

 

[ab187]

I have the Blackbberry curve and I am mostly happy with it. The Blackberry tour looks promising though.

 

[stogie5150]

gofor an omnia

- Bluetooth - check
- Stereo Bluetooth support - yep
- Text & multimedia messenging - yep
- Browse web with opera mini - yep
- removable microSD (or comparable removable media) - up to 16gb
- 1.3 MPix camera (or better) - 5mp
- other extra features are fine, and price is not the most important object, but below $200 with 2 year contract would be preferable.

there are alot of custom roms out there for it including winmo 6.5
head over to Samsung Omnia - Samsung Omnia and see whats availabel for it

AF-

Be aware that if you choose the Omnia, you MUST subscribe to some sort of data plan, just like a PDA. Even if you buy the phone at full retail, you must pay the 30.00/month for data, whether you want it or not. I was going for it until I found that fact out.

Which is why I picked the Versa. I do not know good/bad about the env3 or any of the newer phones. Versa is nice, Dare is nice. STAY AWAY from the Moto Krave. Its a POS.

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