Question about Data Plan...

[McKinzie_Rose]

Im probably about to buy the Moto Q. However Im only gonna use the phone as a Media Player, Phone (of course) and Word and Powerpoint stuff. I am not going to get on the internet with this phone. So I should need to buy a data plan right? Someone told me I might want to so I wont get unwanted charges later on. But If im not going to use the net, I shouldnt get them right? Only thing im going to be sending is the standard pix/flix/txt messege. And that shouldnt use "data" if im correct...so...I dont need a data plan right?

[MidnightDT]

right and wrong.

you can do the pay as you go route, which is .015c (penny and a half) per KB

this adds up extremely fast, so if you take that route it is highly reccomended that you do NOT use any data features. the Motorola Q is a smart phone, altho it has a Camera it is NOT a camera phone. Sending pix/flix from the Q will be sent as attachments to Email, aka uses DATA in addition to the started pix messaging rates. Anytime you use Email/Internet/Pix/flix messages you will be using DATA

the average 600x480 pic is 40KB. sending that would be 60 cents, so you do the math.

the plans avail are:

Unlimited Broadband access 44.99
10 MB Broadband Access 24.99
and Pay as you Go .015KB

hope that helps.

[McKinzie_Rose]

Wow! So It will send the pix messege to another phone, but it will send it more like it would send an email and use DATA...on top of a pix messege. I think that projust made me NOT buy the Q. If I was a business pro needing a data plan then it would be a good idea. But nah, im just wanting a good phone with some cool features that wouldnt be crippled as bad as normal phones, but the price isnt worth it. Thanks for the info! Glad I got it before the Q came out.

[MidnightDT]

no problem, dont let 60c for a pix message deter you from getting the Q if thats what you want its a small price to pay as long as you dont go crazy with it, and you can just tell people not to send you pix

[scottgillis]

Does the "Unlimited Broadband Access" for $44.95 get you EVDO in areas where available?

[Jrapp]

Originally Posted by scottgillis

Does the "Unlimited Broadband Access" for $44.95 get you EVDO in areas where available?

Yes it sure does.

[powerdog]

I just spoke to a VZW rep, and found out the same thing: tho they push the $80/mo voice and data plan, we can keep our FamilyShare voice plan and add P.A.Y.G. to one line. However, you need to call them for this...it's not on the website.

Roughly how many kb (or cents) does a short email sent or received equal? Trying to figure the break-even for the $25 plan.

[MidnightDT]

I dont know, you can keep track of you data usage at vzw.com/my account or using #min and #data. honestly I wouldnt mess around if you want to email buy a plan if you dont, then dont.

Iv seen bills with hundreds and hundreds of dollars of data overage and it will not be credited, period. you also cant just call in add a package and backdate it like you can with voice plans, data cannot be backdated so no matter what you will pay for what you use. if you want to buy a smart phone and use data get the plan its well worth it. i know 44.99 seems like alot but for unlimited broadband like internet/email/downloads city wide not just hotspots in hundreds of citys its a good deal.

[McKinzie_Rose]

Well its 60 cents to send or receive 1 pix messege? If I DONT get on the net would that be the only thing im faced with?

[powerdog]

If it's 60 cents to send a photo, it must be about 1 cent to send a plain, short email.

[McKinzie_Rose]

txt cost anything?

[powerdog]

I'm no expert, but I'd guess that txt is billed as voice.

[MidnightDT]

txt doesnt use data, only pix/flix.

if you didnt get on the net/check email or anything the only time you would ever be charged for KBU was pix/flix messaging. you could notify your friends to send the pix to your email address or something.

[MidnightDT]

Originally Posted by scottgillis

Does the "Unlimited Broadband Access" for $44.95 get you EVDO in areas where available?

the Unlimited will run off of our high speed EVDO network in all EVDO coverage areas, with that you can expect to see average speeds of 400-700kbps with burts up to 2mbps. DSL like broadband speeds wirelessly, anywhere you go across the full city.

In areas where EVDO is not available (and its expanding coast to coast) your phone will still have Unlimited Data this time using our national access or 1xrtt technology. with average speeds of 60-90kbps and burts up to 186kbps its not broadband or extremly high speed, but it is sufficient for your needs and would only be used as a backup to EVDO.

both would be included Unlimited.


edit: also keep in mind their is no contract on Features, which the Broadband access addon for pda/smartphone IS a feature. it can be removed at any time and you can switch to the pay as you go, or 10mb route as needed.

[powerdog]

Midnight, maybe you can help me with this: what's low enough email/web usage for pay-as-you-go to make sense? For example, 5 short emails sent and 5 recieved per month, plus 10 web pages visited. What would you choose?