Lutz, Florida (high 88, low 71)
I stayed home yesterday while Al made a return trip to the beach house. We are starting to realize there is something wrong with his phone. Apparently messages and texts don’t always show up right away, but will pop up days later. That little glitch caused him to have to make an extra 92 mile round trip.
I got some bad news yesterday from Verizon. Sometime this summer they are going to stop grandfathering in the unlimited data plans for people who upgrade their phones. I depend on my Droid phone for everything, and I do not want to have to worry about going over my data limit, like we have to do with the Mifi.
I use my Droid X all the time, and it’s always with me. I use it to check the weather, monitor my emails, and blogs, navigation, maps and in fact anything my laptop does, my Droid does, just on a little smaller scale. The screen is large enough that it works just fine as a browser when I am not near my laptop. It’s especially good for travel when you’re in an unfamiliar place.
I have been thinking about upgrading it because of the short battery life, which has always been extremely short. It’s getting worse and worse.
They have been advertising a new Motorola Razr Maxx that is supposed to have a long lasting battery. The only problem is, it’s $199, plus tax and a $30 upgrade fee.
The upgrade fee is just another of Verizon’s new money making tricks. Anytime you change phones, they tack on the additional $30 for the privilege. Unfortunately, I think I am going to have to bite the bullet. We prefer Verizon due to the good coverage. I prefer the Android operating system and I love the big beautiful large screen of the my Droid X. The Razr Maxx has the same big screen.
So…..do I keep my old Droid X and hope nothing goes wrong with it? I could get a new battery, but that phone is such a battery hog, it won’t make that big of a difference. Do I bite the bullet and pay $230 to upgrade to the phone I really want? They also have a Razr (not Maxx) for $99, but it doesn’t have the long life battery. If I don’t upgrade before they change the unlimited data, I’ll be paying for data on a tiered plan. (read…more money)
Decisions, decisions.
Anybody know where I can go other than Verizon to get that phone cheaper?
I found the phone on Amazon Wireless for $169. I am a bit leery of getting it through them though, because I’ll need to do some finagling to switch one eligible phone to my phone. Also, I don’t even see where the phone is a new phone…although I assume it is.
More research, I guess……
Al is on his way to Georgia. Hopefully he can clean out the storage shed and this will be his last trip. I wish I could have gone with him, but I didn’t want to leave the kitties to fend for themselves. God knows how much trouble Baxter would have gotten into!
Sorry, don't know anything about those high tech phones.
ReplyDeleteYou might consider switching to AT&T. I have not checked their data plan, but my experience is that their coverage is every bit as good as Verizon no matter what the coverage maps say.
ReplyDeleteJC
Karen, I have the same short battery problem with my droid. I have the HTC thunderbolt and If I'm using the phone a lot during the day it won't even hold a charge a full day. Really is aggrevating. I bought a charger with 2 batteries from Amazon for about $25 so I just carry extra batteries with me. I can't afford ot give up my grandfathered unlimited data either but they told us back in January that if I upgraded my phone I would lose it. So I assumed that policy was already in effect. Hope this droid will last forever. The cost of all these devices is getting ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI did upgrade to the bigger battery for the same Droid phone that you currently own. It made a BIG difference.
ReplyDeleteIt really stinks doesn't it! I have a Droid Charge and also a docking station that came with an additional battery. My phone doesn't last the whole day, even if I don't use it. We still have a landline here at home and 2 computers so some days it doesn't get used. Plus, while we're at home I'm paying for my aircard to sit in its' box... =/ They said on the news that this plan of Verizons is to help defray the cost of its' upgrade to 4G which really torks me because most days here in my house I really don't even have a basic cell phone signal for phone calls, let alone internet services!!!
ReplyDeleteWe read the same thing about Verizon. Same dilemma as you. We have a family plan with both girls still on it. It is so much cheaper for them to be on our plan BUT that may change once Verizon moves forward with their plan. Not too happy with Verizon right now.
ReplyDeleteBaxter cracks me up. She is so much like Bella.
Baxter looks like she has settled in quite nicely!!
ReplyDeleteDecided I will keep my phone forever so I don't have to upgrade it. I am not happy with Verizon. I wish they would just put a tower out this way so we could at least have service. What we do have is so slow and disconnects all the time.
ReplyDeleteBaxter is so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteCraig has an Android smart phone and we have been having tons of problems with it not charging in the car. Either car, with new cords. It is only five months old. We use it mostly for te navigation and the data plan.
Since you really like the Android system and appear to be very concerned about keeping unlimited data then it seems like investing $230 in the new Razr Maxx might not be a bad idea.
ReplyDeleteExceeding a 5GB or 10GB monthly cap could easily cost you a lot more than $230 over a year if you use the phone as extensively as you say.
With Verizon's new policy, the only way you can stay on unlimited when upgrading is to purchase a new phone outright without the subsidy. That could cost over $600.
If you can look back at your actual data use on your current Droid over the past year and see how many times, and by how much, you have exceeded 5GB's of use, that might help you to easier reach a decision.
I love my Droid II and will probably keep it forever because of the unlimited data plan. Like you, I use it all day.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what you do anymore, the odds are stacked against you. I guess Verizon and the other carriers are taking lessons from the Arab Oil Tycoons...
ReplyDeleteVerizon has good service but they are crooks:) I dropped my Verizon air card because I can do most of what I need to with the droid phone. So now I guess they want to get that lost revenue back. My last resort will be to dump them all together and go with one of those pay as you go phones.
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem. On the fence what to do. Let us know what you decide and why.
ReplyDeleteRoger has an HTC Android phone. It's about one year old and has never held a long charge. Smartphones are battery users. My iPhone lasts all day usually. I have unlimited data with AT&T. When I upgraded to the new iPhone, I was told that I would lose "unlimited". After a discussion, they had their supervisor approve me keeping unlimited. But...I've started looking at my monthly bills and I don't come anywhere near the basic data plan - despite being on the phone all the time. I may drop the unlimited plan. I have the Verizon mi-fi and AT&T phones - I think the coverage area is about the same for all the areas we have been in.
ReplyDelete