Comments on: A verizon blackberry with wifi?

Question: A verizon blackberry with wifi?

special-k — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:34:59 -0800

Can I get a blackberry for Verizon without the expensive data plan? Is there one available for Verizon that can hop on wifi?

I'm not much of a talker (on the phone). I barely use my allotted minutes each month. I'm grandfathered into this old dirt cheap plan. Combine that with a government employee discount and I pay about 40 bucks a month. I don't want to change that.

I'm afraid that if I get a new blackberry with Verizon, they will automatically slap a data plan on there and double my monthly bill. I spend close to 10 hours a day online and I don't need to fill the rest with my phone.

However, it would be nice to have a full keyboard, and be able to check email on wifi (I spend a lot of time in places with free wifi) without dragging my laptop everywhere.

If such a phone exists, I would probably grab it on ebay just so I don't change my plan. Ideas/suggestions?

By: inigo2

inigo2 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:27:12 -0800

My g/f has a blackberry on verizon without a data plan. Don't know about the wifi, though.

By: Cat Pie Hurts

Cat Pie Hurts — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:29:02 -0800

If the phone supports wifi, you won't need a data plan. It's wifi just like any computer has, and you should be able to connect to access points and make use of the net without issue.

By: special-k

special-k — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:33:10 -0800

If the phone supports wifi, you won't need a data plan.

Um yes, I know that. That is why I want one which supports wifi.

By: Susurration

Susurration — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:38:07 -0800

Have you investigated the deals available to Blackberry users with AT&T? You enter your email address and they tell you what discounts you can get as an employee of specific organizations. I work for a large employer and my quote was $45/month (-ish, it might have been $49), including the data plan. Of course, I am still prevaricating because I only pay $8.25/month for my Tracfone and I am not a big talker either. But it would be nice to have a Blackberry.
You could also consider a Palm TX, which has an onscreen keyboard and stylus. It's pretty neat over wi-fi. not too keen on email that relies on javascript, but I read and send from my Gmail account regularly on it - good for traveling. The Palm comes with the added advantage of something that beeps at you when you are about to miss a meeting.

By: healthytext

healthytext — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:50:20 -0800

The Blackberry phones with WiFi are not offered by Verizon.

Here is a list of Verizon phones with WiFi.

You can also buy a Palm Treo 700wx and use a WiFi card.

By: KAS

KAS — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:52:27 -0800

I don't know if an iPod Touch is out of the question, but my brother is in a similar position and he just uses his iPod for the wifi. No full keyboard, so that part isn't met.

By: ijoyner

ijoyner — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:06:05 -0800

If you do not pay for a data plan with verizon (very unlikely, but if you purchased one from a 3rd party you could change the ESN online), and received e-mail on the device, you'd be paying per for data per kb, which is very expensive.

a data plan does double your bill. A $40 bill will go up to $80 after discounts.

By: ijoyner

ijoyner — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:06:36 -0800

You could also look at peek