How do you make Verizon unsuck?

April 18, 2006 4:49 AM

Need advice on how to get the most from Verizon's mobile phone service...

Most of the people I know and contact most regularly are on Verizon, which is great for calling within their plan.

Unfortunately, their policies tend to lock you in to selling you things through "Get it Now!" (ringtones, etc.) which you would otherwise be able to get for free elsewhere. Their mobile web capabilities appear to suck on most of their phones, and they nail you with extra charges for those phones that can handle the internet, from what I hear.

Has anyone found any phones (or novel workarounds) to make their Verizon experience better than this?

posted by insomnia_lj to Technology (7 answers total)

I have found the Howard Forums for Verizon are a spectacular resource for tech workarounds and answers to a huge array of usage questions.

Also, BitPim is a handy piece of multi-platform, open source sw that allows you to upload/download to many CDMA phones without using GetItNow.

FWIW, I switched to Verizon from (what was then) AT&T years ago and have been very impressed with their reliability and support.
posted by dickyvibe at 5:41 AM on April 18, 2006

Second BitPim. Or, if your phone has the slot for it, you can get a miniSD card and transfer stuff from your computer to your phone that way.
posted by Brian James at 5:48 AM on April 18, 2006

Yes, get a USB cable that works with your phone and the world is your oyster. Depending on the phone there are more or less hoops you'll have to jump through -- my LG6100 was a breeze, while the razr v3c required a lot of doing, for example -- but they're all ultimately beatable, allowing you to freely transfer ringtones, pictures, video, even games, as well as synchronizing contacts and calendars.

I second Howard Forums as well as BitPim. If you're interested in the razr these links will be handy:

http://forum.osnn.net/showthread.php?t=82807
http://www.3denvy.com/joshcross/
posted by TonyRobots at 5:51 AM on April 18, 2006

Regarding the RAZR V3c I had very little trouble getting it to play nicely with my Powerbook over Bluetooth. TonyRobots is right that all of their protecting is "ultimately beatable"; just look around at what is possible before you buy.
posted by istewart at 9:29 AM on April 18, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks for the information!

Any advice as far as web access on Verizon phones, though, or ways to work around them?
posted by insomnia_lj at 10:04 AM on April 18, 2006

HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - Free wap

This works for some Motorola phones. Search around for the particular phone you are looking at for more information.
posted by jefeweiss at 11:48 AM on April 18, 2006

If you happen to be interested in using your phone for Hideous Mobile Web Nonsense, as I like to call it, you should check out MobileWeb4u. They allow you to pay on a yearly plan, it's cheaper than Verizon, and you arguably get better service.
posted by selfnoise at 6:19 AM on April 19, 2006