cheapest droid plan?

April 8, 2010 7:00 AM

I'm an old guy, so be patient. I have the cheapest verizon plan I could find. It is around $39/month. I am somewhat taken with the new droid phone. I find the verizon site very confusing. I would like to get a droid with a new 2 year plan as cheaply as I could. Amazon advertises the droid for $20 with a new 2 year plan. Does the hive have any idea what plan I should get and as cheap as possible.
posted by malhaley to Technology (11 answers total)

I got my Droid back in January.

Basically you want to find the phone as cheap as possible and then get the basic minutes plan from Verizon. $39 sounds right I think that's like 450 mins, what I have as well.

Now there are *2* different data plans for the Droid, one that is basic and allows for unlimited data-which is what you want. The other is a bit more expensive and allows you to use an Outlook email address on your Droid, which no one really needs to do. Steer clear of that and you should be set!
posted by PetiePal at 7:09 AM on April 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

This is going to cost you about $90-100 a month. It just is. You've got a $40 voice plan, plus a $40 data plan, plus taxes and fees. You can spend more than that if you like, but no less. A text plan will set you back another $5-10.

The Droid is awesome, but there's just no way around the monthly cost.
posted by valkyryn at 7:15 AM on April 8, 2010

Depending on where you work, you may be eligible for a discount on the monthly voice plan which helps bring the cost down. An unofficial list is here.
posted by tommccabe at 7:44 AM on April 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

Verizon makes you sign up for both a 2-year voice plan and a 2-year data plan when you buy certain smartphones like the Droid. According to the page Amazon gives you when you type in your zip code and add the phone to your shopping cart, the cheapest voice plan is $40 a month and the cheapest data plan is $30 a month. Add to that taxes and carrier fees, and (potentially) text messages and minute overages, and you're up to around $80 a month.
posted by xbonesgt at 7:48 AM on April 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

If you're buying the phone through Amazon, you won't need to go to Verizon's site at all; Amazon will guide you through the whole process. If you select the phone you want on Amazon (I assume it's this one), and click "buy with a contract extension," it'll ask you for your number and zip code, and have you pick a plan. (Like others have said, you're required to get a voice plan and a data plan.)

So, if I add the phone to my cart on Amazon, first it wants me to pick a voice plan, and the cheapest is $39.99. Once I select that one, I have to choose whether I want a Text/Media Messaging add-on for $10, and you can select "None." Below that, I have to pick a data plan, and the cheapest is $29.99. So you're looking at ~$70/month before taxes, fees, etc.

There might be one other option: Are you over 65? Verizon seems to offer a voice plan called the "Nationwide 65 Plus" plan, which is apparently $29.99 for 500 night and weekend minutes, 200 anytime minutes, "Unlimited Mobile to Mobile Calling to any other Verizon Wireless customer", and $0.45 per overage minute. (It's described here and here on Verizon's site).

Here's the rub: the 65 Plus plan never shows up as a choice when buying the Droid. (Not on Verizon, Amazon, or other websites.) However, I wonder if you could buy the phone, and sign up for the $40 voice and $30 data plans on Amazon, and then afterwards, call Verizon and switch to the 65+ voice plan. I assume you would need to keep the $29.99 data plan, though.

You might try calling Verizon customer service (or maybe Amazon's cell phone dept at 1-866-423-5351) and asking whether this is possible.
posted by sentient at 9:39 AM on April 8, 2010

My local costco has a cell phone kiosk with different vendors. The devour phone was recently on sale for around $30 with a 2 yr plan. The promotions are constantly changing but that may be a good bet for saving on the initial costs.
posted by mokeydraws at 10:10 AM on April 8, 2010

Are you planning on doing much texting? See if you can get the texting fee removed. I don't have a texting plan with my Droid (I can text through Google Voice instead) and I think that helps me save a lot of money. I am on some kind of shared plan through my dad's business and I pay about 60-ish a month including insurance.

Here is an interesting thread on DroidForums.net in which people discuss their monthly bills. You might find something there helpful.

You may also want to consider looking at WireFly.com. I've never used them, but I've seen a lot of people in Droid-related forums that have and the response is generally positive.
posted by bristolcat at 10:13 AM on April 8, 2010

You may also want to consider looking at WireFly.com.

-I checked it out earlier, and it seems that Wirefly, Letstalk, etc., all have vitrually the same $19.99 promotional phone price as Amazon (maybe give or take shipping or something). They also show the same voice and data plan choices as Amazon (as far as I can tell).

See if you can get the texting fee removed

-Amazon does allow you to choose "None" as a texting plan, and there isn't an additional texting fee or anything. ("None" still allows you to send and receive Text/Media messages if you want to, but it's $.20 a message or something, rather than a $10 fee.)

costco

I don't think they're going to offer different plan options than the ones Verizon lists on their site. And the cheapest non 65+ plan is the $39.99 one.

Family Plans

We've been telling you about individual plans. However, do you have family members who use Verizon? If so, let us know. You might be able to save by getting a Family Plan for you and your family members to share.
posted by sentient at 12:48 PM on April 8, 2010

I'm in the same boat as you are (my ancient Razr doesn't even work for more than five minutes unless it's plugged in), but I've been waiting for the Nexus One to come out on Verizon. It's supposedly coming "this spring." The voice and data rates will no doubt be the same as with the Droid, but if Google sells it in the same way as they do to the other carriers, you should be able to buy the phone without a monthly contract.
posted by Thoughtcrime at 1:50 PM on April 8, 2010

If you have a Verizon store near you, I've found that they're great to work with in person and will clearly explain the costs to you. Plus you can hold the Droid in your hands and walk out with it that day!

But valkyryn is correct, $90-100 is what you'll be paying.
posted by desjardins at 3:10 PM on April 8, 2010

Careful of the Droid. The microphone has problems for lots of people. I returned mine after exchanging it 4 times with other quality control issues besides.

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=5175
https://supportforums.motorola.com/thread/16215 (yes, 51 pages of posts)

A shame because I loved the form factor and the OS. Quality control in Motorola's Chinese factories I guess, and they must have skimped on design and QA.
posted by vsync at 1:12 AM on April 9, 2010