The Verizon Wireless Megathread: Tears for tiers

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > The Verizon Wireless Megathread: Tears for tiers

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

I got this text today, then I opened MyVerizon on my phone.

Does this mean I can get a new device at the subsidized price or do I have to wait until April? I have unlimited data and I'd like to keep it.

I'll probably be waiting anyway as there's not really anything good other than the Nexus and I'm sure as hell not buying a Samsung Android phone.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2012 00:12

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 13:50

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Mark Larson posted:

Go to the Verizon website and see if you can check out an upgraded phone.

If I log in and pick "Upgrade Device," it shows "Upgrade at Discounted Price" and the prices appear to be what they would for a new 2-year contract. Yay.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2012 00:58

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:

~~I'll probably be waiting anyway as there's not really anything good other than the Nexus and I'm sure as hell not buying a Samsung Android phone.~~

Decided to just get a drat Nexus. I called the store and they have them in stock. I was just going to drive up there and buy one, but I figured I'd ask you guys if there's anything I can do to get it cheaper or get free stuff like an extended battery.

e: I am a current Verizon customer and I received a text from them that says I'm eligible for an upgrade. If I log on to their site under my account and look at phones it shows the Galaxy Nexus available to me for $300.

butt dickus fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Feb 15, 2012

# ¿ Feb 15, 2012 22:46

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Penguissimo posted:

Amazon Wireless has the GNex for only $230 on a line upgrade. The catch is that if it's an early upgrade, Amazon's system won't be able to see it, but if this is your 20-month upgrade, you should be able to get it there without a problem. Also, depending on your job (or the job of the account owner), you might be able to get a discount on both the phone and service.

I guess it's an early upgrade? Here's the stuff they sent me:

I'm the only person on my account and I'm 99% sure my job as a "web developer" isn't going to do anything for me.

I have one more question. If I upgrade my device now with a 2-year contract, will the new contract be over sooner than if I wait a month and do it, or do they have some kind of math that goes on behind the scenes to decide when I can get a new device based on how much I've paid them and how much they've subsidized my phones?

# ¿ Feb 15, 2012 23:08

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

JerleMinara posted:

I would strongly encourage GNex buyers to get their phone from Costco. There's a bad batch out there that has a hardware flaw that causes the phone's modem to crash if you're on 4G. It'll blow out and drop voice/data entirely and have to reboot (takes 30 seconds) and it's totally random.

Costco's basically the best return policy you can find for a mobile phone, and I know a guy who's had to trade in like 3-4 of them just to get one that doesn't have issues. vOv

I would, but there's none in my state.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2012 23:27

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Don Lapre posted:

Your contract resets. So if you upgrade now you can upgrade again in 20 months or end your service in 24 without paying an ETF.

Thanks! This means it's best to get it as soon as possible assuming there's a worthwhile device. Gonna go bite the bullet right now.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2012 23:44

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Dickeye posted:

4.0.4 hasn't been pushed by Verizon yet so who knows

Doesn't mean you can't install it. I did it first thing because of bull's recommendation and haven't had any issues yet.

# ¿ Feb 17, 2012 04:44

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

kitten smoothie posted:

So what's the story about Verizon's 3G penalty box if you go over 2GB in a month?

Suppose you rack up > 2GB in LTE usage. If your phone drops into 3G mode since it can't see LTE, or you travel somewhere with no LTE at all, do you end subject to being throttled if you wind up talking to a congested tower?

Data is data and they don't care about 3G/LTE. If you go over, they charge you $(x) for every (y)MB extra, rounding up. This page says it's $10/GB over. I don't think they do throttling at all.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/verizon-tiered-data-plans-charge-for-bits-not-speed/2975

# ¿ Feb 20, 2012 05:55

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

yamdankee posted:

I got the same message as Doctor rear end in a top hat on my Droid X last week. I logged into myVerizon and to upgrade to a Maxx is 289.99 and a Droid 4 is 189.99. Is that the full discounted price? My contract actually ends in April so I want to make sure this is really the full upgrade or not.

And at this point as far as the phone, it seems like a toss up between the Maxx and Gnex. I like the battery life, build quality, and non-Samsungness of the Maxx. It's going to get a custom ROM immediately, so Blur isn't really a problem.

The price on the site is the price you get. I went to the store and the guy told me it would be an extra $20 for the early upgrade but I asked nicely and it was waived. Also I'm totally going to recommend you get the Nexus unless the size is a concern. Once you get one in your hands it's a really nice device. It feels solid and the front is a single surface, which also helps when you want to wipe prints off of it. I thought it was going to feel cheap like the original Galaxy S phones but it's much better. Coming from the Droid X, one thing that will throw you off is the volume keys are on the left and the power button is on the right, but you'll get used to it soon enough.
_{Also it's the developer phone and has ICS right now just get it.}

# ¿ Feb 20, 2012 15:52

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

AlexDeGruven posted:

I never had a problem with this with Samsungs, since I'm left-handed. It just feels natural to me having the volume rocker under my thumb.

I'm right-handed but usually operate the phone with my left hand. I use the power button way more than the volume keys. The volume keys make more sense on the left because if you rotate the phone so they're on top, right is volume up. The Droid X was the other way. I miss the power button being on top.

# ¿ Feb 20, 2012 16:06

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

duffmensch posted:

I got 27Mbps while waiting for my luggage at the airport in Phoenix (bottom floor, surrounded by concrete), so it doesn't seem too outlandish.

It's likely a busy airport will have microcells installed.

The highest I've gotten in Wichita is 20Mbps and it's usually around 15. Still about 10 times as fast as 3G is here so I'm not complaining.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2012 20:37

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Jake Gittes posted:

No LTE in the Houston area this morning.

Mine's been going up and down in Wichita, must be a problem everywhere.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2012 15:59

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

ModestMuse posted:

but... you are currently on probation...

SWSP undid it or something.

Here's a couple of articles about the LTE outage. I guess the last couple of times they had it cleared up within a few hours.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/22/verizon-4g-lte-outage-hitting-parts-of-the-us/
http://androidandme.com/2012/02/carriers/verizon-experiencing-another-nationwide-4g-lte-outage/

# ¿ Feb 22, 2012 16:10

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

ROOMBA floorvac posted:

I plan on using just the wifi and gps on my Nexus when I go to the UK this spring. Since I won't be able to make any calls from it, what settings should I turn off to save the most battery?

Put it in airplane mode. You will still be able to turn on WiFi and GPS.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2012 20:44

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

indoflaven posted:

Apparently I can get $100 off any 4g device right now. Anybody else being offered this? Might pick up a Droid 4 for $100.

There's been a lot of discussion in the Android thread about how the Droid 4 has a really terrible screen. Go check one out at a store before you buy one.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2012 19:38

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

stormrider posted:

I haven't seen a Nexus in person yet. How does its screen compare to the droid x? Am I going to miss the extra real estate?

I made the same switch you're about to. The Nexus is a lot bigger. I've got large hands and it's the upper limit in terms of size for what I would use. The screen is nicer, but coming from the X you will probably notice the PenTile display. It took me a bit before I could ignore it, and I can still see it sometimes.

I keep my X around the house for doing whatever and I think that 4.3" is pretty much the perfect screen size. The hardware button placement on the Nexus mess you up for a while. I still find myself feeling around for a power button at the top of the device. Due to the lack of hardware buttons, I'll occasionally find myself holding it upside-down and wondering why the display isn't moving from landscape.

Go try one in the store.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2012 20:09

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Kyrosiris posted:

I guess my eyes just suck, because I don't see it.

My vision isn't that great. It's most apparent when looking at solid white or gray.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2012 21:00

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Doctor Butts posted:

Too late.

The Razr Maxx was out of my price range.

But, after what just happened while ordering the Razr, maybe I could have.

Some really weird crap on the Verizon site.

I log in, it says "oh hey guess what you can get the razr for 99$"
Sweet. That's in my budget. I decide I can buy it.
So I login to the site again, click "upgrade my device" and it says the phone is only 49.99.
What?
Ok, so I add it to my cart, and it says its $99 again. Ok. I go through the checkout, and then the price displays 49.99 + the $30 phone upgrade fee- $80. Ok, I guess things are going pretty good. Then out of nowhere, I am about to hit 'buy the motherfucking phone already i don't want your accessories' I keep seeing 80$... somewhere. But then it starts applying these discounts of of nowhere and by the time I'm about to click the final "are YOU SURE you want this?" button, the price charged says $36. Just the upgrade fee and the tax on the upgrade fee.

I don't get it.

If you feel like tearing poo poo up, you can turn a RAZR into a RAZR MAXX for ~$100
http://www.cellphone-repair-shop.com/verizon-droid-razr-maxx-back-housing-battery-cover-and-frame-black/
http://www.cellphone-repair-shop.com/motorola-droid-razr-maxx-eb40-internal-battery-with-flex-cable/

# ¿ Apr 23, 2012 18:49

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Roundboy posted:

Are these legit? I remember hearing of the upgrade, but it was more expensive, and that sold out in a nano second.

Because I really want to get this

I grabbed those links from a thread in XDA (ugh) which I found by googling "turn RAZR into RAZR MAXX." It seemed to work pretty much like an extended battery would on any other phone where you replace the battery with a bigger one and the backplate with one that sticks out a little more, but not intended to be user-serviceable.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2012 14:16

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Roundboy posted:

Cool, I'll grab it then. I seem to remember it was still coming out, and there was some sort of group buy as well.

You should probably try to find the details about the procedure before you drop $100 based on what some internet guy says. I don't have either of the RAZRs.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2012 14:42

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

bull3964 posted:

Verizon is also pushing LTE to more of the eastern seaboard.

http://www.androidcentral.com/verizon-lte-spreading-more-cities-eastern-seaboard

It's kind of insane to think you could be sitting on the beach in some remote area of the Outer Banks and be pulling down 20Mbps on your phone.

My city is saturated with LTE. I don't even bother with WiFi anymore, because LTE is almost always faster.

# ¿ May 11, 2012 17:20

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Goon Matchmaker posted:

My battery meter is estimating around 64 hours of battery life left. In practice I'm getting more than a day out of it with relatively light usage.

That battery meter doesn't sound very useful.

# ¿ May 14, 2012 14:14

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Mr.Trifecta posted:

Any ideas on phones with a slide out keyboard? I am becoming a non-fan of the touch keyboard. Using swype on my droid x, it misspells everything.

The Droid X comes with a old version of Swype. The newer versions are greatly improved, unfortunately there's no way to get them without rooting. There are plenty of alternative keyboards you can install, though. I wouldn't judge all soft keyboards based on that crappy one. Generally speaking, hardware keyboards go unused unless you have a specific need.

# ¿ May 23, 2012 21:34

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Mr.Trifecta posted:

What other phones with better keyboards would you recommend?

You can install others on your current phone, you don't need to buy a new phone just for that. The app thread can probably give you suggestions. You should be able to run just about any keyboard except the current version of Swype on your X. Most Android devices should work the same way. The iPhone's keyboard is very nice as well.

Like Don Lapre said, the Droid 4 is the only current Verizon device with a hardware keyboard, and it has a terrible screen and is running an old operating system.

# ¿ May 23, 2012 22:04

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

kitten smoothie posted:

Assuming you are buying a phone every 20 months just the same, it is really an increase of $30/month, because not only are you giving up a subsidy, but you are paying for a device.

If you buy a new device at retail instead of renew a contract, you are down $300 at day one because you paid full price.

Every month you are off contract but not on a discounted phone, you are throwing away $15 in subsidy. That would be the same whether you kept the same phone or bought a new one at retail. So the following month you are down $315, and so on. Spread the $300 over 20 months, add in the subsidy you are leaving on the table, and you have $30/month.

I am not double counting things here because buying a device full price preserves your upgrade -- if not for losing unlimited data you could buy a subsidized device, eBay it, and take that $15/month subsidy off the table. That just gives you back what you pay every month though and the $300 for a full price device is still sunk.

This looks like crazy person math. "Giving up a subsidy" and "paying for a device" are the same thing.

Scenario 1: You pay $200 for a subsidized phone and sign a contract for 20 months. You pay $X per month for service.
Scenario 2: You pay $600 for an unsubsidized phone and do not sign a contract.You pay $X per month for service. $400 over 20 months works out to $20/month, but you pay it up front.

For both of these scenarios you pay the same amount per month and you get a new phone.

# ¿ May 30, 2012 20:32

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

kitten smoothie posted:

The key is what I bolded. In each scenario you pay the same amount per month, but if you don't take a subsidy you're effectively paying twice.

In scenario 1, you "borrowed" money (aka the subsidy) and you are paying it back over the life of the contract. Some portion of your bill, $15-$20 of it, goes toward paying that off.

In scenario 2, you paid $300-$400 more for the device up front since you did not sign a contract. However, you also pay the same amount per month. You are still paying the same monthly bill as though you were paying off a subsidy, but in this scenario, you have no subsidy to pay off. That additional cash goes into Verizon's pocket as profit rather than coming to you in the form of a phone discount.

You could let that money work for you by burning the upgrade, buying a subsidized device, and flipping it. Then you are paying the same amount every month, but you get that $15-$20 back because you cashed out the subsidy. But that kills your unlimited data.

You are counting the subsidy discount twice. You can't eat your cake and have it too. The only difference is what you pay up front. It doesn't matter how Verizon appropriates your money on their end.

Assuming $100 per month for service:

Scenario 1: You pay $200 for a subsidized device under the condition of a 20 month contract. Total cost: $2200.

Scenario 2: You pay $600 for an unsubsidized device with no conditions. You stay with Verizon for 20 months without having a contract. Total cost: $2600.

# ¿ May 30, 2012 21:08

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

TenaciousTomato posted:

Why has everyone slept on the Rezound? It has the nicest screen out of any Verizon phone and HTC actually updates their hardware. Sense is decent too. V happy with this phone.

It has an amazing screen, but it has poor battery life and is still running Gingerbread. The screen type and size were exactly what I wanted in a phone, but everything else was wrong, so i got the Galaxy Nexus instead.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2012 08:21

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

cuedotnet posted:

Is there a My Verizon widget for ICS?

Yes. When you install the My Verizon Mobile application, the widget comes with it. It displays data used/remaining.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2012 21:54

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Acrolos posted:

Nope, that's just the Nexus.

I've owned a lot of phones over the years, including a few 4g ones at this point, and it has the worst battery life of anything I've ever owned. I'd recommend the charging station and an extended battery. If I'm out of the house without charging access, I'll usually go through the extended battery, a standard battery, and my phone will still be dead by the evening.

Do you have terrible signal? I'm a moderate/heavy user, always leave LTE on, never use wifi, use automatic brightness and my Galaxy Nexus still lasts over a day.

# ¿ Jun 18, 2012 17:52

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

sniperchance posted:

Also I was able to disable all of the Verizon apps except visual voicemail, mobile hotspot and Guided Tours, so take that as you will.

Verizon said that they wanted the disable feature because users were complaining that they couldn't remove certain built-in applications. Then they have Samsung break it. Awesome.

e: also if there were three that you couldn't disable, how many were there that you could?

butt dickus fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Jul 9, 2012

# ¿ Jul 9, 2012 18:59

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

sniperchance posted:

I disabled the standard VCAST apps like VZ Navigator and My Verizon. I'm guessing the apps like Mobile Hotspot and Voicemail are marked as "essential" since they do supplant the standard Android counterparts that you'd see on the Nexus.

There's not really any "essential" applications--on the Nexus you can even disable the phone application. Apparently Verizon doesn't want you to disable those particular ones because they are ways for you to spend more money.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2012 19:25

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Kegwen posted:

My frustration with the Droid X led me directly to the GNex. I hope subsidized SGS3 owners have better luck.

Several of us on the forums made that same switch! Interestingly enough, stock works perfectly, so I haven't bothered with custom ROMs at all.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2012 14:16

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

chocolateTHUNDER posted:

Didn't some sort of key for the Droid X's bootloader get leaked or something that allowed custom kernels to get flashed?

That was a hoax.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2012 15:17

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Thermopyle posted:

Is this a thing? I'll go weeks on my GNex without shutting down or a reboot. Did the same with my N1.

My Nexus doesn't, either. The only time it ever gets turned off/on is when I go to the movies.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2012 18:20

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

SeaborneClink posted:

Isn't this what vibrate/silent mode is for? Alternatively airplane mode?

I don't want it vibrating in my pocket. Also I've got an irrational fear of somehow hitting the buttons and turning up the volume when it's in my pocket and then getting a call or whatever. It's not like turning it off and back on is a big deal.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2012 18:28

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

GoGoGadgetChris posted:

Today is my 2-year upgrade discount day. There's now a $30 upgrade fee? Ugh.

Anyway, time to part with my Droid Pro, which did its best for the past two years despite sucking hard at all things Smart Phone. The Galaxy S III is the current ideal candidate, right?

If you're set on Android, there's a thread for that. There's also the iPhone, but you already knew about that. If you take a subsidized upgrade you will lose unlimited data and be forced to switch to a tiered plan.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2012 22:08

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

Don Lapre posted:

I dont see why the rep would care one way or another.

It probably gets old pretty fast when you have to do the same thing over and over. When I worked phones and daylight saving started/ended we would get tons calls from customers wanting to fix the time on their phone system and that really sucked.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2012 16:33

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

mastershakeman posted:

My dad just got back from a trip to Taiwan last week, and his mobile data no longer works at all despite being enabled on his Android phone (casio gzone I think). I turned airplane mode on/off, but no luck - any idea what could be causing this?

Try dialing *228.

# ¿ Aug 6, 2012 21:42

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

chocolateTHUNDER posted:

Was it running some sort of demo software? I've seen that gently caress up some otherwise pretty speedy phones at corporate stores before.

My friend bought an S3 and I noticed jerkiness on it as well. I didn't like the phone at all and I especially disliked that it's pushing the trend to make screens unwieldy. 4.3" and 720x1280 please.

# ¿ Aug 9, 2012 04:24

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 13:50

butt dickus: Jul 7, 2007; top ten juiced up coaches
and the top ten juiced up players

chocolateTHUNDER posted:

Ah, who knows then. Is there a difference between the Verizon and T-Mobile models in terms or processor/ram? The girl at work has a T-Mobile one.

It was T-Mobile. He had just gotten it that day.

# ¿ Aug 9, 2012 05:02

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > The Verizon Wireless Megathread: Tears for tiers

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