thinking about jumping the verizon and fasinate ship

[mknollman123]

I all start by saying that I love my fascinate - it is a great device, but lately I am seeing more and more people saying things like "I lost my job and cannot pay my cell bill" and it has me looking at my bills and thinking what is really necessary. I still have my job and am grateful that I can make ends meet but my $175 bill for myself and my wife makes me want to puke. It is more than I spend on home internet, Netflix, water and trash combined.

For this reason, I started looking at prepaid wireless as it is seemingly the cheapest around. I read that they are releasing the moto triumph next month and it is a pretty nice looking phone. Basically comparable to the fascinate specs-wise with a not as nice screen.

Defonitely not the most future proofed device but check this out

300 minutes and unlimited data for $25
1200 minutes and unlimited data for $40

If it take the smaller plan and my wife takes the larger, eve with tax we would literally save $100 a month.

Downside - I will be on sprint's network which is iffy but for this kind of savings I think I am willing to consider it.

The reason I am posting on here is that like i said I love my fascinate and want ro get your opinions on if I am crazy

 

[atomD21]

If you are wanting (or needing) to save money, the cell phone bill is a great place to start. Especially with some nicer options out there in prepaid land. As much as we all love our Fascinates, they are far from a necessity and definitely a money hog. If that is what's going to be best for you, I say do it. Saving money is never a bad idea (unless you stop eating to do it...).

 

[Kevin Gossett]

There are other providers out there that offer cheaper service (Cricket, etc), and you can flash your Fascinate to their network... Might be worth looking into

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

No, you're not crazy. If the service works for you, you're getting a new phone at a much cheaper rate.

Use the savings to get a tablet or one of the upcoming Galaxy mp3 players to "play" with.

 

[FearTheGhost13]

Yeah, I don't blame you for at least considering your options, that's very wise! Verizon is far from being the cheapest. I just recommend doing your research on some other providers besides just the cost of them. You don't want to get stuck with very poor coverage/quality. What Kevin said is definitely worth looking into. As always whenever you have a question, you know a lot of people here will help the best they can. I think it's safe to say that some of the fine folks here probably know more than a lot of the reps from the stores know lol.

 

[mknollman123]

No, you're not crazy. If the service works for you, you're getting a new phone at a much cheaper rate.

Use the savings to get a tablet or one of the upcoming Galaxy mp3 players to "play" with.

That's the best part - in early july they are supposed to be releasing the motor triumph -so I will still have some android goodness and 3g.

Also, a few weeks back I bought a Asus transformer which I love. I have it for the high end playing and though it cost me 350 up front it has no ongoing data fees (thank you root access and stealth tethering)

I really think I am gonna go fr this - i will definitely miss my beautiful amoled screen, but 100 a month is really a lot - 1200 a freakin year!! (Yeah I can multiply)

Heck I can sell my fassy and my wife's Droid x and probably break even on hardware.

 

[eibbed0001]

I paid $39 for my Fascinate (recertified) and pay $29/month for unlimited data. The phone price was great but the data price does add up, obviously.

I recent bought my husband a Nook Color and aside from making phone calls, it does most of what he would have wanted from a new phone (email, web). He can attach to our home wi-fi when he's home to go online, access email, and log into Facebook. He has a work Blackberry he can use for phone calls and web when not at home.

I received an email this morning from Buy.com with an ad for a refurbished Nook Color for $199.

 

[Lttlwing16]

I get a 22% discount from my employer with VZW and with that my bill for my wife and I is still 150 with unlimited data for myself and 150 mb for her. Our talk and text plan is way more than we need, and without the discount, I would be looking at other options.

With that said, I justify the cost in our budget by not having a home phone line. We use our fascinates for all calling. Some people have to have the home phone, but for my wife and I it would just be an extra cost.

I looked into Cricket, but even though they have $50 unlimited everything plans with no commitment, they're coverage is spotty and they get you with their "Roaming packages" which can add another 30 dollars a month.

Good luck with pre-paid and let us know how it goes!

PS...you can use your fascinate as a wifi mini tablet and media player! Don't sell it!!

 

[mknollman123]

I get the same discount - as a firefighter and thus a govt. Employee. I also have no home phone. We have two smartphones and 1 dumbphone that we keep on our line in place of a home phone for my kids ( this only runs 10 bucks). With all this and the discount and hardware coverage for our $500 devices I am still at 175 a month.

I looked into cricket as well and their coverage was still horrible but virgin has sprint coverage and in my area that is pretty solid.

Considered keeping my fascinate as a mini tablet but i would rather have the cash and use my new virgin device and my Asus transformer as a tablet.