A couple of quick questions...

[dowtie]

Just a couple things I've been wondering. I've never been one to buy fancy smart phones but my roommate got an iPhone a a while ago and its piqued my curiousity. I've always liked Google and Android seems cool but I dont ever see anyone with it so I know, regrettably, very little.

1. Can I get an Android phone if I'm using Alltel? I would assume so since that new Verizon one is coming out, but I'd like to be sure.

2. In your opinion, is now a good time to get one? I know how fast this technology moves (my friends iPhone is pre-3g) so would it be better to wait until some more tweaks are done or is now as good a time as ever? I just want it to have some staying power, basically.

3. Am I going to have to sign a new contract to use it? Will say 2 year agreement be necessary or can I just buy it and activate it and maybe tack on a data plan to my existing one?


If anyone could help me out I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[MatUSCG]

I can help you.

1. If you are in a area were alltel has been absorbed by verizon then you are fine. Alltel was bought out by verizon but some areas have not yet and will not migrate to verizon, if you have migrated you should be receiving Verizon bills by now. If not call your local store to find out what changes are coming. You need to remember that for the accounts verizon took over no changes were made to the current user contracts so things like "my circle" and your current price plan remain the same until you make any changes to your account. If you are still on the legacy Alltel network and not absorbed into verizon you would have to buy the droid without contract and activate it for alltel I believe the price is 599 without contract, it should work as both verizon and alltel are CDMA networks.

2. If you are looking at the droid I think its a good time to buy, this phone is far more advanced then any other phones or rumored phones coming to Verizon. The only other real competition for it is the Iphone 3gs. Apple will probably be releasing a new iphone version in June if they continue to follow their last few year trends. I would say that its a pretty safe bet that anything significant coming to the market would be announced no later then Nov 15th as to try and cash in on holiday shoppers. As far as next year its anyones guess, but the droid does have room to grow and should receive any updates to the Android OS.

3. As with most phones Verizon subsidizes the actual cost of the phone by requiring you to sign a 2 year contract. So the Droid will cost you 299 out of pocket then you get 100 dollar rebate if you sign a 2 year contract with a data plan with verizon. The cost to buy it out right is 599 and there is no need to sign any contract.