New to the Android world

Yes, any time you use anything that connects to the internet, you will be using data. Some apps (like Facebook) do require the internet, and some (like most games) do not.

Keep in mind, though, 5 gigs is a LOT of data. I use my data very often (I don't have internet at home, so I use my phone as a wifi hotspot occasionally), and I have never used much more than 3 gigs. For example, tomorrow is the last day of my billing cycle, and I have used 2.69gb this month. I wouldn't worry about the cap unless you are using a movie streaming app or other really data-intensive programs.

I use the 3G Watchdog app on my phone to keep track of my usage. It's a free app, and it works pretty well.

If you have wifi turned on, that will override your 3G, so anything you download on wifi will not count against your plan.

 

Use 3G Watchdog like Zebulon said. You can always call 611 and get a reading too. I stopped using my wifi because MMS wont come through while connected and I havent hit 1gb with either of my phones. Like Zebulon said, if you dont stream and wifi tether like crazy, you will be just fine. To give you an idea, check out the following website, it goes over what you can do with 5GB of data. I use my phone all the time and never have an issue.

What does 5GB (Gigabytes) Get Me? : EVDOinfo.com

 

Is this a common issue? I am considering my first android phone purchase and was planning on just switching to wifi while at home and work. There's no way for MMS to come through if I do that?

 

Some people have issues and some dont. I currently have a ticket open with US Cellular, hopefully they can/will do something. To get the MMS, you will just need to disable wifi to download the message/picture. Then you can go back to wifi. I have not lost a message, just have the inconvenience of disabling and re-enabling wifi to get a message.

 

So I would still get the notifications for incoming messages? I guess that is my main concern. I don't want to be dropping off the grid just so I can stream some A/V content without eating up my data cap.

 

Yes, what happens on my phone is, the message comes through, like normal, and pops a little download button in the message. It wont ever download til I turn off wifi and try to download again, it comes through just fine and then I turn wifi back on.