Basic Phone and iPod Touch to Replace Smartphone

H

Halp

New member
A little complicated maybe, but here's my situation and my thoughts. I suspect someone else has been through a similar situation before.

I've used some form of PDA for about 10-12 years now. I run my life with one, from work and personal schedules to contacts, lists, data, etc. I started with a Palm IIIx and a separate phone. A few years ago, my employer at the time issued me a corporate Blackberry and it was terrific. In fact, it was so good that when I left for another job, I bought my own Win Mobile smartphone and data plan from Verizon. This was in the teeth of the Great recession and I was part of a layoff, so I cancelled the data plan and kept the phone. The phone has been nothing but headaches, doing such things as calling 555-5678 when I dialed 555-1234 (numbers are examples only) and locking up consistently. About three times a week I have to do a soft reset on the phone to get it to work. Calls don't register but show up as voice mail. It's to the point that I'm reviving a perfectly fine LG VX8600 for the month remaining until I can go New Every Two.

I can't buy a standalone PDA any more.

I absolutely don't want to pay for a data plan, so a new Smartphone is out.

My current employer may issue a phone or Smartphone due to my job and travel. Also, I can't sync my own device to Outlook at work (policy).

The low cost route is to get a new [free] basic phone and just use my old Win Mobile smartphone as a PDA only. That's if the PDA feature set works without lockup.

Beyond that, I could use the PDA features of what are now basic phones, like the LG Accolade or Verizon Escalade. I've read where some of these will sync with a PC.

The third and next cheapest, approach, is basic phone + iPod Touch. The Touch has WiFi and all the PDA functionality of an iPhone (with apps like Pocket Informant.) I suspect that fuunctionality will only get better.

So, my questions:

1) Has anyone used a basic Verizon phone without a data plan to replace a PDA or smartphone? If so, which one and how did it work out for you?

2) Can anyone recommend the best Verizon non-Smartphone for PDA functionality, ideally one without a data plan of any kind? I'm willing to pay more for a phone if I get that kind of performance.

3) Am I missing another option? I'm pretty firm on Verizon because I have a good plan and monthly bill, but with these data plan requirements, Sprint is starting to look better and better. If only their coverage were better . . . .

Thanks for any insights.
 
I was in a similar situation to you at one point. For a while, I had both a basic phone and an iPod Touch I used as a PDA and MP3 player. I eventually bought a used iPhone 3G and set it up without a data plan -- I used it like a cell phone + iPod Touch in a single package.

I've since moved on to another phone, but this may be an option for you.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. How did you activate the phone without a data plan? I'm hearing Verizon won't allow that, otherwise that would be my Plan A.
 
Verizon won't activate it without a data plan, but that doesn't mean that you can't still use it. The device will power on, you just cannot use it as a phone. To achieve this, you will need to obviously purchase a used one. Craigslist or eBay or the B/S/T here are some excellent options to find one.

I am a big fan of just having it all on one device. Music, PDA, video, phone, everything slapped together for ease of use, and just more convenient.

Are you really that set against a data plan? Is there any way that you can use it as a tax write off, or perhaps there is a discount offered through the provider for your employer?
 
OP was just asking about using a phone that is not activated, not the iPhone. I think that the OP already knows that the iPhone can't be used on Verizon.
 
I am set against the data plan unless I can use it as a writeoff for my side business, which is plausible. Have a pretty nice legacy plan and discount (rom wife's employer) through Verizon, so I'm reluctant to change that. I'd say there is a 50% change employer will issue me a company BlackBerry in the next six months. Forward all personal calls there - problem solved. If I opt for a data plan with Verizon and company issues BB, I have an expensive phone and plan gathering dust or I carry two units. Ecch.

I just came through a two year period in which I was laid off twice due to the economy so I have the frugality mindset that a data plan is a luxury. I'm be constantly pushing to ditch our landline, except our bill would go up due to bundle pricing.

I thought hard about the iPod because it seems to be an iPhone minus the phone and when I had an iPhone briefly last year in a job, it worked fine as a PDA. Cost is about the same, or so it seems.
 
The iPod will work as a PDA, should be just like the iPhone minus the connectivity without WiFi.

I can understand your apprehension with getting a data plan and a phone that requires one. How about one of the few smartphones that Verizon DOESN'T require a data plan on, like the Motorola Q? You could always add the data plan, and then if things go south, you can just remove the extra expense.

There are a few smartphones that Verizon doesn't require the data plan on, the Q being one of them. It is an older phone, but still should do what you need.
 
Not sure I understand your first sentence; the third gen iPod does have WiFi.

There's also the possibility that once I disable the phone on my XV6900 that it will work just fine as a PDA - cost to me is zero dollars and carrying two pieces instead of one. No WiFi.

As far as the Q goes, I have a hard time getting excited spending money for any Win Mobile phone after my current debacle. Any other Verizon smartphones that aren't Win Mobile and don't require a data plan?

Then if I get a company Smartphone I'm good. A basic company phone leaves me where I am today, and I can then go iPod as PDA.
 
What I meant is that you won't be able to connect to anything with the iPod Touch unless you have WiFi, unlike the iPhone, which could use the cellular network that it was on, and not rely on WiFi.

AFAIK, there are no smartphones for Verizon that don't require a data plan that are not Windows Mobile. You should be able to find a Q for fairly cheap these days, and it is a pretty solid phone. My friend ran one since the day it came out up until last year when he switched to a BlackBerry.
 
I used to be like this. I carried a Motorola RAZR, then later an LG Slide, along with my iPod Touch, which was the first gen during these days.

That didn't do anything to satisfy my hunger for something better and more convenient.

All it eventually resulted was a chain of smartphones and three generations of iPod Touch later, I'm now carrying both a Nexus One and a 64gb iPod Touch.

I once considered getting an iPhone instead of carrying two devices. What shot it was that the iPod Touch at the top end is always 2X the external memory of the iPhone. If you think about it 64gb of NAND is enormous for something you fit in your pocket and that's not even enough, since power iPod users prefer the Classics or older devices that let you have up to 160gb. Believe me once you start loading up an iPod Touch with music, videos and games, its easy to exceed the 32gb capacity of the 32gb 3GS (probably only 28gb of effective storage). Heck I got nearly 50gb filled up in mine.

But then again, you may not be a power iPod user like me.

Your employer is more likely to issue a Blackberry, 7x out of 10, and the remaining 3x is Windows Mobile, which in corporate use is more likely the Standard version that takes the Blackberry form factor. See what your employer gives you first and then review your options.
 
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