iPhone owners: Is data plan mandatory?

[fendorst]

I'd like one device to do music, phone and PDA. iPhone seems good choice but AT&T salespeople keep telling me that adding a data plan to my service is mandatory. I don't need to spend an extra $30 a month for music, phone and PDA, and I have no use for Internet connectivity from my phone.

Question is: Can I add the data plan for one month, get the iPhone and then cancel the data plan after 30 days? Anyone do this? Or does AT&T refuse to let you cancel the data plan after 30 days?

Thanks.

[Slow Reflexes]

Yes, it's required. Even if you pick up a used one and don't tell them about the phone, AT&T can tell what model of phone has your SIMcard installed. If it's an iPhone, they'll automatically add the data plan to your bill.

[davechen]

Yeah, the data plan is mandatory. AT&T can detect what phone you're using. If they see an iPhone on the account without a data plan, they'll tack one on there for you.

[fendorst]

Heck, I thought AT&T were just feeding me the corporate line and they're not allowed to tell people that an iPhone owner can cancel the data plan after a month. Oh well, looks like no iPhone for me.

[fendorst]

Also meant to thank both of you for your replies.

[tiktok]

An iPhone without a data plan seems a bit overkill. It's what at that--a phone with a small iPod and the ability to sync your calendar/contacts to your Mac? I'm an iPhone fan, but if I think you'd be better off with a regular phone at that point.

[ThreeChorder]

Sounds like you need an ipod touch.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by ThreeChorder

Sounds like you need an ipod touch.

+1

That's a happy solution in our house. Everybody can take turns using it and we're spared AT&T.

I work with all the popular phone platforms and US carriers and my work puts priority for tool before toy so I remain with Verizon and a Blackberry. Very few of my users who rely on the data side and/or travel a lot have been as happy with iPhones and several have been passed to wives when they've had to go back to something with superior performance and messaging.

There was more industry talk of Verizon and iPhone this week, but it seems talk of iPhone and push from Apple has gone away.

[fendorst]

agree with putting tools before toys. i need a phone. i need a PDA. i need... okay, nobody NEEDS an mp3 player... but i need an mp3 player. hence my interest in iphone.

ipod touch is great, but no phone.

blackberry is great, but no sync with itunes.

just trying to whittle down the number of tools i have to lug around. would be nice to have phone, pda and music player all in one device without having to pay for data plan/internet connectivity. i don't want to take the internet with me wherever i go. i do want to bring my phone, contacts, calendar and music with me. wish i could do that on one device.

[Tele Fan]

You can get one that's been "jail-breaked" (hacked) but I consider that a buyer beware scenario.

[Tdub]

I just got an iPhone, and I dig it. You'll "grow" into using it for internet things. Just handy to have. Before that, I just had a regular phone.

[Bill]

One thing to do if you end up with an iPod Touch is install Skype.

I received an iPod Touch as a gift recently and I have wifi in our house because of our computers. So I downloaded the free Skype for iPod Touch/iPhone application. Now with a pair of earphones with a built-in mic I can call anywhere in the world for around 2 cents per minute. Heck, even if I had an iPhone, I'd still install Skype for my international calls or wherever ATT doesn't work or charges extra.

My sister-in-law was in Europe last year and called home from her iPod Touch using Skype. She said it worked great--she would just call from her hotel or any place that had free wireless access.

[JimmyJam]

Originally Posted by Bill

One thing to do if you end up with an iPod Touch is install Skype.

I received an iPod Touch as a gift recently and I have wifi in our house because of our computers. So I downloaded the free Skype for iPod Touch/iPhone application. Now with a pair of earphones with a built-in mic I can call anywhere in the world for around 2 cents per minute. Heck, even if I had an iPhone, I'd still install Skype for my international calls or wherever ATT doesn't work or charges extra.

My sister-in-law was in Europe last year and called home from her iPod Touch using Skype. She said it worked great--she would just call from her hotel or any place that had free wireless access.

Ah beat me to it. Plus you can also download an app for free texting, too.

[Mik]

That skype thang sounds really cool Billl, for the int'l service,
thanks.

Really you want a data plan with one of these things (I don't have an iphone, I have a Droid, 70 bucks a month for 450 peak minutes/month and everything, including the highly useful and entertaining Google GPS navigation).

An app for free texting? will look into that!

I am nationwide (hafta wait for int'l!)

[flatout9]

Originally Posted by fendorst

agree with putting tools before toys. i need a phone. i need a PDA. i need... okay, nobody NEEDS an mp3 player... but i need an mp3 player. hence my interest in iphone.

ipod touch is great, but no phone.

blackberry is great, but no sync with itunes.

just trying to whittle down the number of tools i have to lug around. would be nice to have phone, pda and music player all in one device without having to pay for data plan/internet connectivity. i don't want to take the internet with me wherever i go. i do want to bring my phone, contacts, calendar and music with me. wish i could do that on one device.

I just picked one up this week and am in deep love. Had a blackberry but no itunes, thank God my wives phone broke which finally gave me the excuse. For the last few years I have had good success with AT&T, have 10 yrs with them, and customer service is very good. knock on wood. I admittedly spend to too $ much on the phone but most of it is for work. Download Pandora sync it with your car and goodbye XM or whatever. I'll stop now. Just get one.

[JimmyJam]

Originally Posted by Mik

An app for free texting? will look into that!
(hafta wait for int'l!)

Yes, the app itself is free too from the I-tunes store. It's called "Text Plus".

One thing I have noticed is that the I-Touch is really useful and fun when you have access to WiFi. Without WiFi the I-Touch becomes a mp3 player with some games and apps. Basically, most of the apps and some games require online connectivity.

[fendorst]

..

[Califiddler]

Originally Posted by Bill

One thing to do if you end up with an iPod Touch is install Skype.

I received an iPod Touch as a gift recently and I have wifi in our house because of our computers. So I downloaded the free Skype for iPod Touch/iPhone application. Now with a pair of earphones with a built-in mic I can call anywhere in the world for around 2 cents per minute. Heck, even if I had an iPhone, I'd still install Skype for my international calls or wherever ATT doesn't work or charges extra.

My sister-in-law was in Europe last year and called home from her iPod Touch using Skype. She said it worked great--she would just call from her hotel or any place that had free wireless access.

Bill, how do you get charged for the Skype use? Who charges you? And will this work with a regular DSL line with a wireless router? (Is that different from WiFi?)

Thanks!

[Tdot]

Originally Posted by fendorst

blackberry is great, but no sync with itunes.

No sync with anything if your using a Mac. After all this time BlackBerry finally released a Mac version of their Desktop Manager in October, and it's worse than worthless. Not only does it fail to do what is supposed to do, it will delete data on your Mac or the Blackberry when you sync. Which defeats the purpose of syncing.

Even with the tunes in the BB, it's a clumsy effort to play music. (Oh yeah, they also require a data plan with a Blackberry).

[tele-rain]

I have a Blackberry curve and I pretty much hate it. I don't care about adding music to it, I'm perfectly fine with my separate iPod Classic for that.

But, I got the Blackberry since it came "free" with my Verizon plan renewal, at the time. I have to pay $30 extra a month for the internet, as mentioned above. But I find the Blackberry really cumbersome to use. For example, after you call a number listed as Home, not Mobile, it will eventually revert back to Mobile when you go to dial that number again. Something about that being the default when Blackberry was mostly used for business people. It seems to take a lot of steps to add a number to the contact list also. And the connection to the internet is really slow, but I'm not paying for any sort of upgrades. Can't take video either or record anything, gotta buy a card for that, where as on my other Verizon ENv phone, you could do that...it was crappy but still. My vice on that end is not so much the quality, just the principle that it's left out of this phone. Sometimes it's hard to end a call, you get a screen that says end call, disconnect call or cancel, or something similar, aren't they all the same thing?? I guess not...cuz many times I clicked cancel only to find out the call had still been connected minutes later. So, disconnect is probably the best action there. Some of this could be my own stupidy at using techy devices, but we won't go there

I want to get an iPhone next but I have another year with this plan. I was contemplating paying to get out of my contact sooner, but I'll wait till the Blackberry breaks or something, then I will have a more valid excuse for that.

[tiktok]

Originally Posted by Tdot

No sync with anything if your using a Mac. After all this time BlackBerry finally released a Mac version of their Desktop Manager in October, and it's worse than worthless. Not only does it fail to do what is supposed to do, it will delete data on your Mac or the Blackberry when you sync. Which defeats the purpose of syncing.

Oh, be fair, once its deleted the data from both your Mac and your Blackberry they are in sync.

[studio1087]

If I did not have the data plan on my iPhone I would not be responding to you via my iPhone. Get the data plan! You can google phone numbers and never call rip off directory assistance ever again.

[davechen]

Yeah, when I first thought about getting an iPhone, I thought, meh, what do I need the data plan for? But now I can't imagine being without it. An internet connection wherever and whenever I want.

[Wardpike]

+1 davechen. I have a 6gb monthly data plan. I only use about 1gb but, it sure as heck is useful!!

[telel6s]

My Palm Pre on Sprint is $53/month for 550 minutes, unlimited mobile-to-mobile (any carrier), unlimited data, unlimited text, unlimited SMS.

The Pre's app catalog is pathetic compared to iPhone and android, but that doesn't sound like a big concern of the OP. And, to be honest, I've had no problem finding usefull apps; just not all of the fun-toy apps like the lighter and the one that can listen to a song and tell you the artist.

[Boubou]

Yeah I have an ipod touch and love it, but understand what you want, would love to have the ipod touch with phone function, just regular phone, I mean i take pay and talk $10/month, here in canada, iphone plan is like $65 / month

[Tdot]

Originally Posted by tele-rain

I have a Blackberry curve and I pretty much hate it. I don't care about adding music to it, I'm perfectly fine with my separate iPod Classic for that.

Me too. I think there's too much junk crammed into phones just because they can. I still use my iPod for music. No tunes on the BB.

But, I got the Blackberry since it came "free" with my Verizon plan renewal, at the time.

Funny, people are standing in lines to get an iPhone, but they had to give away the Blackberry to keep their numbers up.

But I find the Blackberry really cumbersome to use.

That's another gripe for me. The number of clicks, menus, scrolling... to get anywhere is nuts.

Can't take video either or record anything, gotta buy a card for that, where as on my other Verizon ENv phone, you could do that...it was crappy but still. My vice on that end is not so much the quality, just the principle that it's left out of this phone.

Those features didn't work on mine even with the card. You'll have to update the firmware and the OS on the phone. However, that can be done "only on a PC", "only with IE". Again, in contrast to what their website and retailers say, RIM seems to think the Mac user market isn't important at all. If I had known the truth about this I wouldn't have taken a free Blackberry. I finally got mine updated and it does simple video recording, and voice recording, but the camera is much slower.

I want to get an iPhone next but I have another year with this plan. I was contemplating paying to get out of my contact sooner, but I'll wait till the Blackberry breaks or something, then I will have a more valid excuse for that.

I have year left with my Curve. I love my friends iPhones, but I'm not signing up with AT&T. I'm looking at the Androids.

The Blackberry hardware is actually nice, it's just a clumsy device to use. If I were an IT Manager, I'd probably like them for what they do. But it's not the tool for individual users.