Appreciate your comments. I agree with some and disagree with others
See below.

>
> One way to calculate the cost of a cell phone is to add up the cost of
> the phone and the cost to own it for two years.
> If one opts for the premimum plan theVoyageris far more expensive
> than a phone like the iPhone even though it appears to be cheaper to
> obtain. One thing compared to a quality phone it sure appears to be
> light weight plastic. It is sort of like buying Wal Mart imitation hub
> caps verses getting decent metal hub caps. The Wal Mart product looks
> glitzy in the store but...
>
Cost was not an issue. I would have paid double or triple for this
phone. For me the premium plan is a good deal, partially because of
the amount of text messaging, mobile web and VZ Navigator I use. With
unlimited web (not per minute billing) I actually was able to drop to
the 450 plan because I don't use minutes much during the weekday. I
do use the web during the day though.

Another comment I have is when I switched to Verizon my bill literally
doubled. I had a very powerful very inexpensive plan from Sprint
(special plan because of all the problems I had). Verizon was worth
every penny extra. I now have very solid reliable service. I feel I
am getting a bargain with the level of service I currently have than I
did with Sprint. When I call someone I call Kentucky, not India.

I had Cingular in the past and liked them. Unfortunately their GPS
coverage is a little too spotty for me and doesn't work well in
several cities I visit frequently.

I am willing to pay more for better service!

>
> I noticed that it locked up in the Verizon store and assumed it was a
> faulty demo phone.
> Could it have probably been rushed to market without getting all the
> bugs out of it?
>

They probably did have to rush a bit, however with something as
advanced as the Voyager I expect some bugs. So far nothing as bad as
the iPhone and the heating up with the battery (my friend had this
problem and had it fixed)

> I noticed there were exactly twelve programs you could get so support
> or this phone is lacking. There seems to be little interest in third
> party hackers / programmers on improving the product compared to the
> global interest in the GPhone and the iPhone.
>

not sure what you are talking about here.

> Boy that is true! Verizon's 3G network eats batteries like candy. All
> these new VZ phones should come with a decent battery for real life
> use instead of the limited use one included. Also do to the constant
> recharging they expire long before the two year contract does so you
> will need to budget for replacements.

I think they should ship with an extended battery knowing that most
people who buy this phone will be advanced users. Luckily the OEM
extended battery is cheap and user replaceable!!!


An 8mb micro sd card will be $50 bucks in a couple months.....Big
deal. In the meantime I just bought a 2 gb card for a few bucks to
hold me over. My last phone had a 2 gig card in it and I never filled
it up.


> I dropped VCast mobile because you can get the same stuff for free and
> a whole lot more through iTunes. It seemed pointless to pay for it
> from Verison. I look at the VCast package now as the true cost of
> limited intenet connectivity on Verizon. You need to pay even more to
> get to the real Internet beyond VZ servers which translate it into
> Mobile WEB 2 for these tiny screens.
>

I dont use mobile web, I use the regular web on the Voyager. Because
of it I am going to have to get a tablet pc because I like the touch
screen browsing. Cant believe how well the phone does the web.

>
> This puzzles me. Why would anyone opt for a GPS that you have to pay a
> monthly fee to use? I klnow this is part of Verizon's business model
> for soaking the customer, but why can't it be free like on the iPhone?
>
> I use a several GPS systems in my work and I would never trade a
> bright clear 4.3 inch screen for something smaller. I might go bigger
> but not smaller. Also since these have over a million POI and can be
> customised to alert you to speed traps and red light cameras these is
> much greater value. My on dash MIO C520 GPS aslo plays music and shows
> movies when it is not working. It is almost as much fun as the new
> iTouch iPod!
>
> One of my fellow employees uses the iPhone to locate and naviagate to
> customers using the free Google map application and there is no extra
> cost to him with AT&T.
>
>

For people who travel frequently and are constantly using trains/
planes/subways/rental cars and just literally walking to get around a
regular GPS is extremely inconvenient at best. With a cell phone or
PDA based gps it is always there with you. I have even had to use it
in a cab.
The most Navigator would cost is $120 a year. How much does a normal
GPS cost when you factor in purchase price? How long do they last?
How much are upgrades? Also, a friend of mine had his car broken into
hand his gps stolen (was in the glove box with the bracket, theif
probably saw the ring on the windshield and figured it was in there as
they are inconvenient to lug around).

I really thing the car mounted GPS will go the way of the "car phone"
for the same reasons!

Something new I was able to do, a friend sent me an mp3 mail
attachment and my phone opened it up and played it.