The Verizon Wireless Megathread: Tears for tiers

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > The Verizon Wireless Megathread: Tears for tiers

tronik: Oct 21, 2008

I managed to sweet talk (aka harang to the point of insanity) VZW into swapping out my godawful Samsung Fascinate for a Incredible 2 under warranty. Still waiting for the battery to arrive so I can actually use it but hopefully the Inc2 will resolve my signal reception issues and all the other crap I experienced w/ the Fascinate.

On that note, has Verizon put out a timeline for when they are going to deploy Voice over LTE? Will the Bionic support it?

# ? Sep 1, 2011 05:07

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# ? May 11, 2024 12:06

hotsauce: Jan 14, 2007

kitten smoothie posted:

Their return policy is awesome and it sucks that people abused it to get free computer upgrades. Now electronics are excluded from the "if you bought it here, take it back any time, no questions asked" return policy, but everything else is perfectly OK to return even a decade later so long as you're a member.

Not to derail this Verizon thread into a Costco discussion, but I did want to chime in on this point. I was standing in line at my local Costco (Sandy, UT) last year and this guy was trying to return a piece of Kirkland luggage. It was pretty beat up, but not in shambles. The CSR and manager were giving resistance, since apparently the bag was like circa 1998 or something. The customer kept pointing to the sign stating that if you aren't satisfied, bring it back for a full refund. They kept telling him that while their policy is very liberal, this was an extreme case and the luggage had obviously fulfilled it's intended purpose and they could not justify replacing it for a brand new one. They guy was getting all huffy with them (I suppose understandably so) and I ended up leaving, so didn't see the final decision.

I did think it was odd that the CSR and manager were giving such strong pushback. I've never ever had any issues at all with returns and am a customer fo lifez.

Back on topic, I find it suspect that the Nexus Prime will be exclusive to a CDMA carrier at this point. My guess is the DROID version BGR is referring to is simply another Samsung model that happens to run ICS. I still expect the Nexus Prime/3 to be GSM at first...just follows the historical trend.

# ? Sep 1, 2011 06:39

ProjektorBoy: Jun 18, 2002; I FUCK LINEN IN MY SPARE TIME!; Grimey Drawer

duffmensch posted:

Does anyone know if the Bionic will have an unlocked boot loader when it is released (or likelihood of that happening)? So far, I've only been able to find information from June or mid August and was hoping for something more up to date.

You can count on the bootloader being locked on the Bionic. The good news is that the hacking community seems to be getting better as months go by. As they managed to unlock the boot loader on the Photon even though it has an odd side effect of killing 4G. Methods will improve and custom stuff for the phone should be able to come down the pipe.

Hell, they've even found workarounds on the Droid 2 & Droid X that bypass the locked bootloader and let custom kernels run too. Give the Bionic 3-6 months and it should be fairly wide open, I'd think.

# ? Sep 1, 2011 08:04

ClassActionFursuit: Mar 15, 2006

hotsauce posted:

Back on topic, I find it suspect that the Nexus Prime will be exclusive to a CDMA carrier at this point. My guess is the DROID version BGR is referring to is simply another Samsung model that happens to run ICS. I still expect the Nexus Prime/3 to be GSM at first...just follows the historical trend.

The longest running rumor said that Google was pushing to have a simultaneous launch on as many carriers as possible in the US. Given that we have two model numbers (both a CDMA and a GSM) and all the other evidence (the BGR tip, both models clearing FCC) it seems like they might at least pull off T-Mobile and Verizon launching fairly close together.

We're pretty much assured that it won't be a Verizon exclusive, although it's up in the air as to how much the VZW version (SCH-i515) will differ from the GSM (GT-i9250). If it's not branded a Nexus then yeah, you're obviously correct that it will be GSM first (and CDMA probably only on Sprint and VZW never).

I suppose we'll find out soon enough.

# ? Sep 1, 2011 10:48

Nostalgia4Infinity: Feb 27, 2007; 10,000 YEARS WASN'T ENOUGH LURKING

hotsauce posted:

Not to derail this Verizon thread into a Costco discussion, but I did want to chime in on this point. I was standing in line at my local Costco (Sandy, UT) last year and this guy was trying to return a piece of Kirkland luggage. It was pretty beat up, but not in shambles. The CSR and manager were giving resistance, since apparently the bag was like circa 1998 or something. The customer kept pointing to the sign stating that if you aren't satisfied, bring it back for a full refund. They kept telling him that while their policy is very liberal, this was an extreme case and the luggage had obviously fulfilled it's intended purpose and they could not justify replacing it for a brand new one. They guy was getting all huffy with them (I suppose understandably so) and I ended up leaving, so didn't see the final decision.

I did think it was odd that the CSR and manager were giving such strong pushback. I've never ever had any issues at all with returns and am a customer fo lifez.

Have you tried returning a 13 year old piece of luggage? I don't think Costco was in the wrong here...

# ? Sep 1, 2011 12:50

Codiusprime: Mar 17, 2006

ProjektorBoy posted:

You can count on the bootloader being locked on the Bionic. The good news is that the hacking community seems to be getting better as months go by. As they managed to unlock the boot loader on the Photon even though it has an odd side effect of killing 4G. Methods will improve and custom stuff for the phone should be able to come down the pipe.

Hell, they've even found workarounds on the Droid 2 & Droid X that bypass the locked bootloader and let custom kernels run too. Give the Bionic 3-6 months and it should be fairly wide open, I'd think.

Pretty sure the Kernel issue is still there, they are just able to install CM/MIUI on top of them. In fact I'm sure this is the case as they just got CM7 running on the GB Kernel. Your point still stands though, as they did find a work around.

# ? Sep 1, 2011 13:20

Radio Nowhere: Jan 8, 2010

chedemefedeme posted:

Well this has turned out to be a complete pain in the rear. I was unable to get on 3G or 4G for a good part of this evening. Is this kind of service interruption normal during a LTE turnup in a city? Didn't have anything critical this evening but I realized how spoiled I am by the usual complete reliability of Verizon's network.

All during the day transitions from 4G to 3G failed. It wouldn't get an IP address until I rebooted the device. In markets I've been in where the rollout was complete and established the transition was pretty smooth.

It can be a bumpy ride while they test it. My area (Frederick, MD) got it recently and they tested for about a month. It was hard to tell from day to day what your phone will be doing. On the worst days I just flipped to CDMA-only and that cured it.

# ? Sep 1, 2011 13:38

Nostalgia4Infinity: Feb 27, 2007; 10,000 YEARS WASN'T ENOUGH LURKING

Radio Nowhere posted:

It can be a bumpy ride while they test it. My area (Frederick, MD) got it recently and they tested for about a month. It was hard to tell from day to day what your phone will be doing. On the worst days I just flipped to CDMA-only and that cured it.

I am having similar issues in Lansing MI where they are expanding LTE coverage into neighboring cities. I have a pretty good idea of what places have good LTE and where doesn't and adjust radio usage accordingly.

# ? Sep 1, 2011 17:03

ukrainius maximus: Mar 3, 2007

Currently I have a Motorola Droid (which is dead, like completely gave up on life dead) and I am due for an upgrade. I mostly ignore news about cell phones until this time of year comes around, and now I have discovered, very late it would seem, that Verizon has phased out the unlimited data plan.

My current phone has unlimited data, but does this mean that no matter what, when I get a new phone I will never be offered that opportunity? Or is it possible that they would transfer that over to a new phone, even though I really doubt this is the case.

I'm thinking that I am just poo poo out of luck because I tried to activate my girlfriend's old phone to replace my dead one for the time being and it told me that my data plan was not compatible with that phone, so it gave me four choices (none of which were unlimited).

So, just tell me I am poo poo out of luck and I can move on, thank you.

# ? Sep 1, 2011 21:44

tismondo: Dec 14, 2005; Take that, subspace!

ukrainius maximus posted:

Currently I have a Motorola Droid (which is dead, like completely gave up on life dead) and I am due for an upgrade. I mostly ignore news about cell phones until this time of year comes around, and now I have discovered, very late it would seem, that Verizon has phased out the unlimited data plan.

My current phone has unlimited data, but does this mean that no matter what, when I get a new phone I will never be offered that opportunity? Or is it possible that they would transfer that over to a new phone, even though I really doubt this is the case.

I'm thinking that I am just poo poo out of luck because I tried to activate my girlfriend's old phone to replace my dead one for the time being and it told me that my data plan was not compatible with that phone, so it gave me four choices (none of which were unlimited).

So, just tell me I am poo poo out of luck and I can move on, thank you.

If you had the smartphone unlimited data (ie og droid data plan from before July 9 or whenever it was they switched to tiers) you're grandfathered in as long as you don't make changes to your contract.

You CAN change phones without issue - you can even upgrade to a 4g phone and still keep unlimited data. If your girlfriend's old phone wasn't a smartphone it was probably telling you that you can't use a smartphone data plan on a dumbphone or something like that.

So it sounds like you should be fine, but all it really takes is a call or trip to a verizon store to be sure.

# ? Sep 1, 2011 21:50

hotsauce: Jan 14, 2007

Nostalgia4Infinity posted:

Have you tried returning a 13 year old piece of luggage? I don't think Costco was in the wrong here...

No. I would never. I was just saying, people seem to think their return policy covers anything, anytime.

I agree with Costco. The guy knew exactly what he was doing was unethical and he made a fool of himself.

# ? Sep 1, 2011 21:53

ukrainius maximus: Mar 3, 2007

tismondo posted:

If you had the smartphone unlimited data (ie og droid data plan from before July 9 or whenever it was they switched to tiers) you're grandfathered in as long as you don't make changes to your contract.

You CAN change phones without issue - you can even upgrade to a 4g phone and still keep unlimited data. If your girlfriend's old phone wasn't a smartphone it was probably telling you that you can't use a smartphone data plan on a dumbphone or something like that.

So it sounds like you should be fine, but all it really takes is a call or trip to a verizon store to be sure.

Ok I had also heard that but wasn't sure. But switching to the dumbphone (it is not a smartphone) would effectively lock me out of the unlimited data forever then>

# ? Sep 1, 2011 22:16

tismondo: Dec 14, 2005; Take that, subspace!

ukrainius maximus posted:

Ok I had also heard that but wasn't sure. But switching to the dumbphone (it is not a smartphone) would effectively lock me out of the unlimited data forever then>

Pre-tiers days I switched to a feature phone for about a week and a half when I accidentally left my smartphone at a friend's house in another country. Doing so made no change to my smartphone data contract, but like I said this was pre-tiers, so it might be different now.

I think if you tell them what's going on ahead of time and have someone put something in writing on your account you won't have any troubles using that phone and switching back to a new smartphone when the time comes.

# ? Sep 1, 2011 22:27

Cicero: Dec 17, 2003; Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.

hotsauce posted:

No. I would never. I was just saying, people seem to think their return policy covers anything, anytime.

Yeah, I think the idea is that you can return anything anytime if it broke due to some kind of defect, or if it just sucks. If it's simply worn out through years of use, that doesn't count.

# ? Sep 1, 2011 23:09

MidasAg: Oct 28, 2007; The Man of Silver

Is there a way to send my contacts to Google, or is Verizon backup good enough of a backup. I am looking to root my thunderbolt, but don't want to lose all my contacts.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 06:38

ClassActionFursuit: Mar 15, 2006

Flyboy925 posted:

Is there a way to send my contacts to Google, or is Verizon backup good enough of a backup. I am looking to root my thunderbolt, but don't want to lose all my contacts.

This should happen by default but I know some custom UIs don't automatically sync to Google.

Go to Settings > Accounts & Sync, click the Google Account, verify that Sync Contacts is checked. Then go to GMail on your PC, Contacts, and verify that all your contacts are there.

Contact sync is seamless. If you want to backup SMS & your call log, you're going to want to do that before you wipe.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 07:03

MidasAg: Oct 28, 2007; The Man of Silver

LastInLine posted:

This should happen by default but I know some custom UIs don't automatically sync to Google.

Go to Settings > Accounts & Sync, click the Google Account, verify that Sync Contacts is checked. Then go to GMail on your PC, Contacts, and verify that all your contacts are there.

Contact sync is seamless. If you want to backup SMS & your call log, you're going to want to do that before you wipe.

Awesome. Thank you. I'm not too worried about call logs or sms. Just contacts. Everything else is on SD card.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 07:06

ClassActionFursuit: Mar 15, 2006

Flyboy925 posted:

Awesome. Thank you. I'm not too worried about call logs or sms. Just contacts. Everything else is on SD card.

I'm not sure that rooting requires a wipe on the Thunderbolt (although it might). If you can root before you wipe, I'd install Titanium Backup from the Market and backup all your app data if you care about stuff like scores in games or apps with a million options. Other than that, happy rooting!

# ? Sep 2, 2011 07:29

comper: Jun 22, 2006; My mom says I'm cool.

LastInLine posted:

I'm not sure that rooting requires a wipe on the Thunderbolt (although it might). If you can root before you wipe, I'd install Titanium Backup from the Market and backup all your app data if you care about stuff like scores in games or apps with a million options. Other than that, happy rooting!

The Thunderbolt root is a bit more complicated than other phones I've rooted and it requires flashing two separate RUU files which both wipe the phone completely.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 14:27

kitten smoothie: Dec 29, 2001

LastInLine posted:

I'm not sure that rooting requires a wipe on the Thunderbolt (although it might). If you can root before you wipe, I'd install Titanium Backup from the Market and backup all your app data if you care about stuff like scores in games or apps with a million options. Other than that, happy rooting!

The revolutionary.io root is nondestructive. It seems like people are recommending this now rather than playing three card monte with the RUUs and leaked bootloader.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 15:15

wandler20: Nov 13, 2002; How many Championships?

So is anyone planning on getting the Bionic on launch day? I'm debating to just grab it or wait to see what everyone thinks of it. I've about had it with my Fascinate though.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 15:42

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

wandler20 posted:

So is anyone planning on getting the Bionic on launch day? I'm debating to just grab it or wait to see what everyone thinks of it. I've about had it with my Fascinate though.

I am. I work right by costco so I'm just going to swing by there before work and pick one up.

If there's some huge flaw, I'll find out in 90 days.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 15:48

wandler20: Nov 13, 2002; How many Championships?

bull3964 posted:

I am. I work right by costco so I'm just going to swing by there before work and pick one up.

If there's some huge flaw, I'll find out in 90 days.

I unfortunately do not have Costco nearby. What is Verizon's return policy? 30 days?

# ? Sep 2, 2011 16:02

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

wandler20 posted:

I unfortunately do not have Costco nearby. What is Verizon's return policy? 30 days?

It used to be, it's only 14 days now.

As a side note, the Bionic is already rooted. It was done using the same exploit as the Droid 3 and it is very unlikely they will push out a software update to patch it before release.

bull3964 fucked around with this message at 16:32 on Sep 2, 2011

# ? Sep 2, 2011 16:11

duffmensch: Feb 20, 2004; Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem!

bull3964 posted:

It used to be, it's only 14 days now.

As a side note, the Bionic is already rooted. It was done using the same exploit as the Droid 3 and it is very unlikely they will push out a software update to patch it before release.

So glad to hear this. I had been looking around, but hadn't find anything beyond the usual speculation before release. Looks like I will be heading to Costco on Thursday to pick up a new phone.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 16:41

NewcastleBrown: Mar 15, 2004; The One and Only

wandler20 posted:

So is anyone planning on getting the Bionic on launch day? I'm debating to just grab it or wait to see what everyone thinks of it. I've about had it with my Fascinate though.

I am very seriously considering getting it around launch. Assuming the accessory deal at Costco is real it is just too good to pass up. Barring the Bionic being a total shitheap I expect I could probably resell it and the accessories for around the retail price of whatever else comes out.

I'm on an original Droid though, so I can't imagine buying a phone now that doesn't impress me.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 17:05

Mighty Horse: Jul 24, 2007; Speed, Class, Bankruptcy.

I'll have mine on Monday.

We have orders not to sell any until the 8th or else. and the IMEI will be blocked in the activation system.

But when you have an already activated 4G sim card...

# ? Sep 2, 2011 17:29

wandler20: Nov 13, 2002; How many Championships?

Mighty Horse posted:

I'll have mine on Monday.

We have orders not to sell any until the 8th or else. and the IMEI will be blocked in the activation system.

But when you have an already activated 4G sim card...

Nice, please post a review for us.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 17:38

tismondo: Dec 14, 2005; Take that, subspace!

I'm very strongly considering the bionic because I'm not sure I can wait til October (or whenever the rumored nexus/droid prime happens).

If I did get the bionic I'm certain I'd want to keep my options open for an upgrade to said prime. Costco's 90 day return policy in this thread looks promising, but how can we be sure Costco will even have it? Previous nexuses have been online or bestbuy exclusives... So assuming it has a similar distribution model... :smithicide:

# ? Sep 2, 2011 18:50

Eltoasto: Aug 26, 2002; We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust.

It would be smart for me to buy the Bionic at costco on 9/12 or so since my upgrade date is 12/10 and I would be within 90 days return in case I wanted to get something else then.

But this OG droid is dying and I am impulsive. I am hoping I still get the accessories if buying full retail.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 18:55

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

tismondo posted:

I'm very strongly considering the bionic because I'm not sure I can wait til October (or whenever the rumored nexus/droid prime happens).

If I did get the bionic I'm certain I'd want to keep my options open for an upgrade to said prime. Costco's 90 day return policy in this thread looks promising, but how can we be sure Costco will even have it? Previous nexuses have been online or bestbuy exclusives... So assuming it has a similar distribution model...

If it's Droid branded phone, Costco will probably have it. If it's not, then it's a tossup.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 18:56

NewcastleBrown: Mar 15, 2004; The One and Only

tismondo posted:

If I did get the bionic I'm certain I'd want to keep my options open for an upgrade to said prime. Costco's 90 day return policy in this thread looks promising, but how can we be sure Costco will even have it? Previous nexuses have been online or bestbuy exclusives... So assuming it has a similar distribution model...

The way I'm looking at it is that if the Costco accessory deal is real (have we heard anything more on this since the original leaked image?) and if the Bionic is not a huge pile of crap, you'll probably be able to sell your Costco pack for a something pretty damned close to retail for whatever you're hoping to replace it with. I'm not big on the phone reselling market, but a 1 month old phone with all those accessories should keep a good resale value. So buy the Bionic at Costco. If they don't get the Prime sell the Bionic outright and buy the new one. The difference will hopefully be pretty small.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 19:02

JayKay: Sep 11, 2001; And you thought they were cute and cuddly.

I'm going a completely backwards route. Picked up a Pre 2* off ebay to toy around with and satiate my urge to buy a cell phone and I'm going to try to hold off till after the Bionic, Vigor, and whatever Droid/Nexus Prime might come out in the fall and then pick up one of the three after some long term reviews are out.

Adopting the Thunderbolt at release has been a lesson learned. It just really drives me insane that I can only get 8 hours off of 4G but with 3G only, I'm easily pushing 24+ hours. For instance, my phone in 3G only mode has been off charger for 16 hours and is only at 56%. (Edit: Rooted, CM7 RC 1.7, stock kernel and speeds)

*I've fallen in love with WebOS from playing with my Touchpad, figured I'd give it a try on the cheap.

JayKay fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Sep 2, 2011

# ? Sep 2, 2011 19:20

soy: Jul 7, 2003; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

For fucks sake, I dropped my Motorola Droid (first gen) today and now the screen.. wont.. do.. its just black.. The keyboard still lights up. I can actually receive calls by making the pick up gesture, but the screen doesn't display anything.

I'm due for renewal though, I guess I'll be getting the Droid Bionic when its available at costco. Sounds like a decent deal.

I loved this phone, even though it was a pretty buggy turdbasket. I'm not that picky when it comes to phones, and this was my first smart phone.. (Bought around 2 years ago)

RIP Droid

# ? Sep 2, 2011 20:49

CancerStick: Jun 3, 2011

Same thing happened to my OG Droid earlier this year. Black screen, but still functional. 'Twas a good phone. Just one drop too many.

# ? Sep 2, 2011 21:20

jfreder: Feb 27, 2008

Same thing happened to my Droid. I took it apart, put it back together and it worked fine after that. My roommate did the same thing but his never recovered.

# ? Sep 3, 2011 01:53

Bob A Feet: Aug 10, 2005; Dear diary, I got another erection today at work. SO embarrassing, but kinda hot. The CO asked me to fix up his dress uniform. I had stayed late at work to move his badges 1/8" to the left and pointed it out this morning. 1SG spanked me while the CO watched, once they caught it. Tomorrow I get to start all over again...

The Verizon Wireless Megathread: We Want to Rip off Costco

or

The Verizon Wireless Megathread: swearing off all upgrades until every new phone is out forever

Can't you guys ever be satisfied with a device? Buy something, root it, and make it yours. Don't plan out your returns or your what ifs when mystery device x comes out. Jesus H.

# ? Sep 3, 2011 17:35

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

Bob A Feet posted:

Can't you guys ever be satisfied with a device?

I don't think folks are intentionally planning to rip-off Costco.

As anyone who has ever owned a Samsung can attest, the major "device satisfaction" problem is not how it performs out of the box, but the ability/willingness of the manufacturer to properly support/updates it for, and within a reasonable period of time. And honestly, for any given device that's something nobody can know within Verizon's 14 day return window if the purchase it on release day. Is it, however, often apparent within 90 days.

From what I see, everyone who has mentioned picking up a Bionic at Costco wants to keep that phone long term. But if a Droid Prime comes out with ICS next month, and there's no sign of an update to the Bionic at the end of 90 days, or the Bionic turns out to be poo poo, they want to retain the option to exchange it for something that's going to do them better in the long term.

And honestly, I don't blame them for hedging their bets on this.

# ? Sep 3, 2011 18:19

waffle iron: Jan 16, 2004

jfreder posted:

Same thing happened to my Droid. I took it apart, put it back together and it worked fine after that. My roommate did the same thing but his never recovered.

How hard was it? I am debating trying to fix my headphone jack. Then again I have bluetooth headphones so it's not a big problem.

# ? Sep 3, 2011 23:46

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# ? May 11, 2024 12:06

jfreder: Feb 27, 2008

waffle iron posted:

How hard was it? I am debating trying to fix my headphone jack. Then again I have bluetooth headphones so it's not a big problem.

I found it relatively straight forward. I had to buy a small set of screwdrivers for like $6 at MicroCenter. Overall it took probably two hours although I didn't have to replace any parts. I disassembled it down to the digitizer/screen, then just put things back together and it was as good as new.

# ? Sep 4, 2011 01:10

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