Considering grabbing a phone for Internet / tethering

[CurseTheSky]

Hi guys,

I've been doing web design, programming, and computer troubleshooting / repair for several years now, and just graduated from college this past semester. Unfortunately, I'm settling into the "business scene" more than ever now, and I'm finding myself needing more connectivity than before. I have a laptop (in sig), but Wi-Fi isn't always available, and at several locations it's unstable or far too slow for my needs.

A friend of mine has a phone upgrade available on a secondary phone that they're willing to trade me straight up for my current LG Voyager Titanium. We both have Verizon, and I have a data plan (unlimited, I think?).

With that said, is it worth my time to grab something like a Blackberry Storm and look into tethering it so I can have reliable connectivity wherever I go? I realize the Storm has a number of issues (such as the touchscreen not being perfect, and the menus sometimes feeling slow), but I rarely use my current phone for anything other than calls, text messages, calendar, and alarms - unless the Storm is far worse than comparable phones, I doubt it'd be an issue. If there are other similarly priced phones that will get the job done, please suggest them. Tethering capability is a must, and I really prefer touchscreen. Finally, what will I need in order to tether a phone? I've heard there's an additional $15 / month charge for the capability, which sounds like a ripoff.

On the other hand, my girlfriend has one of their USB modems that she uses constantly and loves, but the $60 / month she pays for it is more than I can afford to add to my contract.

Thanks.

Edit: even though I'm a huge fan of touch screen phones, I may consider the Blackberry Tour instead. It looks like a lot more phone for the money, and everyone seems to suggest it over the Storm. I hate the exposed keyboard design that's common to Blackberries, though.

 

[CrimsonWolf]

I tethered with a BB Storm for two weeks in Boston earlier this month. Worked great. It's decently fast and never had any connectivity issues. As long as there was a signal it was solid.

I highly recommend it if you need it. Yeah, it's $15/mo extra. Beware that "unlimited" really means 5 GB/mo. So, it's more than enough for day-to-day use, but large downloads and streaming video can plow through it fast. Verizon's connection utility makes it very easy to track what you usage has been.

If you want to get touchscreen, just get the Storm. Most of the bitching about it is dated to early in it's release. Update the OS to the latest official release if it hasn't been already or play around with the latest beta on CrackBerry.

 

[gorcorps]

Doubt you can beat a BB for tethering. Tour and Storm are both solid phones (if you update the storm) but I'd choose the tour just by personal preference.

 

[uli2000]

Windows Mobile is even easier to tether with than Blackberrys, but can be a little un-user friendly. Do you have Cricket in your area? They have a unlimited data modem plan for about $40/month in most of their markets, no contract. Modem is about $100 and last time I looked, they'll give you $50 of that back in a rebate if you keep the service for a minimum of two months. Cheaper than a VZW Blackberry plan and tethering ($30+$15).

 

[DivideBYZero]

Wait for Storm 2.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Originally posted by: uli2000
Windows Mobile is even easier to tether with than Blackberrys, but can be a little un-user friendly. Do you have Cricket in your area? They have a unlimited data modem plan for about $40/month in most of their markets, no contract. Modem is about $100 and last time I looked, they'll give you $50 of that back in a rebate if you keep the service for a minimum of two months. Cheaper than a VZW Blackberry plan and tethering ($30+$15).

I've never heard of Cricket, so I'm assuming we don't have it available in this area. It sounds like a pretty awesome deal, but in my case, I'd actually be paying more. I just have a line on my girlfriend's Verizon contract, and she's the one that decided to buy all the bells and whistles (data plan, etc.) against my best judgement. She was nice enough to put some of them on my phone as well, and won't allow me to chip in more than we originally agreed on when I got the line, since I was very much against adding features to the contract and paying a huge amount each month (she's 22 and I'm 23). With tethering, I'd be paying my normal $15 for phone line + insurance, and $15 for tethering.

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
Wait for Storm 2.

This is what I'd REALLY like to do, since it's coming out sometime in September - November by the sounds of the rumors, but the friend that's letting me use their upgrade is primarily interested in doing it because of the buy one get one free Blackberry deals they've been running lately. We each pay half, I get a new Blackberry (whichever one I can talk them into), they get the other one, and I'll give them my current Voyager just to say thanks. Unfortunately, I have a feeling their buy one get one deal will be gone just before the Storm 2's release, since it's generating a lot of hype.

I'm still undecided on the Storm vs. Tour. I love touch screens, though I will admit that typing a quick text message is a major pain in the ass on a software keyboard compared to my Voyager's hardware keyboard. The Tour has a smaller screen, and I'm not very fond of the "classic" Blackberry layout, though it may grow on me.

I've read several reviews about Storm with the latest .151 update, and generally they've been positive. My main concern is the numerous complaints about the Storm's touch screen failing to recognize touches near corners over time.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Well I have a Storm update that is further on than 151. The device is great and the corners thing is not over time, it;s due to tight torx screws on early units and fixed in 15 seconds.