Most Expensive Verizon 3G Phone?

[Crono]

Verizon sent me a letter stating that they are discontinuing Kin Studio and Zune Pass (over their network) service. They are offering to replace my phone (for free) with any of their 3G phones if I go to a Verizon store. This would not extend my contract, either.

I'm not interested in staying with Verizon for much longer, maybe a couple months more until my contract expires. I would like to take advantage of this offer, though, and pick up a new phone to sell, that way I can pick up a Windows Phone 7 without contract from T-Mobile.

What's the most expensive 3G phone Verizon carries?

 

[boomhower]

Your asking the wrong question. What you need to know is what VZW phone is selling for the most on the second hand market. Take a look around ebay and see what they are going for. My guess would be the Droid 2 or Droid X.

edit
After looking at ebay it looks like the Droid Pro and the Droid 2 Global are going the best.

 

[preslove]

Wait, wait, wait... You bought a kin???!!!

 

[Bateluer]

Wait, wait, wait... You bought a kin???!!!

One of only 10,000 people, apparently.

Seriously though, get the 3G phone you can sell for the most on ebay, save the proceeds for their LTE phones in a few months.

 

[Crono]

Your asking the wrong question. What you need to know is what VZW phone is selling for the most on the second hand market. Take a look around ebay and see what they are going for. My guess would be the Droid 2 or Droid X.

edit
After looking at ebay it looks like the Droid Pro and the Droid 2 Global are going the best.

You're right, I should have asked that. I'll go to the Verizon store near me on Saturday and get either one.

Wait, wait, wait... You bought a kin???!!!

Yes. I bought the Kin One as a replacement phone for a broken Blackberry Storm after reading the AnandTech review on it.

One of only 10,000 people, apparently.

Seriously though, get the 3G phone you can sell for the most on ebay, save the proceeds for their LTE phones in a few months.

I'm not sure I want to stick around on Verizon. I've been meaning to get a Venue Pro for the longest time, I think I'll just use the money to buy it outright instead of going on contract again for 2 years.

 

[hanoverphist]

i woonder why they are discontinuing the zune pass service? i guess that says something about the wp7 phones going to vzw anytime soon...

 

[Deeko]

i woonder why they are discontinuing the zune pass service? i guess that says something about the wp7 phones going to vzw anytime soon...

WP7 is coming to Verizon in early 2011. I'm guessing Kin phones use a specialized data service - like Blackberry's and BES, or Sidekick's and their data service, and they're shutting down the entire thing and putting it on standard data...which is likely not compatible with the studio and zune software in the Kin.

 

[Crono]

WP7 is coming to Verizon in early 2011. I'm guessing Kin phones use a specialized data service - like Blackberry's and BES, or Sidekick's and their data service, and they're shutting down the entire thing and putting it on standard data...which is likely not compatible with the studio and zune software in the Kin.

That's pretty much what I've heard.

I went to the Verizon store closest to me today.
They know Kin is being switched in service from a smartphone to a feature phone, but they haven't heard about Verizon offering free replacement phones to Kin owners. Not good; I hope Verizon isn't screwing this up, they really should have informed their stores before sending out letters to customers.

What I find funny about the whole situation is that this is a perfect example of how cloud computing - though it has its uses - can fail. Microsoft's "cloud" (Kin Studio) was supposed to be my unlimited, automated photo and video backup that I never had to worry about. Now I have to retrieve all my stuff from it before it goes down and store it on my drives or find another online service. Good thing I didn't use the service that extensively (maybe a couple GBs in video and pictures).

 

[RavenSEAL]

Droid, no questions.

 

[TheStu]

Droid, no questions.

Droid 1, Droid 2, Droid X, Droid Pro, Droid Eris, or Droid Incredible? Am I missing any?

 

[preslove]

That's pretty much what I've heard.

I went to the Verizon store closest to me today.
They know Kin is being switched in service from a smartphone to a feature phone, but they haven't heard about Verizon offering free replacement phones to Kin owners. Not good; I hope Verizon isn't screwing this up, they really should have informed their stores before sending out letters to customers.

What I find funny about the whole situation is that this is a perfect example of how cloud computing - though it has its uses - can fail. Microsoft's "cloud" (Kin Studio) was supposed to be my unlimited, automated photo and video backup that I never had to worry about. Now I have to retrieve all my stuff from it before it goes down and store it on my drives or find another online service. Good thing I didn't use the service that extensively (maybe a couple GBs in video and pictures).

Besides that, how was the Kin experience? Was it as bad as the reviews said, or did it end up being better?

 

[Crono]

Besides that, how was the Kin experience? Was it as bad as the reviews said, or did it end up being better?

The one big failure of the Kin was that it wasn't a true smartphone. No app store, no real apps on the phone itself except Zune.

Other than that, there were some small annoyances and the browser was slow and somewhat buggy. Texting was good on the phone, though, and for what it's worth, Kin Studio was pretty decent. The one feature that sold me on the Kin in the first place was Zune, and that worked but was somewhat buggy using Verizon's 3G (though it worked fine using Zune software). Decent music player, but not enough space (4GB on the One) and no expandability.

Really, like a lot of reviewers have said, if Microsoft and Verizon had just released the phone under a reasonable data plan price and the phone itself was cheaper, it would have done better. It didn't help that they didn't market the phone.

The best way to describe the Kin is that it felt more like a prototype of Windows Phone 7 more than a phone meant to be on the market. A lot of promise and interesting features, which carried over somewhat to the WP7 phones.