Hey everyone,
As a HTC Touch Diamond Windows Mobile 6.5.x user of about 1 year, I have been around this site a lot. Recently, thanks to many developers I was able to try out Android 2.0.1 and 2.1 and Sense 2.1, and as most people who have used Android have found -- I fell in love.
Of course I had a year left on my contract, and I didn't want to jump on one of Verizon's "unlimited data" contracts as I would have been paying about $70 more /month. I decided to get my wife a HTC Incredible this week, and that would only add $20/month to our account (moving her line from dumbphone to smartphone) if we could keep our old Alltel contract. I read and found that this would definitely be possible if we kept one Alltel phone (my Diamond), so I was okay with that. I also read that you can purchase a smartphone outright (~$549) and avoid the contract "upgrade" to Verizon's payment structure... I went in today thinking I would be spending $549 for an Incredible, but ended up only paying $170(!). Here's the deal:
On April 9th, Verizon reset all of their old Alltel contracts to use the "New every two" promotion immediately... They also are able to keep customers on their old Alltel contract terms (at least my CSR was able to(!)). With that, I kept my $69.99+$20add-a-line alltel account (no texting, unlimited data), and just upgraded to $69.99+$40add-a-line(no texting, unlimited data on both). I got two Incredibles, one for $200 and one for $170.
I'm not arguing that I got the best deal, or whether or not I should have waited or purchased through Wal-mart instead, I just wanted to let everyone know that it was possible to (A)Keep the old Alltel unlimited plan, and (B)Take advantage of the new 2year commitment discount if you were formerly on Alltel's contract.
Hope it helps,
jakewill