Ok, here's the deal, after having AT&T for many years, I have moved to an area where I get between no signal and 1 bar inside and no signal and 2 bars outside. I've thought about signal amps and external antennas, but to be honest it's about time I let this AT&T account go (it is in my ex-wife's name from 2 marriages ago). Anyways, my current roommate has a Verizon account and has offered to let me add a line to his current account (and it's the only provider that actually gets a signal out here).
Here's the issue, I can't stand what Verizon does to their phones! no bluetooth file transfers, can't put my own files as ringtones, can't download mp3s from the net and assign them as ringtones....The crippling of the firmware goes on and on. The amount of things verizon disables in their phones to force you to purchase everything you own a second time through them (or force you to transfer through their pricey 3G service) is unnacceptable to me. Why, if I already own a CD, should I have to purchase the ringtone of the song for 8x the cost of that song, for a crappy sounding 30 second clip??
So what I am looking for is a phone that works on verizon, but that I can put the phone manufactures (or a 3rd party's) firmware on and still have access to the phone's intended feature set. I don't need a complex phone. Here's what I'm looking to be able to do.
- Bluetooth file transfers (including images taken with the camera phone, and transfering mp3s to the phone to use as ringtones, or with the phone's media player)
- Stereo Bluetooth support
- Text & multimedia messenging
- Browse web with opera mini
- removable microSD (or comparable removable media)
- 1.3 MPix camera (or better)
- other extra features are fine, and price is not the most important object, but below $200 with 2 year contract would be preferable.
Any suggetions for me?
Here's the issue, I can't stand what Verizon does to their phones! no bluetooth file transfers, can't put my own files as ringtones, can't download mp3s from the net and assign them as ringtones....The crippling of the firmware goes on and on. The amount of things verizon disables in their phones to force you to purchase everything you own a second time through them (or force you to transfer through their pricey 3G service) is unnacceptable to me. Why, if I already own a CD, should I have to purchase the ringtone of the song for 8x the cost of that song, for a crappy sounding 30 second clip??
So what I am looking for is a phone that works on verizon, but that I can put the phone manufactures (or a 3rd party's) firmware on and still have access to the phone's intended feature set. I don't need a complex phone. Here's what I'm looking to be able to do.
- Bluetooth file transfers (including images taken with the camera phone, and transfering mp3s to the phone to use as ringtones, or with the phone's media player)
- Stereo Bluetooth support
- Text & multimedia messenging
- Browse web with opera mini
- removable microSD (or comparable removable media)
- 1.3 MPix camera (or better)
- other extra features are fine, and price is not the most important object, but below $200 with 2 year contract would be preferable.
Any suggetions for me?
