Anyone explain to me how to purchase aftermarket phone and hook it up?

[Lothar]

Terrible title, but I couldn't fit it all in there.

I'm curious...if I buy a phone (I'm looking at getting a smartphone). If I buy one from say, Best Buy for example, do I just take it to Verizon to tell them to hook it up to my plan?

I've heard of people doing this, but I also heard of the phone companies charging an arm and a leg to activate a phone not purchased from one of their stores.

So what I'm wondering, where are the cost savings, if any? Is it cheaper to just buy a phone from Verizon?

 

[Arcanaville]

Well it sounds like you already have a phone, so you could just buy the phone from best buy and put your sim card from your old phone into your new one and it'll work on whatever plan you already have.

 

[Lothar]

Originally Posted by Arcanaville

Well it sounds like you already have a phone, so you could just buy the phone from best buy and put your sim card from your old phone into your new one and it'll work on whatever plan you already have.

Really?

I'm not a phone guy by any means - meaning I use it but I'm not technically savvy in the world of cell phones.

My current phone is about as basic as you can get, but I'm starting to see the value in having a phone to review some documents. Meaning, what I would like out of the smartphone (if possible to do just this) is the standard features of a phone (calls and texts) and the ability to load a Microsoft document (Word, Excel, etc) to view it. However, I have no ambition to pay for internet/wi-fi service.

Is this doable or feasible?

 

[rapdancin]

it is both doable and feasible (i think)

verizon and sprint both run on cdma, which is different than gsm. usually if you buy an unlocked phone, it'll say what bands it runs on, if it says something like 850/900/1800/1900 that means its 'quad-band gsm' and can run on att, tmobile, or any other provider who uses gsm. gsm phones use sim cards, im not really sure what cdma carriers like verizon use but i know it is not the same thing.

it sounds like you have verizon now, im not sure how buying an unlocked cdma phone and connecting it to service works. it might just be cheaper to go through the carrier... one of the biggest advantages to buying a gsm phone unlocked is you can switch to any other gsm carrier whenever you want (including ones in europe, as they use gsm as well). buying an unlocked cdma phone doesnt really have this advantage as cdma is much less popular.

i would talk to verizon about buying an unlocked phone, and see what they can do. otherwise maybe go gsm, there's a lot more selection plus it makes travelling easier (dont have to buy a burner phone abroad)