If you buy the phone outright at NewEgg or the like, you can do month to month.

The next thing I'd advise is going with TMobile - because they're the
most tether-tolerant (by FAR) of the major cell houses.  I've got the
oldest TMobile 3G-capable phone made, the Sony-Ericsson TM506, which
doesn't look like much but it's a tethering monster, I can get online
with my Ubuntu lappy via either Bluetooth or USB painlessly and with
over 3/4ths the speed of the Verizon dedicated cellular modem I was
using before.  Under Verizon I was paying $80/mo for unlimited
talk/text on a regular cellphone and $60/mo for data on a separate
data device.  It was brutal.

On TMobile the old Sony can do both, and can even do 'em both at once
- I can take a phone call while online and while the data speed slows
down, it's still usable.

The Sony TM506 cost me $60 used at a pawn shop :).  Because I started
my TMobile account with it already in hand, I can do month to month.

I get between .80mb/s download in speedtest.net to usually closer to
1.2mb/s in the greater Phoenix area.

You can do the same thing with an Android smartphone.  I think the
Samsung Galaxy might be what you want, in it's GSM TMobile-compatible
flavor at least - and at least one variant under $300 supports the
same HSDPA data as my old Sony.  Only problem is, it's Android 1.5:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16875176145

To get Android 2.1 you have to spend almost $500:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16875176195

Wait just a bit and that should be upgradeable to 2.2?

Jim

On Sat, Sep 18, 2010 at 9:05 AM, M Hoy <mhoy06@gmail.com> wrote:
> Sorry for the off topic post but you guys/gals have opinions that actually
> matter to me as opposed to any other source I know of.
> I have decided I want to get a android phone and I've noticed that no matter
> how hard I try I can't get straight answers from phone reps/store reps for
> carriers.
> What I want:
> A smart phone running droid2.2 and a hardware keyboard on a month to month
> service plan.
> I'm more than happy to pay full price for a phone but it is inconceivable to
> me that I should obligate myself to a provider. Seems like the contract only
> serves them. So I will pay the money for the right phone but I'm having
> trouble finding a good carrier.
> I talked with a store rep at verizon (spectrum mall) and he says he can
> activate it and it will cost me around 108 a month for a month to month plan
> 900 minutes 10c per text.
> Is that the best deal I can hope to find?
> I cannot handle talking with these salesman anymore. They are worse than car
> salesman. Any help appreciated. If I can't find a good deal I'm going
> prepaid or something.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Mike Hoy
>
>
>
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