[Nexus One General] deecee52:
@snowfox This is a tough decision - especially if you are on a family plan, and buying before you know what you are going to do is rough.

My experience with a family plan and some comparisons. I have had the att n1 since about the second day, which ironically is about 2 days into my billing cycle, so I have been using it about 3 months. I also have a blkbry and iphone on the same account and see everyone's usage. the iphone is constantly connected and uses about 220 mb a month (80-300 over the past year) - she's got a tough decision to make! Ironicallyl, the blkbry uses almost nothing. the user only really uses the txt function and the ability for the phone to be provisioned thru his job, he reads news and knows when to check in at the office. evidently the blkbry is very efficient with news feeds.

finally the n1. I have wifi available most of the day. i've been religious about only using data when I am out of wifi range and still manage to pull down close to 250 mb a month. I would guess I will hit 2gb pretty easily using data only.

So, first of all, Android and android developers need to work to make the code more efficient, allow the user to easily tell non focused apps if and when they access the web. As users we need to understand that constant updating of weather and news means constant data access. Google or some helpful tech person should explain exactly the power and data differences between the gps use and the cell tower use. Is there a more efficient way to use these apps.Our multitasking code allows access in the background. Even apl 4 multitask, only accesses on the fly. Before the android code is optimized, users have to get over iphone envy and realize there will be response lags if we restrict data access. Google help us out here - you are the new big brother, you don't need to know everything reduce your need to be constantly updated! All of this is to say, I think there is room for improvement on how Android in general uses data, and with admittedly lower expectations, how the n1 uses data.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. The free apps are accessing the web to run ads or get other statistics. I have a bunch of free apps, cause I don't know which I want to pay for and I'm waiting for froyo to make those decisions.

So back to the decisions. You might talk to your parents about taking 30 days to try to figure this out. Spring for the unlimited plan -today, order the n1, put netcounter on it and use it the way you would want to only on the data network for a week or 2, knowing that its new and you will probably be using it a bit more, but that is okay. Now the work. Are there places you would have been able to use wifi? Are there att hotspots that should have automatically switched off the network? Doing all the adds and subtracts can you live within one of the data caps? Now the tough one. If your family was willing to foot the bill for the 10 or 15 a month are you willing to foot the bill for the difference. If some combination works, go for it. It is a very nice phone and there's a great community around it. If not return the phone and change the plan accordingly.

Believe me I had the same discussions with my family. My kids bought the iphones and paid the difference between the iphone and the dumbphone/text phone plans when the iphone first came out. It was still a better deal for them than if they had gone out and gotten their own plan.

There will always be those that have a deal and have escaped the changes, there will always be new ones coming in with different options, and for the most part att will not willingly show much appreciation for long term users and it's hard to find a cuppa joe these days for $1.25.