Ya, that's fine, then I still don't understand the need for a # ! Couple of yrs back I caught Verizon overcharging me for service and I haven't been back since. Once bitten twice shy, I won't deal with them again.

I think it's because you create a new account with them, and an account requires a CC # on file. Just my guess though. I used to work for Verizon Wireless but I was in Tech Support and didn't deal with new account creation, so I'm not exactly sure how some of that stuff works.

Thanks syntakk, I'll just have to think REAL hard on this before pulling the trigger.

I've honestly needed to use the 3G maybe once, I'm almost always somewhere that has wifi available. I just figured that, knowing my luck, I would end up going somewhere that I really needed use it for some reason and then realize I hadn't activated it yet.

The one time I used it was when I took it with me to a meeting to show off to some of the IT guys at a school district. It came in pretty useful in that case.

Ya, LOL, that sounds like my kinda useage, once in a great while, like stuck in a snow storm with a dead cell phone battery

Has anyone actually gotten the Verizon connetion started. I get continued time outs? If you have gotten set up, how long does the free time really last you?

Yep, the connection worked fine for me. Some people do have problems getting it activated though. If you are having trouble, contact a member of the chome notebook team and they will walk you through it with a VZW employee...I've heard they make it pretty painless.