Android without the data

Yes, most carriers require a dataplan for smartphones. My suggestion is to buy an unlocked phone and buy voice service separately. Though t-mobile has a unsubsidized phone price via the "even more plus" set of plans and you may be able to buy a locked, unsubsidized android handset through them without a contract or a data plan. Maybe drop into a t-mobile store and ask. This is in the US, right? In Europe I'm pretty sure this is a lot more obvious.

My suggestion is to buy an unlocked phone and buy voice service separately. How? Yes, US.

How? A number of retailers such as http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008699+600028588&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=227&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc= carry unlocked phones. Buy the phone, make sure it's compatible with the carrier you'll be using (Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.) Then, contact the carrier, sign up for whatever voice plan you like, and tell them you already have a phone. Be sure to really quiz your carrier of choice first, because around here, Verizon requires a data plan if you plan to use a smartphone, no matter where you got it from. Other carriers may let you get just a voice plan, which is the way it should be.

Virgin Mobile (Sprint) is rolling out their first Android phone soon. $25 a month for 300 minutes of voice, plus unlimited data. So the data plan is there - but cheap.

When I bought my first G1 from T-mobile, I did not get the data plan for about 2 months so it's possible, you can also try the 2nd hand market such as craigslist or ebay, where I have bought extra handsets after I bricked the original trying to root it.

You can get Android without a data plan by purchasing an Android device that isn't a smartphone. For example, the http://www.archos.com/products/ta/archos_5it/index.html?country=us&lang=en runs Android, functions as a planner, mini computer for notes, storage, etc, and uses wi-fi exclusively. It's essentially an oversized iPod Touch, but for Android. The Archos device doesn't support all Android apps or the Android marketplace proper but you can load many applications by e-mailing the apk files to yourself via Gmail. Note that this is an older model and both larger and smaller tablets are coming in the near future by Archos and other manufacturers. Since this device isn't a phone it doesn't do texting other than what is supported by 3rd party apps. But it addresses your primary question (how do I get an Android without having to get a data plan?) without strictly supporting this caveat or the unspoken caveat of potentially using the device to make phone calls.

http://ask.metafilter.com/166472/Android-without-the-data#2393284, did you buy your phone outright and take it to T-mobile to activate it? How did you go about it? Be sure to really quiz your carrier of choice first, because around here, Verizon requires a data plan if you plan to use a smartphone, no matter where you got it from. Other carriers may let you get just a voice plan, which is the way it should be. Okay, see, I've read about people trying to just get phone service with a smartphone, and finding out that no matter what, once the carrier finds out they have a smartphone, they insist that a data plan is non-negotiable--no matter what the person saw on their site or was told over the phone. IS there a carrier that won't do that? I don't have a smartphone, have not ever had one. Is it possible to just get phone service with a different phone, and swap out the SIM? Or will they not have compatible SIMs? It doesn't make sense to buy a phone (yet), unlocked or not, unless I know I'll be able to get service for it. I'm rural, and Virgin Mobile doesn't come close to where I am. Which is too bad. I need minimal minutes but I *do* need the phone, and I don't need the carrier to do more than let me talk for ~100 minutes a month (if that).

There's no activation process for T-Mobile. You get a SIM card - just pop it in your phone and it works.

Get the phone, get the service, get the data plan, then call up and cancel the data plan once you have everything in hand. Mr. molasses had a coworker or two who did this, but it was not recent so if they've closed that loophole YMMV.