Wirelessly posted (8700g)

I'll comment on your first question: You will not be able to use the blackberry branded data services, in particular push email and the blackberry web browser without a blackberry data plan. In your case, it sounds to me like you are interested in BIS.

I'll defer to others on the VZW questions. In the meantime, take a look at the article in blackberryfaq.com on using a blackberry with a generic data plan. I don't know if that is an option for you or not. Others will advise, I'm sure.