Hey guys,
There's one thing I don't quite understand about both this forum and the T-Mobile forum that I'd like some clarification on. I typically see blocks of text from members similar to the following:
Well, I like my Nexus One a lot, but I find myself using my Vibrant on Wednesdays and my G2 on the weekend. I think I'll pick up a myTouch HD when it comes out too for giggles.
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My question is: are you people throwing down out of contract prices for all of these phones or am I woefully ignorant of a better channel for buying them?
Just searching around today I've seen multiple people with a Nexus One and a Vibrant, and all I can think to myself is "Surely they didn't spend $1000 on phones..."
Also, as an aside, I noticed the differences between T-Mobiles Even More and Even More Plus plans, which seems to be $20 a month. I'm guessing if I did go with a G2 or a Vibrant under contract that my monthly bill would go up by $20 a month? Or, does that only matter on a new contract rather than an upgrade?
Some of them buy the phones new, off of e-bay or get them as testers. The difference in the even more and even more plus have to do with the phone discount. The cheaper plan you pay outright for the phone. To recieve the discounted phone price you pay the extra $20 a month.
Just talked to a rep today and looked at my plan more. I think I'm going to go for the Even More Plus 500. Right now I'm at loyalty unlimited with 1000 texts, but I'm only using around 300 anytime minutes and 100 texts. Going for the Even More Plus 500 keeps me at $60 a month.
If I factor in $20 a month more on my current plan under contract it means I'd be paying $480 + cost of phone over the lifetime, so it sounds like it's better off contract.
That aside, anyone else want to chip in on where they get their phones? Particularly people with 2-3 current Android devices?
So let's start this off by saying I tend to be a very frugal person. So frugal that about a year and a half ago I opted to get the Galaxy Tab (7 inch) from Verizon on a 2 year contract for only $100 on a $35 a month 3GB data plan. I slapped Skype on it, grabbed an online number and tied that into my Google Voice account and for a total of $41~ a month ($6 a month on average for an online number for Skype and unlimited minutes) I had a device with unlimited calling, unlimited texting, and 3GB of data which turned out to be plenty since I used the wifi when I was at home. This was awesome despite holding up a 7 inch tablet to my head to make phone calls, which I didn't care. I mean yeah people look at you funny but I was the one laughing since I was saving over $50 a month on my phone bill. And I could play Angry Birds on a big screen! I really really loved this setup.
I sold that tablet to my brother 9 months ago now and he just kinda carried over the plan. I did that since I moved to Chile for that amount of time and now I'm moving back to the States come next week and I want a similar setup. No carriers offer data only plans though that work well in my area. I switched from AT&T to Verizon since big red's coverage was 100x better where I mostly used my phone. However the data plan I had gotten with that tablet has gone away due to the "Share Everything" stuff although it still is only $40 a month for the share everything tablet data plan but none of the newer tablets they offer catch my eye since I really want that 7 inch sweet spot which is actually able to still fit in most of my pant's back pockets. This brings me to my best thought so far but there's one large caveat...
Mobile hotspots. I have narrowed down the choice between Verizon's Mifi 4510L and US Cellular's Samsung SCH-LC11 and then using that to connect to a Nexus 7 which looks like a better and more powerful Galaxy Tab that I had only used a year ago. I'm definitely leaning more towards US Cellular though since they offer a 2 GB plan for $25 a month and only an extra $10 per GB used above the 2GB limit while Verizon's crazy pricing for their Mifi 4510L starts at $50 a month for 4 GB of data which I'd probably never use all of it. I never even used 2 GB from what I remember from before. Although that's still a huge bargain compared to pretty much everyone else who has opted for those ridiculously overpriced plans for their rinky dinky smartphones. I kid of course. The base pricing for the devices is $188.99 out the door for a pre-owned certified Mifi 4510L without a contract and $200 (after $50 MiR) for the Samsung on a 2 year contract. After a year the Samsung would save me $300 but that's also stuck on a 2 year contract, although if I had to cancel it'd only be $150 to do so and I'd still be ahead $150 above big red. But the one large caveat to this is the battery life which on the Samsung is about 3 and half hours active usage and the Mifi 4510L says 5 hours but the Samsung has a removable battery. Now I drive fairly often and at my work and home I'll more than likely have wifi access, thus negating the need to plug in the mobile hotspot, the tablet however would also use up more battery due to the wifi being on all the time. It's definitely a trade off but one I'm willing to make I believe since on the US Cellular (Which has really great service where I live although I don't believe I can get 4G from either) side of things I'd be saving $900 a year.* So what does xda think about this? Any thoughts or insight? Other suggestions that I more than likely missed? Or mistakes in my plan? (I've been known to make plenty of those.)
Now I do know that it doesn't have to be a tablet. I'm tempted to get the Galaxy S III off-contract and just use it wirelessly the same way. However I'll still be lugging the mobile hotspot wherever I'll be. Other bonuses to the hotspot is... It's a hotspot. Super easy to share my connection. Although I was able to do that with my old Galaxy Tab very easily as well so not a huge deal. Thanks to those that stuck through my huge post and seemingly large amount of rambling. I didn't mean to post this much but it just turned out this way.
*This is accounting that I never have to pay an extra $10 for a GB over the 2GB use and accounting for a $100 for a normal plan. I could go ahead and say I'd be saving $1800 over a normal smartphone plan although I have around $400 to put down at first so saying an average smartphone goes for $200 with a 2 year plan I'm still saving $1600 once those 2 years are up.
TL;DR - I'm cheap and want to get a mobile hotspot and use a tablet (Nexus 7) connected to it via wifi as my phone to get the cheapest monthly data plan and run all my talk and texts through Google Voice / Skype.
So, who's still stuck in a contract and when does it end? What are your plans when it does end? Upgrade or leave and go to a prepaid plan?
My contract ends on 12/14/13 and am counting down the days when I can leave Verizon and never look back. It makes me sick to pay $180/month service for two smart phones when I can go with a prepaid service and save $80-$90. So I plan on waiting it out and not even toying with the idea of upgrading and locking myself into a phone that will become obsolete in 6 months and a plan that is overpriced and includes ridiculous fees and charges.
I will be looking to spend around $200-$250 on a phone. I know that I can get a SGS2 or Gnex right now for that but in 9 months I'm thinking that the price of a S3 will come down to where I can afford it. I'm also looking at a RAZR or RAZR Maxx. Used of course. I originally started looking on Craigslist, but am thinking Amazon is the way to go.
I obviously want the most for my money and something unlocked or unlockable and plenty of support available for the phone.
What other options will I have in that price range?
HTC?
Samsung?
Motorola?
Sent from my CM10 Droid X2 using Tapatalk 2
I did the same thing last November. I saw how much Sprint wanted monthly for a smartphone and now I have a smartphone for less than I was paying them for just minutes and texting with no data.
I was looking around to buy a phone and I personally felt it was better to spend a bit more money and get the GS3 (which was about $400 when I got it) so that it would last me longer and not already feel very dated. I put it on a card and I've already paid it off - very minimal interest accrued.
If I were you, I'd get the S4 or something if you're looking to buy at the very end of this year - that way they'll be on the market for a while and you can likely find one used at a decent-enough discount over buying new. I feel like it pays to spend more on something better.
Or you could buy an N4 new if you don't care about removable battery and sd card.
You could also just buy a really cheap phone or flash whatever you have now to a pre-paid service - and save the money you were paying to Verizon and put it aside to buy a better phone.
You have a long time. Ultimately, I wouldn't worry about it yet. See what you can save up between now and then, just wait and see where prices will go by then (The Nexus phones aren't much more to save up for you and I'd bet a new one will be released between now and then - a great value if the hardware is right).
Pennycake said:
I did the same thing last November. I saw how much Sprint wanted monthly for a smartphone and now I have a smartphone for less than I was paying them for just minutes and texting with no data.
I was looking around to buy a phone and I personally felt it was better to spend a bit more money and get the GS3 (which was about $400 when I got it) so that it would last me longer and not already feel very dated. I put it on a card and I've already paid it off - very minimal interest accrued.
If I were you, I'd get the S4 or something if you're looking to buy at the very end of this year - that way they'll be on the market for a while and you can likely find one used at a decent-enough discount over buying new. I feel like it pays to spend more on something better.
Or you could buy an N4 new if you don't care about removable battery and sd card.
You could also just buy a really cheap phone or flash whatever you have now to a pre-paid service - and save the money you were paying to Verizon and put it aside to buy a better phone.
You have a long time. Ultimately, I wouldn't worry about it yet. See what you can save up between now and then, just wait and see where prices will go by then (The Nexus phones aren't much more to save up for you and I'd bet a new one will be released between now and then - a great value if the hardware is right).
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If you're looking for a phone, you're not going to find much for around $200-250 besides well used S2s right now, and S3s aren't going to come down as dramatically as the GNex did when the N4 was announced. The S3 is still a solid powerhouse that will command at least $300 at minimum for a well used one when all is said and done after the S4 drops. If you're just looking to expand your functionality of your phone, but not have to pay the insane carrier prices/payment schemes for equipment, or worse, MSRP, then you may be in the market for a cheap N7 like myself. I was originally looking for a Note or N7, if I could get the Note, that would be the end of it, but since I found a brand spanking new N7 I've been very happy overall with my pair of Androids. I can still upgrade my phone later, but because I'm not relying on my phone to do anything other than handle my data connection and provide me with a physical handheld to use for calls, I'm not quite as concerned about upgrading it anytime soon. I had already anticipated when I upgraded from a beat up Optimus 3D to the S2 that I would have to stick with whatever I got at $250 (I got super lucky, it was only 2 weeks old) for the better part of at least a year before I could even think about upgrading my phone again. I got that itch shortly after when I found myself semi-limited by the phone as far as certain gaming capability. I then eyed a Note or N7 in order to get my gaming fix. The N7 I ended up getting has since been a VERY handy tool for not just getting my mobile gaming fix, but for remote troubleshooting, home network/pc management when I get calls from my roommates for broken services.
Before you make ANY purchase, ask yourself a couple questions about what you really want. Do you want a device to game on? An accessory/toy? An internet connected tool? A better communications platform? I found that I was already satisfied with my phone and only wanted to get a bigger screen, longer battery life, and better gaming support, which made the Note and N7 perfect options. Note if I chose to drop $400 on a used one and have a phablet, or an N7 for $200 and just never take my phone out of my pocket.
Either way, I would recommend looking into Swappa.com, the Marketplace replacement as this is where I found my N7, and Craigslist (though be VERY CAREFUL here) for the S2.
What I mean by be VERY CAREFUL with transactions on Craigslist is that I've heard of people buying a lightly used phone from somebody for decent money on there, only to find the phone doesn't work anymore and rejects the carrier a month or two down the road. This is typically because the original seller bought the phone on a payment plan and have since either stopped making payments, or have dropped the carrier altogether, and the carrier has responded well within the contract and blacklisted the device on the network. Swappa is a lot more reliable for not dealing in possibly abused/misrepresented items, but you'll pay a premium for this peace of mind. Good luck!
I use my phone now primarily for streaming spotify while at work, email, texting and browsing the web. My WiFi connection at work is sometimes unreliable so I rely heavily on my 3g connection. I'm not as concerned about having the latest tech either. I would probably be fine for a couple of years using a gnex or s3. Although I probably would go for the s3 simply because of the removable battery and SD card slot.
Sent from my CM10 Droid X2 using Tapatalk 2
Cynagen makes some very good points. I am mainly interested in changing carriers and lowering my contract price, and was looking at buying something new and unlocked. Tethering to a full-featured, higher spec tablet makes a lot of sense if the main use case is data. I rarely use my phone for voice, and most times am within wi-fi coverage.
=RV=
redvelociraptor said:
Cynagen makes some very good points. I am mainly interested in changing carriers and lowering my contract price, and was looking at buying something new and unlocked. Tethering to a full-featured, higher spec tablet makes a lot of sense if the main use case is data. I rarely use my phone for voice, and most times am within wi-fi coverage.
=RV=
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It's an okay idea, but the phone's battery is going to drain FAST if it's constantly tethering. And unless you're paying for tethering, there might not always be a reliable work-around to get it to work anyway.
My S3 lasted about 4 hours of continuous tethering and it was pretty warm. Instead of it being able to manage going to "sleep", you'd have to do that manually - turn your tethering on whenever you want to use your tablet. Which may work depending on patience and usage.
Another idea might be a data-only SIM in a tablet and make calls over VOIP or just keep a spare phone for the minutes if that's what you want.
I have a phone and a tablet and I use my phone more often on a daily basis - it would not be practical to bring my tablet where I most often use my phone - the size difference is big enough to go from "kind of bulky" to "full on leg shield if you can even get it in your pocket".
I'm not knocking the idea, just saying you need to consider the downsides, too. I almost went for it, myself, but with the $30/mo T-Mobile plan I decided just to get the S3. It's a good size for carrying in a pocket, and I have a 10" tablet that's a great size for watching movies, too (bought it from a friend). I'd recommend going to a store and comparing sizes. For me, 7" just didn't fit in - it was too small for what I wanted to use a tablet for and too big to carry around all day - but if you have to carry a bag or something, it might be a better fit.
Pennycake said:
It's an okay idea, but the phone's battery is going to drain FAST if it's constantly tethering. And unless you're paying for tethering, there might not always be a reliable work-around to get it to work anyway.
My S3 lasted about 4 hours of continuous tethering and it was pretty warm. Instead of it being able to manage going to "sleep", you'd have to do that manually - turn your tethering on whenever you want to use your tablet. Which may work depending on patience and usage.
Another idea might be a data-only SIM in a tablet and make calls over VOIP or just keep a spare phone for the minutes if that's what you want.
I have a phone and a tablet and I use my phone more often on a daily basis - it would not be practical to bring my tablet where I most often use my phone - the size difference is big enough to go from "kind of bulky" to "full on leg shield if you can even get it in your pocket".
I'm not knocking the idea, just saying you need to consider the downsides, too. I almost went for it, myself, but with the $30/mo T-Mobile plan I decided just to get the S3. It's a good size for carrying in a pocket, and I have a 10" tablet that's a great size for watching movies, too (bought it from a friend). I'd recommend going to a store and comparing sizes. For me, 7" just didn't fit in - it was too small for what I wanted to use a tablet for and too big to carry around all day - but if you have to carry a bag or something, it might be a better fit.
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I can confirm that it does drain the battery fast! To address this issue I bought a USB-OTG adapter, and just carry one of my 3 microUSB cables with me at all times. When my phone runs low while I'm on the train or bus or something, I use the USB-OTG cable from the tablet to my phone to keep my phone alive, and while it'll drain the tablet faster, I actually get about a 1.25% charge per 1% drained on the tablet (idle), so it's actually pretty efficient (this surprised me). When I'm in the office, I'll let the phone drain down to warning levels <15% and then use the USB cable to connect it to my desk computer in order to charge up, usually towards the end of the day. The tablet I only really charge at home each night when it's practically dead itself. (I practice stretching the batteries out as far as you can stomach (normally <5%) as you're supposed to with Li-Ion.)
I thought about getting a GSM N7, but when I saw it was an extra $100, plus another $30/mo for a data-only SIM card with unlimited service, when I could tether to my cellphone for free, I chose the $200 one-time & free/mo because T-Mobile just sees Android devices and doesn't care.
Evaluate your end goal, and review all possible avenues towards that goal, I chose the cheapest easiest way for myself, and while you may not have these same avenues available, make sure you do all your research to see if you can get anywhere close.
@Pennycake: I don't know how you only got 4 hours of continuous tethering, I get at least 6 straight on my S2. Check what OTHER processes you have running and see about getting a kernel you can undervolt as well as drop to a super bare minimum speed. (My S2 when WiFi tethering to my N7 sits active @ 192Mhz as that's all that's needed to maintain connection, otherwise it hits deep sleep.)
I don't tether all that often, so it's not a big issue to me (it was on a train ride and I probably won't be travelling again for another year).
Another idea is to use the $30/mo data only and use Google Voice + a VOIP service (like Groove IP) - turning the tablet itself into a phone that way. I read an article about someone who did it and really considered it for a while (in my case, I'm glad I didn't because I don't have the data coverage to make calls everywhere I normally am - sometimes I'm getting only GPRS where I can easily make a call, but not so much over data).
After reading a comparison on S3 compared to One X, it seems as though overall the S3 looks better. Has better battery life, SD card slot, better camera. Now that HTC is out of the picture, I will look into comparing the RAZR phones to the S3. I have heard that Motorola phones have better reception than Samsung. Is this true or just a few people's experience?
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To op. You can talk about early cancelation. Sometimes it doesn't cost as much as you'd think. I did that with at&t thank god for it. That was the worst and so over priced. I'm with Verizon and love it but you sound like you're paying way to much. I pay 99 a month unlimited text and data (my plan started before this family shared data thing) and 500 anytime min but I use Skype anyway.
I think I might switch depending on the shared data thing since there are 2 users on my plan.
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5imp7y said:
To op. You can talk about early cancelation. Sometimes it doesn't cost as much as you'd think. I did that with at&t thank god for it. That was the worst and so over priced. I'm with Verizon and love it but you sound like you're paying way to much. I pay 99 a month unlimited text and data (my plan started before this family shared data thing) and 500 anytime min but I use Skype anyway.
I think I might switch depending on the shared data thing since there are 2 users on my plan.
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Early termination would be too much for us. We currently have three lines, two of which have data plans, the third just an extra line that we added almost two years ago to use it for an upgrade. Our two main lines would cost about 200 each and we would then have to buy two phones.
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I've seen them go around that much on eBay regularly now, and I'm wondering if it's worth it. Currently have a gaming laptop, but I'll be selling jt for about $600 and want something with a bigger screen than my Note 2 for movies and web browsing in bed, and something with a nice keyboard dock available (the one for the Tab Plus is only $30 on Amazon now).
Anyway, I can get 2GB of web with T-Mobile for $10/month, which is fine since I'll use it on Wifi mostly anyway, but I'm wondering if there are any flaws with the T-Mobile version (or Tab Plus in general) I should be aware of. I'll probably be sticking to stock ICS due to IR and keyboard support, if that matters, and I'm fine with ICS.
How do you get 2GB for $10? http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/mobile-broadband-plans.aspx
You can add data to your voice plan for $10, but tethering costs extra ($15/mo., I think). And a phone sim won't work in a data device.
I have a GT-P6210 wi-fi I use at home, and a 4G broadband modem for when I go on the road - just buy a pass when I need to. My wife tethers her iPad too when she's along. The combination is more versatile than a tablet dedicated to a single carrier - I can upgrade (to a Nexus 7) any time,
Edit: Seems they now have a new "Simple Choice" set of plans - higher price, but include tethering.
SaurusM3 said:
How do you get 2GB for $10? http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/mobile-broadband-plans.aspx
You can add data to your voice plan for $10, but tethering costs extra ($15/mo., I think). And a phone sim won't work in a data device.
I have a GT-P6210 wi-fi I use at home, and a 4G broadband modem for when I go on the road - just buy a pass when I need to. My wife tethers her iPad too when she's along. The combination is more versatile than a tablet dedicated to a single carrier - I can upgrade (to a Nexus 7) any time,
Edit: Seems they now have a new "Simple Choice" set of plans - higher price, but include tethering.
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I get it through a friend at T-Mobile, that's not a concern.
And having the 4G built in is just much easier for me, as that's one less device to carry around and worry about battery life with, and I don't even have any other Wifi-only devices that I can't just use hotspost on my phone for in the rare chance I'd need it. And running hotspot every time I want data on the tablet rather than just using it immediately is too much hassle for me personally.
I mean, if the P6210 is considerably cheaper than the T-Mobile version at the time I buy it, I'll get that, but if not then I'll get the T-Mobole version.
But anyway, can you think of any drawbacks or flaws with the P6210 I should be aware, or have you heard of anything with the T-Mobile version? I know the Tab 2 gets more support at this point, but I'd be using stock firmware in this case (for full functionality), and the fact that it will grt Jelly Bean at some point is fine with me (even just ICS is fine).
Only complaint I've heard is that US carriers don't allow voice calls on tablets. Not sure why; they allow it in the civilized world.
My only complaint of the Samsung tabs is the donkey 30-pin connector they use for charge & data. Everybody else but Apple gets by with micro USB. HDMI takes maybe 4 more pins, don't know what the rest are for.
There aren't many SGH-T869 models on eBay atm. Don't mess with the unlocked ones (GT-P6200). They'll only work at 2G speeds on TMo, at least where they haven't converted the 1900MHz band over to 4G data yet.
SaurusM3 said:
Only complaint I've heard is that US carriers don't allow voice calls on tablets. Not sure why; they allow it in the civilized world.
My only complaint of the Samsung tabs is the donkey 30-pin connector they use for charge & data. Everybody else but Apple gets by with micro USB. HDMI takes maybe 4 more pins, don't know what the rest are for.
There aren't many SGH-T869 models on eBay atm. Don't mess with the unlocked ones (GT-P6200). They'll only work at 2G speeds on TMo, at least where they haven't converted the 1900MHz band over to 4G data yet.
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Well even if, the P6200 is crazy expensive in comparison. I'm not in a hurry to get it, so I'd be scouting for a good deal anyway. Connector is annoying but I can deal. And I'm not concerned about not voice calls, while its a nice feature, I already hate using my Note 2 as a phone without a headset, I can't imagine how much of a pain it'd be with a full tablet.
Check out Amazon, I remember there being a bunch of them for $200. I bought mine for the same amount off swappa and really like it. I believe it's HSPA 21; even in a good area for TMobile I never really get fast speeds on it, averaging around 7-9 down I think. Netflix works fine though. I like mine but I wouldn't mind a slightly better rear camera and a non-stupid charging port.
I bought an unlocked i717 to replace it and my S2 but I'm probably going back to the S2 and 7.0+ combo. I don't use data often but would for $10/2gigs!
Edit- word is the 869 is fully capable on AT&T when unlocked.
As part of a recent overhaul and combining of separate Verizon plans for my wife and I (we each have separate businesses), I elected to consolidate the plans and in the process, saved a bunch of money. I replaced my Droid Razr Maxx with a Galaxy S5. I took over my wife's plan which included her iPhone5, iPad and a Verizon 4G LTE MiFi (which she used extensively on the road).
I replaced the old MiFi, which was costing my wife $20 per month, with the Verizon Elipsis 7" tablet which can be used as a hot spot. The deal was that the tablet cost $50, but subject to a $50 rebate, effectively costing zero AND the monthly cost of the tablet is $10 per month. So overall,for this part of the deal, we lowered the wifi cost by half and got a cheap little tablet out of the deal.
Seemed like a reasonable thing to do. I also activated FoxFi on the device.
The problem with this device is that it is extremely limited in memory/storage. You can read the detailed specs here http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/...roduct and getting a stock recovery?
Thanks