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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?
Ok, been talking to Verizon for weeks now, trying to dump this clunker of a phone. They absolutely refused to give me an early upgrade. But yesterday i did get a woman who gave me great advice i wanted to share.
She said even if she did the early upgrade, I would have to accept another 2 year contract, pay $299 for the phone, and the $350 termination fee that goes with it. She said that I should go to ebay and get a New or nearly new Droid Razr which sells for $350 at times. I could sell my charge for up to $200 and my upgrade will cost me $150 without the termination fee. so I'm basically saving $800 by not having them 'upgrade me'.
So that's what i did. I actually paid $375 for an auction with free shipping and saw the charge sold regularly for about $170-190. Still, I can always sell the razr later on and get something new with no penalties from here on.
don't flame me if you love the charge. It's just been problematic for me. Too little memory for my needs. between scrabble, Words with Friends, all my other apps which have 5 meg resident notifiers, my phone crashes often.
why would the $350 early termination fee come into play if they "gave" you an early upgrade....that sounds like cancelling your account and opening a new one...slight miscalculation I would say
she said based on how long i've had phones with Verizion (8 months for the fascinate, and 6 months with the charge), if in another 6 months i were to want another new phone outside of verizon. I'm only getting the Razr because i'm still on the hook for the term fee. I would get the nexus galaxy on tmobile's $30 plan if not for the term fee. By doing this, i will be out by August and can move on freely to any phone and any other non-contract plan. Can even stay on Verizon month to month.
I already moved my wife and son to Tmobile's $30 4G plan and they love it. In August, i will move there most likely if they still offer it.
You really didn't get an upgrade offer it seems, right?
I was on the phone with someone last week who told me I should look on eBay for a new phone since they won't give me any deal. The guy told me I could sell my phone for $200 easy, but I'm not in the market to be playing that game and dealing with idiots on ebay/CL.
I'm actually surprised a bit with Verizon that they wont give early upgrades. When I was with AT&T I got one in 5 months because my phone was stolen and smashed. I got $150 credit towards $$ off the iPhone and extended my contract for 2 more years.
orateam said:
I already moved my wife and son to Tmobile's $30 4G plan and they love it. In August, i will move there most likely if they still offer it.
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Don't do this. Verizon is expensive but they actually use that money to upgrade their cell sites and make new ones. It is hands-down the best wireless carrier in the US, and in my opinion, worth it unless you spend your whole life in downtown Chicago for example.
When I had my HTC Thunderbolt 4G, I sold that for $150 and used the money to get a Droid Charge from Craiglist for $300, no contact extension whatsoever.
But I was negative $150, but considering how much I hate the thunderbolt, it's really worth it.
Droid RAZR? That would be a downgrade! Locked bootloader, super-wide unpractical bezel, terrible screen (pentile), worse camera. Total gimmick phone that sells due to the huge marketing blitz on Verizons behalf
adrenaline_rush said:
Droid RAZR? That would be a downgrade! Locked bootloader, super-wide unpractical bezel, terrible screen (pentile), worse camera. Total gimmick phone that sells due to the huge marketing blitz on Verizons behalf
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That's your opinion, not fact, and your opinions are incidentally not shared by the overwhelming majority of people who review phones for a living:
http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/motorola-droid-razr-black/4505-6452_7-35033947.html ("4.5/5 With its razor-thin design, jam-packed features, and blazing speed, the Motorola Droid Razr is easily one of the year's top Android smartphones.")
http://www.bgr.com/2011/11/07/motorola-droid-razr-review/ ("The Motorola DROID RAZR has replaced Samsung’s Galaxy S II as the best Android device I’ve ever used.")
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5198/motorola-droid-razr-review-a-better-clad-bionic/ ("The RAZR is honestly some of the best Android hardware I’ve seen in a long time.")
http://pocketnow.com/android/motorola-droid-razr-review (4.5/5 "It's thin, lightweight, durable, fast, and has a beautiful screen.")
Just because it's not as good as the Galaxy Nexus -- though the latter's lead will narrow once the Razr gets ICS -- doesn't mean it's not a very good device.
Falcyn said:
That's your opinion, not fact, and your opinions are incidentally not shared by the overwhelming majority of people who review phones for a living:
http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/motorola-droid-razr-black/4505-6452_7-35033947.html ("4.5/5 With its razor-thin design, jam-packed features, and blazing speed, the Motorola Droid Razr is easily one of the year's top Android smartphones.")
http://www.bgr.com/2011/11/07/motorola-droid-razr-review/ ("The Motorola DROID RAZR has replaced Samsung’s Galaxy S II as the best Android device I’ve ever used.")
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5198/motorola-droid-razr-review-a-better-clad-bionic/ ("The RAZR is honestly some of the best Android hardware I’ve seen in a long time.")
http://pocketnow.com/android/motorola-droid-razr-review (4.5/5 "It's thin, lightweight, durable, fast, and has a beautiful screen.")
Just because it's not as good as the Galaxy Nexus -- though the latter's lead will narrow once the Razr gets ICS -- doesn't mean it's not a very good device.
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I'm not gonna say its a bad phone but the locked bootloader and blur (in general, not really just on the razr) will keep me away from any moto phone for the time being... if they put out an unlocked relatively bloat/skin free (read: nexus) phone I'd give it some thought
my .02
Android central just picked it as the phone of the year over the nexus.
http://www.androidcentral.com/2011-android-central-awards-editors-choice-picks
Fact is that the Motoblur, HTC sense, Touchwiz , all are there because AOSP is just plain. Right now, everyone loves ICS because it's different and adds alot of features over froyo. But how happy would you be with stock froyo or gingerbread. That is pretty much what you will get on Nexus, stock. I like HTC sense, Moto and touchwiz. I prefer to have a phone with ICS and sweet touches. What's funny is that the RAZR is getting the nod over the Nexus while it's still on gingerbread with moto. I can only imagine how cool the phone will be on ICS with MOTO and custom roms.
I looked at the nexus, but ebay has them running for $550. That's a $200 premium. If i don't like the RAZR, which i doubt, i can always sell it a few months out and get the Nexus when the sticker shock price comes down. In the meantime, i'll have a phone that is leagues ahead of the charge and it's 200 megs or RAM that keeps crashing on me.
JihadSquad said:
Don't do this. Verizon is expensive but they actually use that money to upgrade their cell sites and make new ones. It is hands-down the best wireless carrier in the US, and in my opinion, worth it unless you spend your whole life in downtown Chicago for example.
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I love Verizon. But $30 bucks is alot cheaper than any other 4g Unlimited plan. Hell, its the same price as what others charge for 2GB data plans.
Verizon could have done an early upgrade for me and got me for another 2 years. I would have sent them $300 for the RAZR and they would have been way better off. It's their fault that are not doing early upgrades. If I were them, i would do early upgrades as soon as i recouped my profit for the phone which is usually less than 6 months of service depending on options. I can tell the employees i've dealt with at verizon wanted to do it for me, they knew holding onto a customer for 2 more years plus paying $300 for a phone they probably got for $300 is the best way to keep customers. Just a big corporate company not allowing it.
With new phone prices without a contract around $500 and upgrade prices for the hot models running $99-250, I was thinking maybe I should shop recent used, i.e. an Incredible 2 or even a Galaxy Nexus or RAZR now that the Maxx is out. So checking eBay and Craigslist, and various forum marketplaces I am seeing that used pricing runs from $100-$300 on the Inc2 to $300-$500 on the Nexus and RAZR.
My son just got an Inc 2 upgrade for free. Why would anyone pay $100-$300 (widely asked) for a free phone? I might pay $50 to play with it. Why would anyone pay $400 for a used Nexus or RAZR when you can upgrade for $199 or $249 (less with a new account). I would pay $100, OK, but why pay more than the upgrade price? I understand the desire to avoid a contract, but seriously you have to get service from somewhere. I can't believe that many of the people selling these things paid full retail, so how can the used prices be more than most people paid in the first place. There can't be that much demand and the supply increases daily.
Please explain.
Some people have just upgraded recently and can't do a new contract before their two years is up without paying a pretty decent fee. It's cheaper to buy the phone from someone else and maybe get rid of their old phone than to pay the price for getting a new contract. Some people here also own multiple devices and switch them out often, so it doesn't really make sense to open a new contract for each phone. Check people's sigs: some members/devs here have four or five devices at a time.
And just in case you don't know why there's a charge for early upgrades, the carriers give you the phones at discount because over a two year contract you will end up paying down the expense they took. If they give you a new phone every six months you have gone through around $2000 worth of devices and they certainly won't make that up just from your monthly bill.
danam said:
With new phone prices without a contract around $500 and upgrade prices for the hot models running $99-250, I was thinking maybe I should shop recent used, i.e. an Incredible 2 or even a Galaxy Nexus or RAZR now that the Maxx is out. So checking eBay and Craigslist, and various forum marketplaces I am seeing that used pricing runs from $100-$300 on the Inc2 to $300-$500 on the Nexus and RAZR.
My son just got an Inc 2 upgrade for free. Why would anyone pay $100-$300 (widely asked) for a free phone? I might pay $50 to play with it. Why would anyone pay $400 for a used Nexus or RAZR when you can upgrade for $199 or $249 (less with a new account). I would pay $100, OK, but why pay more than the upgrade price? I understand the desire to avoid a contract, but seriously you have to get service from somewhere. I can't believe that many of the people selling these things paid full retail, so how can the used prices be more than most people paid in the first place. There can't be that much demand and the supply increases daily.
Please explain.
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It is all in being eligible for an upgrade!!! People who break, drop in toilet, or lose their phone are the ones paying. They had a new phone and liked it. But they broke it and aren't eligible for an upgrade price for another two years. They would have to pay full price. A used phone at $250 is better than paying $500 from the provider since you have no upgrade options.
I like it. My last two upgrades I have made money!!!! I had an original droid. I upgraded to my droid X for $299. $100 rebate brings cost down to $200. Sold for $250 on ebay!!! Old droid would have cost someone $400 from verizon if they weren't eligible for an upgrade. They have the phone they want and saved $150 versus buying a new one from verizon.
85gallon said:
I like it. My last two upgrades I have made money!!!! I had an original droid. I upgraded to my droid X for $299. $100 rebate brings cost down to $200. Sold for $250 on ebay!!! Old droid would have cost someone $400 from verizon if they weren't eligible for an upgrade. They have the phone they want and saved $150 versus buying a new one from verizon.
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I understand why it works for the seller . But this sort of presumes that more people are dropping phones in toilets than are buying new phones and retiring old ones, and I am not sure that can be so. Alternatively, it assumes that a real lot of people want to upgrade in less than two years and are willing to pay hundreds for the privilege; and I am not sure that can be so either.
I guess that I am cheap. But if I am entitled to pay, say, $199 in 3-6 months I am not paying more now for used equipment.
Some carriers give a cheaper monthly rate if you own your phone. I always buy phones outright either new or used and save money overall.
Sent from HTC G2
Crashdamage said:
Some carriers give a cheaper monthly rate if you own your phone. I always buy phones outright either new or used and save money overall.
Sent from HTC G2
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nothing is free.
My phone cost me £120 new which came with a PAYG sim.
My contract sim only is £13 a month.
I could have got the same phone on contract for £35 a month.
So I would be paying an extra £22 a month on a 18 month contract, after 5-6 months I would have been payiing more for the phone and be out of pocket. The contracts where the phones seem free have you paying for the phone monthly instead.
danam said:
I guess that I am cheap. But if I am entitled to pay, say, $199 in 3-6 months I am not paying more now for used equipment.
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What are you going to do? Pay $50 on a throw away so you have a phone for the next 3-6 months or just go without a phone for that time?
Also, a lot of people don't realize that their old cell phones are worth something. They throw them in a drawer or the garbage or they recycle them so they can feel good. I hope they never find out!!
I will be getting a free RAZR in a few months!!! After rebates and ebay of course!!
I was actually digging through some old stuff a few months ago and I ran across an old Moto Z6TV that I forgot to put up on ebay when I retired it years ago. I put it up on ebay and got $40 for it. I think it was3 or 4 phones ago. And I let the prospective buyers know it would be needing a battery soon in the auction listing.
Peeps need them for something. Maybe they know something I don't and are stocking up for the Zombie apocalypse. Who knows. I don't care as long as they are buying!!
Not everybody wants a contract. You can get a contract and pay $1k-$2k over the course of 2 years for a "free" phone or you can get a significantly cheaper pay as you go service and pay $200 for an unlocked phone.
I do business on CL all the time. This time of year is notorious for high-priced phones. If you wait until spring and summer really hits, phones will be available left and right.
Usually CDMA phones are cheaper as well, so if you look around daily, you'll find a good deal.
Sent from my 2ghz Impulse 4G
Depends on the financial status of the person to go for used phone or a new contract phone
In the past two years I've gone through 5 android phones and saved a ton of money giving the phones down to my wife and mom and never have to sign a new contract. Currently my wife has an Iphone, my mom a nexus s 4g, and I traded my android phone for an Iphone 4s...I'm going to sell that 4s and get a white Epic 4G Touch for 350 tonight, the Iphone should sell for a decent amount, I'm not out to gouge anyone but the Iphone holds value well (I hated the iPhone or I'd keep it but I miss android)
Well let me explain how it makes sense. Here's my actual history:
Buy an HTC Touch Diamond for $125 close to when it came out on some weird contract thing.
Sold Diamond for $200, bought iPhone 3G when moved to tmobile for $250, did a few other deals in between, but ended up trading the iPhone 3G for an HD2 when HD2 came out on tmobile. Sold HD2 for $250 a couple months ago, and moved to ATT and got a Galaxy Note on Contract (thru a friend $10 add a line) for $300 (soon to be $150 back for the promo), for all the deals I did between there I probably netted a few hundred dollar profit, bought and sold tablets as well (used most of them, I'm not trying to be a businessman here). You get to try out a bunch of devices this way.
If you take care of them, the resale is worth the original purchase. If you bought a Galaxy Nexus unlocked for $650 like 6 months ago, you could probably sell it RIGHT NOW for $650 easy if you took damn good care of it.
It's just how it works, you're not really out that much money if you're smart about how you do it, I've dropped $400 on devices and stuff and used/resold etc...
I agree with the general idea of the thread, some used phones are too much IMO.
There is a reason people are paying the used phone prices and I'm willing to bet they checked their options before dishing out a few hundred dollars.
We all get that most providers essentially mortgage you a device through your plan but if you don't fall under their qualifications to upgrade then your about to realize how much these little gadgets actually retail for. If you can upgrade through your provider that's your best bet. If not the used market is probably your go to option.
Sent from my Galaxy S2
eplote was
Taking into account that most phones are essentially a computer in your pocket, the used prices should reflect upon the age of the tech, total use time and who the owner was.
In the IT industry, hardware drops in value quite rapidly due to new gear coming out.
If the handset is a current model of it's class, then expect a premium price.
As for iDrones, they are like the fashion industry, you pay for a label and a social status as an iPhollower.
/Rant over
Crikey
If that makes no sense to you go take a look what people are paying for "used" Iphones.
for what its worth, used galaxy ace's were been sold for more then I paid for mine brand new.
from what I can see on ebay people usually only take 10-20% of the price of a new phone unless there is obvious damage. if you find a retail phone with a discount it will be less than used on ebay.
Most people charge too much for their used phones yet people due to contract issues buy them^^
My personal experience is that if you try to find a used phone on the E bay the price has no sense, but if you look in a local site of vacancies you can find good occasions, expecially if you make an offer that is lower of the asked price.
heres how i got my amaze, i bought it broken. honestly, as long as it turns on, im happy, i do customer service for t-mobile but i have at&t only because i have been with them since they were cingular. anyways, dont want to get off topic at hand, i can repair anything. my amaze had went through a joy ride through a dryer. and i still payed 250.00, then i had to get a digitizer/LCD, then a back, then a battery, but i still came out cheaper then retail price. i get laughed at on the smoke deck at work because of my phone but as the month went on it got nicer and nicer then a new trainee said when did you get your new phone? lol i build it...really. i got my inspire with a cracked screen the only phone i have that NOT damaged is my infuse lol
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.
At the moment I've been using a Droid 3 on ATT to avoid attaching a $30 a month data plan. I like the notion of getting $10 a month unlimited data, but haven't done so yet. I got the droid for super cheap and, although it's kind of a nice phone, would be interested in a better phone running a more modern version of android (4.0+ on a droid 3 breaks the camera) that doesn't require data on ATT. Does anybody have any suggestions? My price range is around $200 since I could probably get $100 for the D3 unlocked.
I've looked at phones like the S2-T989 (which I THINK isn't registered to ATTs network), but I just want a more responsive phone with at least a gig of ram.