Let's talk phones

[AZ Hunter]

So here's what im faced with. I have a Samsung Reality and I am not eligible for upgrade with discount until April 2012. My wife, the secondary line, has a Samsung Rogue. She is eligible for upgrade August 2011. We are both itching to get a smartphone. Does anyone know of anyway I can get a smartphone on my line around the same time she does without having to pay full retail price for a phone?? Anyone have experioence with Verizon when it comes to this?? Do you guys think Verizon will let me upgrade to a smartphone a earlier than the April date??

 

[96firephoenix]

pretty sure you have to wait until your upgrade comes up. I'd recommend the Iphone, simply because of the ones I've tried, its the most user-friendly.
Droid likes to tout the fact that it will allow more than one app to run at the same time, but doesn't warn you that doing so will crash 9/10 of the droid phones out there. the Iphone doesn't let more than one app run, and it never crashes due to CPU overload.
I've got friends with both, and the ones with droids constantly ***** about every aspect except the fact that its not an apple product. The ones with Iphones enjoy them thoroughly.

 

[Booya]

not likely they'll let you. The phone company actually loses a substantial amount of money on the phones when they hand them over at a big discount. Hence the 36 month contract, they have to be sure you'll be a paying customer long enough to recoup the loss on the phone. The easiest way to get a new phone without messing with your contract is to get one privately (eBay or something like that), however you will be paying very close to full retail, only you won't be adjusting your contract.

So if you really want it now, buy it privately, pay whatever price you can handle for the phone you want, then when it's time to upgrade you can sell the current phone or do the upgrade and sell the new phone to recoup your earlier expenditure. Keeping in mind that when you can upgrade, let's say iPhone 5, in Aug of 2012, you'll very likely and very easily be able to sell the phone you just bought for $200 for between $600-$700 on line. If you play your cards right you can actually do this more then once and make some $$ doing it. I've done it several times

 

[AZ Hunter]

What's the latest on the Iphone5? The new IOS 5 was rolled out or is being rolled out right? My wife is considering a Droid. Im thinking the best plan would be to get the Iphone with her upgrade. Activate it on her phone then deactivate it. Give her Iphone to me and pay full retail for the Droid she wants. Might save a little money over me buying the Iphone full retail....

 

[Roadie]

pretty sure you have to wait until your upgrade comes up. I'd recommend the Iphone, simply because of the ones I've tried, its the most user-friendly.
Droid likes to tout the fact that it will allow more than one app to run at the same time, but doesn't warn you that doing so will crash 9/10 of the droid phones out there. the Iphone doesn't let more than one app run, and it never crashes due to CPU overload.
I've got friends with both, and the ones with droids constantly ***** about every aspect except the fact that its not an apple product. The ones with Iphones enjoy them thoroughly.

Funny, my experience with Droid owners is that they(and I) love them.

To the OP, go with the iPhone if you like proprietary hardware with non-upgradeable/replaceable memory and battery. If your battery fails you have to take it into an Applestore and they mail it off, and you wait for the factory to replace it, and mail it back..

Oh yeah, and proprietary software that isn't modifiable, with over priced apps.

Either way check with places like Best Buy and WalMart that do their own upgrades and you might actually be able to get a replacement cheaper than through your provider..

 

[Cru]

Depending on how bad you want it, you COULD add another line to your bill assuming you have a family plan, netting you the new smart phone and only adding an extra $10 bucks to your phone bill per month, then let the old one drop off in april, but that’s only if you REALLY want a new phone.

 

[THard6]

me, and 4 other people that work for our company "Carry" the Droid X.. and i have very few complaints about this phone. once you get the hang of it.. you can do anything! check into it and do some research.. good luck to you and the wife on your search!

 

[Benny]

eBay | Electronics, Cars, Clothing, Collectibles and More Online Shopping

 

[mizzi]

iphone 5 would have been scheduled for december '11, but as things have been from apple recently, there are already rumors of pushing it back.

I would wait for the iphone 5 anyway, if you can't wait, get the iphone 4. you'll love it until the 5 comes out, then think "why didn't i wait?"

 

[superjoe76]

I would wait for the iphone 5 anyway, if you can't wait, get the iphone 4. you'll love it until the 5 comes out, then think "why didn't i wait?"

Thats the dilemma I am in. I have been patiently waiting since the iPhone came to Verizon until my August upgrade date. Now I may have to wait again.

Go figure!

 

[dubsac]

I am a customer through AT&T and found out that best buy will buy back old Iphones, I recently found that they will give me $140.00 for my 32gb 3g so I can put that money towards the new Iphone 4. And when the I phone 5 comes out Ill be doing the same thing as longs as it has that bada** camera everyone speaks of.

 

[gunman41mag]

So here's what im faced with. I have a Samsung Reality and I am not eligible for upgrade with discount until April 2012. My wife, the secondary line, has a Samsung Rogue. She is eligible for upgrade August 2011. We are both itching to get a smartphone. Does anyone know of anyway I can get a smartphone on my line around the same time she does without having to pay full retail price for a phone?? Anyone have experioence with Verizon when it comes to this?? Do you guys think Verizon will let me upgrade to a smartphone a earlier than the April date??

E-BAY, buy a verizon smart phone cheap, I've done that before

 

[snapping turtle]

If you can carry two devices you could get a tablet/netbook and pay the surcharge for data per megabyte. That would get you by until the package plan is over. Most of the time if you get a new contract they will just extend you with of course the extra fee for the data plan. With 4g in Indy now that may make sense.

I currently use a casio boulder phone (old but very tough and the second phone to outlast the contract the first was a razor phone) and a ipod touch. I am almost always under wifi hotspots but offen times wish it has 3g/4g service. Last deer season I could not find my phone after a whole day in the stand. I found it in my coffee cup in about 1 2/3 inches of cold coffee. I picked it up wiped it off and called home. I bet your smart phone is not going to do that.

The ipad would give me a better option to get coverage on 3g/4g when hotspots are unavailable. It would also be a good back up web broswer at home over the touch. Easier to use than a iphone for most applications but you would need a man purse or backack/breifcase for haul it around.

Lpts of people love the smartphone. I myself like a rugged phone for work/hunting and fishing ect. Add the second device for non home use browsing/email/entertainment and I would be set. Now if apple would come out with a 7 inch Ipad instead of the 10 inch version. You might look into the tablet relm if you can handel the larger size.

Add a skype account and the IPAD becomes a phone anyway,

 

[Boiled Owl]

Crunched my blackberry in November. Got the Samsung fascinate. I had been waiting and waiting for Verizon to get the iphone which came in January. I'm an apple guy. The samsung goes out it's way to NOT be apple friendly. When one of the other lines comes up for upgrade, I'm getting the iphone.

All that being said the fascinate is a decent phone and the andriod system works well. Just not friendly with my apple 'puters.

 

[AZ Hunter]

All very good info guys! I guess im not totally sold on the Iphone but just trying to figure out how to get a smartphone earlier without spending 600 bones. I have been looking at ebay so thanks for that piece of advice. I will also look at Bestbuy if they really do sell referbs. I have also heard a lot of good things about the Droid too. This new 4g one that launched recently Droid Charge, seems to be getting great reviews. The tablet idea is one to consider. Our plan only includes a $10 data plan which we are grandfathered in so we get unlimited data with on $10 extra a month. I realize our plan will go up $40 ($20 per line since we are already paying for the $10 plan). Maybe I get a tablet with 3/4g connection and keep my old phone. Or even decrease to just a basic call/text phone. hmmmmm I will say it would be nice to have a phone that surfs and has time consuming apps while in stand, but not be so big that it would be hard to put away when Mr. Bucky comes walking by. I can see it now, hands shaking and the tablet takes a quick trip to the ground!

Heck, maybe i sell my laptop and just go the ipad route. Im sure my laptop would get little to no use if I have an Ipad or something similar. Anyone know of pricing on say an Ipad with 3g service? Verizon is saying they are $650 with month to month service?!?!

 

[Avi8tor]

Just take your wifes upgrade. When the phone comes, transfer it over to your phone line. That is what I did and I am also with Verizon. I chose the iPhone and am completely happy with it(it is also my first smartphone). If you do go with the iPhone it would be delivered to you with your wifes number already programmed in. Nice thing is, the iphone even comes with instructions on how to transfer the phone from your wifes phone number to yours. I don't stay up on cellphones that much but I was also hesitant on getting the iPhone 4 thinking that the 5 was gonna come out this summer and heard that at Apples summer convention thing they held, the iPhone 5 was not mentioned and that they don't expect it until 2012. With the upgrade it was only $160 and I think it was $160 well spent. I would never want to go back to a regular flip phone.

 

[jlowrance]

Primary line might be eligible for a 1 year upgrade, depending on if they grandfather your contract . I believe all other lines aren't eligible until month 20 of a 2 year contract . Gone are all new 1 year contacts and 1 year upgrades . There is also rumor that next month unlimited 3 and 4g data plans go away.

 

[SideArmed]

Not sure about how the upgrade situation would be, but I can give you my impression of the HTC Inspire (running Droid 2.2) I got when they came out. I had my aprehensions about it since it had only been released about 3 days before I got mine, so there was the whole "never buy the first run of something" fear in me. But it is basically the same phone as the HTC EVO on sprint, so I went with it.

I love the thing, it runs like a champ, and yes multiple apps at the same time with out crashing. My girlfriend has an Iphone 4 and she is always asking me to use my phone for stuff. I don't know how she can see anything on the tiny screen on her phone anyway. As far as apps go, there may not be as many available as for the Iphone, but I have not run into an instance where I haven't been able to find an app that I have been looking for.

The biggest plus for me is that I am not tied to Apple or Itunes in anyway. Having never owned an iApple product, I didn't want to start this late in the game.

 

[CountryBoy19]

pretty sure you have to wait until your upgrade comes up. I'd recommend the Iphone, simply because of the ones I've tried, its the most user-friendly.
Droid likes to tout the fact that it will allow more than one app to run at the same time, but doesn't warn you that doing so will crash 9/10 of the droid phones out there. the Iphone doesn't let more than one app run, and it never crashes due to CPU overload.
I've got friends with both, and the ones with droids constantly ***** about every aspect except the fact that its not an apple product. The ones with Iphones enjoy them thoroughly.

I disagree... My wife is always running more than one app on her droid and very, very rarely does it crash anything and when it does crash something it's not the phone, it only crashes the app that you started first.

 

[Roadie]

All very good info guys! I guess im not totally sold on the Iphone but just trying to figure out how to get a smartphone earlier without spending 600 bones. I have been looking at ebay so thanks for that piece of advice. I will also look at Bestbuy if they really do sell referbs. I have also heard a lot of good things about the Droid too. This new 4g one that launched recently Droid Charge, seems to be getting great reviews. The tablet idea is one to consider. Our plan only includes a $10 data plan which we are grandfathered in so we get unlimited data with on $10 extra a month. I realize our plan will go up $40 ($20 per line since we are already paying for the $10 plan). Maybe I get a tablet with 3/4g connection and keep my old phone. Or even decrease to just a basic call/text phone. hmmmmm I will say it would be nice to have a phone that surfs and has time consuming apps while in stand, but not be so big that it would be hard to put away when Mr. Bucky comes walking by. I can see it now, hands shaking and the tablet takes a quick trip to the ground!

Heck, maybe i sell my laptop and just go the ipad route. Im sure my laptop would get little to no use if I have an Ipad or something similar. Anyone know of pricing on say an Ipad with 3g service? Verizon is saying they are $650 with month to month service?!?!

The Galaxy Android Tablet might be what you are looking for then. It is a 7inch model, so it's easier to hide

Oh, and it is $199, maybe less if you use your wife's upgrade..