iPhone syndrome

MaxBurn

Storage Is My Life
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Messages
3,245
Location
SC
I have no comment on Verizon's iphone experience, though I understand that it's even more expensive than AT&T's.

I just ran the numbers figuring in my company discount. Verizon both starts higher and has a significantly lower discount, it's quite a difference. Additionally verizons daily prepaid option doesn't appear to have a smartphone option according to their site, may ask in store.

spreadsheet.png
 

Handruin

Administrator
Joined
Jan 13, 2002
Messages
13,926
Location
USA
I'm at a crossroads here. My contract is up in December. A smart phone would be cool. I like tethering with the Nokia, like the 10 dollar plan that is discontinued, even though it's throttled if you use it much(T mobile).

My question is:
Is it really worth the prices these companies charge for an unlimited data plan, smart phone?

I've used the feature once or twice where I was on the road, and, I actually managed to sign up for work I would not have had, thanks to being able to get on the net on my phone.
Irony is, if I'd called the guy, or emailed, he would have given me the work.

So, my general feeling is getting to I want a minimum cost cell phone, use google Voice for calls from home, free, and F.... these companies, their plans, and, what to me looks like price fixing monopolies.

Come on, 70-80 bucks for a phone, per month, tied in for two years, with a phone that will be trashed in 6-12 months?

I liked TMobile, since I could upgrade my phone by moving the chip. Worked once, sucked once, since the phone I bought had a bunch of proprietary software on it from Verizon.

I'm even looking at buying a pay first cheapy.

Comments, thoughts?

Tmobile has been calling me for a couple days, trying to rig me up with a great deal on something, to extend my contract.

I recently had my phone minutes go over 500, because I was renting out a room.
Cost me an additional 20 bucks. When I first signed up for the service, you could call in,
up your plan to 1000, no problem. Now, (AT&T looming in the background) you can only do that with a new, two year contract. I went ballistic, and, they removed the 20 dollar
fee, but, I don't really know where to go.

I like the SIM cards, allowing new phones. But, that leaves only AT&T, and, their new bitch, TMobile. I wonder if I can live without a phone...? And google voice.?

The value is really in the eye of the beholder. Lots of people (myself included) pay those prices, so it's worth it to us in some ways. The better question would be, are the prices more expensive than they should be, and I think the answer is yes. Most places have dropped, or will soon drop the unlimited data plans. I'm currently grandfathered into mine at AT&T, but in reality, I don't use more than 700-800MB per month.

Paying for this type of smart phone is also one of those situations where the phone helps to facilitate the usage of internet-based items. If you have a cheapo phone that has limited capabilities or even if it has capabilities and they are poorly implemented...you won't want to use them because they are a pain. Ergo, you won't use internet bandwidth which in turn will lead you to say the prices aren't worth the experience.

My experience with a smart phone over the past 2+ years has been positive. The phone has been very helpful for my work and personal life. Traveling with this type of phone has really just offered myself a level of convenience that I'm willing to pay the cost of.

If you are unsure about moving forward with a smart phone, why don't you try one for the 30 days that most cell companies offer. If you don't like it, return it and go back to a basic phone. You may also want to look into Sprint because I think they might offer the most features for the cost. That is, assuming the coverage in your area meets your needs. As for which phone/platform to try...that debate could go on for months.
 

Handruin

Administrator
Joined
Jan 13, 2002
Messages
13,926
Location
USA
I just ran the numbers figuring in my company discount. Verizon both starts higher and has a significantly lower discount, it's quite a difference. Additionally verizons daily prepaid option doesn't appear to have a smartphone option according to their site, may ask in store.

spreadsheet.png

My company also has a much lower discount for Verizon when compared to AT&T. The $178 difference between them for the first year is a lot. The question becomes is the coverage and performance quality worth that cost. I cannot say since I've not owned a smartphone on Verizon's network.
 

MaxBurn

Storage Is My Life
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Messages
3,245
Location
SC
Is it $356.60 better? Have to look at two years as that's the contract. Just thought it was interesting to throw in the first year to understand ETF.

IF I stand by a window at home my phone works fine but I have three bars maximum and nothing in the kitchen with ATT.

Verizons about full signal at home but they have the classic verizon problem where the phone doesn't ring, just sits there full signal and collects messages. This on the last four company blackberrys I have had over about five years. But in the hills surrounding san fran when I lived there 99-02 the verizon kicked the crap out of nextel and att, my work mates were always borrowing my phone because they had no signal. That formed a large part of my opinion plus recently I had a problem in O'Hare where ATT was useless for about three hours with no voice or data and I really needed to do some flight changes after cancellations, no problem on verizon.

On the go phone plan I feel I get what I pay for with ATT, but I don't think I want to pay more for the same coverage and be locked in with a contract. Plus it really irks me about this merger, I don't want to reward that behavior.
 

Handruin

Administrator
Joined
Jan 13, 2002
Messages
13,926
Location
USA
You're right, and I know it would make more sense over two years, but I was just trying to look at it per year.

We would also lose the ability to talk and use the internet at the same time with Verizon. That's been useful for me on many occasions, especially on concalls.

In the case of the first prepaid option you listed, would it be cheaper to do the 2-year contract and get the phone at $299, break the contract and pay the $350 ETF, and then go back to prepaid? Now you're at $650 for the phone rather than $750.
 

MaxBurn

Storage Is My Life
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Messages
3,245
Location
SC
Something else to consider that only pertains to iPhone in general, buying from apple and paying full price gets you an unlocked phone now. That can add an extra hundred or two to resale value, and iPhones already have an excellent resale. AT&T won't unlock iPhones ever, unlike about every other phone they sell. As the next one is rumored to be a world phone that you could, in theory, move between AT&T and Verizon this could potentially be a big deal for us here in the US.

I have no idea how good sprints coverage is nation wide, but I certainly don't think the big players will react at all.
 

Howell

Storage? I am Storage!
Joined
Feb 24, 2003
Messages
4,740
Location
Chattanooga, TN
We would also lose the ability to talk and use the internet at the same time with Verizon. That's been useful for me on many occasions, especially on concalls.

I don't really have a choice as AT&T simply doesn't get reception where I need it to but the limitation you mention is a real drawback I have to deal with.
 

time

Storage? I am Storage!
Joined
Jan 18, 2002
Messages
4,932
Location
Brisbane, Oz
That can add an extra hundred or two to resale value, and iPhones already have an excellent resale.

Really? I didn't think any phone had useful value after two years. So you're saying that you might get $300 instead of $100 for a 2-year old iPhone?

Hmmm, based on eBay listings, perhaps you might! Not a day does past when there's not yet another example of people's stupidity. The battery will be half dead for starters.
 

Howell

Storage? I am Storage!
Joined
Feb 24, 2003
Messages
4,740
Location
Chattanooga, TN
The battery can be replaced without much difficulty. Especially attractive if the warranty has already run out.
 

Handruin

Administrator
Joined
Jan 13, 2002
Messages
13,926
Location
USA
It is interesting to see the variety of reactions all through the media, tech sites, and social media areas. I do remember from earlier rumors that this new release would be an incremental upgrade. Somewhere alone the timeline that shifted to a full new release (version 5), and then to a multi-release of two separate phones.

What's interesting is that this release of the iPhone 4S is much on par with the prior incremental release of the 3GS. The 3GS looked pretty much indistinguishable from the 3G except for the exterior model number marking. I don't remember quite the amount of satire regarding people being upset that they couldn't distinguish their new version from the prior version. Nor do I remember people being so disappointed with the release.

Perhaps this time around the competition has caught up and in cases exceeded Apple's offering and expectation really pushed people's imagination into hoping for a version 5. Lets say for the sake of an argument that they changed the case style and slapped a version 5 on it. What else should they have added to make it a worthy successor? Some reports I read suggest that people wanted a larger screen (4"). Other reports suggested a real 4G offering (LTE). These things will likely be seen next spring or summer time which really isn't that far away.

Now aside from the hardware, it's worth mentioning that the software component was also changed (what seems like) quite a lot (and much needed). The inclusion of over-the-air updates is not a new thing to smart phones, but it's a surprising and welcomed change from Apple. This will mean I can even distance myself further from iTunes (and so can others).

Knowing that Apple will release their iOS5 update to my 3GS, I'm debating waiting a while in considering a new phone. If the performance and battery life aren't horrible after the update, I may just sit back and wait a while longer while I research which phone option is best for the money.
 

MaxBurn

Storage Is My Life
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Messages
3,245
Location
SC
Handruin, do you have your shsh backed up? So that you can go back to 4.3.3 or 4.3.5 for example if you don't like ios5 on your 3gs? If not do it soon to keep that option open. Way I understand it you also need to keep an old copy of itunes too now.

I want to know how much money case manufacturers lost going into production for the teardrop phone design leaks. That's crazy.

The multiple phone rumors were true but not in the way they thought with a 5. Think about it, the 3gs was released June 2009. As of that announcement it will be in production for another year likely and has seen what, two major overhauls of the OS it runs and dozens of point updates that carried new features too? That is a super long life with supported patches and features added, for free. 3gs owners should be really happy with all this.

On android you have all the different versions of android itself, manufacturer versions and carrier modifications. That's two additional levels added in by people that don't care about updates at all. Will your android device ever be updated? Maybe eventually it could but it certainly won't be on release day like apple devices. HTC has a huge security problem with about all their android phones right now, no response as yet that I have heard. It's a pretty large leak in personal info from what I understand.
 

Sol

Storage is cool
Joined
Feb 10, 2002
Messages
960
Location
Cardiff (Wales)
I think the 3GS was a slightly bigger step than this in that it crossed more thresholds. While the 3G wasn't insanely slow it also wasn't, by Apples estimate, fast enough for multitasking. Both iPhone S' have got upgraded cameras but for the 3GS that meant it could now do video, the 4S should gain low light and speed improvements but no new features. Both upgrades are pretty similar in terms of technological improvements but the 3GS added more features which were obviously missing. My mother has a 3GS, mostly because of the video capabilities. I can't see any feature of the 4S which would compel her to get that instead of a 4 if she were getting one now. (And actually she'd more than likely end up with a Galaxy S II or something instead)

I think the disappointment with the iPhone 4S is that it's the first iPhone that doesn't fit in to the sentence "This is the first iPhone with <insert feature here>" unless you count Siri, and no one knows how well that will work, if there is any justification for it being 4S exclusive, or even if it definitely will be.
 

MaxBurn

Storage Is My Life
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Messages
3,245
Location
SC
App developers really liked the 3gs because it doubled the memory in the device but the OS still took the same memory footprint. This wound up tripling or more the memory that was available for apps. Memory alone appeared to be the multitasking decision killer there I think.

The 4s can do 1080p motion compensated video, the 4 only does 720p. Now with the 4s f2.4 and a more sensitive sensor should get it better low light. If you are looking at video that puts the 4s well above the 4 imo. I have no idea but I would also assume some android device somewhere has or will have soon a better camera than even that.

Sprint added to the picture as a low cost option piqued my interest but unfortunately I'm not seeing it. Instead it seems they are trying to be the only player in the game for heavy data users with no options for light users.

plans.png
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
Joined
Jan 17, 2002
Messages
22,275
Location
I am omnipresent
Sprint is the only player in the US market that still offers uncapped data plans for mobile phones. iThing users are known as notorious data hogs. There should be some pretty obvious overlap in interests there from the consumer perspective.
 

Handruin

Administrator
Joined
Jan 13, 2002
Messages
13,926
Location
USA
I'd leave my data plans uncapped also if I knew my customers didn't get a good enough signal to make use of it anyway.
 

ddrueding

Fixture
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Messages
19,728
Location
Horsens, Denmark
My Sprint Overdrive Pro was able to maintain at least 3G service all the way from San Francisco to Los Angeles streaming Pandora and Google Maps the whole way. Not that I don't have service issues elsewhere, but the last place I had issues Verizon and ATT were down as well.
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
Joined
Jan 17, 2002
Messages
22,275
Location
I am omnipresent
Out of curiosity as much as anything else, I listened to WBEZ.org's webcast on my phone on my last trip home from Knoxville to Northwest Indiana. The only place I lost my connection was in a long tunnel just east of Louisville on I64.
 

Santilli

Hairy Aussie
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,278
I've been considering a barebones phone setup, and an ipad.

Isn't it just 15 bucks a month for service from AT&T once you buy the ipad?

I'm after a phone that does streaming video, Adobe Flash, and is a phone.

Seems to me those cost about 600 dollars, don't usually do all the things I want,
and come with a Sprint data plan at about 70-90 a month.

Seems like a low cost phone, and a ipad might be a better setup?
 

Santilli

Hairy Aussie
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,278
DD:
What's the plan cost with the overdrive Pro?

Found the device, but, Sprint seems to be hiding the cost per month, contract, etc.

link?
 

mubs

Storage? I am Storage!
Joined
Nov 22, 2002
Messages
4,908
Location
Somewhere in time.
Out of curiosity as much as anything else, I listened to WBEZ.org's webcast on my phone on my last trip home from Knoxville to Northwest Indiana. The only place I lost my connection was in a long tunnel just east of Louisville on I64.
You actually traveled? Noooooooooo!
 

Clocker

Storage? I am Storage!
Joined
Jan 14, 2002
Messages
3,554
Location
USA
That reminds me: I need to move my phone back to Cyanogenmod.

Just installed 7.1 on my HTC Incredible. It is fantastic. ROM Manager kicks butt too. So easy to try a different ROM even while I am working.

I think all the carriers have much better than their normal coverage along the freeways...it's easy to get cell towers in those areas.
 

ddrueding

Fixture
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Messages
19,728
Location
Horsens, Denmark
Someone on the CM forums managed to root my Nextel i1. If they can get CM working on it I would be willing to contribute some cash. The thing is still running Android 1.5 for crying out loud.
 

ddrueding

Fixture
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Messages
19,728
Location
Horsens, Denmark
Nextel is still huge in the construction industry. These guys just got the old Motorola radios removed from their trucks, and they need to preserve the ability to shout obscenities into your phone at inopportune moments.
 

Santilli

Hairy Aussie
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,278
Maxburn:
Thanks.

I didn't realize it was capped. Kind of kills the entire idea. I was thinking of using Skype on the ipad, or trying it. Also thought the ipads did streaming video, using Flash?

Anyway to hook a phone up to an ipad? Is that a good idea with the data cap?

I was also wondering if you could tether from a phone to the ipad?

Nokia makes it easy on the pc side...
 

Stereodude

Not really a
Joined
Jan 22, 2002
Messages
10,865
Location
Michigan
Nextel is still huge in the construction industry. These guys just got the old Motorola radios removed from their trucks, and they need to preserve the ability to shout obscenities into your phone at inopportune moments.
Doesn't Verizon offer Push to Talk on some of their phones?
 

Handruin

Administrator
Joined
Jan 13, 2002
Messages
13,926
Location
USA
I've been trying to upgrade to iOS 5 today and it continues to fail with an unknown error (3200). Seems like lots of people are getting this error.
 

MaxBurn

Storage Is My Life
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Messages
3,245
Location
SC
Maxburn:
Thanks.

I didn't realize it was capped. Kind of kills the entire idea. I was thinking of using Skype on the ipad, or trying it. Also thought the ipads did streaming video, using Flash?

Anyway to hook a phone up to an ipad? Is that a good idea with the data cap?

I was also wondering if you could tether from a phone to the ipad?

Nokia makes it easy on the pc side...

There isn't any carrier out there that gives you unlimited data besides sprint that I know of (US carriers anyway). Sprint is CDMA, no ipads on sprint yet but I'm sure it's a matter of time now that the 4s is on sprint.

Maybe you could look at one of those little broadband boxes that connects to the network and offers up wifi? I think they have some decent data plans too.

If your phone does tethering via wifi you are all set. There are other options for tethering an ipad if you jailbreak including bluetooth and usb.

2gb is quite a bit of data. If you somehow use more than that you can always buy more.

Apple mobile products don't do flash, period. They do HTML5 video and about everyone that matters has it now. For flash videos (only) in webpages there is skyfire. For flash web pages on ipad there is iswifter. There are some others but this is all I used, and it is rare I need them.
 

MaxBurn

Storage Is My Life
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Messages
3,245
Location
SC
I've been trying to upgrade to iOS 5 today and it continues to fail with an unknown error (3200). Seems like lots of people are getting this error.

Me too. Servers must be slammed, worked the second time around for me.
 
Top