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Should I buy an iPhone? SHOULD I?!
Evil Multifarious
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Yeah, another one of these threads.
Currently, I'm paying ~50 dollars a month for my crappy cellphone with Rogers. I want to get a phone with a data plan so I can get nearly universal internet access, because I'm one of those people.
I'm eligible for a hardware upgrade, which means I can get a discount off a better piece of hardware to replace my crappy cell phone.
Of course, what I would like to have most is a shiny new iPhone. But this is an expensive proposition.
Now, I make pretty good money right now ($48 000 a year) - but my hours and pay are being dropped a bit because I'm moving to a new contract. Instead of taking home $2000 gross per paycheck, it will be about $1200. And most importantly, this job finishes in August. Obviously I'll have to find a job to pay my rent and like, eat, but who knows how well it will pay?
So I end with two questions:
1) How dumb would it be to buy an iPhone?
2) If I really want that internet access, is there a decent option (blackberry/smartphone etc) that would significantly lower the cost without sacrificing quality of interface too much?
Currently, I'm paying ~50 dollars a month for my crappy cellphone with Rogers. I want to get a phone with a data plan so I can get nearly universal internet access, because I'm one of those people.
I'm eligible for a hardware upgrade, which means I can get a discount off a better piece of hardware to replace my crappy cell phone.
Of course, what I would like to have most is a shiny new iPhone. But this is an expensive proposition.
- I would have to pay $275 for the phone up front.
- I would have to pay $82 a month for a phone plan with a 1 gig per month data plan and caller ID/call display/etc, as well as a hefty load of free text messages (2500 sent). This includes access fees and emergency fees, etc.
- I would have to pay a $35 activation fee (making the up front cost a sweaty, trembling $310).
Now, I make pretty good money right now ($48 000 a year) - but my hours and pay are being dropped a bit because I'm moving to a new contract. Instead of taking home $2000 gross per paycheck, it will be about $1200. And most importantly, this job finishes in August. Obviously I'll have to find a job to pay my rent and like, eat, but who knows how well it will pay?
So I end with two questions:
1) How dumb would it be to buy an iPhone?
2) If I really want that internet access, is there a decent option (blackberry/smartphone etc) that would significantly lower the cost without sacrificing quality of interface too much?
Evil Multifarious on
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It is due for a hardware update in June.
alright this is important information.
Regardless, if you want smartphone style internet capabilities, you're going to end up having to pay a good amount for it.
I'm waiting to see what the iPhone updates are in June before buying my next phone (my contract is up right now). I'm a little disappointed that the new Blackberry Curve isn't 3G so that has pushed me a bit more in the iPhone direction.
really the issue is that my phone is so bad it has input lag on the buttons, and if i'm getting a new one, it might as well be awesome.
Here is what I'm talking about:
http://www.t-mobileg1.com/
As a general rule, when Apple updates hardware the price does not go up. Sometimes it actually goes down. The new iPhone should be a significant improvement over the current one if the rumors pan out. It's very likely that you'll at least be looking at the addition of a video camera and increased memory and speed. It's worth waiting until June, for sure.
Activation fee is just another way to gouge customers. It's supposedly to pay for the costs and effort of putting another phone on the network.
As for the phone cost, it's because i'm only halfway done my current contract.
I was able to get a free blackberry from Rogers by renewing my 3-year contract only halfway in. Maybe try bargaining with these people...
They are offering 199 for the 8GB to new 3 year contracts and 299 for the 16GB... Did you insult the sales reps mother before asking about this upgrade or something?
Call back and talk to someone else. There should be no activation fee because you are already a customer (fuck that explanation you just gave, fuck it) and you should be getting a better deal. Just tell them you are unhappy with your current phone and you want an upgrade.. not $25 off the phone.. that's retarded.
At this point, it'd be cheaper to fucking buy out your contract and go with another provider. Mention that.
They've been using up the inventory they have, so that may not even be an option.
What mobile web browser does support Flash? Android's web browser doesn't afaik.
A second-hand one would be fairly easy to pick up after the new handset is launched and it's fairly easy to set them up with a new contract, at least in the UK through O2 it is anyway. I guess they acknowledged that when the G3 phone was launched a lot of people would upgrade from their Edge handsets and so were prepared to pick up the contract market for second-hand iPhones.
im pretty sure its 500mb data limit
and unlimited texting
im pretty sure it comes with my 5 as well
the problem is rogers doesnt openly advertise this
my roomates and some of my friends have an iphone and this is the plan they use
you can goto futureshop, and since they dont have to upsell you on anything so can tell you the best deal
I used to get $25 for every person I locked into a Bell DSL contract.
if this is true, I would really enjoy it.
but I have to confirm that it exists, in Ontario, Canada, and that it isn't a garbage plan.
Yeah, it doesn't really make much sense to me either. The way he explained it, your phone is subsidized through your monthly fees. Since I'm about halfway done my contract, my old phone isn't fully subsidized, and thus I only get part of that phone's cost as a discount on my iPhone.
That doesn't make sense, though, unless my contract is not extended. If the contract is extended, I should damn well get a 199 iPhone like anyone else.
In Canada, pretty much every single phone plan from every major provider makes you pay extra for caller ID. You didn't used to, but the Bell/Rogers duopoly means they can rip you off even worse.
it does exist
im just not entirely sure where you can find it since its not my plan
and rogers would have it cross canada
That's why I hate hearing Americans complaining about their rates.
if you could find out the details from your roommate/friends, i would be so very much obliged to you, sir
In any case -- my iPhone is something I have never regretted the purchase of.
It's sitting beside me right now. I press the little button and instantly I am told if I have any messages, the time, the date, and offered the ability to unlock it. So, I will.
I slide to unlock, and am reminded of my 2 alarms that I have set for today -- 7:20am, my wake-up time for work -- set only for week days, and my 2:00 pm pill-times, set for every day. I even have a cute little, "take your pills!" label for it. So handy.
The main interface is very useful -- at a glance I can see how many calls I've received, how many emails have entered my gmail account. I have an option to open up a very well-created browser, which is so much easier to use in the phone than I'd previously expected.
I also have the choice to - gasp - listen to music. This has been a very important function -- an audio cable is kept in the car so I can hook it up and we can listen to whatever I have on it -- which is usually tons, as it carries 8gb. While listening to music in the car, I can also open the "maps" program and watch a blue dot indicate precisely where we are on the road. I can search "Home Depot" to find the closest home depot to us, and it will pinpoint it.
Alongside these useful things, I also keep an icon for my work-email on it, so I can "appear" to be in the office while I am actually outside taking a walk. I also have UrbanSpoon, to figure out where exactly I can get italian from in this damn city, and if it's even worth it. Facebook and Twitter line the top, which aren't NECESSARY, but it's a good time killer if you're on the bus/skytrain, or stuck in a friends car for longer than expected.
Uh, I think I'm writing iPhone porn here. Basically, what I'm saying is -- get it. Put down the money, it will be the best investment you've ever made. And Rogers is flexible. They actually have a very well put together part within their otherwise-crappy website where you can make your own plan. Sign up for 3 years to cut costs -- you won't regret it.
t evil multi: iBoner
edit: great post, mully. you have given me an iPhone boner.
if you're browsing, checking email, etc etc, how much of your 500 mb limit do you end up using? Obviously with a limit like that I'd be avoiding youtube and similar, but I'm curious as to baseline usage.
My home internet is high-speed broadband with a 95 GB monthly limit, and I usually go anywhere from 20 to 60 GB in a month, depending how many Steam games I buy and how many torrents I'm running.
I'm also curious about this.
I'm with Rogers, and my last 3 year plan comes up in November, so at that point I'll be looking for a new phone. Hearing that there might be an iPhone update in the summer means I probably won't purchase a phone before the contract comes up, and I'll likely shop around a bit in terms of both contracts and specific phones/features I want. Having a sweet iPhone contract with some snazzy new hardware would be a fine jump to make at the end of the year.
Edit; yeah, Mully, that was hot shit. Mmmmmm.
Let me see how much I have, in total, from when I purchased it -- which was back in November:
Grand total is.. *drum roll* .. 164MB Received. Haha. Reminds me, I should cut down my data plan moreso :S
You have to remember though -- I live in Downtown Vancouver. There is no place here without free Wi-Fi. I've even found free Wi-Fi in my office, I don't even know where it's coming from.
my roomate never goes close to his data limit and he surfs the web on his phone all the time, but i believe once again his is via wi-fi
I work at a university, so there is a lot of wireless access, but apparently it's tricky to get your iPhone or iPod touch to work with the campus network.
convince me!
i like numbers.
Nevermind. I'm at work so I can't link to the clip. It's a hilariously bad phone with one button, enough battery life for one call, and you can't receive any calls, only make outgoing ones. Oh, but you do get to put this cool gel all over your face because it gets so hot it burns.
In short, wait till Apple updates soon.