Mobile General Mobile Phone Thread

[kkck]

To be honest I don't usually trust phone plans. I get the impression that it would be cheaper to just buy the phone separately and then get a plan. Maybe it depends on the country though. I mean, even if you spend 200 on the S4 there is the issue of what you are going to pay over the next 2 years. Just going through the at&t thingy with the 200 dollar s4 I ended up with a plan that costs 90 per month. Over 2 years that adds up to 2160 and whatever other charge at&t pulls out of its ass. It seems excessive.

 

[goldb]

I think once my current contract expires in May 2014, I'll end up having paid around $1500+ over the course of 2 years. Which seems quite better off than what you guys are paying over there. Though in some cases you have to pay a fee for the handset, depending on the network provider and phone model itself. Mine was free irrc.

Vodafone( the network I'm on) will finally launch its 4G on 29th August; same date as O2. Currently there is only EE as 4G ready network here in the UK and they launched nearly a year ago, so they have the majority of the market and I think it'll be difficult for the 2 newcomers to steal away their customers. Not that vodafone is afraid to try; offering it's new 4G Sky TV 's sports channels as bonus. I doubt it'll be able to sway more customers to its side though, EE's estimated speeds and coverage outguns the rest of them.

Spoiler

All in all, it gives them a year to sort themselves out before I have to renew my contract, or else I'll be looking for something else.

 

[xi0]

To be honest I don't usually trust phone plans. I get the impression that it would be cheaper to just buy the phone separately and then get a plan. Maybe it depends on the country though. I mean, even if you spend 200 on the S4 there is the issue of what you are going to pay over the next 2 years. Just going through the at&t thingy with the 200 dollar s4 I ended up with a plan that costs 90 per month. Over 2 years that adds up to 2160 and whatever other charge at&t pulls out of its ass. It seems excessive.

If you don't have a phone plan, then how the hell do you get service when you buy a phone unlocked?

What you pay on a monthly basis is dependent on quite a few things. My plan is shared with my family, so we all play around $10 for line access, regardless of what phone you have. We have a set amount of minutes we share among all phones and a list of numbers which are free to call regardless of the time. We have unlimited SMS though. Then we each pay for 2GB data, but since I got a phone and to share data bandwidth you have to have three lines that use data, we'll share from a pool of 5GB a month for $50. None of us even come close to going over the 2GB individually, so this shouldn't be an issue. The bill for the three of us, each paying line access, splitting the cost of data, as well as insurance and tax shouldn't be over $40 a month, but we'll have to see. Prior to us sharing data, the bill for phones with data plans was around $50.

Now if you have a separate contract with just one line, you'll probably end up paying more though.

 

[kkck]

I have a monthly plan, it simply did not come with a phone. I just got the minutes and the internet service.

 

[xi0]

There are some carriers that offer monthly or pay as you go service, but they tend not to have the best phones or service.

 

[Knifeshade]

Depends on how much you use your phone. If you use it a lot (data, calls, and texts), then subsidized phones + under-contract plans make sense. Over here anyway, as casual rates are hideously expensive.

I had the unfortunate privilege of falling into a pool and cutting up my leg the other week. Long story short, I had my phone in my pocket, so my instant reaction was ripping the battery out (and not stopping the bleeding, funny enough).

Few days in rice grave bath, and it works like nothing happened. And it got me thinking if having a removable battery is beneficial in this case compared to non-removable batteries. Might be harder to dry sealed phones like the One and Nexus 4.

 

[xi0]

Yeah, from my research it's important to get he battery out and into rice ASAP. Unfortunately, I left my old brick in the washer overnight and it just sat, so there was no chance of recovery. But hey, I'm happy with my new phone for the most part, so not much complaint here.

 

[Charlie]

Gary - did you manage to recover your data from the old sim?
I recall you tried multiple attempts.

In somewhat related news - my s2 got smashed / ran over.
I lost it whilst at work - over in Jersey.... didn't notice the phone was missing until I got back to Philly.

Having no insurance .... on the s2 doesn't really help.

Soooo after work - I drove back to NJ and out of the two possible places I thought it might be, managed to find it turned over in a parking lot.

Though the screen was cracked.... the phone still works.

Which all points to be getting a new phone (S4)... with insurance ofc. Hooot

 

[xi0]

Gary - did you manage to recover your data from the old sim?
I recall you tried multiple attempts.

In somewhat realted news - my s3 got smashed / ran over.
I lost lit whislt at work - over in Jersey.... didn't notice the phone was missing until I got back to Philly.

Having no insurance .... on the s3 doesn't really help.

Soooo after work - I drove back to NJ and out of the two possible places I thought it might be, managed to find it turned over in a parking lot.

Though the screen was cracked.... the phone still works.

Which all points to be getting a new phone (S4)... with insurance ofc. Hooot

Nah, I sort of gave up. I really have all of the numbers I need already I think. But we'll see.

S3? I thought you had an S2?

 

[Knifeshade]

Gary - did you manage to recover your data from the old sim?
I recall you tried multiple attempts.

Google Contacts master race reporting in.

 

[xi0]

Google Contacts master race reporting in.

LOL...phone was too old for that

 

[Charlie]

Nah, I sort of gave up. I really have all of the numbers I need already I think. But we'll see.

S3? I thought you had an S2?

Yeah I meant the S2 -
I was like sooo forking happy when I found the phone but at least it still works.
Repairs seems to be around 200 for a new screen but at the moment it still works.

Im prolly going to change carriers and go for an s4 prolly metro pcs.

 

[xi0]

Yeah I meant the S2 -
I was like sooo forking happy when I found the phone but at least it still works.
Repairs seems to be around 200 for a new screen but at the moment it still works.

Im prolly going to change carriers and go for an s4 prolly metro pcs.

Who's your carrier now? Why change?

 

[Charlie]

I have Boos Mobile - they dont carry the S4. They have the s2 and added s3 not too long ago.
T-moble is offering a 0 down on Phones, providing you have good or excellent credit.
To which I have - so gona go check them out as well.

 

[M3J]

How did you drop your phone? That gay little phone purse? <_<

 

[Charlie]

How did you drop your phone? That gay little phone purse? <_<

Well ... I had the charger portable in my pocket so... the case wasn't really shut and jumping back and fro from the ambulance.... things get shaken.
The ambulance is really loud so its kind of unnoticable when or if you drop something.

 

[M3J]

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[Knifeshade]

5.5 inches.

2560 x 1440. 538 PPI.

lolwut.

 

[M3J]

This is basically my reaction:

Ugh, at this point I'll have to ditch smartphones if they get too big.

 

[Knifeshade]

It's more of the stupid e-peen race of MOAR PIXELZ is getting stupid ridiculous, stupid fast.




But on the flipside, it also means the hardware to push such high resolutions is there. Which is a nice thought, the future of docking your phone at a monitor, and having only that as your computing device (ie: Ubuntu Edge), isn't far.

Also, IFA 2013 is coming up.

And this...

---------- Post added September 04, 2013 at 09:55 AM ---------- Previous post was September 02, 2013 at 08:32 PM ----------





Today, Google trolls everybody who thought, for the last year or so, the next Android version will be called "Key Lime Pie". It's "Kitkat".
Everybody thought it'd be 5.0. It's 4.4.

http://android.com/kitkat