Time to renew cell contract

Hey all

So, my contract is coming up, and as spiffy as a samsung flip phone is, I'm looking to upgrade. My first few thoughts

- iphone: Clearly the geek-ideal here, but I'm a little put off by the plans / costs associated.... thoughts on this?

- Blackberry: I've heard a few people have these and like them? Still don't know anything about the plans, so again, thoughts

- Alternative phones: I looked up "iphone alternatives", and have heard REALLY good things about the Palm Pre, and various HTC phones... anyone know anything about these?

Basically, I hope someone does all the work for me.... get on it boys!

Mark
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Comments

  • Do you text? Data plan for surfing? My brother-in-law got drunk off his ass last night and was rambling about what is the "best" phone . . . All he wants is to be able to make and receive calls. I asked if anything was wrong/defective with his current phone. When he said "no" I said, why bother getting something new until the current phone kacks?

    You need to figure out what you want to do with the phone.

    I got my daughter a Samsung Gravity. It's a slider with a qwerty keyboard so she can text her thumbs off. Wifey is now talking about a Crackberry, and I am asking "why?" She has a cellie for emergencies only, so a Blackberry seems to be overkill.
  • Well..

    My cell phone is my only phone that I use, so it has to have decent plan for actual calls (i.e. - Early "evenings" - what the fuck is with evening starting at 9 p.m. now?, unlimited evenings and weekends and what not).

    I text a lot, so unlimited texting is probably good. I've never done much surfing on my phone, but that's mostly because my phones haven't had that ability. I'm already paying more than I'm excited about, somewhere around $80 / month I think...

    As for my at home internet usage, that would be "LOTS" at home, but I don't know how much it'll go on the phone...

    Sorry to be less than helpful!

    Mark
  • Daughters plan is approx. $40.00 taxes in. 150 free daytime minutes, unlimited text. You can add early evenings for $5-10.00 a month (sorry, but not sure, kids don't talk anymore, they text).

    No data plan
    No call display
    No messages
    No call waiting

    That's the best I can do, because I do not like cell phones at all.
  • Mark, my iPhone 3Gs is $65/m. I have a Fab 10 plan, which is unlimited LD calls and texts to those 10 and 500 mb data plan.

    Since you are free for next contract you should shop around for the best plan. Call every company and get quotes for multiple plans.

    As for a phone, you know that the iPhone is the best, but it's also the priciest. Plus there is a wait to get the iphone4. I'm not a BB fan, but almost everybody has one, so you could BBM those people.
  • Sorry I only have anecdotal evidence.

    I love my Blackberry, have had one since 2004 and would never do without again. I have a Bold 9700 with trackPAD not track ball (very important). Expensive unless you lock into a longer plan. 3 G network and Wifi capable which really helps with data.

    As for iPhone my sister bought one since she works for the school board and is an Apple zombie. She recently ate about $100 by selling it and buying a Blackberry. She did say it was quite excellent if "you want your phone to waste a lot of your time".
  • Mark, knowing you, IMO the best bet for you would be iPhone if you are willing to absorb the cost monthly with a data plan, or you can get one off the street and get the best voice/text plan only, and use the iPhone like an iPod Touch when you find wifi hotspots.
  • Check out Virgin Mobiles MyTab. Takes the same amount off the phone as a 3 year contract puts it into a tab, the longer you're with them the more money comes off the tab. If you ever cancel you only have to pay off what's on the tab no cancelation fee. If your tab gets to zero then it'll start going into positives which you can use to upgrade your phone for free.
  • Only kinda hiccup there guys..

    I'd rather stay with Rogers since I get discounts when I bundle in my internet / home phone / cell

    Mark
  • Was not sure you cared about Rogers . . . daughter's plan comes down to $15.00 after bundling discounts.
  • ^%(^%( ROGERS!! Worst ever. Sorry had to rant as you were.

    I went with Virgin. They have iphones well they did for me. They have 6GB plans for $30 as well (as do other carriers) until end of September.
  • I have the HTC Desire, Android. Loving it so far! Had it almost a month, use it very steady. I pay 63/mo. with 10 faves, 200 daytimes minutes, unlimited eves/weekends...1g data (which I haven't even come close to yet), 500?texts I think...

    The android market is growing ridiculously fast as they have way more free applications than Iphone, as well, you don't need to tether your android to deal with applications as you do your Iphone. Open source is the key. My battery usage is typically good for a full day unless I am browsing a lot.

    I am on Telus, but Rogers was offering me a very similar deal.
  • kind of on topic, my co-worker told me that if you have home internet plan, you can somehow connect your iphone to a keyboard and monitor and avoid the home internet costs (this is with rogers). Basically you are using the internet access from the iphone at home (as it is wireless). That way the money you save on home internet can go towards of the monthly iphone cost. Someone more savy would need to explain it. Seems like a good option if you only use one computer at home.
  • pokerJAH wrote: »
    kind of on topic, my co-worker told me that if you have home internet plan, you can somehow connect your iphone to a keyboard and monitor and avoid the home internet costs (this is with rogers). Basically you are using the internet access from the iphone at home (as it is wireless). That way the money you save on home internet can go towards of the monthly iphone cost. Someone more savy would need to explain it. Seems like a good option if you only use one computer at home.

    Quite true...and you can do the same with the Android..

    BUT...when you do this, you are running off your phone's data usage, which is more money than your home internet usage. If you had minimal home usage, it might be worth it..but, if you watch any streaming video or the likes...it takes a heavy toll on usage.

    Both phones pick up wifi where avail and you can set them to use wifi instead of your data whenever possible which is great!
  • If you have friends who have the Blackberry or if you need email for work...the Blackberry is great. The messenger feature is great.
  • DennisG wrote: »
    Quite true...and you can do the same with the Android..

    BUT...when you do this, you are running off your phone's data usage, which is more money than your home internet usage. If you had minimal home usage, it might be worth it..but, if you watch any streaming video or the likes...it takes a heavy toll on usage.

    Both phones pick up wifi where avail and you can set them to use wifi instead of your data whenever possible which is great!

    not sure how much usage online poker would take up every month? I figure it might still be cheaper as an option if you got a good size data plan with the money saved from getting rid of the home internet. Someone else can crunch the numbers.
  • I am not an apple junky ( have a pc laptop ) but I have owned 3 Motorola's (Razr, Krazr, and some other one) 3 blackberries (Pearl, Curve, and Bold II) all of my phones have been the newest and most current when they came out. I now have had an Iphone 3gs coming up on a year now. I will never look back, the things I use it for everyday are astounding. It really is a great phone, the interface is so simple and if you listen to music it is really handy to have it as a mp3 player as well.

    A million useful apps many of which are free or under 1.99, for the first month you have it you will waste a lot of time on useless games and apps but after that you will start finding a ton of useful and practical apps that you won't be able to live without. Wifi ability is awesome and allows me to use virtually 0 data, I have wifi at work and home. My plan is $65.00 a month on Rogers and I get 200 daytime minutes, 150 mb of data, unlimited rogers to rogers and unlimited incoming. Free evenings and weekends after 8 PM, voicemail, caller ID and I think 5000 txts a month? For another 10 dollars I can add 5 numbers that are unlimited calling anywhere in Canada but since I get unlimited incoming I don't need it.

    I would recommend saving the extra $ and getting the Iphone 3Gs vs. the Iphone 4 as with anything new there is bugs to work out and the 4 has some, a few friends of mine have had issues with the antennae and the fact that the back of it is glass as well seems sketchy to me. Th eonly advantage is a sleek new design and the ability to do face time.

    Side story : I lost my Iphone 3gS last year in December when walking my dog on my farm, it was -25 and there was a foot of snow on the ground. After 3 days of shovelling and lookingin -30 weather I gave up and went back to using my berry. In March the snow melted and my dog found my Iphone and I kid you not I charged it, turned it on, and it still works and looks new to this day, not even a bubble under the screen from being in a pile of snow.
  • Bumping the thread with updates

    So I bought the iPhone4 - pretty sexy little thing, but I'm not plying people for information on great apps!

    I have to say, there are some great apps in theory out there, but in practice it devolves into "Oh, you're Canadian? That's cute", and they don't work so hot. So, if anyone has apps that are awesome and work in Canada let me know!

    Mark

    P.S. I'm more into the useful stuff vs. games
  • Tapatalk

    It's an app to access forums and work well with this poker forum
  • anyone have the Samsung Galaxy III? better choice than the iPhone? seems to be the most popular right now. Looking to finally get a dataplan phone.
  • Have to renew mine next month.

    The Galaxy Tab III seems a bit big for me (5.5"x2.75")
  • It's true, some have said mine was too big at 5.5"x2.75".
  • pokerJAH wrote: »
    anyone have the Samsung Galaxy III? better choice than the iPhone? seems to be the most popular right now. Looking to finally get a dataplan phone.

    Have it and love it. It really depends on what you want from your phone if you want to debate Android vs. iOS
  • westside8 wrote: »
    Have it and love it. It really depends on what you want from your phone if you want to debate Android vs. iOS
    Hobbes wrote: »
    Have to renew mine next month.

    The Galaxy Tab III seems a bit big for me (5.5"x2.75")

    Galaxy tab and Galaxy S3 is very different sir.
  • westside8 wrote: »
    Galaxy tab and Galaxy S3 is very different sir.


    I meant the S3 sir. But for some reason I always type tab
  • westside8 wrote: »
    if you want to debate Android vs. iOS

    I have no idea what that means? I already have an ipad so iphone seems like duplication and I like the bigger screen.
  • I'm in a similar boat Hobbes. Let me know what you find out.
    I may be in the minority, but, I'll be sticking with a Blackberry product.
  • I have and love my Blackberry. I have a Bold. It does absolutely everything I want.

    However, given their recent troubles a friend of mine and I have been talking about going with something different when we need to renew. Our concerns could be misguided however, because if the company fails it's not like they aren't going to be taken over by someone else.

    I liked the bold for another reason over the Iphone. I could get an Otterbox defender case that totally seals the thing and even industrial oil paint wont stick to it because of the silicone based covering. As well, it has a separate Qwerty keyboard rather than a touch screen. I can't really be touching the screen all day or else I wouldn't be able to see the screen very well.
  • I just upgraded from an iPhone 3GS to iPhone 4S. The voice over texting is amazing as a matter of fact speaking to write this post.

    Sick life
  • You fly-boys have all the cool toys.
  • Milo wrote: »
    You fly-boys have all the cool toys.

    You should see the avionics package in my airplane.
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