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katyoshi

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 11, 2009
403
50
Honolulu, HI
Hey guys, I've been thinking about this for a while now. I was on my family's T-mobile family plan for $10/month and I had a blackberry before with internet and unlimited messaging which I didn't use close to 1,000 message per month no matter how hard I tried in my busy schedule, and now I have a used iphone 3g. I'm a graduate nursing student and also work in a high data/email using work environment at a nursing school as a nursing graduate assistant so I get monthly salary. I had to get off my family's phone plan because my dad said he had too much bills and now that I can afford my own phone plan, he wants me to go! :(
Anyway, I was always thinking of going with AT&T for the 3GS and the 3G speed since my work demands fast emails and internet usage on my school websites for classes. I planned to sell my 3G iphone for a new 3GS.
When I was tipsy last night, I went onto apple's website and signed up for a new 16gb black 3GS and an ATT's lowest voice plan with 1500 texts/month = $84.99/month before taxes compared to t-mobile's $74.99 of data+unlimited messaging and 3G but no iphone which i really wanted. Do you think I made a right choice? Is ATT really that bad? I'm in Hawaii.
 

-aggie-

macrumors P6
Jun 19, 2009
16,793
51
Where bunnies are welcome.
Choice is really an indvidual thing. No one is going to be able to tell you what the right choice is for you. But if you really wanted an iPhone, then it's probably the right choice for you. AT&T is really not that bad, but there are threads about that. You'll hear both sides arguing the opposite. Again, it's really an individual thing. You have up to 30 days to return the iPhone though w/o incurring an ETF, so try it out and see for yourself
 

tlbwriter

macrumors regular
Nov 21, 2008
139
28
I know a lot of people rag on AT&T, but I've been perfectly happy with them for many years.
 

bruinsrme

macrumors 604
Oct 26, 2008
7,174
3,037
ATT sucks,a lot of money out of my pocket every month

I have perfect 3G at my house, tower is 600 feet from my back door
 

eawmp1

macrumors 601
Feb 19, 2008
4,158
91
FL
I know a lot of people rag on AT&T, but I've been perfectly happy with them for many years.

+2

In general, the cell phone industry has poor customer approval ratings. Every provider has pros and cons, and areas in the country where they excel (I can't comment on Hawaii). I have no problem with AT&T. I LOVE the iPhone. And I connect at woork, home, and many public places via wifi (which is faster than 3G). Everywhere else I generally get 3G. Try it out and if unhappy, you have 30 days.
 

hushmartin

macrumors 6502
Jul 4, 2009
283
4
Kansas
Worst case scenario is that ATT sucks where you're at and you end up returning the phone (less the restocking fee of course). You have up to 30 days to decide. Drunken iPhone ordering isn't the end of the world.

Oh, and no, where I'm at ATT is actually pretty good, but I'm not in a terribly large city. It's only about 600k people. Very large cities are where the biggest issues with ATT happen.
 

Blueline29

macrumors 68020
Jun 16, 2009
2,468
960
Saint Augustine, FL
I know a lot of people rag on AT&T, but I've been perfectly happy with them for many years.

+3. I've had AT&T service for more than 10 years and have been perfectly happy with it. The only place service sucks is at my parents' house, but the area is very rural and very hilly and service sucks for most providers there.
 

christyn

macrumors 6502a
Jun 18, 2009
590
0
Salt Lake
Overall AT&T is much better than tmobile is... but it just depends on the area.
Just try it out, if the coverage is awful, you have a window to return it :)
 

outphase

macrumors 65816
Jun 13, 2009
1,291
32
Parts Unknown
You only hear people talking bad because the people who enjoy it say it once or not at all. The complainers (about anything) will keep going on and on.
 

Interstella5555

macrumors 603
Jun 30, 2008
5,219
13
Don't shop for food when high.
Don't shop for electronics when drunk/tipsy.

That said, if it's something you want and can afford, enjoy it.
 

co.ag.2005

macrumors 68020
Jun 17, 2009
2,363
1,809
Fort Worth, TX
I'm perfectly happy with ATT here in Colorado. I just got back from spending 8 days on the Big Island and had marvelous 3G reception almost everywhere I went, and we drove around and across the whole island (I know you aren't on this island, but I figured Oahu might be even better!)
 

daxomni

macrumors 6502
Jun 24, 2009
457
6
I've tried all four of the main networks in the US and I've been disappointed with all of them, especially when I look at my bill.
 

SpaceKitty

macrumors 68040
Nov 9, 2008
3,204
1
Fort Collins Colorado
ATT sucks,a lot of money out of my pocket every month

I have perfect 3G at my house, tower is 600 feet from my back door

We have super fast 3G service here at my house as well all over my house and even in the basement. I just can't make calls in my basement without dropping the call 99% of the time.

Up until two weeks ago, I could not get 3G in my house at all. Suddenly one morning it started working in the house and it's pretty fast.
 

richard371

macrumors 68040
Feb 1, 2008
3,609
1,802
Ive done that

Got drunk and bought toys lol. Thank God the stores are closed when I am drinking and I can usualy cancel the order before it ships lol. I looked and my wallet now and realized I bought 10 lottery tickets last night. Don't remember that.
 

katyoshi

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 11, 2009
403
50
Honolulu, HI
Yeah I looked at my email and there it is, and iPhone 3GS shipping from Ontario, Canada via fedex and it left Canada today. Think I'll get it tomorrow? I didn't know I had a 30 day window, thanks guys! Though I was tipsy last night, I sort of don't regret going with ATT for the iPhone 3GS since I'll be taking the full advantage of the 3G and stuff. Yes I agree all service providers suck in their respective regions but all my friends who has an iphone 3gs with ATT say they hadn't had many dropped calls. Tmobile has served me well because of their bargain prices but thinking I actually could make efficient use of ATT's service sounds good to me since I am now able to afford such a thing monthly. My iphone 3gs ordered was the black 16gb for $199 and my ATT plan is 450 minutes w/rollover, 5,000 (they say unlimited?) nights and weekends, and $15 (1500) text messages. I've noticed when I was on my family plan, I didn't use my minutes all that much nor did I texted more than 1500 per month although I'm a heavy texter, I've reached only 500-800 per month and its less now that I'm in grad school and I'm busy with patients. I'll give this a try and post again when I use the iphone 3gs and ATT service! thanks everyone, I guess ifyou really want something and you can afford it, a drunken order from the apple website isn't all that bad? lol

Plus everyone told me, you pay for what you get in this Nation.
 

Knowlege Bomb

macrumors G4
Feb 14, 2008
10,195
8,833
US
Night and weekend minutes are limited to 5000 with the 450 minute plan. Anything above that comes with unlimited.

Congratulations on your purchase, by the way. I can assure you that if your coverage is sufficient, you're not going to regret it.
 

boxstboy

macrumors member
Jul 25, 2009
76
0
I find it weird that your iphone came from Ontario. I live in Ontario and mine was shipped from China. Hawaii is on the way from China, right?

Anyway, I'm not familiar with ATT plans, but wouldn't it be cheaper to stay on your father's family plan with an unlocked 3GS and pay him your share? In Canada, family plans are generally cheaper per phone than individual plans. I pay about $55 per month with 6gb of data and 200 minutes per month on couple's plan.
 

katyoshi

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 11, 2009
403
50
Honolulu, HI
I find it weird that your iphone came from Ontario. I live in Ontario and mine was shipped from China. Hawaii is on the way from China, right?

Anyway, I'm not familiar with ATT plans, but wouldn't it be cheaper to stay on your father's family plan with an unlocked 3GS and pay him your share? In Canada, family plans are generally cheaper per phone than individual plans. I pay about $55 per month with 6gb of data and 200 minutes per month on couple's plan.

Yeah it's weird. I would stay on my father's plan and pay him my share but I will still be using the edge network and for what I do at my work as a graduate assistant and for my graduate nursing classes in doing group papers and stuff and posting on class forums daily as required, I won't be on the computer every minute of the day and the iphone will allow me to do work on it quicker and load/share files from mobileme faster as for me, time efficiency is crucial. So I ultimately decided to go with ATT since I am now able to afford it...
 

hybrid45

macrumors newbie
Oct 16, 2009
2
0
I'm also in Hawaii. Oahu, specifically, and I've personally found at&t to be the best carrier. I used to be on Nextel (worst service in Hawaii by far), then I was on tmobile (not bad, but I used to get maybe 2 bars max in my home in Pearl City) and then I switched to Cingular a few years ago, which was eventually bought out by at&t, and I've been a pretty happy camper since. I get consistently full bars so long as I'm not at work in my aluminum warehouse in the boonies of Halawa Valley. Haven't tried out Verizon, but at&t works pretty well as I have yet to get a call dropped since I've been with them.

Yes, there have been service outages, but EVERY carrier has a service outage at some point. It's just a matter of when and for how long.

Only thing that sucks is perhaps the 3g speed in Hawaii is pretty crappy compared to the mainland. But then again, even our regular broadband speeds are pretty crappy compared to the mainland. And the 3g will guaranteed be better than the EDGE you're getting on tmobile right now.
 
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