iPhone Stolen--Help me take the best course from here.

[curiosa863]

I've been stewing over and formulating these options since sunday morning, and I can't make any progress. I've been without a phone since late saturday night. Last time I was in a ipod dilemma MacRumors helped me a ton.

Option 1) Stay with ATT
I would buy a cheap Go phone to last me until the iPhone 4g/HD is released. I'm up for a full upgrade on June 25th. They told me this would be $400 dollar subsidy on an iPhone.

Option 2)Join my Dad and Sister on Verizon
This would require me to pay a $100 cancellation with ATT. I think my bill would be a little cheaper monthly, because I'd be piggy backing family minutes and text plan. I'd have an old verizon flip phone activated, which I'd use until they could ship me a Droid Incredible in 1-2 weeks.

Option 3)Join Sprint
I'd have to stay with ATT until the EVO is released. In the meantime I'd be using a Go phone. Then I'd have to pay $100 to cancel with ATT. The EVO is rumored to be released on June 6th. My plan would be about $15 a month cheaper than I spend currently.

All of my options kind of suck in that they require me to use a crappy phone for anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months (no way the new iPhone can take longer than 2 months right?)

 

[dissdnt]

That sucks. WWDC is on June 7th and reports are the phone might launch that day or that weekend so it's not that far off. I'd find some old at&t phone from a friend or get a cheap one that won't mess with your position to upgrade and go with that for a few weeks if you are staying with poopy AT&T

 

[ChazUK]

How much have you invested in the App store and DRM'd music?

Personally, this would be my first quota on which to get. If you've spent a lot on iPhone apps/games, I'd say wait for the fourth gen iPhone. You could get/borrow an iPod touch for now and use that for iPhone OS related things!

Can you ditch the data plan once you get the Go Phone? ('m not from the U.S so I don't know but if you can there may be more monthly savings there.

 

[StruckANerve]

I'd say the most important thing to consider in your situation is what carrier provides the best service, including coverage, customer service and data plans, and go from there.

 

[Geckotek]

Which carrier works best in your area?

 

[curiosa863]

How much have you invested in the App store and DRM'd music?

Personally, this would be my first quota on which to get. If you've spent a lot on iPhone apps/games, I'd say wait for the fourth gen iPhone. You could get/borrow an iPod touch for now and use that for iPhone OS related things!

Can you ditch the data plan once you get the Go Phone? ('m not from the U.S so I don't know but if you can there may be more monthly savings there.

I'm not sure if I can drop the dataplan without extending my contract/messing with my upgrade schedule.

I have spent a fair amount on apps and things, but thats not a huge factor for me. My phone bricked when I was upgrading to 3.0. The apps did not backup, and I didn't know if there was a way to recover them, so I haven't.

My experience with ATT and dropped calls has been absolutely abysmal. Visual voicemail never brings me my messages. Or brings them to me days later. When I called to check my voicemail on Sunday, there were 13 messages visual voicemail had never gotten to me.

Before my iPhone was stolen I had been almost ready to leave anyway. But now that I'm faced with the situation, I can't help but try to convince myself that the 4g will make it all better.

 

[nburwell]

I agree with ChazUK's post. If you have a good amount of money invested in apps, then it would be a waste to throw all that money away, and then respend your money on the same apps in the Android marketplace. You also have to consider what carrier works best in your area. If AT&T works fine for you, then why ditch a good thing?

Although both the Incredible and EVO are both tempting to switch carriers, I would hold off a upgrade to the new iPhone whenever it's released. I know for me, it would be hard to not have my iPhone even for a day (hence why I have a 1G iPhone in case something were to happen to my 3GS).

 

[ChazUK]

My experience with ATT and dropped calls has been absolutely abysmal. Visual voicemail never brings me my messages. Or brings them to me days later. When I called to check my voicemail on Sunday, there were 13 messages visual voicemail had never gotten to me.

As other have said above, that would be the largest factor really. I hadn't considered it as all networks in the UK are pretty much the same coverage wise but I realise people have problems with AT&T in the U.S.

As for your apps, you could re-download them as you wish and Apple wouldn't charge you a penny. Once you purchase an app it is linked to your iTunes account and you can download and install it on any iPhone/iPod touch that is linked to your account.

 

[Jeffrosproto]

I have spent a fair amount on apps and things, but thats not a huge factor for me. My phone bricked when I was upgrading to 3.0. The apps did not backup, and I didn't know if there was a way to recover them, so I haven't.

You can re-download any apps from the app store (only apps though, not music/movies/etc). They should have also synced to your computer.

 

[curiosa863]

You can re-download any apps from the app store (only apps though, not music/movies/etc). They should have also synced to your computer.

Even though I'm leaning away from iPhone, this is very good to know. I was afraid to click the 'buy' button. Didn't know what it would do. Thanks to everyone that gave this advice.

I'm switching to Verizon. It is just the most practical move for me. I hate that this happened today now and not a month from now. I'll find solace in Verizon having much better coverage of Salt Lake, as well as the mountains I frequent during the summer. It just sucks not to be an iPhone user.

Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[Mal]

I'm not sure if I can drop the dataplan without extending my contract/messing with my upgrade schedule.

I can't really comment on the other things, but having done many AT&T activations, I can tell you that it was my understanding that while changing your base plan might affect upgrade eligibility (i.e., if you change to a lower price plan, they will likely extend your upgrade timeframe, but if you change to a higher plan, they usually will not), but changing the add-ons (like the data plan), will not affect upgrade eligibility.

Of course, to counter that is the information that has come out regarding price levels vs. upgrade timeframes. Apparently if you spend more than $99 a month, you will be eligible sooner (12-18 month) instead of 22 months for those who spend less. So if dropping the data plan would put you below $99 a month but you're currently over, it could extend your upgrade timeframe. Otherwise, it should be fine.

jW