Monthly bill really worth it???

[Unspeaked]

My bill is also about $80 a month (with the exception of last month which was $230), and I'm often angry about how much it is and I feel like I might be wasting my money.. but then I realize, it's only $960 a year. $960 a year should not be a concern to anybody.. and if it is, i'd recommend that person rethink how to generate their income.

That's a little ignorant, don't you think?

Sure, the majority of Mac owners are probably in good enough shape financially to afford $960 a year on wireless, but to say that it "should not be a concern to anybody" is overlooking a lot of folks struggling to make ends meet.

Not trying to preach here, nor do I think you made that statement maliciously, but just wanted to point out that $960 is a lot of money to a lot of people (heck, it's more than the planned $800 tax rebate the Bush administration is trying to push through that everyone's making such a big deal about!).

 

[hexonxonx]

I bought a second iPhone a few weeks back and during activation, I made sure it would fail the credit check so that I could get this second phone on a GoPhone plan. During the sign up, I did select the 200 minutes for $29 and the 200 SMS for $4.95. I also selected the $19.99 unlimited data plan but on completion of the activation, I didn't get the data plan. I tried adding it on after my activation by dialing the 611 number and I can add it on, but it won't be added on until the next billing cycle. Very weird that I didn't get it from the start although it is an add on and I did select it.

 

[Bootsie]

I bought a second iPhone a few weeks back and during activation, I made sure it would fail the credit check so that I could get this second phone on a GoPhone plan. During the sign up, I did select the 200 minutes for $29 and the 200 SMS for $4.95. I also selected the $19.99 unlimited data plan but on completion of the activation, I didn't get the data plan. I tried adding it on after my activation by dialing the 611 number and I can add it on, but it won't be added on until the next billing cycle. Very weird that I didn't get it from the start although it is an add on and I did select it.

Can I ask why you did this? For only $5 more each month you could have the same service but with 450min.

 

[hexonxonx]

Can I ask why you did this? For only $5 more each month you could have the same service but with 450min.

For the only reason to do it, to not have a two year contract. I already have an iPhone with a two year contract but I just wanted a second phone number and the added 200 SMS for $4.95. Sure I could have gotten a cheap GoPhone but why? It's not an iPhone.

 

[Aries326]

I do not think that it is way over priced, a friend of mine just got a blackberry pearl from t-mobile, he had to sign up for a regular plan then pay $20/month more for email, that doesn't include internet, just email.

Dude, either you're misinformed or your friend got ripped off. For $59 a month, with a Blackberry on T-Mobile, you can get 1000 anytime minutes, unlimited internet and unlimited email. Check out the link:

http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/Default.aspx?plancategory=7#BlackBerry®

For $39.99 I got 450 anytime mins. I added $20 for unlimited data and 200 texts. I added another $10 for 1500 texts since 200 is way too low. That's $69 a month for 550 less free minutes.

If you calculate $0.40 per extra minute, and T-Mobile offers you 550 more free minutes, that's equivalent to a $220 extra value a month T-Mobile is giving you over the AT&T plan.

Plus, I believe someone mentioned here that the data plan also allows you access to the T-Mobile HotSpots but I cannot confirm this.

Another thing, that blackberry pearl is free through wirefly.com Refer to this page:
http://www.wirefly.com/phones/rim/?...refcode1=&refcode2=&agent=&eid=&zipcode=13057

I'm not trying to be a troll here. I'm just trying to set some of you guys back into reality. As nice as the iPhone is, and I enjoy mine very much, there are other alternatives (albeit inferior) that are of better value in terms of pricing for the unit and plan.

As an Apple fan for many years, one of the battle cries of the Mac Evangelist was to go against the grain of inferior, Microsoft driven PCs that dominate the landscape.

But now, Apple has also become a HUGE money making machine with $18 billion in reserve which has the ability to dictate to companies how it wants prices set and how revenues will be split. This will probably continue for another year or two (perhaps forever?) while companies try to play catch up to Apple in terms of style and elegance in their designs and interface. But until then, you can bet Apple will try to soak up as much as it can from its loyal Apple fans despite already having the highest profit margins compared to its competitors. Our little David has grown up to be Goliath!

 

[Aries326]

That's a little ignorant, don't you think?

Sure, the majority of Mac owners are probably in good enough shape financially to afford $960 a year on wireless, but to say that it "should not be a concern to anybody" is overlooking a lot of folks struggling to make ends meet.

Not trying to preach here, nor do I think you made that statement maliciously, but just wanted to point out that $960 is a lot of money to a lot of people (heck, it's more than the planned $800 tax rebate the Bush administration is trying to push through that everyone's making such a big deal about!).

Well, the tax rebate just passed and although the experts said that it wasn't much to put a dent in a sputtering economy, they lowered the rebate down to $600.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. The guy who made the statement, "it's only $960 a year" is the same kind of person we've put into positions of power at every level of government and that is why you see our economy sputtering. We owe so much debt, our trade deficit nearing close to a trillion dollars a year that America will soon be owned by foreign countries. Did you guys know that China owns so much of America's debt that they can sink our economy at any time? Why do you think the US can't even gain any leverage against them when it comes to curtailing their exports into this country or protecting trademarks? Chinese companies (or rather the Chinese military since they own many of those companies) just laugh at US demands.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

My bill is also about $80 a month (with the exception of last month which was $230), and I'm often angry about how much it is and I feel like I might be wasting my money.. but then I realize, it's only $960 a year. $960 a year should not be a concern to anybody.. and if it is, i'd recommend that person rethink how to generate their income.

The problem with this line of thought is why a lot of people are in some much financial trouble. They think it ONLY X small amount per year. $960 may not seem like a lot to some people to most people that is a good chunk of change.

And to the ones like the posted I quoted here who think it is only $960 a year. Well that 960 may not seem like much but started adding that to the other list of things that people think of that it is only X amount a year. I used cable TV/Broad band. For a lot of people that sit around $1000-1200 a year and they will think of it ONLY that much. Add that to the iPhone and boom you have $2000+ a year in those ONLY items.

Problem is people are nickel and diming them selves to death and doing this with the iPhone is a fast way to nickel and dime yourself.

 

[Aries326]

Yep, these companies are nickle and diming us to death. We work harder and more efficiently to pay off debts we've incurred buying stuff that's just "$960" a year added to the "only $100 a month" BroadBand and HD cable, etc.

But then they advertise so much, they make us think we need this and that. Then we work hard and more efficiently to pay off our debts, the better they get at convincing us to buy something else.

They've got us hook, line and sinker. You get the point.

Any of you guys watch the Suze Ormon show? My wife is pretty poor at economics so I make her watch the show. So many people out there make VERY poor decisions. I suggest some of you guys watch it if you want to pick up some basics on keeping track of your finances.

BTW, I never wanted the iPhone to begin with but my wife bought it for me for Christmas.(obviously she didn't learn anything from Suze) I could've put that money towards a new car or a weekend to Vegas. But whatever, it's here, and I'm enjoying it and it doesn't put me in the poor house. I'm just a cheap bastard that loved my Motorola L7 and I still think AT&T and Apple are screwing us royally on this deal. Full price for the unit and an expensive plan for 2 years doesn't sit well with me.

 

[Jphillippe]

I havethe perfect plan with t-mobile, I got a special 3 years ago for 1,500 minutes, nights free, and weekends free for 50.00, I added unlimited texting for 10 and tzones for 5, I know pay 65, My solution to get and iphone, was unlock...and I am extremely happy with my phone and service, While others complain about sdk, I have gps on my phone, voice dialing, camera with zoom and effects, and much much more.

 

[aanndrew]

my last bill was 46.50 pound
this bill due for payment is 54 pound

which is a huge difference from the bills i used to get with my blackberry curve they was 156.00, 100.00, and the lowest beeing 70 pounds wasnt acceptable !

 

[teiresias]

When I moved from Verizon to AT&T to get the iPhone, my bill went up about $20/month. I had no kind of data plan when I was with Verizon though (aside from text messaging) and didn't use a smart phone, so I see it basically as just the added cost of the data plan.

The only "downgrade" I made was that I do get a smaller allotment of text messages per month on AT&T than I had with Verizon, but I don't go over my limit enough to warrant upgrading my text message limit (ie. I'd pay more per month to upgrade than I do in charges for the extra text messages).

 

[yayaba]

I'm just a cheap bastard that loved my Motorola L7 and I still think AT&T and Apple are screwing us royally on this deal. Full price for the unit and an expensive plan for 2 years doesn't sit well with me.

Well, besides the no subsidy on the phone, the contract price is reasonable to me. The cheapest AT&T voice plan is $39.99. The cheapest data plan they have is $19.99. So combine the two and you have the cheapest iPhone plan.

 

[Cobra2001]

Was anyone here that bought an iPhone an already established AT&T/Cingular customer from the Cingular side and out of their current 2 year contract? Is upgrading the the iPhone as easy as picking one up at the Apple store, connecting it to the computer, activating through iTunes (and chosing your data plan) and then that's it? Would I be up and running right away?

Has anyone had difficulty attaching the iPhone data plan to a current plan that is about 3 years old? My wife and I are on a family plan that's about 3 years old and I don't want to change the plan, just upgrade my phone. If I can do that, then I think the extra $20 a month for data and 200 texts is worth it.

In my opinion, the less contact with AT&T, the better.

 

[Aries326]

Well, besides the no subsidy on the phone, the contract price is reasonable to me. The cheapest AT&T voice plan is $39.99. The cheapest data plan they have is $19.99. So combine the two and you have the cheapest iPhone plan.

Yeah, it's the cheapest iPhone plan because it is the ONLY company offering iPhone plans. Look at that one T-Mobile plan the other user posted:

I havethe perfect plan with t-mobile, I got a special 3 years ago for 1,500 minutes, nights free, and weekends free for 50.00, I added unlimited texting for 10 and tzones for 5, I know pay 65, My solution to get and iphone, was unlock...and I am extremely happy with my phone and service, While others complain about sdk, I have gps on my phone, voice dialing, camera with zoom and effects, and much much more.

$65 T-Mobile is offering 1100 more minutes a month, unlmited texting and unlimited data for $5. That's the kind of deal I would at least expect paying full retail for a phone.

 

[travieso]

With the Sidekick and $20 service you get an email account sent directly to your phone, unlimited data and instant messaging. So if you have the basic $40 plan plus $20 is somewhere around 70 bucks with the taxes and all those stupid fees companies add on.