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My plan: Half the price of the iPhone and better in some ways

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poke4christ

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 6, 2007
96
0
I'm currently with AT&T and I had been thinking about getting an iPhone. Really, all I've been wanting was something to hold me out the till Android powered phones come out at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009, I was thinking the iPhone might work for it. I love the interface and the internet feature, but there were some things holding me back. I'm a power user and I really don't like a lot of the features that have been left out. Also, I've hated the lack of a SDK. Now, that may be coming, but I'm willing to bet it too will be very restricted and require apple's okay to install on the iPhone (please correct me if you've heard different) which will prevent a lot of very useful freeware apps made by individuals.

Now, I found out about Sprint's SERO plans. These plans are absolutly amazing. Basically this plan gives 500 minutes (N&W starting at 7 and mobile to mobile), unlimited internet through EV-DO, and unlimited Text messages. All of this for only 30 dollars a month. Half the price of the iPhone plan.

Once I had decided to get Sprint's sero plan, I began looking at phones. I decided on the HTC Mogul which is very similar to my current Cingular 8125. Now "Windows Mobile is far behind the iPhone" you say. Well, yes in some ways they are. However, the feature set really far surpases the current iPhone. The two areas where the iPhone wins are the internet experience and the interface. However, the new skyfire browser when it comes out shortly will remedy that. Also, the internet speeds of EV-DO kick the crap out of EDGE. Plus, the mogul will shortly get an update to rev A which will boost the speeds even more (4G).

So, here's my comparison.

AT&T Plan
Minutes: 450
Text: 200
Data: Unlimited
Speed: Edge (slow to moderate)
N&W: Starts at 9
Rollover: yes

Sprint Plan
Minutes: 500
Text: Unlimited
Data: Unlimited
Speed: EV-DO (Fast)
N&W: starts at 7
Rollover: No

winner: Sprint due to EV-DO speed and unlimited text

iPhone
Interface: Wonderful
Internet: Wonderful
Feature Set: Moderate (being updated slowly)
SDK: Coming (probably limited)
Screen Resolution: 480x320

Mogul: Windows Mobile Profesional
Interface: Moderate (needs updating)
Internet: Very Good when Skyfire comes out (has flash)
Feature set: Very Good (lots of programs for add-ons)
SDK: Well Established, lots of programs (many free)
Screen Resolution: 320x240 (hurts internet)

Winner: I'll give the win to the iPhone, but for me the mogul is probably the winner due to the feature set and internet about to match the iPhone.

Price
Mothly:
-AT&T: 60
-Sprint: 30
Phone:
-iPhone: 400
-Mogul: 200
Total cost over 2-yr contract:
-iPhone: 1840
-Mogul: 920

Winner: Easily the Sprint with Mogul plan

So overall (at least for me) the sprint plan meets or exceeds many of the iPhone options while coming in at half the cost. Plus, I can get an Android phone in a year with sprint (just less of a rebate). So, I ordered it Friday and will be recieving it shortly. Anyway, thought you guys might be interested.
 
i have sprint. sprint sucks. bad service coverage, and i live close to their headquarters in Overland Park. so again i say: sprint sucks.

PS- mobile to mobile (Nextel "Walkie-Talkie") is very hard to understand people with
 
onebloodonelife said:
The SERO plans are great, but do you have the referral to the program from a Sprint employee? If so, go for it.
Click to expand...

I don't have a friend, but I was able to find someone online who gave me permision to use their email. It's not all that hard if look a little bit and ask in the right place ;)
 
phoxrenvatio said:
i have sprint. sprint sucks. bad service coverage, and i live close to their headquarters in Overland Park. so again i say: sprint sucks.

PS- mobile to mobile (Nextel "Walkie-Talkie") is very hard to understand people with
Click to expand...

I'm in texas and had sprint in oklahoma a couple years back. The only thing I didn't like was it would sometimes loose signal on road trips and out in the country, but I'll be in metropalitan areas for the most part so I think I'll be fine. Plus it looks like they've improved their highway coverage. It will be fine (maybe a little worse than AT&T) for the price.
 
I had Windows Mobile for 5/6 years and now got an iphone and i godda say i really detest WM5/6 etc

iphone FTW
 
The great thing about the SERO plan is its incredibly inexpensive pricing, which is why they don't advertise this plan to the general public.

The catch with the incredibly inexpensive pricing is that since no other carrier offers anything close to it, you're going to be pretty much stuck with Sprint forever, so make sure you're OK with their phone selection and service before you jump.
 
aristobrat said:
The great thing about the SERO plan is its incredibly inexpensive pricing, which is why they don't advertise this plan to the general public.

The catch with the incredibly inexpensive pricing is that since no other carrier offers anything close to it, you're going to be pretty much stuck with Sprint forever, so make sure you're OK with their phone selection and service before you jump.
Click to expand...

I'm definitly okay with the one I chose. As for the future, I'm waiting on Android (like I said) and Sprint is part of the open handset aliance. So, I assume they should be getting at least a few android phones and will offer good support:D.

AT&T, however, is the only American provider that hasn't offered some form of support for Android. I'd prefer to go with a company that will favor open access (even if it is limited, it's still better than others).
 
poke4christ said:
I'm definitly okay with the one I chose. As for the future, I'm waiting on Android (like I said) and Sprint is part of the open handset aliance. So, I assume they should be getting at least a few android phones and will offer good support:D.

AT&T, however, is the only American provider that hasn't offered some form of support for Android. I'd prefer to go with a company that will favor open access (even if it is limited, it's still better than others).
Click to expand...


Sounds to me that you're buying into a service/phone setup for the "future" enhancements to be made. i.e. Android (currently vaporware), and that IE browser you mentioned. It may be just wishful thinking.

iPhone has the features to use today, and with the hack apps already there (around 500 by now last I counted) and the SDK right around the corner, iPhone is here today, not "down-the-road". My wife has a Windows Mobile based phone, and side-by-side, even with all the "thousands" of Windows mobile apps, it still is no comparison with the ease of use of the iPhone. And I make Windows apps for a living, so I'm not an Apple fanboy, but it just is better, hands down. Microsoft is lost right now.

The EVDO speed comparison is data bits. Unfortunately, we humans don't work with data bits, we work with the interface that allows the data bits to flow. IE (or any other MS based browser) is no match for the ease of Safari and the iPhone keyboard interface. And except for Flash, 100% reproduced webpages, unlike IE mobile. You have to personally figure that out on your own, it's not obvious, or can be explained in an email easily. The only analogy I can think of is that I let my 4 year old neice use my iPhone to keep her "quiet" during a family dinner at a restaurant, she picked it up in about 3 minutes flat, touching, browsing, playing with the 'hack-app' pirate app, drawing, typing her name in notes, playing music, watching 'bunnies' video, etc.

Your money though, so good luck.
 
poke4christ said:
I'm definitly okay with the one I chose. As for the future, I'm waiting on Android (like I said) and Sprint is part of the open handset aliance. So, I assume they should be getting at least a few android phones and will offer good support:D.
Click to expand...
The thing about Sprint and Verizon that I love is their blazing fast data network. The thing I really dislike is that their network uses CDMA technology, which isn't what the majority of the rest of the world uses. Because of this, phone manufacturers typically make new models of phones for GSM carriers first, many of which never get made for CDMA carriers. :(
 
yagrax said:
Sounds to me that you're buying into a service/phone setup for the "future" enhancements to be made. i.e. Android (currently vaporware), and that IE browser you mentioned. It may be just wishful thinking.

iPhone has the features to use today, and with the hack apps already there (around 500 by now last I counted) and the SDK right around the corner, iPhone is here today, not "down-the-road". My wife has a Windows Mobile based phone, and side-by-side, even with all the "thousands" of Windows mobile apps, it still is no comparison with the ease of use of the iPhone. And I make Windows apps for a living, so I'm not an Apple fanboy, but it just is better, hands down. Microsoft is lost right now.

The EVDO speed comparison is data bits. Unfortunately, we humans don't work with data bits, we work with the interface that allows the data bits to flow. IE (or any other MS based browser) is no match for the ease of Safari and the iPhone keyboard interface. And except for Flash, 100% reproduced webpages, unlike IE mobile. You have to personally figure that out on your own, it's not obvious, or can be explained in an email easily. The only analogy I can think of is that I let my 4 year old neice use my iPhone to keep her "quiet" during a family dinner at a restaurant, she picked it up in about 3 minutes flat, touching, browsing, playing with the 'hack-app' pirate app, drawing, typing her name in notes, playing music, watching 'bunnies' video, etc.

Your money though, so good luck.
Click to expand...

Very good and friendly analysis. I agree that the iPhone is easily more user friendly. I've been using a windows mobile device for some time and have tried the iPhone. though I agree it is ahead of windows mobile in a lot of ways, I will always hate how locked down it is. We will see on the feature set when the SDK comes out. For me, the big push was the price. If price was all even, I'd probably go for the iPhone. However, it's not.

You mentioned the internet experience. As I said, the new skyfire will help WM devices close in on the iPhone in that relm. The iPhone is really pushing everyone else forward, and that is a VERY good thing. I totally agree that microsoft is loosing (I actually think that's a good thing ;)) but they are also being pushed and that too is a good thing.

Also, android is really just a matter of time. It might be delayed, but the phones are coming and IMHO, it will be the new standard device for the power users out there (definitly the linux comunity). It will work accross multiple platforms and form factors instead of the one options the iPhone has. It will more than likely be cheaper. You won't have to deal with apple's crap on locking down everything. Finally, you will have thousands of developers out there working on it. Most of the hackers out there will probably transtion to it due to the openess of it.

All in all, all this cometition is really good for the consumer. We are getting a major push in the industry right now and we can thank the iPhone for that. I admit it is nice, but I also know it isn't the end all be all and is missing many basic features. Let me ask you this though. If you had the option, would the iPhone be worth nearly a grand more over two years to you? It sure as hell isn't too me.
 
There is a reason that Sprint lost 600,000 subs in q4 and offering sero to everyone and anyone seems to be the only thing getting them new customers. You are counting on a lot of things that aren't even viable options yet such as skyfire and android phones on a network more "closed" than either gsm option.

I deal with them on the business side on a regular basis and they are the worst of the big four wireless providers by a mile. I personally would rather use blackberry/ iphone or symbian before windows mobile, but that is more of a personal preference.
As far as AT&T not being a part of the android thing at this time...they won't let verizon outdo them when devices start hitting the market. Besides there is always the option of buying an unlocked device and popping your sim in.

Anyway good luck with Sprint and the mogul.
 
Message board for Iphone & Apple products. No offense, but not interested in hearing about Sprint phones. You can try to convince yourself that the Sprint phone and service is better, but the only thing you are basing that on is $, not product.
 
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