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Why I switched from an iPhone 4 to a flip phone?

B

bwillard5

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 5, 2011
22
0
I just wanted to share with MacRumors my recent switch to a basic flip phone from an iPhone. I had multiple reasons for doing it.

My biggest reason was space because I had bought an 8GB iPhone 4 and I was down to less than 500MB of space so it got me thinking about buying a 16GB iPod Touch 5th Gen so I would have enough space for my music and apps. It also had iMessage and 3 of my family members have iPhones too. Being around WiFi a lot of the time was the biggest selling point though.

I decided a bigger iPhone was out of the question because when I bought an unlocked iPhone 4 it cost $450 from Straight Talk and a iPhone 4S with 16GB cost $550. I just couldn't justify to myself spending another $550 when I had bought the iPhone 4 6 months earlier. $1000 on phones in 1 year is way too much.

This is when I began to think (you know I just bought this phone and it basically looks brand new; I could sell it and get some of my money back.) I could buy an iPod Touch 16GB for $229 and a Tracfone flip phone for $19.99 (the monthly plan would be $10 instead of the $45 I was spending for a smartphone from Straight Talk.

So that's exactly what I did. I tried selling my phone on eBay which turned into a nightmare and after 3 customers who didn't pay when they won the auction I decided to give up selling on eBay and went to gazelle. I had made $299 on eBay those 3 times and Gazelle gave me $65. That was such a let down but I just cut my losses and moved on.

Next I bought an iPod Touch and a Tracfone flip phone and now my lack of space issues are gone and I'm saving $35 a month on my phone bill.

Now I want to ask the members of MacRumors: Have you left an iPhone for a combination of a flip phone/dumb phone and an iPod Touch and/or iPad?
 
I value the convenience of just having to carry one gadget, so I wouldnt do it. But I guess I can understand why some might. And the iPod touch is nice, so if youre happy with the combo, great.
 
Ballis said:
I value the convenience of just having to carry one gadget, so I wouldnt do it. But I guess I can understand why some might. And the iPod touch is nice, so if youre happy with the combo, great.
Click to expand...
I really did like my iPhone for being able to carry only one device around but it is so expensive to buy new iPhones off contract that this was the best solution for me.
 
I couldn't do it. My iPhone has become such an amazing tool for me when I'm out of the house. It doesn't exactly break the bank to get one. Would rather have it than not.
 
No, I could never live without my iPhone. I have almost 40 gigs of music and with Internet and phone it has everything I need and more. Most of all it just works like it should every time I turn it on. I love the experience.

So sad that you lost so much money on your iPhone 4 wow only 65.00 that is a big loss.
 
Infinitewisdom said:
I couldn't do it. My iPhone has become such an amazing tool for me when I'm out of the house. It doesn't exactly break the bank to get one. Would rather have it than not.
Click to expand...
I assume you have a contract with one of the major companies like Verizon Wireless but when you don't have a contract you have to buy the phone out right. If I wanted an iPhone 5C I would have to spend $549, no thanks.
 
Uhm…well. No. I've never done this.

But, space is one of the reasons I buy the largest capacity I can. We get new phones about every two years from our tax refund. Since we are paying premium to buy Apple anyway, it just makes sense to buy the most we can. And we don't resell our phones or do the "I bought this today and I'm selling it in two months" or whatever routine that seems to be prevalent around MR. We just use our phones for the full two years.

I tend to use one device per purpose. I have an iPod Nano if I want to listen to music. I have an iPhone to make phone calls. I have several Macs if I want to surf the web. Some purposes cross over because I'm not always in one spot and I don't carry all my devices around with me. In light of that, my entire music library is on Google Music. If I'm out and I want to listen to music I just use my gMusic app which streams my iTunes library to my iPhone.

8+GB and not ONE kilobyte of it exists on my iPhone. You say you are on WiFi alot. If I was, that'd make gMusic even more useful to me. Anyways, lots of ways to put your data other places than on your phone and access it, thereby saving yourself the trouble of getting rid of it.

I'm sorry, but I never understand why people always buy the least amount of space. Yes, Apple overcharges for GBs and yes some people are paying full price to keep their unlimited plans. I suppose if you're turning around and selling your device quite frequently it makes sense to buy the lesser models, but I'm just not in that category.

I also don't understand the people that want to match their volume of data to the iPhone capacity that it's closest to. Buy the most you can get. Better to have more space and never need it than to not have enough and need more.
 
No. I haven't. I value my iPhone too much to change it for something else. I'd rather spend good money on a product, then use a product that do the job to my desired level.
I've grown used to the iPhone, couldn't change that.
 
eyoungren said:
I tend to use one device per purpose. I have an iPod Nano if I want to listen to music. I have an iPhone to make phone calls. I have several Macs if I want to surf the web....

I'm sorry, but I never understand why people always buy the least amount of space. Yes, Apple overcharges for GBs and yes some people are paying full price to keep their unlimited plans. I suppose if you're turning around and selling your device quite frequently it makes sense to buy the lesser models, but I'm just not in that category.
Click to expand...

I don't get how you can justify having SO many devices, when 1 or 2 will do. An iPod to listen to music? Ok. An additional iPhone to make phone calls? Um, sounds like a massive waste of money to me. And *several* macs to *surf the web*? Do you have 8 arms and 4 eyes or something? Apple's bank manager loves you, I bet :)

To the OP, I actually did pretty much exactly as you have. A few months ago I smashed my iPhone 4, but it still seems to work perfectly. I'm travelling round the world at the moment, so without 3G/LTE coverage I decided to just buy a iPod touch and a £20 phone for emergencies. It all works great! Before I set off on the travels though, it was quite liberating to not rely on my phone for everything. I started asking people for directions instead of relying on google maps, and had some really intereresting conversations with a few of them. I started reading my kindle more on public transport instead of checking facebook and twitter, and have learnt a tonne of new stuff because of it. Sadly, I lost my beloved iPod to the Pacific ocean and am now back on the smashed iPhone for music, apps and the odd photo. But I do wonder if I'll ever go back.

Alex
 
You got ripped off @ $65, even in CL you would have gotten higher 'lowball' offers than that.

I can't go double device, I'm a guy so I don't have a purse so they would both be in my pockets, too uncomfortable carrying those two plus all the other stuff… Also outside my house there aren't many options for internet so I need my cellular data.
 
If money is tight, then an iPhone isn't right.

I bought an iPhone because I loved my iPod but didn't want to carry it around along with a phone. If that's not too inconvenient for you then there shouldn't be much of an issue. However, you could've used the iPhone as an iPod without having to sell it (unless you bought a Touch with more capacity).
 
Your problem is that you got ripped off on your resale price. People don't understand how to sell on ebay it seems. "Buy it Now" with "Immediate Payment Required" prevents non-paying bidders. Even the lowball offers on Craigslist would have gotten you at least $100-125. $65 is a total rip off for an iPhone 4 and that's where you lost all your money.

You could've sold your iPhone 4 for at least $150-175 and used that money towards helping you buy a used iPhone 4 that had 16GB or 32GB of storage. The $150-175 would have covered the majority of that cost. Used 16GB iPhones are going for $160-200. You wouldn't have had much difference to cover.

You do realize that you don't HAVE to buy a brand new iPhone right? Most people on prepaid carriers like Straight Talk get their phones second hand and save a lot of money instead of paying full retail.
 
I couldn't do it, the iPhone is too much a part of my life now. My music is on my iPhone, I make calls on my iPhone, I take photos of my kids on my iPhone and send them to my husband right away, I do read a lot of books on my iPhone though I've read many don't find it convenient, I even surf the web if I need to though when I'm home I use either my iPad or MBA, my email is on my iDevices too... And I'm not talking about all the utility apps that I have on my iPhone. No way would I split all that up into multiple devices when I can just have my iPhone on me.
 
eyoungren said:
Uhm…well. No. I've never done this.

But, space is one of the reasons I buy the largest capacity I can. We get new phones about every two years from our tax refund. Since we are paying premium to buy Apple anyway, it just makes sense to buy the most we can. And we don't resell our phones or do the "I bought this today and I'm selling it in two months" or whatever routine that seems to be prevalent around MR. We just use our phones for the full two years.

I tend to use one device per purpose. I have an iPod Nano if I want to listen to music. I have an iPhone to make phone calls. I have several Macs if I want to surf the web. Some purposes cross over because I'm not always in one spot and I don't carry all my devices around with me. In light of that, my entire music library is on Google Music. If I'm out and I want to listen to music I just use my gMusic app which streams my iTunes library to my iPhone.

8+GB and not ONE kilobyte of it exists on my iPhone. You say you are on WiFi alot. If I was, that'd make gMusic even more useful to me. Anyways, lots of ways to put your data other places than on your phone and access it, thereby saving yourself the trouble of getting rid of it.

I'm sorry, but I never understand why people always buy the least amount of space. Yes, Apple overcharges for GBs and yes some people are paying full price to keep their unlimited plans. I suppose if you're turning around and selling your device quite frequently it makes sense to buy the lesser models, but I'm just not in that category.

I also don't understand the people that want to match their volume of data to the iPhone capacity that it's closest to. Buy the most you can get. Better to have more space and never need it than to not have enough and need more.
Click to expand...

Because your needs are not necessarily the needs of everyone else.
 
bwillard5 said:
I assume you have a contract with one of the major companies like Verizon Wireless but when you don't have a contract you have to buy the phone out right. If I wanted an iPhone 5C I would have to spend $549, no thanks.
Click to expand...

No, actually I buy my phone outright every year. The old one gets sold on Craigslist or traded in. Usually means I end up paying $300 or so for a new phone each year. Again, not exactly breaking the bank.
 
kingalexthe1st said:
I don't get how you can justify having SO many devices, when 1 or 2 will do. An iPod to listen to music? Ok. An additional iPhone to make phone calls? Um, sounds like a massive waste of money to me. And *several* macs to *surf the web*? Do you have 8 arms and 4 eyes or something? Apple's bank manager loves you, I bet :)
Click to expand...
LOL!

No, eBay loves me. And it's not what you think.

In 2009 I had one Mac IIci and one PowerBook G4. It broke. I bought a 17" PowerBook G4 (the one I am typing on now) for $152.50. It's LCD went south about three months later so I bought another 17" PowerBook G4 to replace it. $257. Then I fixed the LCD on the older one $80. That gave me two 17" PowerBooks and since I had always wanted ONE, I was happy to have two. I use one to surf and one for business/design.

Then I bought my son a 15" PowerBook G4, $25. Then my wife a 12" PowerBook G4, $50 +$25 to replace the LCD. Then my mom gave me an iBook G3. Sometime around then I inherited a PowerMac 7200 and bought a PowerMac 6500 for work (Applescript server), $50, Salvation Army. When the work PowerMac G5 broke it was given to me, $65 to replace the logicboard. I recently was given two iBook G3s.

In 2008 I bought my refurb 8GB iPod Nano 5th Gen, $60.

More than half of these Macs are sitting off or idling. I mainly use my two 17" PowerBooks and the G5 went back to work. My YOUNGEST Mac is circa 2006. So, lest anyone here thinks I've spent bazillions on MBPs and Mac Pros, well…it's not the case. I have PowerBooks, iBooks and PowerMacs and a Mac IIci. But the one's I do use have a specific purpose.

----------
djransom said:
Because your needs are not necessarily the needs of everyone else.
Click to expand...
Maybe not. But needs can change. What everyone else may not need today they may need tomorrow. I planned for tomorrow, not today.
 
Last edited:
It sounds like you're not that good with money, or didn't know about better options you had. First, $450 is ways too high for an iPhone 4, especially the 8GB model - unless it was on 2010 when it first came out. Second, you got ripped off with the $65, i'm sure that buyer was happy as hell. You could've easily gotten $120+ on Craigslist, friends or relative.

You don't really have to buy iPhone every years if the current one you have still works, that's just silly. And if if space was a problem, you said WiFi is almost everywhere for you, then you could've save your music, most photos and videos in cloud service like DropBox or just stream your music with apps like spotify or pandora.
 
eyoungren said:
LOL!

No, eBay loves me. And it's not what you think.

In 2009 I had one Mac IIci and one PowerBook G4. It broke. I bought a 17" PowerBook G4 (the one I am typing on now) for $152.50. It's LCD went south about three months later so I bought another 17" PowerBook G4 to replace it. $257. Then I fixed the LCD on the older one $80. That gave me two 17" PowerBooks and since I had always wanted ONE, I was happy to have two. I use one to surf and one for business/design.

Then I bought my son a 15" PowerBook G4, $25. Then my wife a 12" PowerBook G4, $50 +$25 to replace the LCD. Then my mom gave me an iBook G3. Sometime around then I inherited a PowerMac 7200 and bought a PowerMac 6500 for work (Applescript server), $50, Salvation Army. When the work PowerMac G5 broke it was given to me, $65 to replace the logicboard. I recently was given two iBook G3s.

In 2008 I bought my refurb 8GB iPod Nano 5th Gen, $60.

More than half of these Macs are sitting off or idling. I mainly use my two 17" PowerBooks and the G5 went back to work. My YOUNGEST Mac is circa 2006. So, lest anyone here thinks I've spent bazillions on MBPs and Mac Pros, well…it's not the case. I have PowerBooks, iBooks and PowerMacs and a Mac IIci. But the one's I do use have a specific purpose.
Click to expand...

Haha! Ok, I understand now. I just had visions of you surrounded by MBPs and iMacs, each on a different webpage, while listening to your Nano :) I get it, we end up with a lot of stuff over time just 'because'.

Alex
 
kingalexthe1st said:
Haha! Ok, I understand now. I just had visions of you surrounded by MBPs and iMacs, each on a different webpage, while listening to your Nano :) I get it, we end up with a lot of stuff over time just 'because'.

Alex
Click to expand...
OMG! If only your visions were true!

I could use a few MBPs, iMacs and Mac Pros, LOL!
 
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