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would you pay $1000 for an iPhone 4s
- Thread starter xxcysxx
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I wouldn't but that's irrelevant.
Dead horse. Which carrier gives you discounted service for bringing your own device? None of them. It really depends on a number of variables. It is possible to save some by paying full price. It's also possible to pay the same or more by paying full price. There's no one-size-fits-all answer despite the assertions above.
Depending on the carrier it's not the subsidy that brings about the data plan requirement. Certain carriers require a data plan based on the device model (subsidized or not).
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I paid £500 ($783) for my iPhone 4S. I pay £15 a month on a 30-day rolling contract, free to cancel at any time.
If I stuck with it for two years (the length of some iPhone contracts here), I'd pay £860 ($1350) over two years.
On a contract with subsidised phone and similar data/calls/messages, I'd pay a total of £939 ($1470) over two years.
So, by paying more up front I'm saving in the long run, and I get to cancel at any time. Also, the upside is that I can sell my iPhone 4S when the iPhone 5 comes out and upgrade for a total cost of about £150.
If I stuck with it for two years (the length of some iPhone contracts here), I'd pay £860 ($1350) over two years.
On a contract with subsidised phone and similar data/calls/messages, I'd pay a total of £939 ($1470) over two years.
So, by paying more up front I'm saving in the long run, and I get to cancel at any time. Also, the upside is that I can sell my iPhone 4S when the iPhone 5 comes out and upgrade for a total cost of about £150.
Not only does my network give me a discounted service for not having to make them subsidise my device (as they're a SIM free only network), but they pay me more than my monthly cost for using them - I therefore make a profit from the network, which means I get the service free and have them pay off a portion of the handset cost anyway. Beat that
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saving107 said:
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Not only does my network give me a discounted service for not having to make them subsidise my device (as they're a SIM free only network), but they pay me more than my monthly cost for using them - I therefore make a profit from the network, which means I get the service free and have them pay off a portion of the handset cost anyway. Beat that
How does that work if u don't mind me asking?
To answer others - There is no point of paying full price for phones in USA. None of the carriers give you any discounts. If I buy subsidized phone I will be paying same monthly fees as non subsidized phone. Its not exactly fair and needs to change so hopefully one day it will. USA carriers collude together on price fixing and pay dearly for lobbying efforts so for now there is no scrutiny going on. One day that will change until then we are being royally screwed
I get a very good deal first of all - 250 minutes, unlimited texts and internet for £10 a month.
As for getting paid, the network has very little customer service - "agents" deal with account related inquiries whereas other customers help with everything else through their forum, and in return, people who use that forum are paid.
Essentially, I get paid for what I'm doing right now - posting in a forum. And the amount of money I make per month often exceeds the £10 a month I pay for my phone service. So PROFIT!
Yep, been on giffgaff pretty much ever since I got my iPhone 4 a year ago and I love it. Best network I've ever used
3 have good deals but I find their customer service to be extremely unreliable and I know that, if I ever have a problem, I'll become very stressed if I have to ring them up to get it sorted. That said, my short experience with T-Mobile wasn't exactly much better (and it was short for a reason). I like giffgaff because they give you the good deals but still have very good online based customer service (I've had nothing but good experience with both the forums and the agents) and of course they pay me!
I've been on 3 for years and haven't ever had a problem so I've had no reason to give them a call!
I have however heard from friends and family that their customer service is TERRIBLE. I just hope the day never comes where I have a problem and have to call them :/
Y'know, that's not bad when I compare it to the price of other plans I've seen floating around this forum (US carriers).
I'm very grateful for the fact that plans here in the UK are cheap. We have to pay through the nose for Apple products
+1 I bought my unlocked 64GB at the end of October for $950. I like that I don't have a contract.
I think Tmobile gives you a cheaper monthly plan if you bring your own device and you dont get a subsidy.
Not 100% but that's what I heard.
folks, i'm on tmobile. i've been with them long before they took over voicestream. i get great service from them all the time and every time. their plan also works great for me too. i got three lines on a family plan from them with unlimited text and web on my line and limited web on another line and barely pay $100 a month for the bill. the internet speed is fantastic and i tether my phone to my laptop all the time in school and at work when the local wifi hotspot get congested, yet they don't care. the voice calls are clear and we hardly ever get a drop calls.
furthermore, none of my family member ever get a phone upgrade or any phone through t-mobile. we had always paid for our phone in full price. not that we had anything against getting a phone through t-mobile, it's just they coincidentally never had anything we like at the time of interest, and also when we ask about the renew contract plan, what they offer just simply doesn't compare to what we currently have. i don't think we can get the plan we have now for the price we pay. they call it the grandfather plan.
but i have never paid $1000 for a phone before, and i think it's ridiculous. i mean and apple iPhone is not just like any phone, it's an "iPhone"!!!, but it's just that phone factor that's bothering me, the word phone and $1000 just doesn't mesh well.
to the gentlemen who got the iPhone 4s 64gb for $850. i was referring to the device being purchase at the apple store, you have to consider the sales tax and also the extended warranty. that will make the total price close to $1000. sure i can drive to a tax free state close to my place, but i will still have to pay for the gas price to fill up my truck to get there.
the extended warranty is a smarter idea. because it doesn't matter how well you take care of the device or have always handle your equipment with care. these electronic devices (high frequency processor smartphone) will fail over time on their own, and i'm talking months down the road, not years.
furthermore, none of my family member ever get a phone upgrade or any phone through t-mobile. we had always paid for our phone in full price. not that we had anything against getting a phone through t-mobile, it's just they coincidentally never had anything we like at the time of interest, and also when we ask about the renew contract plan, what they offer just simply doesn't compare to what we currently have. i don't think we can get the plan we have now for the price we pay. they call it the grandfather plan.
but i have never paid $1000 for a phone before, and i think it's ridiculous. i mean and apple iPhone is not just like any phone, it's an "iPhone"!!!, but it's just that phone factor that's bothering me, the word phone and $1000 just doesn't mesh well.
to the gentlemen who got the iPhone 4s 64gb for $850. i was referring to the device being purchase at the apple store, you have to consider the sales tax and also the extended warranty. that will make the total price close to $1000. sure i can drive to a tax free state close to my place, but i will still have to pay for the gas price to fill up my truck to get there.
the extended warranty is a smarter idea. because it doesn't matter how well you take care of the device or have always handle your equipment with care. these electronic devices (high frequency processor smartphone) will fail over time on their own, and i'm talking months down the road, not years.
Here in Thailand, yes.
The cheapest 4s 16GB is $730. But you have to wait 3 or 4 weeks.
If you go to a shop outside, it costs $830.
I paid $830 for this 4s 16GB.
So , yes. But that's because I am in Thailand and I pay $22 per month for unlimited everything.
My mom in the US AT&T paid $200 bucks for hers on contract, but she pays $100 a month and can't even tether. So, $200 cash and in 6 months she already paid $800 without tethering. She has to jailbreak and can't upgrade because she uses MyWi.
So, here it makes sense. THe phone is yours. You can change carriers whenever you want to and you pay $22 per month which is unlimited. FOr 1GB per month of 3G you only pay $10 bucks a month here. Tethering and everything. Fully unlocked.
The cheapest 4s 16GB is $730. But you have to wait 3 or 4 weeks.
If you go to a shop outside, it costs $830.
I paid $830 for this 4s 16GB.
So , yes. But that's because I am in Thailand and I pay $22 per month for unlimited everything.
My mom in the US AT&T paid $200 bucks for hers on contract, but she pays $100 a month and can't even tether. So, $200 cash and in 6 months she already paid $800 without tethering. She has to jailbreak and can't upgrade because she uses MyWi.
So, here it makes sense. THe phone is yours. You can change carriers whenever you want to and you pay $22 per month which is unlimited. FOr 1GB per month of 3G you only pay $10 bucks a month here. Tethering and everything. Fully unlocked.
I wouldn't as a USA resident, that doesn't travel abroad that often enough. Just occasional trips to Tijuana since I live in San Diego.
Most likely I would have the phone for 2 years anyway that getting the contract subsidized price is a no brainer, since I would need to buy the same data plan regardless. If the data plan was cheaper, I'd be more for it, but not for a 1000.
Most likely I would have the phone for 2 years anyway that getting the contract subsidized price is a no brainer, since I would need to buy the same data plan regardless. If the data plan was cheaper, I'd be more for it, but not for a 1000.
Wait, you said unlimited, then you said 1gb per month. That kinda contradicts each other don't you think?
Here in the us I tether my laptop to my phone all the time. Me and my friends tether to my phone everyday at lunch time to get online because the school local wireless get so congested at this time. According to tmobile my monthly data usage each month average five to six gigabytes. And that's just only for light Internet surfing, some you tube videos, checking and submitting online assignments. Any downloading of any software or any torrents is completely out of the question. Some month I could of sworn I probably average over twenty gigabyte when in was downloading some games from the app store for my Mac. That was when I was having outages in my neighborhood and I had to tether at home.
You say that as if the person buying the unlocked device won't pay for a rate plan. Invalid argument.
i just want to update this thread to say that i have decided and bought the unlocked 64gb 4s from the apple store last week. i took my wife with me to the apple store to share my pride. she insisted i should get the 32gb because she think i will probably not going to use all the available memory anyway, and therefore will save us some money. but i said it's only a hundred dollars cheaper, if we're going to spend eight hundred for the phone what's another hundred to get the best of it! plus i had about three hundred and fifty dollars i won from playing pool with this guy at the pool hall from the week before, so we only had to spend about five hundred something including tax. i didn't want to buy the extended warranty because what i learned about american express complimentary; but i still have to call in to verify if they do indeed offer me the coverage, otherwise i will have to get back to the apple store before the thirty days is up and get the extended warranty from them.
but anyway, coming from my clumsy xperia x10, this device is so amazing!! this is my very first "iPhone" ever!!! and i love it so much!!
this baby is not going to be jail broken ever!! and i bought a bunch of games from the apps store since last week and i'm having a blast with all of them, that's why it took me so long to post back to this thread.
i can't wait to see what the iPhone 5 has to offer.
cheers everyone. i'm out of this thread for good now.
she insisted i should get the 32gb because she think i will probably not going to use all the available memory anyway, and therefore will save us some money. but i said it's only a hundred dollars cheaper, if we're going to spend eight hundred for the phone what's another hundred to get the best of it! plus i had about three hundred and fifty dollars i won from playing pool with this guy at the pool hall from the week before, so we only had to spend about five hundred something including tax. i didn't want to buy the extended warranty because what i learned about american express complimentary; but i still have to call in to verify if they do indeed offer me the coverage, otherwise i will have to get back to the apple store before the thirty days is up and get the extended warranty from them.but anyway, coming from my clumsy xperia x10, this device is so amazing!! this is my very first "iPhone" ever!!! and i love it so much!!
this baby is not going to be jail broken ever!! and i bought a bunch of games from the apps store since last week and i'm having a blast with all of them, that's why it took me so long to post back to this thread.
i can't wait to see what the iPhone 5 has to offer.
cheers everyone.
i'm out of this thread for good now.