 en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | reply to iansltx
Re: hmm There are a couple of logical pieces that nobody has mentioned.
1. You can use an old 'dumb phone' (or purchase a gophone, etc). And use it
2. When you want to use data, add standard 'data', and use your PDA phone again.
There is no 'contract' on data, and you can easily swap out phones. |
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iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 Reviews:
 ·Verizon Online DSL
 ·RoadRunner Cable
·Comcast
| If you're on CDMA though, the carrier can disallow an ESN swap unless a plan is changed to that supports data for that particular device. On Sprint that means an Everything or Everything Data family plan. It's not the contract that bothers me, it's switching plans from the one I have now.
Yes, I'm on SERO, but I'd be willing to pay full price for a Samsung Moment if I could get it on my plan. By full price I mean $450...I'd still be saving money vs. giving up my plan and paying $180 for the device upfront.
I know some people may not share my feelings, but I feel that if someone buys their phone outright (no subsidy) they should be able to use it on whatever plan they want, though the carrier can reserve the right to say "you can't do that" when a user attempts to use a non-smartphone data package to power a smartphone.
The thing is, my $30 SERO plan has full data. I know this because it's powering my HTC Touch Pro right now. Just can't get an Anroid phone as far as I can tell...I have to upgrade my plan otherwise and there's no going back.
What's really funny is if I switch plans to an Everything plan, at $60 per month after a 15% discount from my school, Sprint is at that point obligated to let me upgrade at new customer price to a new phone each year, rather than every two years. At that point I'll be paying only $20 per month more than I am right now, so they aren't really getting any more profit than my po-dunk SERO plan, especially if I was willing to forego my upgrade credit to keep my plan (I am). |
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| said by iansltx:The thing is, my $30 SERO plan has full data. I know this because it's powering my HTC Touch Pro right now. Just can't get an Anroid phone as far as I can tell...I have to upgrade my plan otherwise and there's no going back. I feel ya amigo. I recently let go of my SERO plan which was up for renewal because no decent phones are going to be allowed on that plan anymore - the Touch Pro2 was the last, and that phone was a huge letdown in my humble opinion (returned mine within two days). Yes, I'm paying double what I was with my beloved SERO plan, but at least Sprint made the transition easier by instituting the "Any Mobile, Anytime" perk for free, and Sprint Navigation has also been much more useful than I thought it'd be. So, I get those two features plus the ability to run any phone I want now, and I'm STILL saving a fortune compared to the schmucks that throw their money away on AT&T and VZ.
Just saying, you can either have SERO and hold on to your aging Touch Pro, or you can pony up the extra cash and have cool new phones - you can't have both.
- Tate
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It's time to let go of TDM people. If it's not IP-based, it's crap! |
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iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 | Unfortunately true. I have SprintNav right now, hence the fac that i'd only be paying $20 more for service. |
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 djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
kudos:1
 ·VOIPo
 ·Verizon Wireless..
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·AT&T U-Verse
1 edit | reply to en102
said by en102:There are a couple of logical pieces that nobody has mentioned. 1. You can use an old 'dumb phone' (or purchase a gophone, etc). And use it 2. When you want to use data, add standard 'data', and use your PDA phone again. There is no 'contract' on data, and you can easily swap out phones. What AT&T has become good at is associating the type of phone you have by IMEI. I think they perfected this process to ensure iPhone 3G users pay $30 instead of $20 for data. If you have the "wrong" data plan they text nag you and automatically add the "correct" data plan.
They can very easily do the same for other types of phones. Check the AT&T customer website after you insert your SIM chip into a smartphone. You'll see the phone type is updated within minutes.
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AT&T U-Hearse
Your funeral. Delivered.
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| reply to en102
I went with a dumb phone and iPod Touch. I can talk on the phone AND surf/get email/chat...on nearest AP.
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Splat |
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 meister_sdPremium
join:2006-01-29
La Mesa, CA
kudos:7 | reply to Telco_Tech
Now you know why people what to clone their ESN to other phones. |
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| reply to djrobx
Kind of true, but not exactly....
AT&T has never heard of Nokia E75 or N series .... it doesn't show anything for my phones on their site and that's the way I like it. $15 unlimited data  |
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