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Virgin Mobile 4g

The EVO 3D 4G sure sounds like a nice phone. I'm tempted . . . really tempted, but I think I'll wait a few months to see how others feel about the phone first. Doubt I would ever use the 3D, but the specs are pretty nice with dual core 1.2ghz processor, 1 gig of RAM and 4 GB of internal storage, 4.3 inch screen, 5MP camera with 3D capability . . .

On the other hand, I would have to give up my $25 grandfathered plan, and this Optimus has been a really reliable little phone.
 
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VM uses the Sprint network towers. Sprint doesn't have 4G but in a just a few cities. I would check to see if Sprint 4G is where you live. Otherwise you will be wasting your money and wasting the life of a 4G phone which you can't use for 4G. I would wait until there is a dedicated 4G network in your area before buying a 4G phone. Might take a couple of years.
 
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VM uses the Sprint network towers. Sprint doesn't have 4G but in a just a few cities. I would check to see if Sprint 4G is where you live. Otherwise you will be wasting your money and wasting the life of a 4G phone which you can't use for 4G. I would wait until there is a dedicated 4G network in your area before buying a 4G phone. Might take a couple of years.

Virgin is getting Wimax 4g. It is available almost everywhere I believe. The 4g lte network is the network that's only available in a few cities.
 
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The map in my area is rather amusing, huge areas of forest, mountains, river and farming fields have 4g coverage but over half of the city is without any coverage at all.

I'm in a hole. Every area around me has 4g but i'm in the little area right in the center with nothing!!! If I go about 20 miles any direction I'd have 4g. Guess it'd be good for where I work but out of luck at home. But being on 25mbps internet at home I wouldn't use the 4g anyway
 
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These are the only places that Sprint has 4G. Just in some of the Major Cities.

mapdatawimaxUS.gif


If you think it looks like a lot, just count up the dots. That ain't very many cities in the whole of the United States. The Orange is their 3G coverage.
 
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These are the only places that Sprint has 4G. Just in some of the Major Cities.

mapdatawimaxUS.gif


If you think it looks like a lot, just count up the dots. That ain't very many cities in the whole of the United States. The Orange is their 3G coverage.

Didn't realize it was only like that. I looked at my entire area (SF bay area) and saw coverage so I assumed it was much better than what you were saying.
 
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Is it really worth the $300?

I don't know anything about WiMax, and weren't the sales of the EVO 3D pretty lackluster?


Not sure if it's worth 300 bucks or not. I'm still trying to convince myself that spending that amount of cash is justified when my OpV works just fine. I know me... I'll probably talk myself out of it lol.

As for how the sales went on that phone, no idea. I was under the impression that for quite some time the Evo 3d was Sprints flagship phone. If you're thinking about getting it, I recommend reading as many reviews on the phone as you can get your hands on. Then you can make an informed decision.
 
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I believe wimax 4g is clearwire towers. Clearwire has very limited coverage.


On May 7, 2008, Sprint Nextel announced it would merge its WiMAX wireless broadband unit with Clearwire, combining Sprint's Xohm service with the Clearwire broadband network. Sprint will own a simple majority of the resulting company, with current Clearwire shareholders owning just over a quarter. A consortium of Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Intel, Google, and Bright House will invest $3.2 billion and own the balance.[

Sprint Nextel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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I don't know anything about WiMax, and weren't the sales of the EVO 3D pretty lackluster?

My understanding based on Evo 4G owners is that there were a number of factors at play, however sales were not as lackluster as people think. They were lower than expected, but that is partly because they were comparing them to Evo 4G sales numbers. The Evo 3d is actually one of the most supported phones you can buy in terms of users and developers, that doesn't happen when only a few phones sell.

The reasons I have heard though, is that the Evo 4g was (and still is) a very nice phone that Sprint sold a TON of them, it was a phone people wanted. A year later, when many would have upgraded, Sprint had changed the upgrade policy, making it so most of the Evo 4G owners would have had to pay for it. Most who owned the 4G felt it was still plenty fast, had a nicer look and format and it was already paid for, so they skipped the upgrade. In fact it's only now with the new EVO LTE and with many now poised for their upgrade that 4g owners are starting to consider giving them up. Even still, some still refuse to (yes, they really are that nice).

As for new customers, it didn't help that the 4G was made in such mass quantities that you could still get them for quite a while and many saw the 3d feature as being the primary selling point and only a gimmick. As the 4g left shelves, Sprint brought in other HTC phones (without 3d), close enough in specs and at a lower price. Then to top it off, the Iphone was brought in. Despite all of that, it still managed to sell quite well, just don't compare the numbers to the Evo 4G or the Iphone.

Customers just couldn't see beyond the 3d feature to see the phone it truly was, which is precisely the reason it was renamed for Virgin. Was it the best phone on Sprint? Probably not, but it crushes everything on Virgin and Boost currently.
 
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I don't know if I can ever justify the cost. I only rejoined the smartphone world a little less than a year ago with my OpV. As tempting as the specs are, I'm not sure if dropping $300 for something whose primary network is likely to be shut down by 2015, if not earlier (unless Clearwire can fast track LTE, they probably will declare bankruptcy and liquidate).

By then, Sprint would have no choice but to allow Virgin and Boost to access their by then fully built and operational LTE network. Then I'll be in a position to change. My only question, in between that time, will I get a new phone like say, the LG Optimus Elite or wait for something more appealing as far as 3G-only handsets go? Perhaps.
 
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