This is why we laugh at contract phones

[platypuss94]

for everyone who has just switched to virgin mobile and are questioning if it was a good decision, i urge you to look at this:

Compare HTC ThunderBolt 4G vs Motorola Triumph full Specification, features & price

after you have looked at that, i urdge you to look at this:

Virgin mobile:

Cell Phone Plans - Pay As You Go and Prepaid | Virgin Mobile

Verizon:

Plans - Verizon Wireless

As you can see above the verizon "unlimited everything plan" would come to a total of 189.99 a month. now if that still doesnt shock you enough, here are the prices of the phones that i have shown above.

TRIUMPH:

Motorola Triumph Android Smartphone | Virgin Mobile

THUNDERBOLT:

Set Your Location

(put your area code in and then you will see a drop down box that has two year plan on it. click that and change it to month to month)

Next i present to you the coverage maps:

Sprint:

http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp?ECID=SEM:Google:Sprint:Mobile:Broadba nd

Verizon:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/CoverageLocatorController?

Now if all this hasn't shown you why virgin mobile is obviously the better choice than i have one final statement. verizon doesnt offer truly unlimited where as virgin mobile does. as you can see from there data plan, 12 gigs a month costs 100$. anything over that and they start charging you big time. virgin mobile being the little brother of sprint (only truly unlimited plan) gives us unlimited data, messaging, calling for only 55$ a month. thats half of what verizon charges for there so called "unlimited data" plan alone. add on there other services and the total monthly charges come to 189.99 a month. anyone else see the problem with this?

lets do a little math. there are 12 months in a year.

Virgin Mobile:

12x55=660

660+300 for the phone=960 total for one year of unlimited everything.

Verizon:

12x190=2280

2280+570 for the phone=2850 total for one year of "unlimited" everything.

if my point still hasnt been made than please kindly continue paying 1620$ more than those of us who stick with the company with the horrible name. =)

have a great day!

this is dedicated to my parents who don't even use data on verizon and still pay 70$ a month.

~platypuss94~

 

[Alexgurl]

ya platy. Its crazy. The only reason people go contract and more expensive is the status thing.

 

[rui-no-onna]

ya platy. Its crazy. The only reason people go contract and more expensive is the status thing.

Not really. Having "unlimited" everything is useless if you don't get signal. In a lot areas, Verizon just has better coverage compared to other carriers. The first thing to look at when choosing which carrier to go with is network coverage. If coverage in your area is pretty much the same among all carriers, then that's when you start looking at price. Device choice is a far third, imho (which is why I'm baffled by all the people who switched to AT&T just because of the iPhone and then go on to complain that they have no signal ).

 

[IOWA]

Not really. Having "unlimited" everything is useless if you don't get signal. In a lot areas, Verizon just has better coverage compared to other carriers. The first thing to look at when choosing which carrier to go with is network coverage. If coverage in your area is pretty much the same among all carriers, then that's when you start looking at price. Device choice is a far third, imho (which is why I'm baffled by all the people who switched to AT&T just because of the iPhone and then go on to complain that they have no signal ).

This. I travel quite a bit for work sometimes and signal is important to me. Even if I have to roam, being able to use the phone is very important. Once your out of the "prepaid zone" you can't roam on other networks and you have no signal, your screwed.

Also, with Sprint I pay (for two devices) $135/mo after taxes, give or take.

$135/2 = $67.5 x 12 = $810 per device for unlimited everything, sans landline minutes. (Which I don't use anyway, I literally use 14 minutes a month or so calling landlines.

And I get my phones at a discounted rate on top of that, often for under $100.

So about the same price, a little less actually, with more features, faster speed, better coverage, and most of all peace of mind.

 

[androidfonefan]

OP the problem with this comparison is the Moto Triumph is a 300.00 dollar failure. I bought the phone and the store I bought it from wanted to do every fix in the book they could think of until the return time ran out and I was stuck with the POS phone. That stores tricks and crap caused VM to lose a customer. I was not with them long, aprox 8 months, but I was a happy customer up until the Triumph was released.
I am a person that does not forgive easily. Screw me over and it is a long time letting it go.
I and a great many like me took 300.00 dollar screwings on this phone. I took my lumps and left VM.
I now use ST, I save 20 a month on service and the phones work.
The Triumphs hardware list is impressive yes, but the ROM they installed on that hardware blows big time and makes that hardware hardy worth having. GPS that will not lock on, unresponsive back button, unresponsive touch screen. Random shut downs and reboots and the list goes on.

Make this argument with another phone and it may be a valid one. But you cant compare apples to oranges like this and then use a brick instead of an apple or orange.

 

[bioforce]

I'd much rather have have a far better selection of phones and service I know will work everywhere then having to guess if my service is actually going to work someplace. My sister in law says her phone is great except for the service... well, whats the point then?

 

[pool_shark]

ya platy. Its crazy. The only reason people go contract and more expensive is the status thing.

I don't go around showing my phone to everyone saying "look what I have".
If one of the smaller carriers had the same phones, I might take a look, but they don't, and as others have stated, the service isn't equal either.

 

[ChadKaplowski]

verizon doesnt offer truly unlimited where as virgin mobile does. as you can see from there data plan, 12 gigs a month costs 100$. anything over that and they start charging you big time.

~platypuss94~

Jesus, 12Gb per month? What on earth do you do with your device that means you need that much data? Are you tethering it? Do you not live and work in areas where there is reliable wifi available to save your data allowance?

 

[jerofld]

Eh, I'm not worried about Sprint coverage. Everywhere I go, I get, at least, decent coverage from Sprint. And if it is ever fully out, I can roam on Verizon's network for free, as long as I don't abuse the hell out of it. And VM uses the Sprint network, so I assume they also have the same privileges.

The poor device selection would be the only limiting factor. But, that's what CDMA workshop is for.

 

[Crashdamage]

With T-Mobile we get 2 lines for $50/mo each ($100/mo) + taxes. For that each line gets unlimited minutes to land or mobile numbers (important 'cause we use 2-3000 min/mo calling business land lines) unlimited text and unlimited data (throttled after 2G, but that's plenty and no overage charges ever) Data speeds are good, coverage is good, customer service is good and a nice choice of phones.

Easily the best deal available, at least for our needs.

 

[A.Nonymous]

I'm with VZW for the coverage. I pay about $100 a month for voice and data and I get coverage just about everywhere. I get coverage in places I think I have no business getting coverage (concrete basements in concrete buildings in some cases). I get coverage in places where my friends on Sprint and T-mobile get no coverage at all. My parents are on T-Mobile and frequently have to call me back because they drop the signal. Do I pay more than I'd pay for the same thing on another service? Probably. But I get a signal everywhere. If I can't get a signal, my phone is useless. I don't care if I'm getting service free of charge if I can't get a signal.

I don't think anyone thinks that it's a status symbol because you're with VZW/Sprint/ATT/whoever.

 

[rui-no-onna]

I don't think anyone thinks that it's a status symbol because you're with VZW/Sprint/ATT/whoever.

So true. The phones/devices themselves can be a status symbol. The carrier, you choose based on service. Unless you're in the habit of telling folks who your carrier is, I don't see how choosing VZW over Sprint can be considered a status symbol.

 

[A.Nonymous]

The only way I can think that someone would look at a phone choice as status if someone is using some ghetto off brand service from a local carrier. There are some small carriers here locally who offer notoriously poor coverage. People who use them use them because they're cheap and they probably can't afford anything else.

 

[aysiu]

With T-Mobile I'm on contract for less than $55 a month with unlimited data, and I can actually use Google Voice. I don't see what contract v. non-contract has to do with it. If you like Virgin Mobile, go for it. T-Mobile works just fine for me.

 

[IOWA]

The only way I can think that someone would look at a phone choice as status if someone is using some ghetto off brand service from a local carrier. There are some small carriers here locally who offer notoriously poor coverage. People who use them use them because they're cheap and they probably can't afford anything else.

If i was in that situation i would just go back to a dumb phone with a cheap plan and use my android devices on wifi where available.

 

[Saltine713]

I'm not laughing at the contract phones, rather I'm laughing at the major fail of the OP.

 

[persim]

After finding the prepaid option a year ago, I switched and haven't looked back. Every major carrier has a prepaid option or MVNO that has pretty much the exact same coverage for a substantial savings.

Page Plus = Verizon
Simple Mobile = T-Mobile
Straight Talk = ATT
Virgin, Boost = Sprint

I haven't listed them all and some use more than one carrier's network. Yes, some do not get roaming privileges that the major carriers get but sit down and examine if you actually need that.

I originally wanted to get a smart phone on Verizon but couldn't justify the data plan. Now I can put any android phone on Page Plus with no data plan, pay $15 less a month, get more minutes/texts/data, and get pretty much the same Verizon coverage I always had. Couldn't be happier with my choice.

It may not be for everybody but there are a lot more people who could and probably should go the prepaid route. I think the main problem is the majority of people just don't realize they have other options besides the major carriers.

 

[rui-no-onna]

I originally wanted to get a smart phone on Verizon but couldn't justify the data plan. Now I can put any android phone on Page Plus with no data plan, pay $15 less a month, get more minutes/texts/data, and get pretty much the same Verizon coverage I always had. Couldn't be happier with my choice.

It may not be for everybody but there are a lot more people who could and probably should go the prepaid route. I think the main problem is the majority of people just don't realize they have other options besides the major carriers.

It's only recently that I saw a prepaid plan I like paired with a healthy selection of devices.
T-Mobile: 100 minutes/unlimited text/unlimited data (HSPA+ first 5GB, 2G speed after)

Just bought a Samsung Galaxy S 4G Vibrant from ebay to test coverage and network speeds. If that works out, I might get myself a Samsung Galaxy S II.

 

[dmodert66]

My reasons? Coverage without having to worry and device selection. Compare that phone you speak of to the Nexus Prime, HTC Vigor or the Moto Droid Razr. All of those phones will be releasing shortly (Prime and Razor will be announced tomorrow and ship shortly after). I have watched the release windows for contract vs non-contract phones, and it hasn't been pretty. Maybe that will change, but right now if I want the best available phones, it's going to be on contract.

A big part of the equation is the fact that I am grandfathered in (so far) on my unlimited data plan with Verizon. Where that to change, I may take a look at prepaid plans.

 

[zuben el genub]

Quite a few of these plans deal with a single user. It's more lines that make the deals worse. I found TMO better for multiline.

Also, if and when this ATT/TMO merger comes and TMO isn't grandfathered, we'll be switching to dumbphones and using wifi only tablets. I was with Verizon once, and won't go back, and since I don't care for CDMA, everyone else is out, too. I find CDMA too controlling since it doesn't use a SIM. I can pull SIM on phone and use it as wifi only. No charges involved since no network. Phones also not subsidized. I prefer to buy outright.

 

[indybail]

Different strokes for different folkd etc etc. The great thing about Android is variety ways to have the Android experience. Shop around and enjoy it. Sure beats standing in line for hours on end to have someone dictate how your smartphone experience is going to be.

 

[rui-no-onna]

Different strokes for different folkd etc etc. Sure beats standing in line for hours on end to have someone dictate how your smartphone experience is going to be.

There wasn't really much need to line up for the iPhone 4S this time. I went to the AT&T store Saturday after release to activate my brother's 4S (pre-ordered Oct 7 and delivered Oct 14 but it required some activation voodoo). I was curious if they still had the 4S in stock so I asked the rep and was surprised when he said they still had some.

Regarding the different strokes thing, surely that applies to the iPhone, too? The interface is simplistic so it's easy to pick up and learn and there are plenty of "Geniuses" at the Apple Store ready to help in case you have trouble using your new iDevice. I'm not saying iOS is better (indeed, after using Android, iOS, webOS and WP7, I much prefer Android), just that it works better for some folks.

 

[munkymedic]

This is my thinking. Excluding the prices of the phones, just by the plans, its $25 vs $90 for Verizon and Verizon's network is not almost 4 times better than Sprint's. It's better, but not 4x better.

 

[sleedeane]

I wonder where everybody is finding the $55 plans from T-mobile. I'm paying $80 up to 2gigs. I guess if the annual cost matters, $98 (including insurance and taxes) x 12 + $600 phone (yes, cash) I'm at $1776. Is that a lot for internet, mp3 player, digital photography, gps, radio, books and magazines, automotive applications (speedometer, scanner), flashlight, television and movies, etc. etc.?
And because I like all this stuff to be high-quality I choose the highest quality phone money can buy (imo). Coverage sucks at my house, so I pay another $15/mth for wi-fi to pick up that slack.
Expensive hobby, I guess. But considering the time I spend with this thing, it's all worth it.

 

[Crashdamage]

@sleeseane: The Value plans are the cheap deals with T-Mobile. Single lines $55/mo for unlimited talk to land & mobile numbers, unlimited text + 200mb data, $60 for 2GB, $75 for 5GB, $100 for 10GB. No data cap or overcharges but Edge speed if you go over your limit.

I have the 2 lines @2GB each for $100 deal. Cheap!

If coverage sucks in your house like mine no problem. Instead of friggin' wifi calling T-Mo provided us a free cell signal booster. Nice!