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The s3 is here!!!!!

Got one for my wifey and have to say, it is a sweet sweet phone.

Here was my buying guide for Radio Shack:

Phone price - $399 ($400)
Open a Radioshack Credit Card and get all purchases that day discounted 10% and get mailed a $50 Visa Giftcard after your first bill payment.

Phone Price reduced 10% and $50 credit = $310.

Also, almost got talked into buying a case since everything was 10% off but held off. After everything rang up, you get a $10 off coupon to use in the next 3 weeks (no minimum purchase) so actually will save more using that using the CC discount.

Credit card is interest free for 12 months however I plan to pay it off immediately and close the account, done and done.

(*if you're real savy you may figure out a way to save on tax too ;))
 
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1) It looks like white is the only available color - do any of you gents feel like the phone has a feminine look to it?
2) Does the Virgin Mobile device have roughly half the CPU processing power of the typical S3 that all your friends are carrying around?
3) This phone was slated for LTE, anyone coming from the Evo, is the service any better at all, or is essentially the same quality you received with the Evo?
4) Radio Shack - is there any way to get the credit card 10% off and then just 50 bucks off the sale instantly without some hokey deal?
 
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1) It looks like white is the only available color - do any of you gents feel like the phone has a feminine look to it?
2) Does the Virgin Mobile device have roughly half the CPU processing power of the typical S3 that all your friends are carrying around?
3) This phone was slated for LTE, anyone coming from the Evo, is the service any better at all, or is essentially the same quality you received with the Evo?
4) Radio Shack - is there any way to get the credit card 10% off and then just 50 bucks off the sale instantly without some hokey deal?


1) Yes if you're not going to use a case, however easily fixable with an almost infinite number of cases and covers that are available for the phone including shields that even cover over the white part on the face.

2) No, the quad core version of this phone is the internation version, the Sprint NA version never had a quad core but had a Snapdragon 1.5 Ghz dual-core.

3) Stronger antenna but same crappy network.

4) No, that was point of the deal, not sure what's hokey about getting a reduced price as well as not having to pay in full on the spot but to each their own. You can try T-mobile which sells the same phone for $530.
 
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I believe that "quad core" is incorrect... Can't find the specs offhand to support it though, Sorry.

Android Police is reporting....

Qualcomm's single-core Snapdragon MSM8655

Not bad, but with the Victory in the lineup there isn't much point to it. The only factor that could play is the resolution which no one seems to have listed... My guess is the phone was ordered by some small carrier then cancelled and Samsung is unloading them through VM. Not really any other reason to dump a non-4g phone into the lineup now.

Victory is the same size screen, better CPU, 4G LTE and even at full normal price is only $71 more, sale price runs the same.
 
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In the past 9 months I went from the intercept to the triumph to the current evo v.(only 129.99 on sale) I love it, but I'm kind of addicted to upgrading now. The s2 price dropped but it's not much better than the evo v. Besides my non existent Lte coverage, bigger screen and more ram.. I'm very disappointed in the dual core processor. There's no way I could pay triple my evo v price for a mere 1/3ghz. I am aiming at the nexus4 but there must be a better value by this holiday season. I guess I'm keeping my evo v for awhile.
 
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In the past 9 months I went from the intercept to the triumph to the current evo v.(only 129.99 on sale) I love it, but I'm kind of addicted to upgrading now. The s2 price dropped but it's not much better than the evo v. Besides my non existent Lte coverage, bigger screen and more ram.. I'm very disappointed in the dual core processor. There's no way I could pay triple my evo v price for a mere 1/3ghz. I am aiming at the nexus4 but there must be a better value by this holiday season. I guess I'm keeping my evo v for awhile.

It's not just cpu clock, the s3 has faster memory, and more of it too. I haven't confirmed that it faster, but I seem to recall it as being faster.
 
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I understand there is 2gb ram, and many other small improvements. I guess my problem is value. I wonder what performs better, this s3 or a nexus4.

Speaking of value, the s3 has a better screen, removable battery and removable sd card. The n4 is a fine phone but I'll never, ever own one for the lack of the memory and battery. To each his own.
 
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Got one for my wifey and have to say, it is a sweet sweet phone.

Here was my buying guide for Radio Shack:

Phone price - $399 ($400)
Open a Radioshack Credit Card and get all purchases that day discounted 10% and get mailed a $50 Visa Giftcard after your first bill payment.

Phone Price reduced 10% and $50 credit = $310.

Also, almost got talked into buying a case since everything was 10% off but held off. After everything rang up, you get a $10 off coupon to use in the next 3 weeks (no minimum purchase) so actually will save more using that using the CC discount.

Credit card is interest free for 12 months however I plan to pay it off immediately and close the account, done and done.

(*if you're real savy you may figure out a way to save on tax too ;))

Hmmm...this may get me to "pull the trigger" I'll be stopping by Radio Shack today to see what I can pull off. I don't know how to subvert sales tax though. That's going to be roughly $32...unless sales tax comes after the 10% discount.

EDIT:

I called one of my local Radio Shacks and the guy looked back for a whole month and didn't see any of those promotions. He did say that store managers can offer a discount if a customer signs up for a credit card, but that it's not a nation wide promotion. The $50 Visa gift card is also something he's never heard of. The only thing he could confirm was the $10 coupon which is given for all purchases over $30.

Perhaps this was a regional promotion for you up MN?

SECOND EDIT:

I went to a different store, and that employee was far more competent. He found the $50 giftcard rebate and it expires on June 22...so if you are even on the fence about this...ACT NOW. One thing is different though...I didn't see anything about getting the giftcard after making the first payment. I simply have a rebate form to send in.

I got 10% off my purchase, I'm lined up to get the $50 giftcard in 6-8 weeks, and I have a $10 off coupon to use at a later date. I also have 12 months of no interest to pay the card off.

Thanks for the tip ;)

Oh, and I bought a case for it as well...I can't use the phone without one, and I can't wait 2 days for one to get delivered...
 
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Do you ever get the feeling that Virgin Mobile's entire business model is to read the phone model, and if the model is aged (i.e. - more than a year on the network), they begin to cripple the service even further?

Unless of course you want to buy a new phone.

As I research, it would appear that the contract deals with companies like US Cellular may actual end up costing the same or a bit more in the long run, yet provide far better service. I can't help but feel that this "great deal" no contract plans from Virgin Mobile are actually a get-less-than-you-pay-for situation.

I'm getting reasonably sick of sitting beside my Evo with a 6-bar signal all day long, yet for some strange reason it can only land about 50% of the incoming calls. The other 50% of the calls never actually ring the phone, I get a little noise that there is a voicemail, but no ring., The hardware works fine, but the service is a joke.

I would think that it might just be my device and my area, but after speaking to two of my friends (that I, unfortunately, convinced to buy Virgin Mobile's service), all three of us on different devices in different areas, I can't help but see a disturbing trend of poor service ... all the while, there are two other people at work on the [reportedly same] Sprint network that don't experience these issues.
 
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I will respect anyone's opinion on what they feel is accurate on a providers service.

However, I have nothing but positive things to say about Virgin Mobile and their service. I've been with them for the better part of 2 years now and have had 1 call drop due to service which was likely due to the recent tower upgrades... Data services through 3G/4GWimax have always worked for my needs in GPS, Audio/Video streaming and all around web browsing. All services are even better with LTE now in the area.

On the contrary, My experience with T-Mobile was quite the opposite, Customer Service was non existent, Services worked most of the time, But had far more drop calls and "No Service" episodes with them. Data speeds also were nothing close to what I have now with Virgin...I wouldn't take a free Nexus 4 with their service. Rather, I bought a $430 phone with a provider I know will provide me with stellar service in my area.

At the end of the day does my experience with T Mobile speak volumes of how crappy their service is on a whole? Absolutely not! This is merely my experience against millions of others.

Buy what works for you, In your area.
 
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SECOND EDIT:

I went to a different store, and that employee was far more competent. He found the $50 giftcard rebate and it expires on June 22...so if you are even on the fence about this...ACT NOW. One thing is different though...I didn't see anything about getting the giftcard after making the first payment. I simply have a rebate form to send in.

I got 10% off my purchase, I'm lined up to get the $50 giftcard in 6-8 weeks, and I have a $10 off coupon to use at a later date. I also have 12 months of no interest to pay the card off.

Thanks for the tip ;)

Oh, and I bought a case for it as well...I can't use the phone without one, and I can't wait 2 days for one to get delivered...

No problem, glad it helped out. Phone's pretty sweet too, very jealous I gifted it instead but it stayed in the household at least.

I might have not gotten the $50 card explained completely right but instead meant it would arrive sometime after the first bill payment, which I guess is about 6-8 weeks. I understood it as they wanted to be sure you actually made a payment on the phone first but I guess that's not even necessary maybe just a processing delay. GL
 
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Nice its arrival might drive down the 4S to the sub $300 mark :)

Not this soon. The S3 is like 2 weeks old as a vm phone. Follow the previous trend. How long did it take for the evo v drop from $300. Also it seems like just 2 months ago, the S2 was $329. I would expect something by year's end, Christmas for sure.
Maybe I'll be wrong... but one thing's for sure. This phone is totally awesome. :D
 
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Not this soon. The S3 is like 2 weeks old as a vm phone. Follow the previous trend. How long did it take for the evo v drop from $300. Also it seems like just 2 months ago, the S2 was $329. I would expect something by year's end, Christmas for sure.
Maybe I'll be wrong... but one thing's for sure. This phone is totally awesome. :D

The EVO had a sale/price drop almost immediately. I kid you not when I say it was within two months.
 
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