decided to try the "try before you buy"

[np6s4x]

seemed too good a deal to pass up, liking it so far.

being that my current phone is a evo v from virgin mobile, this is quite the update. While a bit off topic, this allows me to finally test out t-mobile's network here since i got the unlocked version. Speed wise i'm rather impressed with 13mb+ for 4g non-lte, esp. coming from 0.5-2mb sprint 3g. The main thing being while in the city and to the west of the city it's great, but to the north and east there's supposedly nothing.

Back to the phone, so far i like the active display part where moving the phone at all shows the time, along with being able to say "ok google" with screen off, or pretty much anywhere it seems. I like the see through top bar and buttons on the bottom, but one thing i've notice is that the onscreen buttons pretty much take up as much of the screen as the hardware buttons on my current phone. With that the screen doesn't really seem any larger, though i'd assume that's pretty much the case with any button less android device. Also I had the prompt to upgrade to 4.4.3 from first boot so that was nice also.

While i currently have no intention on actually keeping it, never did, it'll be a nice test platform for kitkat and t-mobile.

 

[bigbadwulff]

What city? And does their network even work in the 'country'? I rarely/ever don't have a signal with Verizon anywhere.

 

[np6s4x]

day 2, love the taking to the phone to do whatever without even needing to turn the screen on or touch it at all

and i finally got to experience "windy day" first hand

if only this was little bigger (maybe 5+ or so) and had an sd card slot (does OTG readers work with this?) still in any case now i just need a way to test sprint's local LTE, and see how that compares to t-mobile LTE's, cause for $5 less a month i might switch, then just use something like freedom pop for areas with sprint, but not t-mobile

What city? And does their network even work in the 'country'? I rarely/ever don't have a signal with Verizon anywhere.

north west Wisconsin, i find Verizon far too expensive for my needs, a simple low minute (since i rarely make calls on it) no-contract $35 or less plan works fine for me.

 

[Medion]

north west Wisconsin, i find Verizon far too expensive for my needs, a simple low minute (since i rarely make calls on it) no-contract $35 or less plan works fine for me.

So Republic Wireless, then? Uses the Sprint network and has a Moto X (that is $50 cheaper than the other versions through MotoMaker, or $100 cheaper through the carrier).

 

[np6s4x]

So Republic Wireless, then? Uses the Sprint network and has a Moto X (that is $50 cheaper than the other versions through MotoMaker, or $100 cheaper through the carrier).

Been looking at them, problem being that for 4g with them it's $5 more at $40 a month vs $30 for t-mobile, or $35 for virgin (amount of minutes mean nothing to me). If i wanted only 3g like i have with virgin mobile at the moment (since my phone has wimax for 4g, but it isn't around here) then it would be less at only $25.

mainly looking at plans and companies that offer lots of data with limited minutes, vs. unlimited minutes and little data

in any case when i do finally upgrade it'll either be to a company that uses to sprint's lte if it's good here or someone that uses t-mobile lte, for the same or less then I'm paying currently

 

[krouget]

if only this was little bigger (maybe 5+ or so) and had an sd card slot (does OTG readers work with this?)

Just to throw it out there, they now have the 64 GB model of the Moto X available. Not sure if that influences your decision on whether or not you'd still prefer an SD card.

 

[np6s4x]

I continue to be impressed by both the device and the network. My real phone is getting badly neglected, lol

Just to throw it out there, they now have the 64 GB model of the Moto X available. Not sure if that influences your decision on whether or not you'd still prefer an SD card.

yea, the 64gb version is what i'm using for this test. I like how much room it has, I just prefer to be able to easily physically remove my data for the device. Certainly comes in handy too with a rooted unlocked device, like my s-off evo3d.

 

[Medion]

Just to throw it out there, they now have the 64 GB model of the Moto X available. Not sure if that influences your decision on whether or not you'd still prefer an SD card.

That's what I went with. KitKat messed me up with my S4 GPE (16GB internal, 64GB MicroSD). The whole point of that device for me was to have a Nexus-like experience without the limited storage (at the time I purchased, the 32GB Nexus 5 didn't exist, and that still wouldn't have been enough).

I don't need removable storage, just adequate storage. Now I have FolderSync keep all of my cloud photos/videos on the device with no issues. I currently have ES transferring three Blu-Ray rips from my network HDD to my phone for tomorrow's events. These are the things that I could do on my S4 before KitKat.

 

[np6s4x]

phone reset, and ready to be sent back, i quite liked it. my actual phone decide to die with nice timing on sunday, so i think if it had an sd card slot i might of keep it after all. But i can't handle having all my data locked inside a device where if it doesn't boot i'm screwed (i guess coming from building computer for 10+ years, where if the cpu, or motherboard dies you can still take out what mattters: the hard drive)

now if my phone is dead for real, i think i may be done with virgin after many years, and going with t-mobile's $30 plan, with maybe a htc one m8 (i'd really like to try a galaxy but in videos they seem to lag even with the power they have, which is quite sad), we'll see i guess

 

[DonB]

Keep in mind an SD card can get corrupted also and you would be screwed with your info also , thus why most of us now a days keep info in the cloud accessible from any device or PC. I quickly realized having an SD card was not such a big deal for me.

Also look into Cricket, which is owned by AT&T, I have not regretted the move ,myself after being with Sprint for 15 + years

 

[mogelijk]

Keep in mind an SD card can get corrupted also and you would be screwed with your info also , thus why most of us now a days keep info in the cloud accessible from any device or PC. I quickly realized having an SD card was not such a big deal for me.

Also look into Cricket, which is owned by AT&T, I have not regretted the move ,myself after being with Sprint for 15 + years

Additionally, it seems to me, most of the information you care about would likely be in internal memory, not on the SD card. I would think most of what I would have on the SD card is things like music and downloaded extra data from apps (such as maps, the downloaded portions of games, etc); things that I either have other copies of or are easily replaceable.

It seems like most of what I care about is stored in internal memory and is either backed up by Google for me (contracts, appointments, etc.) or I have to make sure to back it up.

 

[np6s4x]

Keep in mind an SD card can get corrupted also and you would be screwed with your info also , thus why most of us now a days keep info in the cloud accessible from any device or PC. I quickly realized having an SD card was not such a big deal for me. [

yea, that can happen to just like the hard drive can be the thing to die. I haven't had an sd card die on me yet though. I had dropbox setup to auto upload on my main phone, along with google drive on the moto X, with those two along with skydrive, and box, i have quite a bit of free cloud storage for sure.

At&t and Cricket is another option, but their coverage maps don't show any LTE nearby, while i know t-mobile, sprint (even though i don't think either has announced it yet), and verizon all do, so at&t might too. Also their plans seem to cost a good bit more, I'd prefer to not go above vm's $35 if at all possible.

 

[mogelijk]

yea, that can happen to just like the hard drive can be the thing to die. I haven't had an sd card die on me yet though. I had dropbox step up to auto upload on my main phone, along with google drive on the moto X, with those two along with skydrive, and box, i have quite a bit of free could storage for sure.

At&t and Cricket is another option, but their coverage maps don't show any LTE nearby, while i know t-mobile, sprint (even though i don't think either has announced it yet), and verizon all do, so at&t might too. Also their plans seem to cost a good bit more, I'd prefer to not go above vm's $35 if at all possible.

An option I just found is Harbor Mobile, which is a T-Mobile reseller. They have what is essentially T-Mobile's postpaid plans (complete with US and International roaming, tethering, etc.) at $30/month (plus $3 tax) for unlimited talk and text and 1GB data. Other high speed data options include 3GB for $40, 5GB for $50, and unlimited for $60.

 

[np6s4x]

An option I just found is Harbor Mobile, which is a T-Mobile reseller. They have what is essentially T-Mobile's postpaid plans (complete with US and International roaming, tethering, etc.) at $30/month (plus $3 tax) for unlimited talk and text and 1GB data. Other high speed data options include 3GB for $40, 5GB for $50, and unlimited for $60.

Interesting, I like the price and that mobile hotspot is included, though I don't need unlimited minutes. I find the $40 plan quite interesting, since that's 0.5GB more high speed, for $5 more then what I currently have. Plus it includes mobile hotspot which on virgin is a $15 addon that includes an extra GB. So on months I use hotspot it's effectively $10 less, for only .5GB less, not bad.

Do you know if they are a new company or have they been around for a while?

 

[mogelijk]

Interesting, I like the price and that mobile hotspot is included, though I don't need unlimited minutes. I find the $40 plan quite interesting, since that's 0.5GB more high speed, for $5 more then what I currently have. Plus it includes mobile hotspot which on virgin is a $15 addon that includes an extra GB. So on months I use hotspot it's effectively $10 less, for only .5GB less, not bad.

Do you know if they are a new company or have they been around for a while?

I don't know how long they've been around. I will say that since they are a reseller, I don't see a lot of risk. If they go under, you'll merely need to find a new provider and your service, at least through the month, should keep working (since it is T-Mobile actually providing the voice/data service).

Additionally, being a reseller, they don't necessarily have a lot of overhead -- they are buying plans, as needed, from T-Mobile and merely reselling them for a profit (my guess is they are paying around $20/month for the $30 plan, similar to corporate rates).

 

[DonB]

yea, that can happen to just like the hard drive can be the thing to die. I haven't had an sd card die on me yet though. I had dropbox setup to auto upload on my main phone, along with google drive on the moto X, with those two along with skydrive, and box, i have quite a bit of free cloud storage for sure.

At&t and Cricket is another option, but their coverage maps don't show any LTE nearby, while i know t-mobile, sprint (even though i don't think either has announced it yet), and verizon all do, so at&t might too. Also their plans seem to cost a good bit more, I'd prefer to not go above vm's $35 if at all possible.

When I had my Note II, I had to SD cards crap out on me, it was a well know issue with Samsung.

As for coverage, I can't speak for your area but being a Sprint customer for over 15 years, I can tell you with Cricket, I have not missed a beat anywhere I have, and have doubled my speeds and coverage that I had with Sprint, so for me I wish I made the move a lot longer ago

 

[DonB]

Do you know if they are a new company or have they been around for a while?

You got nothing to loose, since it is on a month to month basis, don't like after a month or so, you simply move on. This is what is great about not having to be tied down to any contracts This way at the same time you can test the TMO service, I know for me TMO is not that great here when traveling to west cost of Florida many dead spot, I tried it for a few months and could not deal with it. So depends on each individual needs.