timswi
Super Member
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2008
- Messages
- 5,329
- Location
- Beaver County Pa
- Tractor
- Kubota BX23 TLB, Kubota RTV1100, Kubota Z724 & Polaris RZR 900 Trail
Galaxy S3....Love it.
If you sell a phone for $200 when your contract is up (so after 2 years) you did not sell it for what you purchased it. Your phone was subsidized the whole time your contract was in place, so you paid list price. Pretty much any model I-Phone has been $500 to $700 when newly released, this is spread out over your contract. On top of that, if you carry on after your contract is done, you are really getting bent over. Again this is a great big misconception/marketing scheme.
Dave
Hey Gang, I am not meaning to be confrontational or anything. I am merely stating that most places besides the U.S. and maybe Canada have pay as pay as you go as the standard. You purchase your phones up front and then you can go where ever you want whenever you want. There are no contracts or late fees. I moved away from a contract in October of 2011, and I will never go back. In general, a contract plan will cost substantially more in the long run. This has nothing to do with android, I-phone. I am just pointing this out.
One of the largest growing segments of the cell phone market here in the US is the no contract market, or bring your own device. Many of the new devices have the ability to move from network to network. Even moving from CDMA to GSM, The manufactures now have chips that can do either and make the same model phone for all carriers. The I-Phone 5 is built with both and I believe the S3 is too.
Dave
You're absolutely right. I've been with my provider since 1998 and have never had a contract. As a result, I've been able to negotiate a spectacular rate. The days of contracts are quickly coming to an end, and that's a great thing. Up here in "socialist" Canada, the govt. of many Provinces have capped cancellation fees, and as a result, there are fewer and fewer companies requiring a contract. Canadians are still blessed with the highest cell rates in the world, something I'm hoping changes with the death of contracts.
I don't see this happening south of you on the US. I doubt Apple or Samsung would allow carriers to discontinue the subsidy because these phones are getting more complex and staying very expensive. I could be wrong but I think the contracts allow the carriers to reduce the price of the plans because they know you are a captive customer for two years. Fortunately both are offered because obviously there is a need for both styles of doing business.
I just bought my wife a new Samsung Galaxy Ace II-x. The phone was just release and is a very good phone (hardware wise) and runs Android ICS. It was $250 to buy it out or $250 on the "tab" with $0 down. To me, that's a very decent price and shows that we don't need a subsidy on phones. The tab system also seems to accomplish the same thing as contracts used to and is a system that makes sense and is more fair IMO. For those who don't know, every month you keep the phone, a certain amount is taken off the tab so that after 2 or 3 years, you don't owe anything and the phone is essentially free. If you leave before the time is up, you pay whatever is left on the tab.
Because only Apple makes phones with iOS, you are stuck buying from them and they are able to keep the prices higher. Because Android is licensed freely, many different manufactures can use it on various hardware platforms. This creates competition and prices come down. This works as long as the value of the phone isn't hidden in the price of the contract. With a contract, you're not getting a subsidy on the phone, you're paying higher rates and you're locked into those rates for a long time. There are also very few people who keep their phone for 3 years and there are plenty of phones lost or stolen. Those replacements are at the full pop (and inflated) price.
My previous new phone wasn't a smart phone and Telus wanted $199 for it, or $0 with a 3 yr contract. I bought the EXACT same phone from Future Shop (think Best Buy) as a pay as you go phone for $69. I called up Telus and had it activated as you would with any other phone. By telling you the phone you want is worth $700, they are trying to steer you to a contract and high monthly fees. Now that contracts are disapearing here, phones seem to be a lot cheaper.
My wife and I are upgrading to smartphones in February when we are eligible for our Verizon upgrade.
I am consider the following phones and wanted to get input from anyone about the pro's and con's of each
1) Motorola Razr Maxx (same as the razr but with a bigger battery)
2) Samsung Galaxy S3
3) Iphone 5
I am really leaning toward the Razr Maxx due to the longer battery life - but still open.. We are Mac/Apple users, but there is an app for Android phones that allow you to load your iTunes onto the droid phone.
Thoughts. Suggestions
Brian
You obviously are a Samsung fan and I know they make great phones. Realize though that samsung has phones like the galaxy 3 ($750) that cost more than the iPhone 5. Apple is not inflating their equipment due lack of competition. Samsung is their competition. These phones are like computers. The quicker processors, better screens, cameras, etc all add to the cost. There are cheap computers that get great reviews just like expensive computers getting great reviews yet the two are still not compatible because of the capabilities between the two.
iPhone 4's are now free, 4s are $50, and iPhone 5 are now $150 with contract. 3 years to pay off a $250 phone doesn't sound that great to me. My son wants to try an android next so we will be entering that market as well next this summer.