Smartphones

Denamian

Night Janitor
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Can't find if TMO's postpaid plans are 2 year contracts or not. But shit talking Sprint's network is lulz worthy.
I'd love to give T-Mobile my money, but their network is shit in upstate NY. Outside of Glens Falls, I've got to go down to Saratoga for 3G coverage, Albany for 4G. Sprint's coverage here is lousy, but still far superior to T-Mobile.

As far as the contracts go, as far as I can tell T-Mobile no longer does contracts for the service itself. If you buy a phone from them them and pay it off in installments, that may be different.
 

Deathwing

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TMO has excellent 4G coverage here. If you're on a boat on Cayuga Lake. Coverage aside, these new plans do seem competitive. I'd like a bit more gradient between 0.5GB and 2.5GB, but since that's only +$10, not a big deal.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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That's pretty big if you can actually pay less if you bring your own phone. Right now it's kind of nuts to buy a phone outright if you're on ATT or Verizon because you're basically going to pay them $500 for a phone whether they give you one or not.
 

Deathwing

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ATT actually knocks $15/month off the bill if you bring your own phone. Which, over 2 years, is just a bit less than the cost of the Nexus 5 from the Play store. Could be better, but it is a step in the right direction.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Ah I didn't know that. That is good. I don't think Verizon does the same, and of course they don't allow the Nexus 5 either :p.
 

Deathwing

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No, VZW doesn't do that. At least, didn't as of a week ago when I last checked. VZW and ATT *usually* copy each other, but more so when it comes to fleecing their customers. VZW is still a gigantic dick about reselling their network because it's a money loser for them. ATT seems to resell to just about anyone.
 
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Just switched to T-Mobile from AT&T. Don't notice any difference in service but bill is about $20 less per month than the same tier At&T plan (which has lower bandwidth cap). Also got a Nexus 5 which is pretty damn sweet, especially the price.

BTW, was looking up phone stats. I knew Android was gaining world market share, but didn't realize it was this much:

XHLUnOz.jpg
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
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That graphic confuses me. Is that saying that iOS is only 14% of the phone sales in 2013, but is 54% of mobile web traffic? That's pretty crazy if so.
 

opiate82

Bronze Squire
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Yup, and iOS users buy more stuff via mobile as well despite having less market share. Business Insider had an article about it and basically it boils down to the fact that many people basically don't use their Android phones beyond texting and gaming (so basically like a dumb phone). Probably because there are many cheaper options for Android devices for the not so tech-savvy people who want, but don't intend to fully utilize, a smart phone.

As far as TMO postpaid plans, they don't lock you in. You bring your own phone, you can leave any time. You get a phone through them you just have to pay off the remaining balanced owed for the phone in order to leave.
 

LiquidDeath

Magnus Deadlift the Fucktiger
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Yup, and iOS users buy more stuff via mobile as well despite having less market share. Business Insider had an article about it and basically it boils down to the fact that many people basically don't use their Android phones beyond texting and gaming (so basically like a dumb phone).Probably because there are many cheaper options for Android devices for the not so tech-savvy people who want, but don't intend to fully utilize, a smart phone.

As far as TMO postpaid plans, they don't lock you in. You bring your own phone, you can leave any time. You get a phone through them you just have to pay off the remaining balanced owed for the phone in order to leave.
I don't think it means that these users are less tech-savvy than iPhone users. Shit, the main reason iPhones are blasted is because they are loved by the walled garden, hold my hand types. I just think it means that people who buy Android phones are more likely not to spend excessively on useless bullshit. It is why a lot of people don't pay they high price for Apple products in other areas as well.
 

Gnomedolf

<Silver Donator>
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I don't think it means that these users are less tech-savvy than iPhone users. Shit, the main reason iPhones are blasted is because they are loved by the walled garden, hold my hand types. I just think it means that people who buy Android phones are more likely not to spend excessively on useless bullshit. It is why a lot of people don't pay they high price for Apple products in other areas as well.
tl;dr version: Android users are broke.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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I think it might be more accurate to say that broke people are android users. If you're getting a free smartphone on contract, it's probably going to be Android.
 

Mageling

Bronze Knight of the Realm
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TMO LTE coverage in the Seattle area is pretty fantastic. Ran a speed test from my place on the other side of Lake Washington, and one in Seattle proper yesterday when some friends were saying that they wanted to get the hell away from ATT.

OYDfuUw.png
 

Deathwing

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Anyone on Android 4.4.2 been having problems with push notifications while on cellular network? Data connection is working just fine.
 

Siliconemelons

Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
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Ordered a blackberry Z10 off ebay for verizon, my poor pre3 keeps hanging on to life and the wife for whatever reason cant stand it... so the Z10 is on its way, I just need to go get a LTE simcard I think from verizon..or can I just activate it w/o LTE? until I happen to go about buying one. got it for like 150, so if I dont gel with the phone I can resell the thing for 150 or 140 fairly easy- thats the very low point of its sales price on ebay- current trend is 175- I just got lucky finding an auction for one ending at an odd time.
 

opiate82

Bronze Squire
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Good article about switching from Verizon to TMO, including a nice little insider tidbit for those who want to stay with VZW for service-related reasons but want some leverage to lower their monthly bill.T-Mobile Switch - Business Insider

The Verizon salesperson made me an offer for something called the "Smartphone Loyalty Plan," which was about $40 cheaper than what I was already paying. That would put the plan at about the same price as the $60 T-Mobile plan I had planned to switch to.

Verizon doesn't publicize its Smartphone Loyalty Plan. Instead, it's a weapon Verizon can use to keep customers in good standing on the network. Since I had been with Verizon for over a year and always paid my bill on time, Verizon made me the offer.
 

Siliconemelons

Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
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Good article about switching from Verizon to TMO, including a nice little insider tidbit for those who want to stay with VZW for service-related reasons but want some leverage to lower their monthly bill.T-Mobile Switch - Business Insider
Can you be on the loyalty plan and keep unlimited data? Also my former team leader got an upgrade on verizon from bestbuy and kept his unlimited data he said "I had to ask, find someone at BBuy that knew what they where doing and it took a while as they messed with stuff- but I came out with a new phone, renewed contract and still unlimited data."
 

darkmiasma

Trakanon Raider
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Can you be on the loyalty plan and keep unlimited data? Also my former team leader got an upgrade on verizon from bestbuy and kept his unlimited data he said "I had to ask, find someone at BBuy that knew what they where doing and it took a while as they messed with stuff- but I came out with a new phone, renewed contract and still unlimited data."
Right from the article which I guess you didn't read ...

But there were some caveats. First of all, the Smartphone Loyalty Plan doesn't let you use your smartphone as a hotspot. You have to pay extra for that.Next, the Verizon rep I'd have to sign a one-year contract if I wanted to take the offer.And finally, Verizon would still slap me with a $15 charge if I went over my 2 GB of data.