Smartphones

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Flipmode

Flipmode

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I haven't had a cheap android phone ever. But I had android until about the iPhone 4s. Been on iOS since. So this may not apply to modern android, but let's not act like it wasn't true at the time. We can knock our chosen platforms and not lose cool points. Don't worry guys.

I've played with several new phones from the android camp before getting the iPhone 6+ and my favorites were the M8 and G3. The htc phones have the most functional skin of andriod, IMO. But that's just preference. I really can't stand touch wiz but the GS5 and Note 4 were nice too.
 
Vaclav

Vaclav

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Sounding more and more like your opinions were based on bad UIs not Android then.

Nexus and Sense FTW.
 
Flipmode

Flipmode

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Vaclav_sl said:
Sounding more and more like your opinions were based on bad UIs not Android then.

Nexus and Sense FTW.
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Are you serious? I know you like to argue about almost anything, but are you seriously saying that wasn't an issue with android prior to kit kat? If so you're full if it. You know damn well it was.
 
Vaclav

Vaclav

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I was only Nexus from Honeycomb, and non-Nexus UI since M8 release (I think it had Jelly Bean for the first week or so?) - but never picked up a iOS phone and got a better experience except when I'd try to use 800 widgets. Shrug.

Kit Kat doesn't seem any large leap to me personally, battery life for example seems better from battery size improvement not OS for example.
 
Alkorin

Chancellor Alkorin

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The fact that this much disparity exists in the Android ecosystem is and has always been the solutionandthe problem, tbh. iOS is no great shakes, but at least there's only the one fork.

When they get it right, they get it right for everyone. When they get it wrong (and boy, have they gotten it wrong a few times), they're more compelled to fix the problem because everyone is equally screwed.
 
Crone

Crone

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We've been on through this argument before. Lol, but at least it keeps things interesting. I upgraded to a 5s from a droid bionic. Boy what a difference. Wife did the same from a razr maxx.

I was singing apple praise until it was pointed out how old my previous phones were. Longer than 2 years. I still love my iPhone, no doubt about it, but too often comparisons are made between very old to very new tech and it doesn't work so well that way.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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Crone_sl said:
We've been on through this argument before. Lol, but at least it keeps things interesting. I upgraded to a 5s from a droid bionic. Boy what a difference. Wife did the same from a razr maxx.

I was singing apple praise until it was pointed out how old my previous phones were. Longer than 2 years. I still love my iPhone, no doubt about it, but too often comparisons are made between very old to very new tech and it doesn't work so well that way.
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yea those were also shitty droid phones in general. i felt the same way upgrading from a razr droid to a s3, while my wife has had many generations of 4's and 5's, so easy enough to compare.

but iphone was always consistently good and just works.
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

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So 2 T-mobile salespeople walk into my office yesterday and give me their sales pitch to get me to switch from Sprint. I have 4 phones on my Sprint plan (my parents, myself, my wife). They match up plans, data, minutes, etc, and end up being about ~$15 a month cheaper than Sprint, so I'm mildly interested. I then ask them what I would need to do about phones since my Sprint phones will not work on T-mobile/Verizon network. The rep looks up the pricing to replace the Sprint phones I have (2 LG G2s, a Note 3, and a Galaxy S4, but with T-mobile I'd upgrade the G2s to G3s, and the S4 to an S5)

$2200. No phone subsidies. I politely told them no thank you, we're done.

Why would they even waste their time trying to convert someone with incompatible phones? So dumb.
 
Deathwing

Deathwing

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None of them had GSM radios with the correct bands? Usually that comes standard and the CDMA radios for VZW and Sprint are just tacked on.


Hmmm, SIM card support, nevermind. I remember my phones on VZW being stupid like that too.
 
T

Tenks

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Can anyone recommend a company/plan for my wife and I? Both would need talk/text/data. Right now we're separate and pay about $100/mo each which I feel is insane.
 
Jysin

Jysin

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Deathwing_sl said:
None of them had GSM radios with the correct bands? Usually that comes standard and the CDMA radios for VZW and Sprint are just tacked on.


Hmmm, SIM card support, nevermind. I remember my phones on VZW being stupid like that too.
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Still fucking boggles my mind that the US is screwed over by this phone carrier locked bullshit hardware. Pretty much everywhere I have been overseas is just slap whatever SIM card you like in the phone and you are good to go! It's been that way on my iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4, and now my current Galaxy S5. /mourn for you poor guys!
 
Lanx

Lanx

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Tenks_sl said:
Can anyone recommend a company/plan for my wife and I? Both would need talk/text/data. Right now we're separate and pay about $100/mo each which I feel is insane.
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don't have anything to recommend,

just giving you a comparison.

wife and i, 2 phones family plan 500min shared 139 (after 20% company discount) a month, both smartphones, on verizon. the company discount isn't much since it only applies to the main phone, add on phones don't count (fees/data plan/insurance etc aren't deducted).
 
Deathwing

Deathwing

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Tenks_sl said:
Can anyone recommend a company/plan for my wife and I? Both would need talk/text/data. Right now we're separate and pay about $100/mo each which I feel is insane.
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You should first find out how coverage is in areas you frequent the most. I would have preferred TMO for pricing, but they have shit for coverage in Ithaca. After that, figure out what your usage is and what kind of phones you might want.

Jysin_sl said:
Still fucking boggles my mind that the US is screwed over by this phone carrier locked bullshit hardware. Pretty much everywhere I have been overseas is just slap whatever SIM card you like in the phone and you are good to go! It's been that way on my iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4, and now my current Galaxy S5. /mourn for you poor guys!
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It's somewhat understandable. Pick a wireless transmission technology and hope it pans out for the longterm. Obviously, CDMA did not. But, it doesn't mean companies have to be dicks about it too. Sprint's CDMA radio was in the Nexus 5 but VZW's wasn't. And I'm doubting it was something like they couldn't fit the antenna.
 
T

Tenks

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I know Verizon has good coverage for us. She is on Verizon and I am on ATT and she probably has better overall coverage when we have to go out to the boonies to visit her parents.
 
Deathwing

Deathwing

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You're not going to find much on VZW in terms of savings. Putting your phones together and reducing your data plan down to just cover your typical usage is about it. They do NOT resell their 4G network. If you want to buy a (cheaper)phone at full price and use one of their resellers, they won't even let you use 4G phones for that. Even if you were willing to just get 3G speeds.

Someone here works for VZW and I'm sure would love to prove me wrong.
 
Alkorin

Chancellor Alkorin

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1. TFA says "at launch".

2. Someone will find a way through jailbreak anyway.
 
opiate82

opiate82

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Tenks_sl said:
Can anyone recommend a company/plan for my wife and I? Both would need talk/text/data. Right now we're separate and pay about $100/mo each which I feel is insane.
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Yeah, you are going to have to balance service with price. VZW has the best service in my area, but we pay less than $150 a month for 5 lines (Unlimited Talk/Text and I think 1gb of data per line) on TMO. I do miss VZW's service but I don't miss their bill. I have no problem paying a premium for quality but there is only so much price-reaming I am willing to take.
 
Vaclav

Vaclav

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Joeboo: You looked at Family Share sticking with Sprint? $100/mo for any number of lines until the end of 2015 (then +$15/line I think? Will suck then) and apparently an AAA discount of $10/mo will stack with it if you have AAA (AAA for me ran $92/yr so just the Sprint discount will pay for it)

I might have misunderstood something though, it's something on my to do list once we're settled after the move. But looks a solid plan better than any competition until 2016.

(could be relevant for tenks as well)
 
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