Hey Everyone! New Smartphone User Question

[Luniar123]

Hi, I just signed up to this site. I am new to the Android OS, and had a few questions about purchasing. I just finished a contract on Verizon with an iPhone 3s, and am ready for something new.

I will be getting a new cell phone, and was thinking about prepaid on the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S2 on T-Mobile since I am sick to death of high monthly bills. I am fine with paying more upfront in the short term.

But my husband tells me that it is better to wait until the CES, because the price of the Galaxy would most likely go down and I might see another phone I would want.

Is that the case? Is it better to wait - Would prices really go down that much? I am more inclined to go for bang-for-the-buck than super expensive (then again, I am considering a galaxy s2...). I almost went for a prepaid carrier's phone, but there are none that really excite me like the nexus or gs2.

Sorry if this was a dumb question, I just wanted a second opinion.

 

[Luniar123]

Anyone? Maybe this was the wrong place to ask :-\

 

[Devinator]

Hi, I just signed up to this site. I am new to the Android OS, and had a few questions about purchasing. I just finished a contract on Verizon with an iPhone 3s, and am ready for something new.

I will be getting a new cell phone, and was thinking about prepaid on the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S2 on T-Mobile since I am sick to death of high monthly bills. I am fine with paying more upfront in the short term.

But my husband tells me that it is better to wait until the CES, because the price of the Galaxy would most likely go down and I might see another phone I would want.

Is that the case? Is it better to wait - Would prices really go down that much? I am more inclined to go for bang-for-the-buck than super expensive (then again, I am considering a galaxy s2...). I almost went for a prepaid carrier's phone, but there are none that really excite me like the nexus or gs2.

Sorry if this was a dumb question, I just wanted a second opinion.

The longer you wait, the cheaper a phone will get. It's really kinda all dependent on when you are ready to pull the trigger.

IMO, stay with Verizon, get a new contract and get a relatively cheap awesome phone. Additionally, if you have text messaging, you can drop that and get google voice for free texting, that'll save you some money and make your bill easier to swallow.

I dunno when CES is, but, like I said, you get a new phone when you are ready to get a new phone. If you need a phone, get one, if you can hold out until the perfect phone/opportunity, then wait.

I was holding out for the S II before I bought my X2, but, I had an old school QWERTY phone and couldn't wait any longer. Good thing I made my move, because, Verizon didn't even get the S II.

And, no, this isn't a dumb question. Sometimes forum posts are for technical advice, sometimes they are for opinions. You can always throw a poll up in your thread as well. People are more likely to answer a poll then they are to respond.

 

[Luniar123]

Hi, thanks for the reply!

I would probably have gone with Verizon, but my husband has a job in which he potentially may have to move overseas in the next half year, and I don't want to have to pay the cancellation fee for a contract.

So the T-mobile prepaid $30 unlimited data/texting with 100 minutes of talk plan is what I was looking at. If you think that is a bad idea, let me know please! I just feel uncomfortable being tethered to a contract knowing that we may have to move in a matter of months

 

[dmnall]

Why not buy an i9100 unlocked sgs2 so when you move, you don't have to have to unlock *considering unlocking the t-mobile phone should be free when you root it*, however, the issue I can say with the T-mobile and even Att's skyrocket, is the development of custom roms for these are not as good as the i9100, sprint's sgs2 or even att's i777 *which I have*. The i9100, Sprints and the i777 has the 1.2 ghz exynos processor which is better performing then the 1.5 ghz Qualcomm in the T-mobile and Skyrocket. The plus side with buying the i9100 is it is a quad band hspa device where as the T-mobile and Att models are triband hspa. The i9100 is roughly $ 600, i777 is rougly 480 and the t-mobile is roughly $ 500. I would say if price is what you are looking for, the i777 is the cheapest as well as the closest to the i9100 minus it only has triband hspa but really easy to root, unlock and flash custom roms. My i777 is running UnNamed v2.1.1, unlocked and getting great battery life so far. Plus look over at xda-developers and you can compare how many custom roms are in development for all 3 models and see what you can justify. Now if you want a Galaxy Nexus gsm *$680+* is what I am finding.

HTH,
Charlie

 

[Luniar123]

Hi, dmnall! Thanks for the response.

I must admit, I'm rather new to this android business. And I've heard about rooting, but I don't know how to do it myself yet. But the quad band is better, right? And I will check out the version of the galaxy s2 you were speaking of.

If anyone else has another suggestion, feel free to chime in. I am absorbing like a sponge

 

[Luniar123]

Okie dokie guys, so I've been doing some Google digging and it seems that the i9100 does not support 3g or 4g speeds on T-Mobile because the band is different. So if I were to go with T-Mobile the T-Mobile unlocked branded one would be the way to go. Now to just find out if this version will work if I were to relocate (we would be moving to Japan).:-\

 

[Devinator]

Okie dokie guys, so I've been doing some Google digging and it seems that the i9100 does not support 3g or 4g speeds on T-Mobile because the band is different. So if I were to go with T-Mobile the T-Mobile unlocked branded one would be the way to go. Now to just find out if this version will work if I were to relocate (we would be moving to Japan).:-\

Is it possible to wait to buy the phone? That way you could know what your situation is going to be for sure. I know it's not always possible to wait, just throwing it out there. That way you don't end up with a phone you can't use. I know you are trying to make sure you buy one that will work, but, who knows what things will be like in six months in the cell phone business, or your life, ya know?

 

[Luniar123]

Yeah - That's a good idea, Devinator.

It's just that all of my friends are trying to send me pictures and chat with me (and tell me to use android programs so we can chat for free), but I am stuck with a superold Net10 that I can not even receive their pictures from :-!

Not to mention that I've been holding off on getting a new phone for so long. So, I feel an upgrade is necessary (or maybe I just really really want one! Lol)

Now I'm thinking of getting a middle-of-the-road phone like a Samsung Exhibit II and using it on T-Mobile's prepaid network.That way even if I do relocate, I won't feel like I burned an extravagant amount of money (and it is unlocked so I may be able to use it overseas. I am not 100% sure about that).

That Galaxy SII did look quite appealing, though

Again, if I am incorrect in any of my assumptions or you have a better idea, please feel free to chime in

 

[Devinator]

Ohhh, okay, I gotcha. If you don't have a smartphone now I understand. I was holding out with an Env2 with the inside screen broken. So, I was using the really small outside screen. It was horrible. Was waiting to see if S II would go to Verizon, but, nope.

Have you tried looking into used phones?

 

[Luniar123]

Hi Devinator,

No I have not. Do you have any recommendations as to where to search for used phones? I am totally new to this. :-\ Pretty much the only places I have looked are amazon and ebay so far.

 

[Devinator]

Those sound like good places. I dunno where you'd look for one actually, as, I'd never get a used phone personally.

I guess you wanna look for refurbs on sites like newegg or tigerdirect. I'm sure there are other places to look, but, I can't think of any off the top of my head, other than those two.