Why I think I will get the Nexus 4 on contract

rodney0905

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If I am correct, I think things will work out okay other than me paying more for the phone. T-Mobile currently has a $5 add a line promotion. My parents both use T-Mobile and I will just add myself to their plan. So with the $5 add a line and the truly unlimited data they offer (I think it's $30 for each person on a family plan, correct me if I am wrong), as well as insurance. I kind of think it doesn't sound so bad to buy the phone on contract. I totally get the appeal of buying unlocked and using T-Mobile's $30 plan which offers 100 min and 5GB of data. But it kind of makes sense to me that if I can get more minutes (100 min isn't enough for me), unlimited (uncapped) data and insurance, then I am willing to pay a little more (roughly $45) which I think is similar to most prepaid offerings. I could be totally off base but just a thought, anybody else feel this way?
 

Woosh

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If I am correct, I think things will work out okay other than me paying more for the phone. T-Mobile currently has a $5 add a line promotion. My parents both use T-Mobile and I will just add myself to their plan. So with the $5 add a line and the truly unlimited data they offer (I think it's $30 for each person on a family plan, correct me if I am wrong), as well as insurance. I kind of think it doesn't sound so bad to buy the phone on contract. I totally get the appeal of buying unlocked and using T-Mobile's $30 plan which offers 100 min and 5GB of data. But it kind of makes sense to me that if I can get more minutes (100 min isn't enough for me), unlimited (uncapped) data and insurance, then I am willing to pay a little more (roughly $45) which I think is similar to most prepaid offerings. I could be totally off base but just a thought, anybody else feel this way?

Keep in mind the add a line is only good for about a year. Jan 2014 it gets dropped off so you will have another year on the contract. The other issue is the value plans offer cheaper things. The unlimited data alone is a $10 diff on Value plans so add that up and you are looking at a $240 difference for the phone. The add a line is free on Value plans so that is a $120 difference there. So you are paying more that way.

The question is will your parents allow you to get on their plan at cost or would they want you to split the bill, also if they are off contract they would likely be smarter to jump onto the Value plans and you would save money. Unless you cannot afford the $350 straight out and that would be a different story.

But if you can away with paying $45 a month on postpaid AND get the phone for $199 then its win win for you. But you could possibly save your parents and you some money if you decide to check out the other plans.

I have T-Mo family plan and its a great way to make your bill less and have all the great benefits of being on postpaid.
 

rodney0905

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You are correct about it being good until 2014.And I will just be paying whatever extra I add to their bill. I've done it before that way with them. They are cool about it.

But I have a few questions about what you are referencing. I was told, ( I could be wrong) that the $5 add a line applied to value plans as well. Is this incorrect? I should have mentioned that I was talking about the value plans and not the classic plans.

They are moving to the value plans this month but they will be upgrading their phones as well so after the the phone payments are broken down on the monthly bill. I was told that in our situation, it will come out to roughly the same price as the classic plan. My buddy works for T-Mobile and he went over how the bill would work once we switched. I did not account for this when adding up the bill because from my understanding it will be $200 down payment and 20 payments of $15.

What other plans are you thinking of? At $30 ( I think that's the price of unlimited data on value plan). $5 for the add a line, $7 for insurance which I do like having just in case, and $15 for the monthly payments of the phone. That comes out to about $60 which is obviously significantly more than a prepaid $30 plan. But to me, for the way I use a phone. I think I need more than the 100 min the plan offers and more than the 5GB of data offered.

I guess it just comes down to how important is the unlimited data, extra minutes,and insurance because that was my entire reason for thinking about going on contract but with how much more it ends up being. I'm starting to wonder if it will even be worth it. But to keep things in perspective. I pay much more than that on Verizon now so either way I'll save money.
 

Woosh

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You are correct about it being good until 2014.And I will just be paying whatever extra I add to their bill. I've done it before that way with them. They are cool about it.

But I have a few questions about what you are referencing. I was told, ( I could be wrong) that the $5 add a line applied to value plans as well. Is this incorrect? I should have mentioned that I was talking about the value plans and not the classic plans.

They are moving to the value plans this month but they will be upgrading their phones as well so after the the phone payments are broken down on the monthly bill. I was told that in our situation, it will come out to roughly the same price as the classic plan. My buddy works for T-Mobile and he went over how the bill would work once we switched. I did not account for this when adding up the bill because from my understanding it will be $200 down payment and 20 payments of $15.

What other plans are you thinking of? At $30 ( I think that's the price of unlimited data on value plan). $5 for the add a line, $7 for insurance which I do like having just in case, and $15 for the monthly payments of the phone. That comes out to about $60 which is obviously significantly more than a prepaid $30 plan. But to me, for the way I use a phone. I think I need more than the 100 min the plan offers and more than the 5GB of data offered.

I guess it just comes down to how important is the unlimited data, extra minutes,and insurance because that was my entire reason for thinking about going on contract but with how much more it ends up being. I'm starting to wonder if it will even be worth it. But to keep things in perspective. I pay much more than that on Verizon now so either way I'll save money.

Ok, We just financed 3 phones and tbh it might be more than the classic plans. Idr the classic plan pricing but we are probably paying about $180 for 3 phones, 1k mins+text = $60 and 3 phones with unlimited data(Needed for a deal)

The add a line with this deal is free, Not $5.($5 is the Classic plan add a line deal) So your line will actually be free and you will need to pay for the data. The data is $20 for unlimited or $10 for unlimited with 2GB high speed.

What it would come down to is your bill is going to be probably very cheap if they simply just add you and you pay solely for data. But you will be paying $500 for the phone rather than $350. I suggest you pony up the extra $150 at the start and don't finance the phone. Its a great deal if it was actually MSRP of the phone. 0% interest for 20 months. But they overblew phone pricing so I say skip it.

Keep in mind if your parents get the unlimited plan, your line gets 500 minutes of talk and not unlimited.....the 1k minute plan is shared between all 3 and is iirc a $20 difference in price.
 

rodney0905

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Thanks for the pricing info. They have unlimited minutes now and definitely use every one of them. And I think 500 will be sufficient but 100 is too little. Do you know if you can insure a phone on a value plan that you didn't buy from them?

You are right because it makes sense in every way to buy it from Google and put it on a value plan. That saves me about 150 dollars. Which is great but may be less important if I break the phone and have to be a new one from Google.
 

Woosh

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Thanks for the pricing info. They have unlimited minutes now and definitely use every one of them. And I think 500 will be sufficient but 100 is too little. Do you know if you can insure a phone on a value plan that you didn't buy from them?

You are right because it makes sense in every way to buy it from Google and put it on a value plan. That saves me about 150 dollars. Which is great but may be less important if I break the phone and have to be a new one from Google.

I think as long as they have the phone they can cover it but since they are selling unlocked who knows if they will insure any tbh?

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I'd say keep in mind that insurance is generally a rip off. I think maybe having it for 3 months on the $5 plan might be worth it just to make sure nothing happens early. But iirc its a $150 to get a replacement plus the money monthly so it'll add up.

Also, what kind of phones do your parents use? Are they planning on financing as well? They might be better off simply buying a phone somewhere else and putting it on and saving $20 a month. For example my sister got the Blaze, it was roughly $400 on value plan and on eBay I can buy a brand new one for $258. So the value plans are good because you get a new device from them and don't pay the interest. Although tbh you pay taxes on full price so thats pretty much price of interest anyway. So it might be better for them to get a phone elsewhere and save the $20 a month fine.

Your bill will likely look something like....$100 for 2GB highspeed for the parents(I'm assuming that's enough) + $20 for your unlimited for $120 a month for 3 phones. So your portion is only $20 a month and then $25 later down the road.

If they want to save more $$ you could always add this as well.....

T-mobile 12% or 10% off total bill - Slickdeals.net
 

rodney0905

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I am glad I posted this before I went through financing the phone. Thanks for the info. I think I am going to buy from the play store and put it on the value plan. Even without the insurance. I guess I just needed some of the info corrected.
 

Woosh

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I am glad I posted this before I went through financing the phone. Thanks for the info. I think I am going to buy from the play store and put it on the value plan. Even without the insurance. I guess I just needed some of the info corrected.

You could check out squaretrade for a warranty....They charge $7 a month with a $99 deductible. It looks like you can cancel that at any time but you might want to verify that before purchasing. I might do that simply for 3 months just for added security in the beginning.
 

rodney0905

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I'll have to check that one out. I've never heard of that one. I definitely just want the Nexus, and to be a little cheaper. Even if I got the Nexus at the classic plan price of 200. I'd pay less than I pay now with Verizon. I don't mind the contract too much, especially since T-Mo's cancellation fee is less than everyone else's.
 

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