Looking to get a new phone...

[TauSigmaNova]

I'm currently a proud owner of a Virgin Mobile LG Optimus V running Android 4.0.4 It's a great little phone- I'm guessing it is virtually indestrcutible- (I dropped it. ALOT. And spilled some water. Not even a hiccup!). It's a little phone that could and for something like this- it's amazing, but I feel it's time for an upgrade. As great as it is, let's face it. It's ancient. A 600MHz ARM V6 processor, 418MB of memory, and it's screen is only 3.2". It's opnly supposed to run Froyo. /FROYO/. That's pretty ancient. I'm looking for a new phone, but here's the catch- It has to be on a reasonably inexpensive pre-paid plan. (My parents don't want me to get a contract and I don't blame them, they can be expensive.) Virgin Mobile (My current carrier; 35 dollars a month with unlimited 3G) has only two "decent" phones- A 199.99 HTC One V. A SOLID phone but seriously, 512MB RAM and a SINGLE CORE 1GHz is really not a lot. On the other hand, they have the 300 dollar Evo V 3D with 4G, though it's not really something I want and it's a bit over my prace range- (Up to 250 USD).


While searching plans, I found T-Mobile's 30 dollar Monthly 4G plan. It's wonderful for me. I don't call much but I use lots of data and text alot. T-Mobile also has better coverage, and this is 4G. Not boring old 3G. (I don't mind 3G, but 4G is just better.) While thinking of decent phones I could manage to get GSM Unlocked, I thought Galaxy SII, Galaxy Nexus, and a few others. I looked all around Craigslist NYC, Amazon, Google, and Ebay for all phones and I found that on ebay the bids for a decent SII in decent condition could reasonably be bought for under $250 (T-Mobile/GSM). I'm wondering- Do I need the GSM or the T-Mobile variant, or will either work. Is this phone good and a value for the money? I really like the design and the specs on it. It also has lots of JB ROMs and Native ICS which is a HUGE plus.


Also, is there any difference between the SII with the Capacitive buttons and the one with a huge Home button? (P.S.: I like the one with all capacitive buttons more )


Thanks for reading this.Any answers/input is greatly appreciated.


Edit! I was looking at the ebay link again and found a website called Wirefly where they are offering a SII 4G for 100 bucks if I make a new account. Does this count with a Prepaid account? And if so, is the SII 4G compatible with normal SII roms?

Samsung Galaxy S II 4G for T-Mobile - Wirefly.com

 

[Tronmech]

1) You have to buy the t-mobile variant to use tmobile's mutant 4g. Once they finish their iPhone compatibility rollout, that won't be the case, but for now it is.
2) That deal is for a 2 year contract on a "classic" plan. The catch for the $30 deal is that you pay the full price for the phone.

There are a couple of cheap tmo smartphones out there, but they aren't much better than what you have now (dart, Optimus T, etc.). If you're looking for a higher end phone without the price to match, ebay, craigslist, or maybe even your church bulletin can be good places to start your quest.

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