Outright Purchase vs. 2 Years of Indentured Servitude

[BrickAlley]

I have an Incredible ordered and it should arrive in a few days, with that said I've been wondering if there might be some real benefits to just buying the phone outright or paying a larger amount for the phone and only having a one year contract. This is a new activation, so I still have the option of doing an outright purchase or a 1 year contract.

Please give me some opinions with pros and cons. Thanks!

 

[quetzalcoatl]

Only real benefit is that is allows you to change carriers. Once all the majors get a LTE network I suspect that market will become more like EU in that people will buy more phones out of contract since if they get unhappy they can then take the phone get a new sim card and get a new carrier.

 

[VZWBB]

Saving money is the way to go, imo. Save as much as you can as soon as you can. If you want to spend more just so you can get the latest and greatest, you will be spending a lot of money and switching phones every other month or so, because there is always something "newer" coming out. Its really not worth it playing that game.

I bought the curve on the 2-year...wanted the storm but couldn't wait. Storm came out, and about a year after I got my curve, I decided I really wanted the storm. Found a guy on craigslist who didn't want his storm anymore (actually his wifes storm) and wanted a curve instead. I gave him a $100 and my curve and we switched. I could see yourself doing something similar with the incredible if you wanted. I don't think you will want to, but I could see it. And you still would save money in the long run over buying it outright.

The bigger issue is with carrier. I think the Inc has a big ETF fee if you break contract, so as long as you think you would stay with verizon for the 2 years, I would say get the Inc on the discount and enjoy! Now if vzw has crappy service in your area...well that might be something to consider before you make that leap.

 

[bobstudent3]

I've always gone with the 2 year plans, but just remember that if you have a secondary line, Verizon will be a lot less forgiving on it than your primary line. On a primary line, you can almost always talk them into renewing and extending your contract for another 2 years if you want to upgrade before your current 2 year contract is up. On a secondary line, you'll have to get lucky enough to talk with a helpful CSR. Verizon CSR's are definitely hit-or-miss in terms of quality and helpfulness.

 

[takeshi]

I have an Incredible ordered and it should arrive in a few days, with that said I've been wondering if there might be some real benefits to just buying the phone outright or paying a larger amount for the phone and only having a one year contract.

Shorter contract and that's about it. Remember, though, that you pay the same service rates regardless of whether they subsidize your purchase or not. It's really up to you to determine which way to go.