Starting contract, 3G and 4G .. decision help.

[LJRyanButts]

Hey guys i'm going to be starting a new contract with Verizon... it's been awhile since i've had my phone so i'm pretty excited on getting it. I've been doing some research on which phone I want and i'm gonna keep it android and I wanted to go with at Galaxy S phone. If I get my phone now I would go with the fascinate but also, the 4gLTE Galaxy S phone is coming out soon so I don't know if I want to wait. I do have my old storm2 I could use but that phone is a little outdated and I would get the 2 year discount...

I was looking at Bestbuy's buyback program and it seems like a good idea but I also heard that it sucks but i'm not sure why. Does verizon offer better deals? If I got the fascinate with the new contract discount at verizon and payed the fee, is there some kind of way I can upgrade to the 4g phone when it comes out?

 

[gunnermike53]

Its not "real" 4g. its just a little faster 3g. i cant bielive companies are getting away with this crap.

as far as your question, its all in how much you are willing to pay. you will have to pay extra for the fake 4g.

as it stands the fascinate is a GREAT phone. there will be better phones. there probably already are. But this doesnt change that the fascinate is an excelent buy. if you decide to root then you have come to the right community to help you along.

 

[Bond32]

I would say if you are in an area that is getting LTE then just buy a cheap phone off craigslist or ebay to hold you over till the Samsung 4g phone

 

[LJRyanButts]

I would say if you are in an area that is getting LTE then just buy a cheap phone off craigslist or ebay to hold you over till the Samsung 4g phone

Yea I was thinking that but if I do that, I won't really get the new 2 year contract discount for when the phone comes out so I might just wait

 

[jtalker1965]

Phones are coming out faster and faster, Just when you get the newest one another will be out. Best Buy "buy back" You'll get about 30% of what's worth. You'll make more on eBay selling it out right. Their warranty sucks to. 4G isn't ever where yet. Found what you like and get it. The Fascinate is a great phone. I enjoy a 1000 times better than my BB Storm which I did enjoy. I sold it for $150.00 and that was $120.00 more thank Best Buy trade in program. Good luck

 

[Sta11i0n]

The biggest thing is going to be if you're in a 4g area. They're going to be limited in the early stages, so for a lot of people, you won't even be able to use it.

I'm a big fan of Best Buy, at least for my area. The 2 Verizon stores that are close to me are terrible. Best Buy is also a lot better with their pricing. They take all the mail-ins and instant discounts and what not and just factor that into the price. What they show, is what you pay, no rebates to worry about.

Their buy back program is a joke. But their used electronics trade in isn't bad. Myself, my girlfriend, and my mother all had BB Storms. Then I got the Fascinate on release and 2 more for them for Xmas. I traded in all 3 used Storms to BB for ~$75 each. You tell me if someone on ebay or craigslist is going to pay that for the 4 year old problem child the 9530 BB is.

EDIT*

Just out of curiosity I just got an estimate on my Fascinate from Best Buy for trade in. $138. Seeing how I got 1 for free, and the other 2 for $99/each, I'd be making money.

 

[lilhussler79]

The biggest thing is going to be if you're in a 4g area. They're going to be limited in the early stages, so for a lot of people, you won't even be able to use it.

I'm a big fan of Best Buy, at least for my area. The 2 Verizon stores that are close to me are terrible. Best Buy is also a lot better with their pricing. They take all the mail-ins and instant discounts and what not and just factor that into the price. What they show, is what you pay, no rebates to worry about.

Their buy back program is a joke. But their used electronics trade in isn't bad. Myself, my girlfriend, and my mother all had BB Storms. Then I got the Fascinate on release and 2 more for them for Xmas. I traded in all 3 used Storms to BB for ~$75 each. You tell me if someone on ebay or craigslist is going to pay that for the 4 year old problem child the 9530 BB is.

EDIT*

Just out of curiosity I just got an estimate on my Fascinate from Best Buy for trade in. $138. Seeing how I got 1 for free, and the other 2 for $99/each, I'd be making money.

Ill do better!! Kept mt BB Storm went to Wal-Mart and bought my Fascinate for less than $50. Now I have a back up if something were to ever go wrong!!

 

[Sheepdog Elite]

It'll be at least june before I'm willing to jump on the 4g bandwagon. I don't trust battery life or hardware reliability as of yet. Verizon is around 1 to 2 years ahead of schedule for what they initially thought they could get 4g running, and I'm inclined to believe quality control is where part of that time was overcome.

That being said I'm definitely eyeing the samsung 4g LTE phone for my next phone. I've been told that it's gonna be called the inspiration, but I believe it may also be called the stealth, or the droid charge (ugh). I think the droid stealth would be a BAD A** name for a phone.

 

[sparesr4sissies]

Its not "real" 4g. its just a little faster 3g. i cant bielive companies are getting away with this crap.

Technically, 4g just means that it's their 4th generation network, right? Am I right in assuming that this is correct, or is there some standard that says "your network must be 'x' speed to be considered 4g?

 

[gunnermike53]

Technically, 4g just means that it's their 4th generation network, right? Am I right in assuming that this is correct, or is there some standard that says "your network must be 'x' speed to be considered 4g?

you are correct, 4th generation. the generation means something cahnges from 3rd. all they are doing is buying more bandwidth for thier towers. it will be faster. about 10 megs a sec.

fyi: actual 4g, starts at 100mbs. 4g requires major infrastructer changes. we are 10-15 years out from real 4g.

 

[PJnc284]

The one benefit of getting it now is that you may be able to get grandfathered in on unlimited 4G LTE. I'm not a heavy 3G data user since I have wifi access at home and work but it'll definitely be nice to have. Especially with no idea of how the tiers are going to work.