Storz wrote: Buy everyone a Nexus 5x and get on the Google FI Project phone service. I did it and will never go back
If you can get on there, that is. I've applied to join the beta about a week ago (we have T-Mobile and the reception at my new place of work sucks, so I'm looking at alternatives), yet to hear back from them. If I go get in I'll report back if it's any good...
Edit: The power of GRM - less than six hours after posting the above, I received my invite.
calteg wrote: Does anyone have any firsthand experience with the Google Nexus phones?
Price drop and Nexus 6 may be phased out.
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=16926
Pity that you can't get the 5X with more that 32GB.
To piggyback here: Man, I really hate researching consumer electronics, there are so many horror stories out there that everything sounds unreliable. I have a Samsung S4 Active which has been great but my 2 year ATT contract is up so Im shopping. The service works great for my wife and I, and I get a discount through work as well as reimbursement for part of my service so I'm not interested in switching. Another 2 yr contract with discounted phone would be ideal. The ATT options seem iffy though. S6 Active seems to be quite fragile with lots of broken screens reported, otherwise this would be ideal as I do a lot of fishing and kayaking. Samsung phones do have a lot of bloat so a more pure Android like Nexus or Motorola would be a nice change, but I'd have to buy out of pocket. Thoughts?
I went with a company called Total Wireless... for $60 a month I pay for two lines that share 5gig of data unlimited call, and texting. All on the Verizon network... Bought the phones for $90 a piece which are the Motorola e phone. Total wireless is a tracfone company as they own almost all of the prepaid cellular companies out there. They sell their phones through Walmart along with Straight Talk.
JohnRW1621 wrote: Try to visit a true VZ corporate store rather than an independent retailer. The Corp store will have more power. To tell the difference, notice the slight variation in the sign.This is Wireless iCon who is an independent retailer contracted to sell VZ products and considered a Premium Retailer. The true and direct Corp stores will not have this second line of text on the sign. It will just say Verizon.
I have heard the exact opposite - that the Verizon corporate stores are full of brain dead a-holes that have no interest in helping you and no idea what they're selling whereas the independent retailers can be (note can be) great. Cellular Sales Inc stores in particular seem to get good reviews. I ended up going with one and had a great experience sorting out a complex plan (5 phones) and the salesman even turned me on to a deal that saved me a good chunk of money.
On people mentioning Sprint - I strongly discourage that. We had Nextel for years and were relatively happy with it then they got bought by Sprint. By way of inertia alone we ended up with them until just about a year ago, and it was bad and only got worse. Coverage was horrible, dropped calls and missed texts were common, and constant contacts with Sprint didn't help it get any better. They always promised they were "optimizing nodes" for us but it didn't help.
We dumped them for a more expensive Verizon plan and haven't regretted it once. So unless cost is your first priority, stay away from Sprint in my opinion.
In reply to dculberson:
I agree, it can go either way, but in his exact case, I thought he might do better at Corp. One of the differences from the past is the Corp stores can apply discounts right away, since they have true ability to look into your account but Independent store have you pay the full price and then wait for the discounts to be applied by corp.
In a lot of cases, you are right for better service from Independent. As disclosure, my role in the wireless business for 13 of the 14 years I was there was to bring on those Independent retailers and then support them.
I was part of the launch team for the Toledo and Detroit markets for Sprint. I was then hired away by ATT to build their entire Non-Corp points of retail for the newly launched Toledo market in '00. From there I was hired by Nextel to run a team and launch the same type retailers for their new product, Boost Mobile in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Pittsburgh.
The beginning of the end came when the wonderful to work for Nextel was bought by the less wonderful Sprint. I now found myself working for a company that I had eagerly left 10 years earlier.
Sprint brings ruination to everything they touch. It is hard to explain how poorly run the company really is.
I have not worked for TMo or VZ but I have competed against them for years.
Ironically, I am a customer of VZ now since I need their superior rural coverage in my area for my current business.
I choose to be a VZ prepaid customer because I feel I know better than to let myself become a slave to the nearly predatory credit practices of all the cell companies.
Sample: http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=16918
91RSImpulse wrote: I went with a company called Total Wireless... for $60 a month I pay for two lines that share 5gig of data unlimited call, and texting. All on the Verizon network... Bought the phones for $90 a piece which are the Motorola e phone. Total wireless is a tracfone company as they own almost all of the prepaid cellular companies out there. They sell their phones through Walmart along with Straight Talk.
Total Wireless is a brand created by Walmart, which uses VZ towers and the customer care aspects and account management is handled by TracPhone.
Here is a link to a book-long thread that I wrote a while back that explains a further especially page 2.
Something you should know about the Total Wireless offer is that it is VZ 3G service ONLY. For a lower price, they are giving you older and slower technology. If you do not need the faster 4G version of data then it can be a good deal.
$30 per month will get you 5GB of 3G service through Total.
$45 per month will get you 5GB of 4G service through Straight Talk.
Total is always VZ.
Straight Talk can be VZ if you buy the right equipment.
Total sold you a Moto e but unlike the similar looking Moto e that you can get elsewhere like VZ prepaid, the Total Moto e has the 4G radio disabled and is only capable of 3G.
Total Wireless Moto e Specs states that it has 3G/Wifi Connectivity.
Sadly, 4G is never mentioned.
I find the whole presentation of Total Wireless pretty deceptive. Dont expect any help for Walmart employees to actually understand this difference or be able to communicate this difference.
In reply to turtl631:
Staying with ATT is fine if you are happy with the offer.
I think that ATT still does handset financing (monthly payments) if that is what you want. Personally, I recommend buying that handset outright but this debate is centuries old; buy/finance.
The Moto G (3rd Gen) bought directly from Moto is a very good handset when combined with ATT.
$179.00 and you own it.
$179 = 8GB of storage with 1GB of ram.
$219 = 16GB of storage with 2GB of ram.
If you can swing the extra, I would recommend the larger ram version.
Both are capable of SD card so you can increase the storage up to another 32GB on either.
It too is coated to be water resistant.
Edit: Looking at the specs, a this MotoG is about the equal handset to your S4A. The easy savings is to just keep the S4A if it is in good working condition.
Yes my thought is to get something with contract pricing since I can, and keep the S4A as a backup or sell it. It's interesting to see the 2 yr contract discount kinda fading away.
turtl631 wrote: It's interesting to see the 2 yr contract discount kinda fading away.
That discount for contract is called the handset subsidy.
As the handsets increased in price the numbers got out of whack.
It was well known when I was at Sprint that the costs to aquire a new customer (advertising, handset discount, retailer compensation and more) on a 2 year contract was about equal to one full year's worth of revenue.
A decent article
https://techpinions.com/the-end-of-subsidies-in-the-us-wireless-market/38630
http://bgr.com/2014/05/22/smartphone-subsidies-us-analysis/
Thanks for the continued discussion. No decisions made as of yet for us. I'm going to spend more time this weekend. It's no fun.
In reply to dculberson:
I had the exact same experience with Nextel/Sprint. My wife got a Nextel because I had one for work, they weren't perfect, but over all they were a good value. About a year later they became Sprint, and were as awful as could be in every way. We dumped them the day the contract ended.
You'll need to log in to post.
