Anybody else on T-Schmobile??? (1 Viewer)

Yeah, yeah...I actually like T-Mobile...but hey...Schmobile works... Finally able to upgrade and get myself off Crackberry... Currently the "phones of choice"... LG Optimus L9 MyTouch (either one, older LG or the new Hauwei) Galaxy Sii (currently a "freebie"...for how long I don't know) Anybody have/had any of these? And no, I don't want to spend $300 on a phone. I barely use my Blackberry Curve to its fullest(granted...there is a lot it doesn't do...Words With Friends, Skype, decent "maps"...all three of which the Curve doesn't have...or it sucks).

Don't know how much T-Mobile charges now for the Samsung Galaxy S3, but why not go for that, if it's cheap enough for you? Only issue I have w/ it is battery life ain't so good. But it should likely last you a full day on a full overnight recharge, if you don't use it all that much as you say (and turn down the screen brightness and such things). Of course, if you really don't care about the smartphone aspect at all, why not just get a dumb phone and skip the extra monthly cost of the data plan? That's what I'd do in that case -- and probably make sure to do it w/out locking myself into another contract then... _Man_

If you did spend $300 on an off-contract phone, like, say, the Nexus 4, you would be able to go with the month to month plans instead of the 2 year contract, and as a result, you would very easily recoup your $300 invest very quickly. There are even $30 plans that work very well if you don't do a lot of calling or conversely if you call and text but don't use much internet. And since they are month to month, you can change your plan around as your usage evolves. I am going to eventually move to T-Mo for my wife, since she only has voice and text on her current phone and we pay almost as much for that as we would for a middle tier voice and data Monthly plan from TMo. One word of caution -- if you really, really like making calls, TMo is your worst option. You will probably fare better with a Sprint MVNO like Ting or Boost than TMo for voice. But TMo smokes Sprint for data.

Where I live, Sprint is the absolute worst. My cousin has a Moto Razr. When we are out somewhere and the phone rings, the first thing said is "Can I use your phone to call this person?". Maybe Sprint is fine elsewhere, but in Indianapolis and up here...Sprint just sucks. I've been on Tmobile since even before the first Sidekick. Switched to Crackberry when the Sidekick3 turned into a lousy phone. Great for everything but a phonecall. Now Blackberry is behind the 8-ball. I've had this 9300 since the month it was new. It was great, when it was new. Blackberry Traffic was better than my Magellan 760. It could open Microsoft DOC(when no other phones did). There were a few other reasons why I got it....then. Now they've let all prior phones languish. I get more and more websites that are "too big to load"...and on all the forums(for Blackberry) it is because Blackberry is showing hubris in thinking their 10 is going to save them. I'm jumping ship...thanks for crapping up the 3G phones(by the way, live in a 3G area...I have to drive 50 miles to where 4G exists. All the "other providers" are, at best, 30 miles to the closest 4G). I still need a phone that opens up DOC/PDF/ODF. Back when, Blackberry was your only choice. Android has caught up...assume WindowsPhone has as well. So what I finally do need is Skype. Makes it easier to see what installers are talking about on jobsites. I have an Ipad, but I don't always have wifi up. Anything has to be better than Blackberry Traffic(I have a Magellan 9055, but if you are only going 2 miles in Chicago, you can be there before that thing boots up and it doesn't like tall building...cell phones typically don't mind). Angry Birds and Words with Friends... Anyway, a dumb phone would be just stupid. I also don't need a $300 phone either. Probably picking up the LG 9.

iOS, WP8, and Android all open DOC/PDF/ODF. Although I'm not positive about ODF on WP8. If you get the LG9 free on contract, you will end up paying $80 per month after taxes and fees. If you get the Nexus 4, a much more capable phone than any free on contract model, you can take advantage of TMo's monthly plans and pay $50 flat. You will make up the cost of the Nexus 7 within a year. Even if you bump up to the $60 plan, you'll still make back your upfront cost in 15 months.

I already know what each phone I want "costs"...I've been with T-Mobile long enough I get the LG 9 for $50, no fees. I get the "new" MyTouch(Huawei???) free. I get the older LG made MyTouch for $60. Haven't checked on the Nexus 4. My basic wants are... 4G Dual Core Tethering/hot spot Otherwise...I don't really care. I want 4G cause I go to Chicago often enough it is worth it. Besides, I switched to T-Mobile internet off Sprint when Sprint refused to let me keep my $60/month unlimited plan that I'd had for 7 years. The only thing that sucks is I typically use 12-15g a month of internet and when you get throttled by T-Mobile...good God, you get throttled(probably the same elsewhere...but I actually got a phone call from them wanting to know why I used that much). So I also keep my data plan on the cell phone and on T-Mobile phones...there is no throttling. So I use my Crackberry as a modem late at night when I don't need the speed of the Jet 2.0.

What's so bad about TMo for voice calls? I was thinking to do their pay-as-you-go for my son since he rarely makes/gets calls -- and he doesn't text nor need a smartphone at least for now. However, being reliable (at least in the NYC metro area) for the few needed occasions like emergencies would be a priority. I would do it w/ Verizon instead, but not sure if their rates will be too high for this -- maybe I should give them a try first anyway since TMo's rates aren't that much better unless I prepay $100 for the year (on top of the initial cost), and presumably, in-network calls will still get free minutes for the other end. Anyone know if Verizon's pay-as-you-go minutes expire after some months? I couldn't find that limitation on their site -- maybe it won't matter given their higher rates. I do know that TMo's expire after 3 months (or 1 year if you prepay $100 for the cheaper rate). _Man_

Maybe it's just perception, but the people who call me on TMo are constantly breaking up and crackling. I have to work very hard to piece together what they're saying and hope I am not totally misinterpreting them. The Nexus 7 is does HSPA+ but not LTE, so whether it's "4G" is a matter of interpretation. But if you need >10gb of data and hotspot, then the pre-paid monthly plans are out.

I'm on a contract. My "current bill" with T-Mobile is $165/month. That is just my phone and internet. My upgrade price includes a 2 year re-up with a 14 month phone upgrade...which in turn...is 2 more years...with 14 month upgrade(I'm still grandfathered on the 14 month phone upgrade. Tmobile started that when you hopped on the first Sidekick...have since gotten new phones every 14-18 months. If I go "outside 18 months" I lose the 14 month) I couldn't give 2 craps less about M2M.

I'm happy with my $30/month no-contract plan. I never get close to using more than 5 Gb/month, or more than 100 min., so it's a near-perfect fit for me.

Robert, You're actually on TMo? I didn't see that plan from them. _Man_

Sam, I'd avoid the LG options - they're just not great phones. The S3 - you won't believe how much more functional it is, especially for Skype and other heavier apps. If you have to live with this thing for 2 years, I will suggest Galaxy S3 all the way. If not that - S2.

ManW_TheUncool said:

Robert, You're actually on TMo? I didn't see that plan from them. _Man_

Click to expand...

Yes, the design of their web site can make it difficult to see the option, but it's there. You just have to dig.

Scroll down for the $30/mo plans:
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans
If you can subsist on 100 minutes or if you can move to a VOIP service like Viber, this is the greatest bargain in the history of anything mobile. A great plan for the ASUS Fonepad.

An update. Ended up with the LG Optimus L9. Added pics from the phone to the "SVS Ultra have shipped" thread. The only two things I "wish" it had, but I wasn't going to pay 2-3 times what I paid for the L9, were WiDi support(JellyBean 4.2, which this phone is 4.0...supposedly "will be" 4.2 soon...) or an MHL. Much faster than my elder Crackberry Curve(which I sold on Fleabay for $45...after I wiped it). Anyway, have a friend with the SGsiii phone and I don't see much difference in the speed of the two phones. Could be the SGsiii was saddled by Sprint(Sprint, here, just absolutely sucks). So far, so good.

Good to hear you found what you want/like.

Hanson said:

Scroll down for the $30/mo plans: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans If you can subsist on 100 minutes or if you can move to a VOIP service like Viber, this is the greatest bargain in the history of anything mobile. A great plan for the ASUS Fonepad.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, Hanson. Totally missed the Fonepad reference last I saw the post. Definitely tempting if my new company (post-sale) won't let me keep a company smartphone. _Man_

The TMobile Uncarrier plans are the end to bullshit!

For some reason, the tech sites are blah about it. For instance, Techcrunch doesn't see the difference between the two:

http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/26/t-mobiles-uncarrier-pricing-isnt-so-different-from-the-contract-devil-you-already-know/

"Leave early, and you owe T-Mobile the balance on that shiny new smartphone which can amount to a lot more than what you’d pay in terms of a maximum early termination fee on a similar contract from one of the other major U.S. carriers. ETFs are currently capped at around $350 for smartphones on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, and had a maximum of $200 on T-Mobile prior to this shift. If you buy a $500 smartphone, but only pay $70 up front, you’re on the hook for the remaining $430 should you decide to leave after a week. But with a long-term contract device, regardless of the initial subsidy, your ETF is capped at $350 (and $200 at T-Mobile, before all this went down)."

But the logic on ETFs is wrong. TMo wants the balance of the equipment charge if you cancel the plan and break the equipment installment plan. Say you're a year into the plan -- you already have $240 of equity, so you owe $240. If you break the contract a year into your AT&T plan, it's still $350. As long as you get 7 months into your contract, you still come out ahead $10 for the equipment balance versus the ETF. And while the TMo ETFs were $200, they charged more upfront for the phones. The GS3 was $199 for the other carriers but $329 on TMo. That's why they could get away with charging less for the ETF than everyone else.

Plus, you only have to pay $99 upfront for the iPhone 5 or GS4. The other carriers charge $199. So that's another $100 in your pocket.

And I have no idea how the writer equates $100 for a 2GB Verizon plan with $80 on TMo (including the $20 equipment installment). For $90, you get unlimited data on TMo for $10 less than a measly 2GB on Verizon. So you save $240 over two years for service, $100 for the upfront cost, and after 7 months, a smaller "ETF". Plus, unlimited data. What's the speed difference between HSPA+ and LTE? Not much. Not worth $340. And that's comparing 2GB versus unlimited. The Verizon plan for 4GB is $110. 6GB is $120. I know people who use 8GB. That's a whopping $130 a month on Verizon. That's a savings of $960 over 24 months on TMobile. AT&T is similarly priced.

Sprint charges $99/mo for an equivalent plan. But most people can get by with the 450 voice minute plan for $79/mo. So TMo is actually $10 more, right? Well, like I said, the equipment costs $100 less upfront, so it's only $140 cheaper over the course of 24 months. But unlike TMo's nice HSPA+ network, good luck squeezing out even 2GB of data usage a month on the crappy Sprint 3G network. Yes, LTE is coming, buy it will take a while before users will be able to take advantage of it (probably about the same time Sprint drops unlimited data plans). In the meanwhile, enjoy your "unlimited" data plan. For the amount of data you can use on Sprint, you might as well get the TMo 2GB plan, which costs $80/mo with equipment installments, which translates into a $100 savings (due to the up front equipment cost).

Note that MVNO plans are still even cheaper if you limit data and minutes. But the $30/mo for 100 talk minutes and unlimited data is still the One Ring of plans.

Yeah, if I were switching to TMo just for myself, I'd probably go for the $30/month prepaid plan. But my family-share didn't stick w/ Verizon all these years on the basis of pricing (and actual cost) alone, and I'm pretty sure that's true for most Verizon customers too. If and when the better priced competition will actually also offer dependably equal-or-better realworld service, then I'm sure many more of us will defect... Meanwhile, I'd rather buy-and-use less to control cost (and promote more discipline in the family) instead... _Man_

My love affair with this L9 was almost over. The phone died Monday morning after waking me up.Snafu on T-mobile's part meant I had no phone till yesterday(they now loan phones instead of overnighting your replacement...).However this phone already is leaps better(could also be T-mobile's other snafu of leaving me on a Blackberry plan...). Doesn't chew the battery with reckless abandon and the 4G is all it is cracked up to be.Going from faint praise to full praise. T-mobile gets a ding in their customer service...

I made the transition from an HTC Sensation to the Galaxy S4, and I have to commend Tmobile for making it painless. They swapped out my old sim card for free (the old one was outdated, preventing wifi calling). The S4 is everything I hoped it would be. Fantastic phone.