Where to go from SERO

[lorraineg57]

I'm currently on SERO with my 755p but it's been acting up lately and since I'm out of contract, I can move on.

I've been eyeing the EVO, Incredible or iPhone. I talked to Sprint (EVO) yesterday and even if I stay on the "employee discount" program (there's no more SERO sadly), the cheapest plan is 59.99 PLUS they charge an additional $10 month for the EVO since it's capable of 4G. That means my bill would be going from 43.xx total a month to 70.00 PLUS fees and taxes. I'm on the website reading all this stuff about customer loyalty, meanwhile my upgrade cost for any new phone is exactly the same as a brand new customers price. I expected a price increase when I was forced off SERO by buying a new phone but not double my monthly bill....

I use very little minutes voice per month, probably 40 minutes at the most. I do use the web a good bit and have a lot of reference material (apps) on it.

I've wanted an iphone forever but couldn't afford the monthly cost. Well, the EVO's just as high.

Unless someone else has an idea, I'm probably going to jump on a family plan with my daughter on Verizon. She just has a plain phone and with the 30.00 add on for a data plan, I think it would be around 100.00 plus ala carte texting if I'm reading the plans correctly. The Incredible is supposed to be a great phone.

I'm awaiting Steve Jobe's announcement on Monday but I'm not getting my hopes up.

So....if anyone has any suggestions, I'd sure appreciate it.
BTW...it's not that I'm just cheap...I've got my second kid in college and I just can't spend $80 a month for my phone.

Lorraine

[jigwashere]

Since you use the voice plan so little, you might consider a pay as you go (PAYG) plan. . Hook has a link in bis signature line that details his experience. Your initial smartphone cost would be high, but the monthly savings potentially significant. Another option might be to stick with SERO and get the HTC Touch Pro 2 (my choice). Or get a standard phone on SERO and buy the Apple iPod Touch.

[Mi An]

BTW...it's not that I'm just cheap...I've got my second kid in college and I just can't spend $80 a month for my phone.

Not that there would be anything wrong with being cheap. When someone else is earning your money for you, they have standing to critique your spending (or saving) habits. Otherwise they'd just sound idiotic trying.

I'd recommend investigating PayGO options. 40 minutes a month sounds very manageable on a per minute plan. You should probably try to get an idea of your data usage and then crunch some numbers on various plans. I recommend Hook's thread as well.

[lorraineg57]

>When someone else is earning your money for you, they have standing to critique your spending (or saving) habits.

Not quite sure what that refers to?

I'm just afraid that any phone I'm going to be remotely interested in is going to be 4-500.00 without a contract plan.

[Hook]

>When someone else is earning your money for you, they have standing to critique your spending (or saving) habits.

Not quite sure what that refers to?

I'm just afraid that any phone I'm going to be remotely interested in is going to be 4-500.00 without a contract plan.

Yes, it will be. And that is a reason to hesitate. However, you end up paying way more than that over time on contract (you are paying full price for the phone either way, trust me). Another problem is you are limited to GSM networks, pretty much (AT&T and T-Mobile in the US) and you can't do it with a phone that isn't unlocked. I can buy a Nexus One with AT&T network frequencies and AT&T happily lets me use it as a gophone. But if I buy an AT&T branded Touch Pro 2 or one of their new branded Android phones I can't do it. They will detect it and put it on a data plan with a contract or block it from their network.

So. much as the PAYG thing can work and I endorse it, it requires a peculiar set of circumstances which may not suit everyone.

[Mi An]

>When someone else is earning your money for you, they have standing to critique your spending (or saving) habits.

Not quite sure what that refers to?

It means no one reasonable is going to tell you what to do with your own money. It's your business, not theirs. If someone does complain about what you want to do with your money, they aren't being reasonable and you shouldn't pay attention to them.

Edit: fixed the math below

I'm just afraid that any phone I'm going to be remotely interested in is going to be 4-500.00 without a contract plan.

As to the upfront costs on a PayGO plan, 4-600 is about what you'll pay to get a good smartphone. You might find it is worth crunching the numbers before dismissing entirely. I use TMo prepaid, use more minutes than you, but no data (wifi only). I spend around $6 a month on voice service, Hook says he gets his ATT data for about $6 a month, so let's pretend I keep my voice costs and add his data usage costs on top of that. A new TP2 unsubsidized would cost around $500 (other more powerful phones have comprable unsub costs). Total est Service and hardware two year cost: $850 (I rounded up repeatedly). I'd guess the Evo would be subsidized for around $200 on a 2 year contract, then using your $70 a month guesstimate, total 2 year hardware and service cost: $1880 (rounding down). For the $1030 difference you get lower up front costs, stability of cost per month, and won't ever have to think about usage. It's just a question of whether those things are worth whatever the difference would be for your usage pattern.

Caveats: That's not apples to apples, how much of a subsidy you get obviously matters, and I can't estimate your data or texting usage and associated costs and how they differ from my little scenario above, but generally to get value out of an everything plan's subsidy, you have to USE a LOT. Very light users can get much better long term value saving up for their handset without subsidy and not going on a contract.

Only way to know if the solution would work for you is to pull out a calculator and crunch some numbers, and read others experiences to see if yours match. If you'd prefer the cost spreading mechanism of subsidies, just beware of the "interest rates". I'm not so good with math, but I think if I bought the Evo instead to avoid my upfront device cost, the carrier "loan" would have an interest rate of around 48% annually. There are predatory lenders who can offer better rates.