Bustronaut Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 If you bought phones directly from Tmobile then they aren't unlocked phones. Tmobile and most other carriers will unlock them for you but only if you've been a consistent customer typically. Not many phones you can get unlocked brand new. But pretty much any phone on the market can easily be unlocked if they don't do it for you. It's idiotic that paying unsubsidized prices for phones still locks you into a carrier.
LooseCannon Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 Google sold Motorola to Lenovo. I'm very, very disappointed. I suppose it's possible Lenovo stays the course, which would mean I get my much desired Moto X sequel, but - much more likely - I imagine we get cheap Chinese phones with the Moto M slapped on them. I'm not one for jingoism, but it's unfortunate we are losing yet another iconic American brand to the Chinese. Well, Lenovo doesn't seem to have let the Thinkpad line become a bunch of crap since buying IBM's personal computing business, so there is reason to be optimistic about future Motorola phones.
glfpunk Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 If you bought phones directly from Tmobile then they aren't unlocked phones. Tmobile and most other carriers will unlock them for you but only if you've been a consistent customer typically. Not many phones you can get unlocked brand new. But pretty much any phone on the market can easily be unlocked if they don't do it for you. It's idiotic that paying unsubsidized prices for phones still locks you into a carrier. It only does if you buy it from a carrier. It's kind of lame. But a carrier doesn't really want to sell a phone to you for you to just buy it and take somewhere else. What did you end up getting?
Tabe Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 How does she like using it as a phone? From the reviews I read, that's where the Note 3 seems to falter. Other than our usual "suddenly the other person can't hear you anymore" that we get from T-Mobile, she seems to like it just fine. It's almost exclusively used in speakerphone mode, if that matters to you.
Bustronaut Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 I said fuck it and bought unlocked phones off ebay. Ended up pay $900 total, instead-of T-mobile's $1293. Now I just hope they actually work when they get here. ETA: I should say I ended up with a green 16GB iPhone 5c (factory unlocked, hooray) and a "Blue Arctic" 16GB Samsung Galaxy s 4 (AT&T, but deemed unlocked) The S4 has a two week return window, so I think I'm covered in any case. 1
Bustronaut Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 If anyone wants a coupon for $100 off a design-your-own Moto X, let me know. It's good through today.
Chaos Posted February 6, 2014 Posted February 6, 2014 Okay, I am thinking of getting my fiancee an E-Reader for Valentine's Day. Is the Kindle Paperwhite probably the best way to go? If so, is it necessary to drop the extra dough for the 3G one?
glfpunk Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 From everything I've read, Paperwhite is the way to go. I personally would only get the wifi version. I don't read books so quick that I need 3g so I can download new books when away from home.
piranesi Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 No need for 3G and the ad supported version isn't a hassle either. It's just that the screen saver is ads instead of pictures of pretty pencils. Is it just for books? Or, like, PDFs and stuff?
Cliff Hanger Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 I'll third or fourth the love for the Paperwhite, and concur on the no 3G. Until my old Kindle Keyboard got wrecked I couldn't imagine not having the 3G, but now that I don't I very rarely even notice.
Ace Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 No need for 3G and the ad supported version isn't a hassle either. It's just that the screen saver is ads instead of pictures of pretty pencils. Is it just for books? Or, like, PDFs and stuff? It'll support pdfs, yes.
Brian Fowler Posted February 9, 2014 Posted February 9, 2014 That new red Nexus 5 is beautiful. I can't afford a new phone right now, but so pretty.
mco543 Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 I'm thinking about jumping from AT&T to T-Mobile for my cell phone. I currently have an iPhone 3GS (yes, I know) and pay about $115 a month for AT&T's shoddy service, T-Mobile has a deal where I can get an iPhone 5C and a 2.5gb plan for $87 a month for 24 months and then $60 following that. I've had AT&T for around 7 years, anyone have any experience or thoughts on T-Mobile's current service and the iPhone 5C?
glfpunk Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 - ATT has great service typically - I love T-Mobile and their pricing but you need to find out what kind of coverage you get in your area because it isn't the best. - There is no reason at this point to get an iPhone if you're getting a new phone. They used to have quite a few advantages but they are very much behind when compared to top android phones now. - That plan you listed doesn't seem like it's that great of a deal. Seems like the typical price you'd pay for that type of plan. If you want to save money on a plan go with a prepaid where you don't finance the cost of the phone. I'd recommend the Nexus 5 and Moto X and then just pop in a sim card and you're done.
Bustronaut Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 Tmobile actually has a plan for $30/month that's unlimited data, texting and 100 minutes of talk, which isn't really a hassle because you can just use the free Vonage app to make calls. If you can afford an unlocked phone off eBay, it's really quite the deal. Kind of a PITA to find a nano SIM in the wild, but a couple of places will cut a regular/micro SIM down for you (including Best Buy) As for the 5C, I was surprised by how... Sturdy it felt compared to my GS4, but my wife hasn't had any complaints about it, and it was so easy to transfer everything via iTunes back up from her iPod!
blitzkrieg Posted February 17, 2014 Posted February 17, 2014 I'm thinking about jumping from AT&T to T-Mobile for my cell phone. I currently have an iPhone 3GS (yes, I know) and pay about $115 a month for AT&T's shoddy service, T-Mobile has a deal where I can get an iPhone 5C and a 2.5gb plan for $87 a month for 24 months and then $60 following that. I've had AT&T for around 7 years, anyone have any experience or thoughts on T-Mobile's current service and the iPhone 5C? I'd probably argue that if you're going with T-Mobile post-paid you'd probably might as well spend the extra $10 and go with the unlimited everything plan for $70. I've been on the T-Mobile pre-paid $30(5 GB of 4G data, unlimited texts, 100 minutes) plan for about two and a half years and you can't beat the price if you don't make a lot of calls. I have been thinking of going post-paid and switching to the $70 plan for the simple fact that no T-Mobile based pre-paid service supports conditional call forwarding which is annoying for Google Voice users. Wireless service is definitely a YMMV will vary depending on your city and even more so the area that you live in. Personally where I live I get pretty much LTE service 95% of the city with a couple spots where I'll get service but just not LTE. Chief complaint for most people with T-Mobile will be that once you exit metropolitan areas you're going see a drop in quality. In my travels I've rarely seen myself have no service at all but most of the time you'd be hard pressed to do anything besides make a call or send a text. And remember with T-Mobile you're essentially just paying for the phone spaced out over the months. So if you can find the T-Mobile compatible phone you want, or any other phone for that matter, cheaper you can always just buy it and walk into a T-Mobile store and purchase the appropriate SIM for it. Plus check with your job, bank/credit union, alumni association, etc... and see if they have a discount plan set up with T-Mobile. It won't help if you buy a phone through T-Mobile but it will save you on your monthly plan.
Bustronaut Posted February 17, 2014 Posted February 17, 2014 If you're on the prepaid plan and don't GET a lot of calls, pick up the Vonage app, it'll give you 3500 minutes of talk time a month for free, and you can use your actual cell number instead-of being forced to get a new one like with other VOIP providers
Tabe Posted February 17, 2014 Posted February 17, 2014 Finally bought a new phone this weekend. Ended up going with the LG G2. I tried several others, most recently the Sony Xperia Z1S, and settled on the G2. I was considering the Note 3 but the G2 was $200 cheaper, which made it an easy decision. Was not thrilled with the camera on the Z1S - and that's supposed to be its selling point. So far, I am very pleased with the G2. It's very fast, gets better reception than my old Galaxy S2, and the screen is spectacular. Good size, too, at 5.2".
glfpunk Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 That's a pretty screen. Good choice. In no way is that Note 3 worth an extra $200 over the G2. 2
Vincey Greene Posted February 19, 2014 Posted February 19, 2014 I gotta say, I really want an LG G-Flex. I know, I know, 720p, unwieldy large screen, horrid LG interface. But dem curves, yo. And it runs on Spark which is dumb fast, at least here in NYC. That said, I don't want it enough to pay three bills. I guess my Motox is staying put a while. (DISCLAIMER: I am a Sprint employee. The views expressed in this post are mine and mine alone and do not reflect the views of Sprint Corporation, Softbank or any of our partners, including but not limited to LG or Motorola.)
Tabe Posted February 19, 2014 Posted February 19, 2014 I looked at the Flex but the price and the relatively low-quality screen turned me off. It IS cool that you can bend the phone and flatten it out and stuff. That said, I think I would hate carrying a curved phone in my pocket.
Brian Fowler Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 The forthcoming G Pro 2 looks amazing.
Pete Posted March 1, 2014 Posted March 1, 2014 So I've got a very weird issue with my Galaxy Tab 3. WiFi is completely down- except for Dolphin Browser. Also, downloads aren't going through (they all hang). Has this happened to anyone else? I just find it really weird that wifi would work with one program and nothing else...
Vincey Greene Posted March 25, 2014 Posted March 25, 2014 Ok, still gonna keep rocking my Moto X, but my latest phone crush is 100% for sure the new HTC One (m8). The design is ridiculous, even more elegant than last year or to my eyes, the iPhone 5S, the processor and display are both top notch and they added an SD card. I can't justify replacing the Moto, but I really, really want to. (DISCLAIMER: I am a Sprint employee. The views expressed in this post are mine and mine alone and do not reflect the views of Sprint Corporation, Softbank or any of our partners, including but not limited to HTC, Apple or Motorola.)
Raziel Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 So, since carrier bloatware has officially fucked the Galaxy's after the Jellybean update, I'm biting the bullet and rooting. Wish me luck.
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