moretimeoffguy

My wife currently has an android $50/month unlimited plan with Virgin Mobile. She likes the phone but gets lousy service (Sprint is the underlying network). Can anyone recommend a good no-contract, non-AT&T / non-Verizon branded service that offers Android phones yet uses either AT&T or Verizon's underlying network (to get more reliable service than Sprint's network).

Personally I have a cheapo pay-per-use TracFone that gets great service everywhere we've been. I believe it uses Verizon's network. I don't need a smart phone to be connected 24x7. Although I've gotta admit it's nice for one of us to have a smart phone. The Virgin Mobile android phone works out great for us when we travel, except again, the coverage is lousy in the areas we've tried it in.

At around $100 month including taxes, I find it hard to justify the cost of an iPhone. I don't look at monthly or annual costs. I look at 5 year total cost of ownership.

12 months X $100 = $1,200 annually.
$1,200 X 5 years = $6,000. Money that would come out of a paycheck, so I count the total cost to be around $7000+ for 5 years of having a "cool phone."

Considering I can probably find her a good $50/month no-contract on an android phone that uses the Verizon or AT&T network (again, her chief complaint is poor service), I'd even be willing to buy her $3,000 of Apple stock every five years. Or put the extra cash toward something we both enjoy--travel!

The only arguments I've heard in favor of the iPhone are convenience, coolness, and the ability to use it as a WiFi hot spot. But then I've seen personal pay-as-you-go WiFi devices from T-Mobil and others that could serve that purpose for her iPad (good purchase--lots of value from that device).

If I can't convince her to *not* to get an iPhone, are there ways we can make the bill as low as possible? She's semi-convinced she needs unlimited everything. But she probably texts less than 1500 per month, talks on her current phone less then 3 hours per month, and doesn't use a whole heck of a lot of data.

Hate throwing money down the toilet so I want to investigate options. I know many are passionate about their iPhones such that finances don't even come into the equation. On the other hand, it seems like one other bill that destroys, rather than builds, wealth.

gfunkdave

You have an odd way to computing cost of ownership. Five years for consumer tech is awfully long - two years is more like it.

If it's not worth it to you, then it's not worth it to you. Buy something you think it worthwhile.

The only way to pay $50/month and get AT&T/Verizon service, as you've said, it a prepaid third party offering. That means you won't get an iPhone since AT&T/Verizon only sell them to be used directly and not through MVNOs (though I think Virgin is going to start selling them soon). There is a way around this on AT&T but who knows if they will catch you and cancel your service.

So, buy an Android phone on TracFone or SimpleTalk or any of the other MVNOs.

uva185

If $1,200 x 5 years is $6,000 then how do you get the total cost to be $7,000+ ?

Barnaby100

In the uk my new iPhone 4s (my 4th iPhone). No purchase cost. 18 month contract @ £45 or approx 65 dollars. Will sell out of contract iPhone 4 for at least £150 which is 18 months old.

TWA884

The Sprint network gives priority to its own subscribers over customers of MVNO who use the Sprint network. In other words, a Sprint subscriber may get service at the same time that Virgin Mobile and Boost customers have trouble connecting.

I suspect that other mobile network operators similarly prioritize connections provided to customers of MVNO on their networks.

LIH Prem

Besides being conveniently cool and kind of expensive, it also has a built in calculator, but you still have to put the correct numbers in yourself, unfortunately. No smart phone can compensate for that.

Yes, when you calculate the service costs over 24 months at even a reasonable rate of $70 - $80 or even your suggested $50 per month, it is expensive to own a smartphone. But there's cheaper ways to do it.

But i don't think that was your point.

-David

Yoshi212

Amazon.com price of an Apple iPhone 4s 16GB Black= $450.00
Redpocket service=$60/month = $720/year
Redpocket Sim card on Amazon.com~$3.00

If you were to purchase a new phone every 2 years you'd spend less than $80/month for everything. You really shouldn't expect new tech to last more than 2 years. It's all made to be disposable.

RoyalFlush

Happy wife = happy life

nerd

My T-Mobile smartphone, pretty much an iPhone clone in form factor and functionality, is $30/month prepaid (avoids the $10 in taxes and fees), plus about $5 in per-minute charges.

It's nice to pay $35/month, instead of $80 for the exact same service.

Dubai Stu

I have a Samsung Exhibit II and an iPhone 4s (unlocked). The Exhibit is a nice phone, but if the wife is using an iPad, she will quickly run into the Apps without equivalents, etc. While you can configure Android to feel similar to an iPhone, it will not be exactly the same. My opinion is that if the wife really wants an iPhone, get her the iPhone. You can activate an unlocked version with a number of different carriers.

What you need to understand is that hubby is not going to have an objective evaluation here. Whereever there is a dropped call, a missing app, etc., "it would have been different with an iPhone." You are comparing the reality of a good Android phone on a good (but not perfect network) with what she thinks she will get in Nervana. Nervana will always win until she gets there.

Stu

PS: If all she needs is a backup carrier, buy a Skyroam quadband dongle put a prepaid Truphone SIM in it. It will roam on both Tmobile and ATT and build into her Android phone. That will give her access to 3 out of 4 networks.

moretimeoffguy

Wish I could say my income was tax free. So to generate $6,000 in after tax money I have to earn more than $6,000. Also, five years come and go pretty fast. Does anyone think a good iPhone plan will cost less than USD $100/month after 2 years? Or will it likely cost even more?

moretimeoffguy

Thanks Nerd and others. Will have to take a look at T-Mobile.

@Nerd, what particular model smartphone do you have through T-Mobile? And what underlying network does T-Mobile use? Is it a separate network? Or does it use AT&Ts, Verizon's, or Sprint's? Again, she's very unhappy with the service she gets through Virgin Mobile although the price is very easy on the wallet / purse.

@RoyalFlush--happy wife = happy life indeed. Quite happy life already. Wife loves to travel to cool places. If I can get around the Cult Factor of "must have" Apple devices--already gave in on buying her an iPad3 and very happy to do so--I think she'd be much happier when I tell her we'll be able to take an extra trip to, say, Hawaii, the South Pacific, spend another week in Paris, etc--versus having an iPhone. I just don't see an iPhone having the same value as a full-on tablet like the iPad.

@TWA - Not surprising that Sprint gives its own customers priority. But I tell you--I can't think of a single dropped call or poor service on my super cheap TracFone. Don't think TracFone yet offers Android phones, but I'll certainly be on the look out for one. Think I saw that Net 10 now offers Androids--don't recall, but Net 10 may also = TracFone (same parent company?) and thus use the same network.

Thanks again to all for the info and opinions.

Doc Savage

Pagepluscellar.com is cheap and is on the Verizon network with great connectivity. Have used it for years with no problems, and I have found only rare spots where Verizon coverage doesn't reach. Pay as you go.

http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans.aspx


You can use any unlocked Verizon phone.

cordelli

Straight Talk will get you an android device for like $500 a year for unlimited service for voice and data (or however they define unlimited)

They use AT&T, Verizon, and T-mobile depending on the phone and where you are.

You can buy the phones at Walmart.

trueblu

The OP says that an iphone, by his calculations, will cost $7k over 5 years. But he has not discounted the cost of the smartphone he is already paying for, so that immediately halves the cost, over 5 years to $3.5k.

In addition, since he/his wife are interested in the 'cool' factor of the iPhone, there is no way said apple-fan wife is going to sit on an old iphone 4S for 5 years. The very most she will tolerate is a new phone every 2 years -- and apple knows this. So really, the additional cost is already down to $1.4k, over two years.

The rest depends on your wife.

Of course, you could just buy an unlocked iphone (~$600), and then use a payg sim card with it (another thread on this board details how), in which case, depending on individual use, the costs would be even less...especially if really, your wife just likes having a smartphone, but is mostly at home, so uses the wifi connection.

tb