Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Im just not seeing compelling value to this. Maybe if you actually take advantage of unlimited EVERYTHING, which few actually do.
We pay $115/month, and that gets us a free iphone 4 8GB (and unlimited data). More than perfect for everything, plenty faste etc.
If I pay $41/month for straight talk, and buy a Nexus 4 for $299, it is $12.45 per month assuning it is kept for 24 months, which is a common change-out timing.
THat's $53.45/month, versus our $57.50. Hardly a staggering benefit cost wise.
If you keep a phone for years, OK.
The S4 looks awesome. Nice, thin etc. HTC One is thicker. I dont thing Id trust HTC vs samsug.
THe cameras are all laughable despite what some russian test pics show. I roll with a 36 MP DSLR with real glass. Camera phones are garbage due to physics. Electric tricks cant help beyond a point. Id prefer if camera phones had 5 bigger MP, that could grab more light and have much better dynamic range.
But the biggest issue with the HTC, S4 or i5 is that they are all just too big. Impractical sizes. The iphone 3/4 size is just far better in terms of a practical size, IMO.
Free iPhone? I'm not seeing the free part of that plan but I guess...
While I'm not going to get into what is best I'd have to say that a Nexus 4 phone is a better phone than a Iphone 4. I've played with both and for ME there is no question which I'd consider better. But again that is just my feelings.
$100 over two years adds up per phone. Plus I have the ability if I want to go to other services if I want too. Don't have to worry about early termination fees, if I don't like or want another phone I can sell mine and pick up a new one with no worries from whoever I would be locked to. If the service stinks I can try another one. Plus I don't have to pay any fees or taxes which add up.
No worries about talking too much on the phone or texting the kids/wife/friends. Their unlimited means that. They do limit data in the way that if you do too much then they throttle it but I've never been affected.
Agree with ANY phone camera is not going to replace a better dedicated one. The camera in my Sony phone was pretty good but nothing to my Nikon compact that I use.
Different strokes for different folks they say. For me I'll take the savings and have the freedom that I enjoy.
Take care, Bill
My point is I dont see compelling savings. Nobody on those plans are getting phones for free... Not from AT&T, and not from Straight Talk. You paid how much for the Nexus 4? Shopping at the google site indicates $299 for 8GB and $349 for 16GB.
You have to buy/own a phone to use the plan, right? That factors into the per month cost.
If I want an old nokia brick, fine. If an iphone 4, or an equivalent droid phone does well enough for me, so be it. It still would cost something to buy to use with the straight talk.
A subsidized plan has the cost of the phone built into it. But one still has an acquisition cost for a phone if using a prepaid plan. It has to be built into the monthly pricing structure to compare.
Since a phone with iphone 4-like capability more than works perfect for us, and it is "free" from AT&T with the contract price, my monthly cost comes to $57.50 including unlimited data which we use heavily. Buying the Nexus 4 or some other phone in that price range saves $4/month, hardly a staggering amount. Better phone? Perhaps. That's not the point of the discussion. Point is that when the acquisition cost of the hardware is factored in to the per-month cost of the prepaid plans, the savings arent really compelling, at least for our use of 500-ish minutes a month, and many, many GB of data.
I wish there was a compellingly lower cost option out there. From what Ive seen, there isnt. For us, "deals" like straight talk arent substantial/worthwhile, unfortunately. I wish it were, or I wish there was another option that was maybe unlimited data and limited everything else for much less. Ive not seen something that fits us that gives us a great deal.
