This is the final installment in this series. The moment you have ALL been waiting for is finally here. As you can probably tell, I have made my choice. The following is a list of steps that I did to get the best deal in my opinion.
Step 1
I basically decided that to get the possible deal I would need to take over someones contract. To do this, I went onto Cellswapper, Kijiji and Craigslist in search of someone who had a free HUP and was willing to do a contract takeover. This can be an arduous process but in the end it worked out. i got a new phone, a great contract and some more buying power that I wouldn’t have received if I was a brand new customer.
Step 2
Next you need to get into contact with a seller that fits your needs as some offer a longer contract but a free phone. From there, many things can happen because exchanging a contract can be a very tricky process since the new party wants to verify some details about the contract and the current contract holder doesn’t want to get screwed over. In my case, he added my name to the account, I negotiated for a retention plan. Once i was satisfied with my plan, I confirmed and then we did the account transfer. The next day I did my free hardware upgrade to my current, beautiful phone which I will do a review on later.
Step 3
Enjoy your new contract and phone! The details on what I got myself into are:
Samsung Galaxy S 2 with Bell Mobility
Plan Details ($49.50/month + taxes)
200 Anytime
Unlimited E/W at 7pm
Nationwide Fab 10
Caller ID and Messaging Centre
Unlimited MMS/SMS…
1gb data
Overall I am extremely happy and when the school term starts I’m going to try and add some long distance minutes for free onto it. If I am successful I will add it on here.
I came up with this series mainly to document my struggles and joys with switching from one carrier to another. I am learning many things including what options to exercise and really how cutthroat the wireless industry is. I had initial idea of what I wanted to do when I set on this learning experience. That initial idea involved just going to Wind Mobile and picking a top-end phone that was compatible with their network. Like everything in life, it wasn’t so easy.
Why I Didn’t Go This Path
Wind Mobile is expanding at a rapid rate but has still left voids in its current coverage area leaving me skeptic about a brand new coverage area in KW. Although I am a student and I really should have low needs and a low budget, I am also constantly looking for a new job for the next co-op term or communicating with my current employer. It wouldn’t be the best situation if I had a potential employer on the line and the call gets dropped or they place a call to me and I’m in a dead zone so they can’t get a hold of me. Sure it’s probably going to be fairly rare but at the end of the day I’m not going to go with a more robust network which the Big Three can offer me in the Kitchener/Waterloo region.
The price (and new smartphones) keep on enticing me but with network quality so important I decided it wasn’t in my best interest for now. Hopefully down the road they’ll still be there with competitive prices and updated phones so I can give them another shot.
My New Options
With Wind Mobile out of the picture (keep in mind I’m not considering Mobilicity & Public Mobile due to their lack of coverage in KW), I was left with the Big Three and their side brands. Outlined below is my current opinion on the carriers I have to choose from.
Fido – My current carrier has done fairly well for me but because it’s a discount brand, the phones do lack in quality (they’ve added the LG O2x and Nexus S which are two great phones). I have a decent plan but what really threw me off was a horrible mishap that they handled even worse and a call into the CSR to upgrade. Not everyone will experience this so take the following with a grain of salt.
Mishap -I basically lost my SIM and so I needed to replace it. I went in to purchase one; got home and put it in. Called Fido; they did some stuff and then they told me to power down and restart. I did as I was told and hung up. My Blackberry took a long time to load up but when it did, I had someones account with their number. I called Fido back and they had no clue how it happened and I was just going to have to wait. They also told me I was free to use the account however I pleased. The next day, I’m calling Fido to figure out the status of my situation and lo and behold, I can’t make a phone call because they’ve cut my service off. Luckily I’m in a mall with a Fido store so I go in and the guy sells me a SIM card and I’m finally back to my old account after a call in to Fido. Best I get for my troubles in unlimited local calling for the month.
CSR – I was able to let go of the above situation because other than that, Fido was pretty good to me. My friend recently got a contract renewal so I decided I’d try the same. The guy I talked to laughed at me when I mentioned it and told me I’d never get it. The way he acted actually disgusted me and from that point I vowed not to go back. I felt hugely mistreated for making such a simple call that usually gets a yes or no answer.
Rogers - Although they are a powerhouse, I have never enjoyed dealing with them and our family (among others) has had considerable problems with them. Granted most other wireless companies do, I have had first hand experience with them. With that being said, there’s little chance I will choose them especially considering the above experiences as well.
Bell – I had never heard a good thing about Bell in regards to customer service support and as you can tell I’m not a big fan of poor customer service. The restructuring of BCE, Bell’s parent company, in 2008 marked a turn for the better with a focus on better customer and tech support. I have still heard stories but it didn’t seem as bad and what wireless company doesn’t have a bad story or two?
Telus – This is actually probably the only wireless company I have not heard a bad thing about so far but then again the only person I know who’s on Telus is my Dad and he doesn’t have many issues as he’s on prepaid and barely uses the phone. The reason though I will not be considering these guys is because they don’t offer some of the top phones (although they will probably be releasing the Samsung Galaxy S II variant, Hercules).
From here, I’ll have to decide where I want to go and there will be sacrifices on the way. The factors playing into my choice are:
Hardware Choices (i.e. what types of cell phones they offer)
Plan Choice (i.e. what kind of a package can I get)
This year has been marked with some huge advancements in the wireless industry. The Android OS has finally taken off, dual-core processors have been released with quad-core processors in the works, 4G networks are slowly making their way to your community as well as many more things. The big thing for me is, as of September 24, 2011, my 3 year contract expires. Up to this point, I have contemplated what to do about this situation. This series will chronicle all the mishaps, joys and thoughts about this personal experience that I am about to go through.
All of the posts related to this series will be linked on here as well as a snippet of upcoming posts. The first post in this series is going to highlight how you, the consumer, can get a better deal on your current plan or upcoming one.
The Sony-Ericsson Xperia PLAY smart phone has been welcomed as a girl-magnet, not the least because of its unbelievable PlayStation capabilities, and also because of its fully featured smart phone uses which are built on and enhanced from the older Samsung Galaxy S.
For anybody looking for a smart phone which is super efficient in giving you fully featured access to Facebook, Gmail and Twitter as well as in built game controls, then the Xperia PLAY will let you bury yourself in entertainment all day. All the while living a fantasy come true with its proven smart phone features and its PlayStation capabilities which rival its nearest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy S.
Some of the PlayStation phone’s ingenious features include the following:
•Games All game players will realise that no games load instantly. This is also true of the Sony-Ericsson Xperia PLAY smart phone, but the time taken is quite acceptable. The game’s operational speed is also quite fast with continuous smooth frame rates. It has all the basics right for a pleasant PlayStation experience. The PlayStation phone’s slide out gamepad is no doubt its figurative and literal centrepiece, and it performs well when compared with a console. The directional keys are quite firm as are the face buttons. Between these two keys you will find the two analogue pads. The biggest benefit when using these pads, instead of a touch screen on a phone like the Samsung Galaxy S, comes when you find you are not obscuring the screen. This allows you to continually follow all the action. Each pad contains an indent you can feel with your thumb, meaning you never have to look down to see what you are doing.
•Inside The Sony-Ericsson Xperia PLAY smart phone contains a solid 1500mAh cell battery, which lasts around 22 hours before it needs recharging, when usage is confined to normal phone usage, and between five and six hours on full-on game play.
•Camera The still imaging is quite sharp and crisp in the camera department where you can adjust for focusing, white balance and exposure. A main feature is the phone’s macro mode which allows you to reproduce good photographs up close.
Many smart phone users will be leaning towards the Samsung Galaxy S’s four inch super AMOLED screen for viewing videos and playing games, with its vivid and vibrant colours, even when out in the sunlight, especially when compared with the Xperia PLAY’s lesser detail in this area. However, you will get the added advantage of an effective PlayStation in the palm of your hand wherever you go.
Posted by Technology Guider On October - 12 - 2008
Blackberry’s first entrance into the touch screen phone market has made headlines all over the world. Competing directly with the iPhone and Google’s new phone, G1 by HTC, Blackberry can now officially say it has an all around phone capable of sending email and having multimedia capabilities. The Blackberry Storm is slightly smaller but a smidge thicker than the iPhone and it keeps the same rounded edges of the iPhone. It has a high quality resolution screen that is bright.
Blackberry Storm
One thing that is really cool about the phone is it has copy and paste features and can interpret html on the browser. There are two keyboards that pop up when you are using the phone for emails, texts and such. One is when the phone is vertical, you get a keyboard in the horizontal position that is Full QWERTY and the other one is in the vertical position when your phone is horizontal that is the true Blackberry keyboard with two letters per button.
It has the capabilities of a world phone, with GSM, HDSPA, 3G, and EDGE. Like the iPhone there will be a lot of add-ons like a docking station that turns the Storm into an alarm clock while charging the phone at the same time. The Storm is easy to use and intuitive but in my personal opinion I hate the fact of using a virtual keyboard and this phone has two of them. I like the feel and touch of a real keyboard. Verizon is going to release it around Thanksgiving in the U.S. and hopefully soon after that in Canada. It’s a great follow up to the Bold and shows Blackberry’s committment to challenging Apple and bringing more products to the consumer market. This signals the market shift for ordinary consumers getting Smartphones.
With Rogers bringing the iPhone to Canada on July 11th, the other service providers had to do something, and do something quick. So Bell presents to Canada, the Samsung Instinct. While it isn’t necessarily quick, as it debuts sometime on August 8th, the Samsung Instinct offers much of the same features that the iPhone does, representing a true iPhone killer in my mind. One key flaw that the Instinct has though is that it can’t be used as a tethered device where the phone is used to get wireless signals for a laptop. Another difference, although not that big in my mind is the fact it only supports up to 8GB of storage with it’s microSD card. With bigger and bigger mp3 devices out on the market, I can imagine this will be a selling point for the iPhone for many people.
Samsung Instinct
Potential customers will be enticed by the lower price point of the actual phone and plans. The phone will start at $149.95 with a 3-year contract but is available with 1,2 and no contract as well with the highest price point being $449.95. The plans are also cheaper than the iPhones’ starting as low as $40 a month and with more to offer, it’s obviously a much better deal. “The lowest price plan for the Instinct includes 100 minutes of local calls for $20; 1,000 minutes of voice calls from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. and weekends (Fridays from 9 p.m. to Mondays at 7 a.m.); an $8.95 monthly system access fee; 75 cents for 911 emergency calls, and the $10 unlimited Internet plan. The monthly total comes to $39.70 before taxes.”Globe and Mail.
The Instinct has a full-touch screen with haptic feedback, meaning it responds when keys are pressed, and connects to the EV-DO Rev A high-speed data network. It also supports Web browsing and Internet e-mail (including Hotmail and Gmail accounts), as well as attachments. Features such as the global positioning system as well as live and on-demand TV.
Update: Rogers has announced new lower data plans to combat the negative criticsm it has received for its pricing. It’s only a limited time offer from July 11 to the end of August and will be available to all 3G phone purchases in that time frame. Previously a 6GB data plan would have cost you $100 but now they are offering a $30 plan. It’s still no match for Bell’s offer of $10 for unlimited data but it’s a step in the right direction.
On July 11th, American and Canadian consumers will be able to purchase the 3G versions of the Apple iPhone. Even people who bought the 2.5G iPhone on or after May 27 will be able to switch their phone with the 3G phone for no cost at all except their old, inferior iPhone. In the US, it will cost consumers there $199 for the 8GB version and $299 for the 16GB version and should be north of that, north of the border where I’ve been hearing $299 for the base version. Why should Canadians pay more for the phone though? We already pay more monthly with Rogers APRU (Average Revenue Per User) at $72 compared to AT&T’s current ARPU of just $49. With the new spectrum being auctioned off, it should lower prices but after the iPhone release, analysts are expecting an ARPU rise of $30 or more.
Back to the phone though. The Apple version of 3G technology will blow away the previous generation of that technology, EDGE, and even beat current 3G speeds with 36% faster pageloads than competitors like the Nokia N95. It will be open to 3rd party apps and the phone will be available internationally. Battery power wasn’t forgotten in the development of this version unlike the new Blackberry, which from rumours seems to lack a decent battery life. The 3G iPhone will have 300 hours of standby, 9 hours of 2G talk, 5 hours of 3G talk, 24 hours of audio, and 7 hours of video.
GPS is going to be standard, using A-GPS, which works in conjunction with regular satellite GPS data and cell towers for much faster location times. On top of that, they’ve thrown Wi-Fi into the mix to lock up your exact location. Apple isn’t fooling around here with so many solid features being rolled into one, at a cheaper and slightly smaller package. Although there isn’t a user interface change or exterior change, Apple still presents a good product to the market.
Rogers has finally put into place a contract with Apple to release its coveted iPhone onto Canadian airwaves. Rogers is hoping to include the iPhone as its star player in a lineup of touch screen phones set to be released this Summer. Rogers is still pushing for many things in the contract that will allow it more flexibility such as wireless plans and it has this power because currently it offers the only GSM network in Canada, pending a decision from Telus whether or not to switch to GSM. They will hopefully roll it out before Blackberry’s new device code named ‘Meteor’ was expected to be unveiled and around the same time Apple will offer an updated version of its iPhone making it compatible with 3G networks. Apple may have lady luck on its side as rumors continue to swirl on Blackberry delays pushing the release date to August instead of June.
We will continue to wait and see if Rogers will shift its ways as well as if Apple will budge at all on changing its way of standardizing the industry.
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