yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] KicknGuitar:
I agree that it isn't for everyone (see your 19% discount... you lucky ****er) but lets take a moment here to challenge your mindset of having the latest phone and let you think of the average consumer without hundreds of dollars to spend...yet do because they don't know any better:

New doesn't always mean the best. In the tech world where innovation is exponential look at how many phones are out there. It's best to pick the one that suits your needs since you the consumer will have the advantage:

I grabbed a Motorola Defy (Came out 2010, I purchased it 2 months ago) Why? less money (after tax was just under $200), Heavily water restive (I spend a lot of time on water), small, durable, easy to replace battery, good reviews...

Grabbing a "verizon" phone with data capabilities required me spending $200 or more so there was little difference. The usual service price for my friends is around $90/month, for limited talk, txt Web for 2yr contact... all for a "new" phone. Family plans claim to save money: I tried this, crunched the numbers... I think the savings were in the tens place, after TWO years, differing carriers. Asked friends in family plans, they were spending around the same amount.

These third Party Carriers offer "unlimited" service for only 30day periods for $50/month

That's $40 saved per month. If you include a free phone from contract versus buying one, it's a $23/month savings 40-(200/12)

Lastly the service is the same:

I have had better reception via ST than I had on Verizon, and I was in NYC! Coverage should be one of the main reasons you take a carrier up.

To run some numbers in summation for Monthly balances:

Verizon:

Talk Txt Data = ~$90 W/or W/o Fam Plan of 3 lines.

Lim. Talk, Txt= $57 W/ Fam Plan of 3 lines (No data) after taxes and fees

Straight Talk (using Att):

Tlk Txt, Data = $49.99 After tax and fees

Lim Talk, Txt (more minutes than Verizon offers, unshared) = $30 (pre-taxes and fees)

If We want to balance it out we could compare ST's 1yr plan which is $547.38 for 365 days (post tax and fees):

Tlk, Txt, Data = $45.62 After Tax

You will be saving a quarter to a half of what you spend with a Contract carrier.Oh and feel free to throw in the "$17/month" new phone
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jordanishere:
I used 2.6 gigs on simple last month and wasn't throttled. It includes taxes and fees for $50/mo.

Guess straight talk is better if u need att bands, but their data policy sounds very strict. If you are fine with using T Mobile network, simple mobile is probably a better deal.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jamerican413:
I've only been using them for two weeks and other than not being able to text in the subway tunnels (which I could with ST, but it's not that big a deal, really) I have no complaints. Honestly, I was prepared to be more critical. Happily it's working out. It's good to have something to compare it to.

One real positive (for me) that I forgot: tethering is included in their plan. Straight Talk cautioned me four times in the 12 mins I was on the phone with them against tethering.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] rafa3L:
I recently moved from the $30 T-Mobile monthly 4G to AT&T Straight Talk. Shortly after, I realized I wasn't happy with the AT&T signal at work inside the building, so I ordered a T-Mobile SIM from Straight Talk. They were able to transfer my number and remaining days of the 30 day plan. T-Mobile works better in the office and I like not having to worry about going over the 100 minute mark every month as I did with the Monthly 4G plan direct from T-Mobile. (Even though its only 10 cents per minute afterwards, that feeling of the limit being there makes me want to hang up on people too quick.)

$45 per month isn't bad at all. Actually its $42 if you do the $125.99, 3 month card at Walmart.com. If you place the order via "Shop Discover" (Discover credit card), you get 5% cash back on top of that. So basically $40 per month.Unfortunately I've been having trouble ordering from Walmart.com, they always immediately cancel my order due to billing mismatch so they say. I order online from other places all the time, not sure what's up with the Walmart.com e-delivery ordering system that causes it to cancel my orders. Walmart CS has been no help with this issue for the past 3 months that I've been trying to place these orders. So anyway I end up going into the store and paying $130 for for the 3 month card or $45 for 1 month.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ridingonfumes:
So here is what's going to make me change from straight to talk,,, living in a motorhome half the year I never know who's coverage is going to be best or even work at all....... So going prepaid was nice having choice from att or tmo networks any given month.

.

I really like the idea of tmobiles $30 a month unlimited text & data + 100 min talk, but that 100 min is just not enough.

.

So now California has lifeline cellular deals for low income (below 24 grand a year for family of 2) on reachout wireless who uses Verizon towers, they offer $2.50 for 250min $5 for 500 min and $20 for 1000 min.

.

So between the 2 I'm paying $50 a month for all the talk text and data I could use and I have access to both tmobile and Verizon networks to get me the best chance at a signal even when way out in the boonies
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] brooksyx:
Using straight talk at&t here. Love the service so far and can't complain for $42 a month when buying 3 months at a time

Don't know why anyone would ever buy postpaid contract now days if you don't have a family plan.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ScottyNuttz:
You have to make some giant assumptions to make all of this math work.

First, you're saying you have sworn off non-Nexus devices, but what if the only way you can get a Nexus device is through Google Play or otherwise at full retail price, which appears to be a possibility in the future. Why not pay only for the service via MVNO and stop paying into the phone subsidy when you bought your phone outright.

Here you're inflating the price of service on MVNOs by %25. The whole point of being off contract is so that you can shop around. Nobody picks the $60 option even if it's the most common. That's not a sound assumption. Many of the people here are actually trying to save money and don't mind the restrictions that come with a $45/mo plan.

And I'll address the additional 17.49 later.

That's great for you. We should all be so lucky. Is that what you actually pay to Verizon each month, or is that just what you calculated?

Don't forget about the $30 upgrade fee ;)

More importantly, you assume that without a subsidised phone program people would still feel compelled to upgrade their phone every 20 months. With contract plans, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you do upgrade every 20 months, then you must be rich if you can afford to buy the best and newest mobile electronics ever 20 months (x2!). If you don't upgrade every 20 months, then you're paying into a phone subsidy that you're not taking advantage of. That's called drinking up the marketing kool aid. Either way, Verizon gets what it wants, and you're either so unsatisfied with your phone after a year in a half that you need a new one, or you're buying phones when you don't even need to.

Also, even if you're a technophile like so many of us here, does significant other line user have the same passion? Or do they just go along and match your appetite for buying phones so that you can make this plan work out? I know that even though I'm itching for the new Nexus after more than 2 years with my Captivate, my wife would rather have a new laptop than a new phone.

For this to be true, you have to do NOTHING to try to save money on prepaid (buy the most expensive plans and buy brand new phones for everyone in your family every 20 months), while bending over backwards to not get ripped off by Verizon.

In actuality, if you were being smart about the way you spent money on phones and services, you could rent a cabin for a whole week and buy gas and booze for the trip with your savings. But judging by the way you spend your money, you probably bought the cabin in the woods just so you could spend a weekend there every year. So sorry.

Contract won't die. But it's not because the carriers stupidly locked consumers into deals where they have to give people free money. they won't die because once you're in, you're in. They'll even give you bigger discounts if you bring your family in too. Once that happens, chances are that you're in for life!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] KicknGuitar:
I wish I didn't buy that 30 plan! I'm curious to see how well she works. Just a side note: In NY you'll rarely get any carrier's signal in the subway, you guys are lucky!

where do you get their 3 month plan at 42 a month? When I last looked, $46 was the cheapest for 3 months.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jamerican413:
I believe only Verizon and ATT get service in the tunnels here. I didn't on Sprint. With ST, it was amazing the signal I got.

The good thing about any of these plans is that you're free to leave and try out other plans until you find your fit.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] chadd_k2:
as has been stated by some others, your math is based on a $60/month number that isn't valid for a lot of people on this board.

personally, i'm on month 2 of using the t-mob 5gb plan for $30/month, and i have no complaints. and i've been able to use 5% coupons at calling mart, with no fees/taxes, so my end price, including your 17.49 for the phone is (($30 - 5%) + 17.49) * 2 = $91.98

which is less than i was paying for 2 dumb phones with no data on vzw.

and i would go so far as to say that including the $17.49/month isn't valid either. i was going to buy a tablet anyways for probably at least $350. (not to mention the GPS i now don't need to buy for the car). at the very least, i can say i would have got us both nexus 7 tablets for $199 each, $400 for the pair. so subtract that from your $17.49 math and it turns into ($350-199)/20 = $7.55.

apply that to your equation and you get (($30 - 5%) + 7.55) * 2 = $72.01

that's a monthly cost/savings i can be very happy with.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] brooksyx:
That's not fair to compare it to your $30 T-Mobile plan. You are comparing a non unlimited plan prepaid plan to an unlimited post paid plan. Straight talk or simple mobile is a better comparison. And why are you talking about the nexus 7? This is about phones.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] chadd_k2:
Because had we stayed with our dumb phones on vzw I would have probably made other hardware purchases such as a tablet and GPS. And since the original comment was regarding total money saved, those costs all factor into the total. At least they do for me. I don't make purchases in a vacuum.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Email-Del...d-Unlimited-Text-Talk-and-Web-Access/15443345
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] KicknGuitar:
Same, I guess you don't pay them taxes. Lucky!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Well no one has to pay taxes if they write in an OR address when they check out.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Hdale85:
Well just an update, I've been using straight talk for a few weeks now and I have to say I'm pretty pleased. The coverage is better out here over the T-Mobile service I had before, I lose my signal a lot less often. So far it's been pretty solid. I had a bit of an issue swapping my wife's phone number but we finally got that worked out.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
As a followup, I went ahead and activated a new SIM on the T-Mobile $30 plan with no issues - even though I had previously activated the phone on the $70 plan. Just needed a new activation kit (like $2 online from t-mobile) and went through online with no issues whatsoever. I'm pretty stoked.

And, for sh*ts and giggles, I signed up for their little referral program. If you want to give T-Mobile a go, check out http://referral.t-mobile.com and use the code fsckat&t. Yes, seriously. Highly amused by myself at this point :-D
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] goombaypunch:
I'm on xxkk6 here and works perfectly
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] rock7632:
Does anyone on straight talk use viber or tango? neither of those apps are working for calls for me. Viber says it might be blocked and tango cannot access its servers

edit: never mind. It seems to be working now :)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] INeedYourHelp:
I thought about going Straight Talk, but after reading lots of reviews, it seems their customer support is lacking and they cut service without hesitation.

Does the T-Mobile $30 plan work with roaming? My area doesn't have T-Mobile coverage, but it does have roaming with AT&T.

Anyone dealt with Page Plus before? Their $12 plan looks sweet except for the 10mb data.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] lafrad:
TMo prepaid *will not data roam*

It *WILL* voice roam.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Don't buy the T-Mo plan if you plan to only use it to roam. Pick up an AT&T MNVO plan.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] goombaypunch:
something else to note. If you have a tmobile postpaid plan you get amazing customer service. if you have pre paid you get the contracted customer support some where else in the world and they are not nearly as nice or helpful. just something to know if you need to call them all the time or need help.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
That's how all of these prepaid plans are, its one of the many ways that they lower the price. Considering I call customer service maybe once a year, I think its worth saving $40 a month.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
Yup. Even so, I've been pleased with the level of support I've received thus far on my T-Mobile prepaid adventure - it's certainly been better than what I had become accustomed to with Ma Bell.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] :
New Pentaband alert:

http://www.theverge.com/products/808-pureview/5257
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] rubiconjp:
Rear camera is 41 MP! :eek:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Ya its pretty sweet.

I see the use case being you take it as a point-and-shoot camera. If you're going out for the day and need a camera swap your SIM to the Nokia 808, and you get a nice camera and all basic phone functionality, but you can also upload photos over 3G.

Then when you don't need such an amazing camera, just use your main device.

Oh, and basically what they're doing with this sensor is taking the data from 7 pixels in an area, then condensing them into 1 pixel to give you 5mp photos with no noise and better clarity.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
I think that's a higher resolution than my own optical image sensors!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] tspx23:
although straight talk is pretty cool I prefer the t-mobile value plan. I have four lines on my account and for unlimited minutes and text for four lines on t-mobile it will be 90 dollars + a discount on top of that. For each device that wants 2gb unlim data its 10 per line or 5 per line for 200mb.

so it's basically around 130 for unlimited everything + a throttle at around 2gb.

Even though you are contracted for two years seems like it is the cheapest plan out there in comparison to anything else.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] LionAR10:
Yeah, the goals of this thread are for individual lines, not shared pools. Simple is rumored to be coming out with family plans, but until then your shared pool plans are all postpaid .. and contract based. Oh well.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] LionAR10:
Update: MyBlack and Skyview (who I think are the same MVNO) went from 2GB to 1GB in data.

I'm thinking it's a mistake ... lower data isn't going in the direction the market is demanding. These guys are clearly backwater ... but I'd really like to know their subscriber base size, market cap, expenses, etc .. I think it would show something interesting on marginal MVNOs.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] krichek:
I'm currently using H2O with my GN but I'd like to jump ship and try out the TMO side for a month so I can compare the 2 in data speed/coverage etc. I figured the easiest way to do this would be to port my number into Google Voice.

I've had another Google Voice number for years now but when I go and enter my cell number to port, I get the following message:

Porting your mobile number to Google Voice is unavailable

Your mobile number can not be ported at this time.

- This number appears to be from an area we don't currently support for porting.

Is it because I'm on H2O? Or something else? Anyone know how I could get my number onto GV? I'm not opposed to spending $15-$20 and port it to another MVNO and then port it out to GV if that would work. Just want some confirmation that someone has done this successfully after getting the same error.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] peekholes:
I'm on straight talk no problems at all.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Rukbat:
No, it's exactly what they say - they don't support all areas.

Bad choice - porting out of GV seems to be a nightmare. Forward your GV number to whatever cellphone's in your pocket at the moment. (It only takes a minute to change the number it's forwarded to.)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Paladin728:
The One X American version should be pentaband as well. The MSM8960 S4 can do pentaband.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] brooksyx:
Yeah I had a hard time swapping my number to straight talk as well but I think that was my previous carriers fault. Other than that straight talk has been great. As long as I can keep this plan and price I see no reason to leave them anytime soon. HSPA+ speeds are fine for me. Does someone really need 40mbs lte on a phone?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] su9062:
Dual sim unlocked phones

does anyone have experience with dual sim phones ? Combining two plans might give an advantage in some cases. For example the $30 5GB plan and the $30 1500 min plan from Tmobile.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] brooksyx:
But you would have 2 numbers? Also correct me if I am wrong but I think the little bit I have read into it is that only one sim can be active at a time.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jaybeeunix:
Using a SIM multiplexer, you'd only have one SIM active at a time, but "real" dual SIM phones have both activated at the same time. Though, the secondary radio is generally only GSM, not HSPA.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] su9062:
Dual sim unlocked phones

I was reading a little bit myself. These phones offer settings to map some of the functions. Like text and voice calls to one sim and data to another. With the google voice setup on one sim will handle both calling and texting. The data can be routed via the second sim, the number will probably be irrelevant on the sim that is being used for data. The surprising thing is most dual sim phones are not that expensive, the ones I found on Amazon and are running on ICS.

---------- Post added at 08:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 AM ----------

Yeah, for some phones that is true. The second one is only a 2G radio. There is one XPeria series phone which has hsdpa on both the sim cards.

sony_xperia_tipo_dual-4832

If prepaid providers drop prices to under $30 , these combos might be a real excellent value.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Mr.Mischief:
That would be a pain to work with, plus there aren't any good phones that support dual sims. Another thing to consider is that most dual sim phones are made overseas and don't support T-Mobile 1700/2100 bands for 3G/4G.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jordanishere:
I just signed up for solavei. They waive their enrollment and sim fees if you sign up before 10/31.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Just use 1 SIM and get the $70 T-Mobile plan. You'd get Unlimited talk and 5GB (unlimited throttled) data, and wouldn't have to deal with 2 SIMs or some random dual-SIM device.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Mr.Mischief:
I have a question about Solavei. I'm considering switching to them an buying the Nexus 4.

Do they charge tax, or is it a flat $49?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] pdxtechdoctor:
definitely tax involved... I live in OR with no sales tax and when I went through the process without actually signing up they wanted like 3.XX for cell tax...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] BennyJr:
Solavei Is really slow compared to straight talk :\ im seeing like a max of 6 down.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bobsbbq:
There is a required FCC Tax and what ever local tax you have. Right now during the current promotion there was no tax added when checking out when I added a second line, it was a flat 49.00
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jordanishere:
I just signed up. $49 no tax.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bobsbbq:
Wow in my area I never get 6. What were you getting before? I only noticed a small difference, and definately not really slow. Less than 1/2 Gb/s

What were you on ST T-Mobile or AT&T?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jamerican413:
Solavei for me is twice as fast as Straight Talk ATT. As always, it depends on where you are, time of day, etc. However, they are both faster than Sprint every was, for me.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] BennyJr:
I was on st tmobile. I would see 16 down sometimes. Now even where i saw that 16 down im getting 6.7 :crying:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xdp:
So the rumors are saying that the Nexus 4 isn't pentaband right? That would suck if you couldn't use T-Mobile monthly 4G with it.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bozzykid:
What rumors? Google wouldn't release an unlocked GSM phone on the Play Store that doesn't support T-mobile. Not after the current GN is pentaband. It wouldn't make any sense considering T-mobile is one of the biggest reasons for buying an unlocked GSM phone.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] brooksyx:
Guess we will find out on Monday.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Pkt_Lnt:
No, the Google event is canceled due to hurricane Sandy.

Galaxy Nexus / Tapatalk 2
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] brooksyx:
Oh really? Dang that's a bummer.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Pkt_Lnt:
Better to have people safe from a possible life threatening storm. We can live without new Google hardware for a few days, that is not life threatening. Having to use an "old" phone a few more days, though, may cause extreme angst in some techaholics. :rolleyes:

Look at ANY android news/fan site, and you will see the announcement.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jordanishere:
Life threatening storm my ass. They did this to us last year with hurricane Irene... scaring people for no reason. That storm was just some rain.

I live here and this is nothing but a drag. They closed all the subway lines and nobody can get anywhere either.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Unless the FCC report is lying, the Nexus 4 is pentaband. It has all the proper frequencies.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bozzykid:
I'm sorry you were inconvenienced. But if you don't prepare for the worst you end up with a mass loss of life. But if it inconvenienced you, then I guess they probably should not prepare for a natural disaster. Seems like a good plan.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] brooksyx:
I was just saying the whole situation was a bummer. I really dont care what phones/tablets google announces as I will sticking with my galaxy nexus and nexus 7.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] harveydent:
65 people are already dead from Sandy. Sorry for your inconvenience.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jordanishere:
Yeah but those people live where the storm is in full effect. By the time it gets to new York, it won't be more than a bunch of rain clouds.

Google "hurricane Irene 2011", and you will see what I mean. Hype =\= reality.

Back on topic. I canceled my solavei subscription and got a full refund. Porting numbers from 1 prepaid carrier to an other is a major problem. I just change my number when coming to simple mobile, and did not feel like going to the same thing again for a minor increase in the amount of data I can use.