Need some advice about a new phone...

lavalleema

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Hello Everyone, thanks in advance for your feedback.

Here's my issue: I'm a Sprint customer (8+ years) and have such horrible service (not customer service, actual phone service) that Sprint Engineering and Customer Support can not solve (it just started happening a month or so ago) that Sprint is letting me cancel my contract. Yay!

Anyway, we want to move to ATT because, around here, their service is king and I get a discount. =)

Anyhoo, I have/had an HTC Arrive with Sprint and it's falling apart. I love Windows Phone, and I'd like to stick with the platform.

So what I'd REALLY like, is a Lumia 900, but it's looking like I'm a month and a half too early. I need a phone now to be honest. I like the Samsung Focus S, but whatever I get, I'm going to keep if for the long run, so I want it to be as fresh as possible.

So in browsing the store I see the Galaxy S2 Skyrocket. Breathtakingly beautiful phone, although it has Android which I really don't care for too much.

So now I'm sitting here, thinking "go for the Focus S and keep the OS I love" or "go for the Skyrocket and have a mediocre OS, LTE and beautiful hardware".

In all honesty, this would be a moot point if the stupid 900 was out!!! :mad: But I digress.

Your thoughts? What would you do? My only real concern about the Focus S is that for the same money, I'd kind of like that LTE connection. Am I being silly?

Do you know of a way to postpone till the 900 does launch? I have to have a phone though... I mean really. Work, life, etc it's my connection. I can't just "wait" without one unfortunately.

Thanks for the advice!

-M
 

dkp23

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Do what you can to hold out for 900 if your area has LTE available. Since you are not locked into a contract with ATT yet, might as well get locked in with a phone that is LTE if you are interested in a WP7 phone.

I have a samsung focus s right now and i have had it since it released and i am very happy about it. Light weight, durable, bright screen, no lag (only when plugged). With that said, i will probably unload the focus s and buy a 900 to get an LTE phone.

Speed comparison: with 4g phone (hspa+) you will probably get 4 dl speeds max and probably 1.5-3 dl speed consistently. LTE, you will probably get over 10 dl speed easily and as high as 25 (bro works at ATT).

If you need a phone this very second, i would probably go LTE phone :( even if it is a droid phone....So i suggest holding out for a month for a 900 :cool:
 

diplomat696

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I would think about when and where you do most of your data usage, if you mainly use data on your phone when at home and you have wifi then I would go with the focus s but if your using a lot of data over the air and feel a 4g connection would be more beneficial to you then I guess (grudgingly) go the 4g way of the scamdroid!!! better yet if you can hold out for another 4-5 weeks wait for the Lumia 900 :)

Not sure I would go with the skyrocket though, Note, One X about to drop too?
 

rchillin

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lava,

I can somewhat relate to what you're going through. I've been with Sprint for 13+ years....coming from PowerTel (anyone remember those guys LOL). Sprint was always ahead in device portfolio and coverage but now they've slid to the back. Yeah, they're releasing LTE in mid-2012 but they're coverage will be bleek compared to the competitors and there's no appearant device road map for Windows Phone. Its for that reason why I'm prepared to spend MORE for coverage and LTE...UGH!! I understand that your service is spotty but one thing you may want to consider is a prepaid cheap phone until the Lumia 900 comes out. We're talking about about a week (optmisitically speaking :D) to 6 (myabe 8) weeks at the most.
 

Rodolfo#WP

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Good for Sprint. T-Mobile helped me out once too.

From a highly satisfied, and accordingly biased original-Focus owner: I'd negotiate with atandt for a cheap Focus (mine was $0 in August), sign up, and wait for the Lumia -or whatever else you may like by then. Atandt will likely work to get an 8+ Sprint account. I was a satisfied 5+ guy myself, but I really wanted an expandable, light, AMOLED-screen WP7 phone. Good luck with your whichever great new phone.
 

dnlbntl

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I've seen this advice handed out a few times around here and if ever there was a mor pertinent situation for it…

Check AT&T's (or really anyone giving tolerable service) prepaid GoPhone selection and see if there's a decent feature- or smartphone you can stand for a month/month-and-a-half. Baby it for that time then introduce to eBay/Craigslist/that-one-cousin-who-could-go-for-that-sort-of-thing. Then you'll be ready to walk in and grab your Lumia 900…with 4G LTE.

Of course, that totally depends on your level of patience, which, as a Verizon customer, I have and will further become tragically familiar.
 

lavalleema

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Thanks everyone

You guys/gals are the bestest!

Lots of great advice and I appreciate it very much.

I'd rather stay away from the scamdroid (that made me lol), so I think I'll talk with ATT and see what I can do. There's a corporate store around the corner and they seem really great compared to the other franchise type stores, so maybe we can all work something out.

I will let you all know what happens!

PS. I can hold out about another week maybe two, longer than that and I have to pay another month of service for Sprint. I'm porting my number so my virtually unusable account is still active.

PPS: 4g LTE is available for my home and work and most of where I spend my time. At home of course I have wifi. Focus S is of course HPDSA+ which is a lot better than the 44k I've been getting from Sprint. ;) The wife is set on an iPhone4S so we shall see what happens! :happy:
 

eric12341

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Sprint's data speeds absolutely suck, I wish they woulda let me out of my contract,instead they charge me an ETF for using my unlimited data that they hold so dearly. If I were u though I would go with T-mobile, faster data speeds than AT$T,and better rates and data packages. T-mobile will soon be refarming their 3G/4G network to the PCS band which will expand coverage and allow for the use of AT&T or unlocked phones and allow for LTe deployment which would sound better on a 10GB plan rather than 3.
 

wpnewbie

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You guys/gals are the bestest!

Lots of great advice and I appreciate it very much.

I'd rather stay away from the scamdroid (that made me lol), so I think I'll talk with ATT and see what I can do. There's a corporate store around the corner and they seem really great compared to the other franchise type stores, so maybe we can all work something out.

I will let you all know what happens!

PS. I can hold out about another week maybe two, longer than that and I have to pay another month of service for Sprint. I'm porting my number so my virtually unusable account is still active.

PPS: 4g LTE is available for my home and work and most of where I spend my time. At home of course I have wifi. Focus S is of course HPDSA+ which is a lot better than the 44k I've been getting from Sprint. ;) The wife is set on an iPhone4S so we shall see what happens! :happy:
You have the advantage of 30 return policy ! You said you can hold on for 2 more week at the max .. so Take the focus at the end of 2nd week ... it will be March 22nd by the .. and return it as soon as Lumia 900 is released .. i think they will not delay the release further than Apr 22
 

eric12341

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With the way carriers keep charging "more" for "less" data. Not sure.

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

well my T-mobile value plan with 500 mins,unlimited text and 10GB of data before throttled is cheaper than the equivalent AT$T plan that only has 3GB of data.
 

dkp23

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I know this is sacrilege, but is LTE really necessary on a phone?

Don't do Android.

Assuming that the person getting an LTE phone has LTE in the area, the answer is YES.

The difference between speeds on hspa+ ("4g") phones and LTE phones are rather large.

For example, my focus s will max at a download spd of 4mbps with consistent range being around 1.5-3 mbps. The max for an LTE phone will probably be closer to 30 or 40 mbps on ATT based on what i've seen from an ATT droid phone that my brother has.

So yes, it does matter and since the cost of a 3 gb 4g data plan is the same for a 3gb LTE data plan, no reason why you shouldnt go for an LTE over a 4g phone.
 

lavalleema

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Still kind of on the fence...

Thanks guys.

Still not sure what to do but I will be heading to the store on Saturday (3/17) and I will talk to them then. My only issue with T-Mobile is that I *know* my wife's coverage with them will be a problem from her day location as several of her friends had T-Mobile and switched recently due to connectivity issues. Honestly I was all ready to go to T-Mobile and just get a 710 or a Radar (which is really a better phone than you'd think!) before finding that out.

Honestly, the HPSA+ speeds will most likely be fine. I played with a verizon 3G phone today and was blown away with how fast it was, and it was just 3G. This is because I'm used to "Sprint Speed" on their "Later Network".

So I may pick up a Focus S and be happy with it. Now, if I can return for a Nokia... then of course I will. ;)

Especially if the date's been moved up to Easter. I just wish they'd SAY something officially, so we can all move on.

Anyway, I will report back on Saturday or Sunday.

Thanks!!!

-M
 

lavalleema

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Sprint's data speeds absolutely suck, I wish they woulda let me out of my contract,instead they charge me an ETF for using my unlimited data that they hold so dearly.

Sprint is shrinking their network. They are taking down towers and rebuilding them. In about 2 years, it should be great, but right now it sucks. Call them and tell them you're getting below 100k down EVERYWHERE you go. Everytime they close a ticket, re-open it. Finally call them and just rant and tell them its not working for you and you're not giving them any more money for service that doesn't work for you. ASK them to terminate your contract and wave the fees for your time.

They will require you send your phone back, but if it's a year old, it's probably worth it.

Also, the EFT drops every month you have service. If you have 10 months left on a contract you only get charged $100 bucks.

In my case all the phones on my account peaked at 56K for months, and couldn't send SMS reliably, so away I go. :cool:
 

oldpueblo

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I just moved five people over to AT&T and all will be getting the 900. I started the account but didn't do any contract and just bought used windows phones on craigslist to tide us over. Every one was $100 or less and all in great condition, so I'll just resell them when the 900 hits. AT&T won't force you to start your contract now, and the upgrade discount will just wait for when you do.
 

lavalleema

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I just moved five people over to AT&T and all will be getting the 900. I started the account but didn't do any contract and just bought used windows phones on craigslist to tide us over. Every one was $100 or less and all in great condition, so I'll just resell them when the 900 hits. AT&T won't force you to start your contract now, and the upgrade discount will just wait for when you do.

That's great info to have, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

I will be talking to them today, hopefully we can work something out. Thanks friends!

-M
 

RiseAgainst94

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lavalleema I would do what WPNewbie said. Buy the Samsung Focus S(or Galaxy S II) for now and wait 30 days. By the end of that 30 day period the Lumia 900 will likely be out and you can return your old phone and replace it with the 900. You'll probably have to pay a small fee but it'd definitely be worth it. The only problem with this is that if the Lumia 900 is not out by April 20 then you're stuck with the phone you initially got. The 2 dates we are seeing from a Lumia 900 release date is April 8 and April 22, so if you can wait til March 23(or 24), then buy the phone, your 30 day return Window;) will fall within both pending release dates. Best of luck!
 

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