more shopping

DG1

So, I've been trying to decide between a droid and an iphone.  I'm losing street cred at work because of my old flip razr.

So I went to verizon. The droid is kindof meh. I could get the next version down (the droid ). $137/month for the plan + as little as $0 initial outlay for the phones. 

Then I checked on the iphone. I could get an iphone and H could get a cheap phone. $110/month + probably $199 or so initial cost for the phone (not sure about an activation fee).

so the verizon option is initially cheaper + I wouldn't be worried about whether the calls will get dropped and stuff.  AT&T/iPhone is obviously a much nicer phone, but I hear mixed reviews.  Last weekend, someone said, "as long as you don't plan to use it as a phone, it's great."

With the cheaper monthly plan from AT&T, though, that would basically pay for the initial phone cost in 8 months. 

For both phones, Im pretty paranoid about damage. Dexter REALLY likes to play with our phones. Obviously, I'd do my best to keep it away from him, but he's sneaky.

Not sure what I'm asking, but feel free to weigh in in any way you'd like.

MinM

I've been getting static on my iphone for almost a month. EVERY TIME I try to talk to someone at apple or at&t about it, they ask me if I have re-started it recently. Yes. Do I store it outside in the snow? No. Asshats.

Up until this static issue, I have had no problems. However, I don't have a toddler to contend with. Maybe ask Candi, I know Autumn uses her phone a lot. My cw also let's her kids use her phone, but they are 7 and 5.

HookaPants

I have a Blackberry and I love it. That is all.

TheDuckis

H has just about every smartphone on the market. The iPhone is by far his favorite.

His biggest problem with the Andriod phones is the lack of multi-touch, though I think that might be changing. The keypad is the biggest draw to the Droid for most people, but in practice it's basically useless.

I have the iPhone and have never had a problem with dropped calls or lack of service. 

TheDuckis

Also, I've never had my phone in a case, and it's survived plenty of wear and tear (including being dropped down a sewer). My screen is scratched to hell, and I've seen a few people shatter their screens when they drop the phone. But, there are some really nice cases out there, and I've never known anyone who actually kept their phone in a case to have problems with scratching or breaking. So for an extra $30 (or $5 if you buy one on eBay) you get a nice little insurance policy against toddlers.

zsazsa-stl

Wow, I haven't even priced the plans on the fancy phones but that is even more than I thought it would be.  I would tell you to just keep your old phone and when people make fun you can laugh all the way to the bank.  But that may not be an option...

Does your H's company offer any employee discounts for cell phone plans?  I didn't bother checking into mine at first, but then I found out it is a 20% discount at AT&T (and I think maybe Verizon, too).  That's a lot when you are looking at $137/mo.

awesome-sauce

HookaPants:

I have a Blackberry and I love it. That is all.

I have a Blackberry Tour and I PPH it.

EDIT: Also, my 2 year old nephew has thrown mine before without a case and it survived. A couple weeks ago he said "awesome-sauce phone gone-gone" and it survived that.

I, too, get 20% off of my bill through some company thing.

DG1

The $137/mo is after our 15% verizon discount through H's work.  IDK if they also have an AT&T discount.

I'm not 100% sure that's an apples-to-apples comparison. One might be unlimited texting vs. 250 texts/month, for example. and with the AT&T, I think the price was for H *not* to have a data phone or data plan at all, whereas with Verizon, I was also going to get him a smartphone.

So we'd have to see.  But it's looking like the plans/packages/deals are at least somewhat comparable.

Seems like local people don't have issues with at&t coverage, and I don't travel that much anymore.  

It's just hard to drop that kind of dough when I haven't been working for over 2 months and we still have no idea what our taxes will look like this year.

L_Woods

I decided against the iphone (and for the droid) when one too many of my friends showed me how they had to shake their iphone like an etch a sketch in order for it to work. That was due to a little bit more than typical wear and tear (a two year old in one case, just being stupid in another, etc.). My Dad who hates technology loves his droid.