Got the old iPhone for free, Should I Activate it?

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PiratePowWow

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 19, 2003
Messages
450
I currently have Sprint and am using the upstage. My contract runs out in a couple months and I could switch over to ATT and use the iPhone.

Now, I saw that ATT has a plan for $40 that is basically identical to the Sprint plan, but it also has rollover minutes. But, I asked an ATT salesperson and they said I had to purchase a data feature if I had an iPhone. They said that the cheapest plan would then be $60. They also said that there was no incentives offered for switching to ATT from Sprint.

So, wtf?

So, they offer zero incentive to switch and require me to buy data I don't want? How do they keep customers? An extra $20 a month, that's $240 at the end of the year amigos! Well, that would be the end of it, except that I get a 14% discount at ATT with my company. That brings it down to $51.60, an extra $11.60 a month. So, is the iPhone with the cheapest plan available worth the extra $139.20 per year?
 
Uhh, the whole point of the iPhone is kind of the data plan. It's the heart and soul of the device; you wouldn't buy a car but refuse to fill it up, would you?
 
well the iphone still has a lot of cool features without the data. Best idea is, switch to tmobile and unlock the iphone. and the data plan is cheaper (20 bucks a month)

Just my 2 cents.
 
Sell the iPhone, and get the new Palm Pre on Sprint.
How much for the 2g iPhone? :)
 
zuppy said:
well the iphone still has a lot of cool features without the data. Best idea is, switch to tmobile and unlock the iphone. and the data plan is cheaper (20 bucks a month)

Just my 2 cents.
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I did this for a while, using T-Mobile and a 16GB EDGE iPhone. Eventually I caved and bought a data plan. iPhone or no, it is very useful. I sold the iPhone this October for $300 and a Motorola V3xx which sold for a further $75ish.

But nobody is forcing you to buy a data plan if they don't know about your phone. If you want to go with AT&T, get a plan and take the free phone. Buy a used iPhone (the EDGE model will work well if you're not going for a data plan), then switch the SIM cards at home after unlocking the iPhone. You've got an iPhone and whatever plan you want. Again, that's what I did and it worked great.
 
Actually one can use the iPhone just as a gaming/playing device if the price is less than for iTouch
 
I would not use an iPhone with a data plan. Just use wifi instead.
 
Sell the iPhone and get a real phone that does 20x more for less and you can pick your carrier. (yes I mean Windows Mobile)
 
CC (Circuit City)? Gave you $150 for what?!??! That post above doesn't make much sense... ;)
 
OldPueblo said:
Sell the iPhone and get a real phone that does 20x more for less and you can pick your carrier. (yes I mean Windows Mobile)
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Bleh, they are real phones and you can unlock it in minutes with QuickPwn and say "HEY APPLE AND AT&T, FUCK YOU..." in the process. How cool is that? :)

Been using Palms, Windows Mobile, and iPhones forever it seems, in the end they all do basically the same damned stuff...
 
OldPueblo said:
Sell the iPhone and get a real phone that does 20x more for less and you can pick your carrier. (yes I mean Windows Mobile)
Click to expand...

Lol, so say those that haven't used an iPhone or know about Jailbreaking. And I'm just going to ignore the false 20x more comment, that's just unfounded and simply not true.
 
OldPueblo said:
Sell the iPhone and get a real phone that does 20x more for less and you can pick your carrier. (yes I mean Windows Mobile)
Click to expand...

Sorry, I had to lol at this. I would use my Nokia 6190 from fucking 2001 over a WinMo phone.
 
Like mentioned you can unlock the iphone, then just get the $15 a month media net unlimited data plan with AT&T, but don't tell them you have an iPhone, just go in and sign up and get one of the free phones then stick that sim into the iphone after you unlock it, you also won't be able to use the visual voice mail feature thoughr, but it's a decent trade off. Also, like another said, you can not get a data plan at all, and just use the wifi, but that may limit your online capabilites, unless you are always around a hotspot.
 
Can you flash any rom you want on an iphone completely customizing the OS? Unlocking it is not the same thing by a longshot. Can you even replace/buy your own after market battery without sending it in yet? :p I took my old windows mobile phone from WM5 to 6 then 6.1 extending its life dramatically adding more abilities and features. Sorry but the iphone is the same as any Mac, good looking but far less versatile while costing more. You still have to mostly hope and pray Apple gives you what you want rather then going out and buying/doing what you want. Didn't mean to turn this into a wm vs iphone but in my opinion replacing it really is the best option.
 
OldPueblo said:
Can you flash any rom you want on an iphone completely customizing the OS? Unlocking it is not the same thing by a longshot. Can you even replace/buy your own after market battery without sending it in yet? :p I took my old windows mobile phone from WM5 to 6 then 6.1 extending its life dramatically adding more abilities and features.
Click to expand...

Just what exactly are you trying to DO with your phone, take over the world?! It's a portable device for goodness sake - you talk to people, text people, check email, maybe run some tunes. Just because I can compile and run Apache on my phone doesn't mean I actually care about that, let alone will ever actually do so. Features are great when people will use them. The excuse of "unlimited features!!!" on WinMo phones is really a poor selling point, as no one in their right mind actually does any of that crap.
 
Joe Average said:
CC (Circuit City)? Gave you $150 for what?!??! That post above doesn't make much sense... ;)
Click to expand...

For the iPhone, not the Upstage.



So, I'll be an Upstage man for a while longer. Upstage is nice though, it fits in my pocket better than any other phone out there.
 
InorganicMatter said:
Just what exactly are you trying to DO with your phone, take over the world?! It's a portable device for goodness sake - you talk to people, text people, check email, maybe run some tunes. Just because I can compile and run Apache on my phone doesn't mean I actually care about that, let alone will ever actually do so. Features are great when people will use them. The excuse of "unlimited features!!!" on WinMo phones is really a poor selling point, as no one in their right mind actually does any of that crap.
Click to expand...

Some of us are real power/business users that actually use all that, as opposed to pretty boy iPhone wannabe power users (I'm only half teasing). :p And yes people in my business use this stuff every day and rely on it. Below is my list:

*Heavy exchange usage (email/calendar/tasks/notes) because I have to be very mobile in my job
*Accessing MS office attachments with native pocket office (no 3rd party converters)
*Watching ripped DVD's/videos while I travel which is required for work
*Audiobooks or regular music in my chosen format with my chosen media player
*Playing old nes roms via emulation even games like quake/doom
*A bunch of kid games of my choosing to keep my kids occupied while we wait
*Jabber client to keep in touch with my ultra nerd buddies in EVE Online
*Actual slide out keyboard no virtual keyboard (lets be honest they are never as good)
*I occasionly use FTP
*I've actually used remote desktop to access my desktop before which incidentally came built into the phone

Honestly there's more it's a pretty massive list and the point is I have the ability to do it unlike "other phones." The iPhone may be able to do some of that now, but I've been able to do it for years now and didn't need to buy a newer model or wait on Apple's whims. If you don't need to do all that then sure get a lesser phone, but once again the point is you get the choice. Which you generally always get with non-apple products. :D As I said I don't mean to utterly put down the iphone, it's right for some people that feel the phone is a status symbol as opposed to an endlessly useful tool. Just sharing my opinion of selling something perceived as having a high worth and in return getting something that can do a lot more for probably less money. Might I recommend the HTC Touch Pro.
 
QuickPwn it, use it as the iPod it really is... that's what I'm doing with an original iPhone 8GB I got off Craig's List last week. Owner couldn't figure out how to hard reset it and the restore wasn't working so it was useless (at least to him). Banged up, the back is scratched, the Hold switch no longer functions, but the LCD display/glass is in nearly brand new condition (that glass is damned tough stuff) and it works 100% except for that switch.

Got it for $50... brought it home, hard reset it the right way, did a restore to 2.2 with recovery mode, thought about activating it using a GoPhone (AT&T) SIM card I have here unused but decided to just QuickPwn it without issues. Works great, and I disassembled it as well to remove the little "dust cover" over the speaker, now it's like 3x louder with the piece of single-ply TP covering it so it still has some dust protection.

If you want cash, sell it. If you want a phone, activate it. If you want a portable media device that not many can match, QuickPwn it.

Simple.
 
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