# iPhone plans



## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

With the release of the iPhone 5, I'm finally going to join the smartphone brigade after years of cheapo cellphones. Which carriers have the better plans? I won't talk on the phone as much as text and do web searches, not much streaming video and no gaming, but will share photos and stream/download music. Voicemail included is pretty much a must for me- I hate paying extra for voicemail. What can I look for under $75? I'm in Vancouver.


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

$75? Yikes. Depends exactly what you want but you should be able to do under $60.

Since you are in a major centre look at wind or others for $30 all in.


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

jamesbe said:


> Since you are in a major centre look at wind or others for $30 all in.


For an iPhone?


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

You're out of luck, all the $75 plans you see at the big 3 now used to cost $60 a month ago. Summer specials are over. I say keep waiting, eventually fairly priced options will show up again.

If you are already a big 3 customer of more than 3 years, you can usually privately negotiate a plan with features and price point that works for you. Rogers has always been known to have the most aggressive retentions deals. Some people get the $75 plan for $45. It depends who answers the phone and how good you are. Read the RFD forum, thousands of people have gone that route...

If you have another service with the big 3, you are also eligible for bundle discounts. At Telus I believe it's $5 per service, at Bell its $4 per service, at Rogers its 4-12% off the total of your bill.

Wind/Public/Mobi/Videotron only work with Android phones until they buy LTE spectrum from the government... the auction is next year, it will probably take a few more to set it up. Don't hold your breath.


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## canabiz (Apr 4, 2009)

I don't know about Vancouver but here in Ottawa, I am using an iPhone 3GS and I am paying $55 a month all in with $20 for voice and $30 for 6GB data plan with Rogers.

I have looked at Wind and Mobilicity as alternatives but they don't work well in the 'burbs which is where I spend most of my time.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

Wow...and once you add in all the junk fees and the taxes, it must be closer to $100 a month.
$1,200 a year...mind boggling.

Thanks for reminding me why I don't have an iPhone, thank you very much.


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

Sampson said:


> For an iPhone?


Well you won't get the iPhone subsidized but yes sure.

We were using an iPhone on petro-canada mobile. Then got sensible a couple of weeks ago and upgraded to an Android phone instead.

Petro-Canada cost $10 a month unlimited data + $1.50 for 911 fees


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

^Petrocan has 'unlimited web browsing'. What limitations are there on that?


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

Not much. it seems you can't do UDP.

A few apps do not work, like nettalk or googletalk. But most things work. My G/F is using it, navigation works, web pages work, skype works, what's app works, downloading apps from the app store works...

Oh and although I haven't gotten tethering working yet, I haven't tried very hard. A friend of friend says it works for him.


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

I'm not sure if it was posted in this forum or a separate blog, but 7-11's Speak easy program may also offer 'unlimited browsing' on unlocked older iPhones. something we might consider for a second phone our family, now we just have to find a iPhone 3 in decent condition.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

For $10, I'm interested. I'll look into it. I was thinking of getting SGS3 or the Note 2.


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

Andrew, buying a non-Nexus phone will result in poor response to OS updates/upgrades and hyper obsolescence. GS3 has been out almost 4 months now, Samsung Canada still hasn't pushed Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean or the security update for TouchWiz flaw from last week.

If you're going with Android I would wait a month or two for the new Nexus device, that will hopefully be a huge improvement over the GS3. After borrowing a GS3 for a few days, in addition to the lack of updates, I'm disappointed with photo quality, it's not much better than my BB9900 in low light. It worries me Samsung doesn't really care about their camera offering, people are ditching point and shoots because smartphones are more convenient and the best are matching in quality. Any Apple phone from the last 2 years has a serious advantage.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Yeah, Nexus would be my preference, but a phablet would make more sense for me. I'll see what they come up with.

Camera is really not a high importance thing for me. As long as it is serviceable, I'm satisfied.

Agreed that Samsung needs to improve their updates, at least for the flagship models.


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

What? The camera on the SG3 is 8mp and pretty close in reviews to that of the iphone5. Apparently the iPhone is smoother for video.

I have a nexus, no issues with the 5mp camera seems good enough to me, much better than my iPhone 4 was when I replaced it. Low light is always a problem though.

Also if you have any technical know-how upgrading the firmware / software on a Android phone is childs play. I can do so in about 5 minutes, it's 2 commands. Just download from the web and away you go. But running the latest and greatest OS doesn't always mean much -- latest is usually buggy and not as stable. Sometimes not upgrading is better, all the apps still work on the old old old OS anyways so no requirement.

It will be interesting to see if Google does announce a new Nexus soon, the current one isn't very old and still holds its own -- I love mine, bought it used / new on kijji for $400.


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## canabiz (Apr 4, 2009)

HaroldCrump said:


> Wow...and once you add in all the junk fees and the taxes, it must be closer to $100 a month.
> $1,200 a year...mind boggling.
> 
> Thanks for reminding me why I don't have an iPhone, thank you very much.


I was once in your shoes, Harold, but took the jump to the smartphone world 2 years ago and now I can't go anywhere without it! This thread is not about the pros and cons of smartphones, the OP simply wants to know what's the best deal there is so I won't hijack it but the smartphone (iPhone is just 1 type of smartphone) has allowed me to be more efficient and productive lol and get things done faster


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Google is announcing one or more new Nexus devices in late October, apparently.


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

@jamesbe I'm still not convinced about the camera, all the indoor shots I took with the GS3 had unbelievably high noise. It was even noticeable on outdoor shots at ISO80. iPhone seems to have a better image sensor/image software despite being older . Rooting voids the warranty, so that's not really sage advice no matter how easy they make it. Also Jelly Bean is "stable", it was thoroughly tested and released in July by Google. I suspect most vendors/carriers haven't pushed out 4.1.x yet because they just want you to buy a new phone... Samsung, HTC etc don't give you a vanilla Android experience. They build their ROMs based on the official open source "stable" Android and often combine it with closed-source drivers and other 3rd party spaghetti sauce. That's where bugs come from.


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

HaroldCrump said:


> Wow...and once you add in all the junk fees and the taxes, it must be closer to $100 a month.
> $1,200 a year...mind boggling.
> 
> Thanks for reminding me why I don't have an iPhone, thank you very much.


To each their own- currently I spend about $40/month for a cellphone, so twice that for twenty times the functionality seems pretty OK to me. Besides, I can easily afford it, and will put it to excellent use. Many spend easily that much on coffee, four times that on alcohol, hundreds on sporting events, money on tobacco, cable television, etc etc, none of which I partake in. I either invest my money (a good portable device falls into that category for me with my busy work and personal projects), travel, or buy quality equipment like camera or guitar gear.


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