3 ms·

> if you ever intend on buying a carrier-released phone Why would you ever do such a silly thing?

nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
I personally have a Nexus One, but as the sales data shows, I am by far in the minority for doing so.
cookiecaper 16y ago
Because it's a lot easier for most people to justify dropping $200 now and paying out the rest over time in a plan that you'd be paying for anyway than it is to justify dropping $600-$800 now. I am pretty sure that the carriers don't discount rates for non-contract phones. People just don't have the money to justify spending that much on a phone when there are so many cheaper alternatives. Excepting developers, most people are happy to save $400-$600 even if it means they have to deal with a Blockbuster app cluttering the menu.
- ben1040 16y ago
  I am pretty sure that the carriers don't discount rates for non-contract phones. T-Mobile is the only US carrier that does -- the smartphone plans are $20/month cheaper if you bring your own phone or buy at the no-contract price. They also have an installment plan where you can pay full price for the phone, but spread it out over 20 months with no interest and pay it on your phone bill. This seems like the best of both worlds.
  - technomancy 16y ago
    Indeed, if you look over the total cost for 2 years, it's really a no-brainer: 2 years @ $80/mo, no cost for hardware: $2099 2 years @ $40/mo, $520 for hardware: $1466
    - cookiecaper 16y ago
      The parent says it's $20/mo off for no-contract, at that rate ($60) the no-contract comes out to $1960, barely a savings of $100 overall. Definitely worth the contract if you don't have $520 to drop when you need a phone.
      - ben1040 16y ago
        Or you can spread that $520 it over 20 months without interest, pay that on your monthly bill, and still get the no-contract price. A G2 is $199 with the 2 year contract and $499 with no contract. My understanding from their website is that your first installment is due when you take home the phone, so your down payment on a new G2 would be $25. So using nice round numbers on the prices, 24 months @ $80/month + $200 = $2120 versus 24 months @ $60/month + 20 months @ $25/month to pay off the phone = $1940 So you save $180 over 2 years, and your up-front payment is only $25 instead of $200.
      - technomancy 16y ago
        > The parent says it's $20/mo off for no-contract Looks like this changed recently; when I signed up it was $80/month for the subsidized-phone full voice+data plan and $40/month for no-contract data-only.

I personally have a Nexus One, but as the sales data shows, I am by far in the minority for doing so.

Because it's a lot easier for most people to justify dropping $200 now and paying out the rest over time in a plan that you'd be paying for anyway than it is to justify dropping $600-$800 now. I am pretty sure that the carriers don't discount rates for non-contract phones. People just don't have the money to justify spending that much on a phone when there are so many cheaper alternatives. Excepting developers, most people are happy to save $400-$600 even if it means they have to deal with a Blockbuster app cluttering the menu.

ben1040 16y ago
I am pretty sure that the carriers don't discount rates for non-contract phones. T-Mobile is the only US carrier that does -- the smartphone plans are $20/month cheaper if you bring your own phone or buy at the no-contract price. They also have an installment plan where you can pay full price for the phone, but spread it out over 20 months with no interest and pay it on your phone bill. This seems like the best of both worlds.
- technomancy 16y ago
  Indeed, if you look over the total cost for 2 years, it's really a no-brainer: 2 years @ $80/mo, no cost for hardware: $2099 2 years @ $40/mo, $520 for hardware: $1466
  - cookiecaper 16y ago
    The parent says it's $20/mo off for no-contract, at that rate ($60) the no-contract comes out to $1960, barely a savings of $100 overall. Definitely worth the contract if you don't have $520 to drop when you need a phone.
    - ben1040 16y ago
      Or you can spread that $520 it over 20 months without interest, pay that on your monthly bill, and still get the no-contract price. A G2 is $199 with the 2 year contract and $499 with no contract. My understanding from their website is that your first installment is due when you take home the phone, so your down payment on a new G2 would be $25. So using nice round numbers on the prices, 24 months @ $80/month + $200 = $2120 versus 24 months @ $60/month + 20 months @ $25/month to pay off the phone = $1940 So you save $180 over 2 years, and your up-front payment is only $25 instead of $200.
    - technomancy 16y ago
      > The parent says it's $20/mo off for no-contract Looks like this changed recently; when I signed up it was $80/month for the subsidized-phone full voice+data plan and $40/month for no-contract data-only.