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A comment on That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people. Parent comment

Re:That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and p... by throwanem on Wednesday March 23, 2016 @09:44AM (#11344306)
With a little forethought and initial investment, you don't have to decide between giving up an iPhone and continuing to pay three figures monthly for the privilege of using it. Consider:

Sprint - ostensibly free phone, $120/mo for a 2-year contract: $2880 all told, and you don't have a choice but to pay all of it

Ting - $500 up front for 64G iPhone SE, avg. $27.50/mo for the same period: $1160 all told, and you can stop service any time if things get bad enough that you have to

Sure, if you can't make the initial nut, it's not an option - but you're talking about being suddenly broke or close to it, which is the situation in which I found myself last year, and which motivated me to put some thought into better options for mobile service. The more I look at it, the more it seems to me that mobile contracts, at least in the US and at least for single phones, are every bit as much for suckers as rent-to-own shops are.

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Re:That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and p... by uptown on Wednesday March 23, 2016 @09:49AM (#11344355)
Buy pre-used phone (~$50 for an older-gen device). Use pre-paid phone service. (~$40/month). Doesn't need to be expensive if you're willing to forgo the latest and 'greatest'. I use pre-paid Verizon anyway since it's the best deal for my usage pattern.
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Re:That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and p... by goldbrick on Wednesday March 23, 2016 @10:09AM (#11344556)
Or, if you live in a city with ubiquitous wifi, buy an iPod touch and use Google Voice/Hangouts. $200 up front, free/mo thereafter.
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Re:That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and p... by raisedbyninjas on Wednesday March 23, 2016 @09:57AM (#11344450)
Project Fi is a prepaid service and allows you to finance the phone. Currently the cheapest is $200 for the Nexus 5x.
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