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A comment on Forget the Cellphone Fight — We Should Be Allowed to Unlock Everything We Own . Parent comment

Re:Forget the Cellphone Fight — We Should Be Allowed to Unlo... by jdechko on Monday March 18, 2013 @01:10PM (#5395538)
I'm torn on the issue of buying locked vs unlocked. I have a family to support, so I don't have $500 or more to spend on an unlocked iPhone. Even if I had the money, I live in the US, and I haven't traveled outside of the country in over 10 years. Finally, there is no monthly discount on service if you bring an unlocked phone to a carrier, so that's the third strike. I'll continue to buy a new locked device every couple of years and take the subsidy, thanks. I'll also be having my 4S unlocked when this contract is up.

Having said that, I agree that it should be easier to unlock phones in the US, even if it's just for international coverage (which would be something).

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Re:Forget the Cellphone Fight — We Should Be Allowed to Unlo... by imgabe on Monday March 18, 2013 @02:18PM (#5396092)
Yes, there is a discount. You can buy an unlocked GSM phone and get a SIM only plan that costs half as much as the regular plans. The total cost is cheaper compared to how much you pay over a two year contract.
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Re:Forget the Cellphone Fight — We Should Be Allowed to Unlo... by anonymoushn on Monday March 18, 2013 @03:37PM (#5396618)
Where do you buy this plan? AT&T and Verizon are willing to sell me plans that cost just as much as on-contract plans. T-Mobile is willing to sell me much cheaper plans, but randomly loses service all around my city all the time.
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Re:Forget the Cellphone Fight — We Should Be Allowed to Unlo... by imgabe on Tuesday March 19, 2013 @08:40AM (#5400479)
I use one from Straight Talk, which just resells AT&T's service.
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Re:Forget the Cellphone Fight — We Should Be Allowed to Unlo... by icebraining on Monday March 18, 2013 @01:22PM (#5395631)
I don't have $500 to spend on an iPhone either, so I just don't buy iPhones.
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Re:Forget the Cellphone Fight — We Should Be Allowed to Unlo... by ddlatham on Monday March 18, 2013 @04:16PM (#5396841)
My family recently purchased three Nexus 4 phones straight from Google ($300 each), and picked up a T-Mobile Family Value plan (which means you don't get a phone subsidy, but it is a cheaper) with 1000 minutes, unlimited sms, and unlimited HSPA+ data. $120 / month for 3 lines.
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Re:Forget the Cellphone Fight — We Should Be Allowed to Unlo... by jdechko on Monday March 18, 2013 @04:55PM (#5397071)
Yep. I know that Nexus devices are cheaper than iPhones when you compare unlocked. But I prefer the iPhone. I also prefer AT&T service. Point is, the unlocked cell phone discussion is a different animal in the US where it doesn't seem to have as many benefits as it would abroad.

Thus, I'll keep using iPhones and my AT&T service and I'll take the subsidy for a new iPhone every few years.

My in-laws only got iPhones because they could get one for free. In their case, spending $0 for 4 older, on-contract, locked iPhones is preferable to spending $800 for 4 new, on-contract, locked iPhones. I would have been laughed at for suggesting $1800 to get 4 iPhone 4's unlocked.

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Re:Forget the Cellphone Fight — We Should Be Allowed to Unlo... by lilsunnybee on Tuesday March 19, 2013 @09:16AM (#5400655)
You can get a pretty awesome brand new, not-just-released android phone for $100. Or you can get a used phone in good condition on ebay for much lower (even a used iPhone). Sorry but you have a bit of a yuppie dilemma here. There are tons of off-contract, much cheaper options, but not if you only buy directly from Apple.
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