[PLUG-TALK] Need phone advice

[Alex Young]

The "4G" stuff is pure marketing.  The regulating body in charge says
nothing is up to 4G yet, so everyone is just saying they have it
anyway.  (AT&T is going to start calling their highspeed 3G "4G"...)

LTE and WIMAX are both potentially 4G, but don't bet on any phone you
buy working with whatever "real 4G" is when it comes out in a year or
so.

This all reminds me of the people who bought "future proof" HDTVs or
"future proof" blueray / hddvd players.  Or "future proof" anything.
The truth is the future is unpredictable. That's why it's called the
future.

On Jan 15, 2011, at 3:45 PM, John Jason Jordan <johnxj at comcast.net> wrote:

> On Sat, 15 Jan 2011 13:49:12 -0800
> Michael Rasmussen <michael at jamhome.us> dijo:
>
>> On Sat, Jan 15, 2011 at 12:30:55PM -0800, John Jason Jordan wrote:
>>> I can't get what I want:
>>>
>>>    1) I'd like to stick with AT&T if possible
>>>    2) Phone that is 4G capable, even if it's not yet available
>>>    3) Android 2.2 or later
>>>    4) Expandable storage
>>
>> 1) why?  What makes them special?
>
> AT&T has given me excellent service for ~ten years. Plus, it is easier
> just to upgrade my current plan (keeping my rollover minutes intact)
> than to go through all the credit BS with a different carrier.
> Otherwise, there is nothing special about AT&T for me. And, although I
> have 5,000 rollover minutes, I'd never call anyone willing to talk to
> me for 5,000 minutes, because they're clearly insane.
>
>> 2) why?  (pay the premium for unavailable 4G and then have outmoded
>
> I want the *phone* to be 4G capable so I don't have to change phones
> when 4G becomes the norm. And, apparently, both T-Mobile and Sprint
> have 4G available in the Portland area.
>
>> 3) As you say, verify ability to upgrade
>
> But not immediately necessary if the phone comes with 2.2. Apparently
> 2.2 has a lot of improvements and advantages over 2.1. AT&T has no
> phones with 2.2, and upgrading from 2.1 to 2.2 myself voids the
> warranty, so -1 for AT&T. The others offer few phones with 2.2, but
> whether upgrading one of their 2.1 phones myself will void the warranty
> is not easy to determine. Evidently you don't get the fine print until
> after you've laid down the shekels.
>
>> May I suggest:
>>
>> 5) An unlimited data plan
>>
>> What's the point of 4G if you can blast through your monthly data
>> allotment in a few days?
>
> Good point. I haven't studied the plans as much as phone availability,
> but I thought they all offered an unlimited data plan.
>
>> An advantage that T-Mobile has over Verizon, and perhaps other
>> carriers, is that different lines on a family plan can have different
>> service plans.
>
> My family consists of me, myself and I. We can share the same phone
> because generally only one of us speaks at a time.
>
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