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Post by Rob on Nov 6, 2012 20:51:29 GMT -5
I didn't really read into it but a pretty high end (vanilla) smartphone for $299 off contract.... Google, you're doing it right. $350 for the 16GB version (which I imagine the majority of people will buy). But yeah, it's an astounding price considering the insane specs. And since I won't need a contract to get said good price, if the Nexus 5 ends up on Verizon LTE, I won't have any ETFs to pay to switch back.
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Post by Rob on Nov 13, 2012 19:20:33 GMT -5
Dang, the Nexus 4 sold out within half an hour. Got my order in though. Woo!
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Post by Rishi on Nov 14, 2012 23:21:01 GMT -5
How are you going to use it? It doesn't support Verizon, right?
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Post by Rob on Nov 14, 2012 23:39:56 GMT -5
How are you going to use it? It doesn't support Verizon, right? Switching back to AT&T. As much as I like Verizon's network (especially now that LTE is really starting to get widespread), I think someone like me is better suited to being on a GSM network. I never keep phones the full 2 years, so being able to just buy a new unlocked phone in a year and swap the SIM card is certainly preferable to having to go through Verizon. Also, even though Verizon's LTE network is supposedly incredible, when you don't get LTE their EVDO network is generally slower than AT&T's HSPA+ network. I'll probably end up getting an iPad 5/6 on Verizon someday, that way I can go back to having both major carriers (always nice to have redundancy).
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Post by Rishi on Nov 15, 2012 5:57:24 GMT -5
Oh I see. That's a pretty good idea. I'm getting a bit frustrated with my Verizon iPad. Having been used to 6 Mb/s where things opened instantly, it's painful watching things load on Verizon. A lot of times, it just fails and hangs (especially with files that are over a couple of MB) and won't load anything unless you restart it or give it 10 minutes. I wish I got the AT&T iPad, they have literally 100% LTE coverage over here. Verizon is just in the major cities, but I don't live close enough to them to actually pick up signal. The only time I picked up LTE, I got around 14 Mb/s. Another thing that irritates me about the Verizon iPad is that you can't simply cancel service on the device. If/when you do, the SIM card fries itself. No big deal, right? Well, it is because Verizon won't even give you a new one since they don't know how to account for it in their system. Have to buy a new SIM on ebay each time you want to cancel and sign up. It's really just a waste of money, and it's so stupid that they 1) haven't made it so that the SIM won't fry itself and 2) can't even give you a new one in store. A bit ridiculous on Verizon's part, being the most expensive carrier and having a really screwed up system. www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/buying-a-used-verizon-ipad-no-prepaid-data-for-you/8291The Verizon iPad is just a mess. The only reason why I got it was because of mobile hotspot, which I can't remember if the AT&T iPad has that. tl;dr just get an AT&T iPad
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Post by Rob on Nov 15, 2012 12:29:19 GMT -5
Oh I see. That's a pretty good idea. I'm getting a bit frustrated with my Verizon iPad. Having been used to 6 Mb/s where things opened instantly, it's painful watching things load on Verizon. A lot of times, it just fails and hangs (especially with files that are over a couple of MB) and won't load anything unless you restart it or give it 10 minutes. I wish I got the AT&T iPad, they have literally 100% LTE coverage over here. Verizon is just in the major cities, but I don't live close enough to them to actually pick up signal. The only time I picked up LTE, I got around 14 Mb/s. Another thing that irritates me about the Verizon iPad is that you can't simply cancel service on the device. If/when you do, the SIM card fries itself. No big deal, right? Well, it is because Verizon won't even give you a new one since they don't know how to account for it in their system. Have to buy a new SIM on ebay each time you want to cancel and sign up. It's really just a waste of money, and it's so stupid that they 1) haven't made it so that the SIM won't fry itself and 2) can't even give you a new one in store. A bit ridiculous on Verizon's part, being the most expensive carrier and having a really screwed up system. www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/buying-a-used-verizon-ipad-no-prepaid-data-for-you/8291The Verizon iPad is just a mess. The only reason why I got it was because of mobile hotspot, which I can't remember if the AT&T iPad has that. tl;dr just get an AT&T iPad See, Verizon has always been famous for having excellent coverage and being horrible in every other regard. Just look at the Note II and Galaxy Nexus. The Verizon Galaxy Nexus was crippled because Verizon wouldn't let Google control the updates, they first had to be tested/approved by Verizon. Then there was the Note II. Not content with the look of the standard one, Verizon insisted on sticking a Verizon logo smack in the middle of the home button (which looks beyond tacky). If they didn't have by far the most 3G/LTE coverage, they'd be out of business by now. Unfortunately for them, that just isn't enough for me. I want my phone to actually be mine, not Verizon's. On a side note, I didn't realize the Verizon iPad situation was so broken (I knew it wasn't great though). Seems like the best solution is to just have a Verizon LTE MiFi. Don't really care how badly they mess that up, since all it needs to do is give me WiFi.
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Post by Rishi on Nov 17, 2012 12:41:07 GMT -5
Wow, that does look pretty tacky indeed. Can't believe they actually went that far to do that Verizon probably used to have superior coverage, but I feel that AT&T has caught up in many regards. Of course, some areas will be horrible with Verizon and some with AT&T, but the margins aren't so far apart anymore. AT&T is pushing LTE out at insane speeds, and their coverage is quite awesome too. AT&T LTE is just as abundant as their 3G network over here (and I've never been without 3G). That being said, the places that don't have LTE yet are still compensated for AT&T's more than adequate 3G network. If you're going to get a MiFi, you might as well get the Verizon ipad. Canceling and resigning up for service is probably more troublesome on the MiFi than iPad. The Verizon situation isn't that bad, but will it make me reconsider my next 3G ipad purchase? Of course.
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Post by Rob on Nov 18, 2012 13:05:00 GMT -5
If you look at Verizon's LTE coverage and compare it to AT&T's LTE coverage (not HSPA+, which their coverage map bundles together with LTE) there almost isn't even a competition; Verizon obliterates them, hands down.
It's a shame AT&T-Mobile (or AT&T&T) didn't go through, because it'd have been nice to see a GSM carrier in the US with the size/network to match Verizon.
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Post by Rishi on Nov 18, 2012 21:15:32 GMT -5
Well in "other" areas, sure. But for my purposes, I really only care about my local area and major cities. Unfortunately for me, Verizon LTE only is prominent around the coast. Impressive that AT&T got coverage past US 27 (everything after that is uninhabited ) T-Mobile AT&T merger would've been interesting. Don't really mind it not happening though, because that might've made things more anti-competitive. AT&T is already doing stuff that bothers me. But I guess Verizon is too. T-Mobile is refarming their 3G network so it'll work on the iPhone, and it's actually pretty fast. Almost as good as my Verizon LTE speeds, anyways. Hopefully they'll offer the iPhone on T-Mobile next year. Don't plan on switching, but I think more competition is better. I like Sprint for the most part besides their coverage, but I think they're improving.
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Post by Rob on Nov 19, 2012 19:56:19 GMT -5
Well in "other" areas, sure. But for my purposes, I really only care about my local area and major cities. Unfortunately for me, Verizon LTE only is prominent around the coast. Impressive that AT&T got coverage past US 27 (everything after that is uninhabited ) T-Mobile AT&T merger would've been interesting. Don't really mind it not happening though, because that might've made things more anti-competitive. AT&T is already doing stuff that bothers me. But I guess Verizon is too. T-Mobile is refarming their 3G network so it'll work on the iPhone, and it's actually pretty fast. Almost as good as my Verizon LTE speeds, anyways. Hopefully they'll offer the iPhone on T-Mobile next year. Don't plan on switching, but I think more competition is better. I like Sprint for the most part besides their coverage, but I think they're improving. The big reason I wanted the merger to go through is it would give AT&T&T a sizable chunk of spectrum to play with. That should have allowed them to drastically increase their network throughput, especially when the network is heavily congested.
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Post by Rob on Nov 19, 2012 22:24:57 GMT -5
Woo!
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Post by Rishi on Nov 20, 2012 23:00:01 GMT -5
^^ Nice. Tempted to buy one ;D Did you get it yet? Not sure what the Nov 20th day is but you posted it on the 19th, so...
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Post by Rob on Nov 21, 2012 23:06:38 GMT -5
^^ Nice. Tempted to buy one ;D Did you get it yet? Not sure what the Nov 20th day is but you posted it on the 19th, so... Yeah that day kept changing. Originally it was the date I placed the order (the 13 th). Anyways, yep, I have it now. And so far I absolutely love it. My only complaint is the battery life, which is pretty bad. Fortunately, the lovely people at xda-developers have a knack for drastically improving battery life through custom kernels. And being a Nexus device (with an easily unlockable bootloader), I'm guessing it won't take long for some custom kernels to come out. Also, even though the battery isn't hot swappable, it apparently isn't that difficult to remove. Currently I'm just hoping someone (like Mophie) releases a battery case for it, because that would definitely solve my problems (though it does get a bit warm, so a battery case might not be so good in that respect).
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Post by Rishi on Nov 22, 2012 15:08:14 GMT -5
Additionally you could just get one of those external charger things with the USB port on it ;D But yeah, I've heard battery life wasn't so great. Hopefully it's not as bad as it sounds.
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Post by Rob on Nov 25, 2012 17:34:50 GMT -5
Additionally you could just get one of those external charger things with the USB port on it ;D But yeah, I've heard battery life wasn't so great. Hopefully it's not as bad as it sounds. Problem with those is you'd look ridiculous walking around with a USB cable coming out of your pocket. Which is why I'd rather a case. Only downside to that is it could cause the phone to overheat (it does get warm enough as is). As for the battery life, I only get a little over 2 hours of screen on time. I don't actually use my phone that much throughout the day though, so I'm guessing that'll be fine most of the time.
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