
The iPhone / Android cost difference is getting large - chrismealy
http://notes.kateva.org/2011/10/iphone-android-cost-difference-is.html
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mooism2
I'm not saying there's no cost difference or that it's not getting larger, but
the post doesn't compare like with like. How would that Android phone compare
to an iphone 3GS on payg? That's a more interesting question.

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danielamitay
Although I agree that the price difference is staggering, the important metric
to measure these phones by is _depreciation._ If the iPhone user can sell that
iPhone for a few hundred dollars at the end of those two years (I certainly
have), then the cost of using the phone isn't that high. On the Android side
I'm pretty sure depreciation is quite fast.

Additionally, the figures pointed out in this article are totals of the
Voice&Data plans tied to the iPhones by AT&T. These are costs of a minimum
iPhone service as deemed by AT&T, and not a cost of the iPhone itself.

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tadfisher
The gap for more "advanced" plans is even more egregious; Wal-Mart+T-Mobile US
is providing a pay-as-you-go plan for $30/mo with unlimited (5GB throttled)
HSPA+ data+SMS and 100 minutes of voice. Over two years, the plan itself
(assuming no overages) works out to about $720. Ignoring the cost of the
phone, Verizon's most comparable plan (400 minutes voice, 5GB data, unlimited
text) is $140/mo, or $3360 over two years.

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MatthewPhillips
T-Mobile's prepaid network is smaller than their general network (or so the
reps told me)

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vetinari
The rep lied to you, he wanted to sell you postpaid. Better commision for him.

Network-wise, the difference is in the billing backend, not in the towers or
coverage.

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Synaesthesia
Why not simply compare the price of an unlocked iPhone to an unlocked Android?
iPhone 4S costs $649-849, simple.

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angryasian
I think the issue is still.. the only company offering data + voice for an
iphone without a plan is t-mobile and then still its only edge. So for people
saying its 300 offset ( for what reason I don't know why) .. some of the
comments stated productivity.. edge only would skew the scales the other way.

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moped
I've had some success with putting an AT&T GoPhone SIM directly into an iPhone
4 with no jailbreak/unlock.

Couple that with Google Voice (and the Talkatone app), and you can barely use
cell minutes.

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ScottMFisher
You can use an AT&T iPad sim and get a $25/month data-only plan. This is what
I do with my 3GS when I visit the US, otherwise the costs are extortionate.
Don't tell anyone though. I'd like it to still work the next time I'm in the
US...

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hollerith
Is there any way to get an iPad sim without having a 3G iPad?

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moped
You can go to an AT&T store, and just ask for a iPad sim.

