Well, I stopped by a verizon wireless store yesterday to have a conversation with a man about a phone. Bottom line is that Apple and AT&T have decidedly driven my business away. Ever since this stupid upgrade to IOS 7, my phone and my wife's phones have not been working well.
I can't connect to wifi, period, and my power button hasn't been working for some time. My wife is having her own set of issues as well. We bought these phones and got the 2 year contract in Oct 2012, so about 7 months to go before the contract is up. But I don't think we can wait that long. Since I can't connect to wifi, I'm pushing the data limit on my phone, which of course costs money in overages. The solution is to get a more expensive plan... Or maybe see about an early upgrade.
Well, so I talk to AT&T and discover that I need to pay $200 per phone for an early upgrade fee on top of the cost of the device. So we each had a 4S, and to basically get another 4S would be $400. Obviously if the technology is having faults I want to get something that is compatible with the more recent IOS. So, maybe a 5? Nope, they don't even sell those anymore because they were so glitchy. It would have to be a 5C or 5S.
So, now we're talking $800 to get a new phone and another ****** 2 yr contract with AT&T, where I won't have any early upgrade options again except to pay an ridiculous couple hundred dollar fee.
So, my next question to the AT&T rep was how much to cancel my contract. $185 per phone to be free and clear of this contract. The engineer in me was able to solve that math. Pay $30 less to upgrade to both a new phone AND a new carrier....
So anyway. I think I'm done with iPhones, if I think I am going to have to upgrade early every time, which is what I'm now worried about, then **** them, I'll go get a samsung, that doesn't force me to install new operating systems all the damn time and render my phone useless.
So, apparently the Samsung S3 mini is on a buy one get one free promotional at the Verizon store and they buy back old iPhones for $200 per phone. Plus there is a $100 mail in rebate for the mini and it only costs $50 with a two year contract.
So, theoretically for me to go over to Verizon (which everybody else around here has and they never lose reception) get new (working) phones for my wife and I, and get rid of our extra crappy devices, I will end up getting paid $80. I will walk out of the store $80 richer.
So, my question is... Is the Samsung S3 mini worth it? Honestly, I have zero desire to walk around with a phone as big as the normal Samsung Galaxy. That screen is insane, so the S3 size is far more too my liking anyway, but is it a good purchase? Or will I be pissed off about it in a year like I am with the iPhone?