Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
How do they know you have a smart phone? Buy an unlocked second-hand iPhone. Insert your current SIM. Voila.
|
IMEI perhaps? Or maybe the mobile OS identifies itself somehow? All I know is people who have bought unlocked phones with 3G support for their service providers end up getting a data plan forcibly added to their account. That's why if you're buying a smartphone in the US, might as well go the subsidized route since you'll be paying for data either way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tubemonkey
Also, I have no idea whether carriers charge for data plans on phones you bring to them. Too much trouble for me.
|
Same price. Data is data. Doesn't really matter if you bought the phone as part of a 2-year contract or unlocked. Well, it really only matters for AT&T and T-Mobile. Verizon and Sprint don't use SIM cards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tubemonkey
As a side note, I'd never get an iPhone; I'd go Android. The only reason I have an iPod touch is because there isn't an Android touch.
|
There are actually some pretty nice unlocked Android smartphones. You could just buy a smartphone and not bother inserting a SIM card. Should be in the same ballpark as the 32GB and 64GB Touch.
My first try using Android in a smartphone is a prepaid $150 LG Thrive. I've found it to be a very nice starter smartphone but it's easy to see why it only costs $150. If you don't use a lot of minutes/messages, you could even use the phone functions and go the prepaid route on either AT&T or T-Mobile. The data plan is optional on prepaid.