Phone woes...

[Catrin]

My iPhone contract was over in June. I've not been happy with it as a phone for over a year, and I certainly didn't want to replace it with another. Then out of frustration I took it to an AT&T store and found it had a mechanical problem that affects reception...what to do, what to do?

I fell in love with the HTC Inspire 4G. It is larger than my iPhone, but has all of the smartphone features I want/need, AND is a much better phone - and for 1/2 the price Still....$100 is $100...

Today I found myself on AT&Ts website, and found a cosmetic refurbished HTC Inspire 4G for a whopping $19.99 So what if it has some cosmetic blemish on the back - it is $19 and I will get a cover for it anyway. Only a 3-month warranty period, but I can get insurance for it that will pick up where the warranty leaves off. AND it covers liquid damage... Sure it is something of a gamble, but I pulled the trigger.

So replacing my iPhone with a phone I like much better for only $20? Sweet! Just goes to show what patience can do - not that I am all that good with being patient

[TsPoet]

I'm going through a similar thing. My iphone GPS will not turn off - which means it needs re-charged several times/day. My ATT contract was up yesterday
I've decided to wait for an iPhone 5 from Verizon, ATT can stuff it.

[Pax]

I'm such a Luddite... I have a six year old Razr phone with the texting feature disabled.

[Catrin]

I really don't have a problem with AT&T, and from what I've been able to determine, I would pay Verizon more on a monthly basis. I do find that I really use the smart-phone features, it is helpful for work and if I can get all that I need and want AND save money at the same time - fantastic I am still stoked at the deal I got for the phone. New or refurbished, I would have still purchased the insurance so that didn't change.

It can pay to check out the "scratch and dent" section of your provider's website. I don't know about Verizon, but the best deals for AT&T are on the website.

The cool part is that once that SIM card is out of my iPhone, it becomes an iTouch - and I can still use the wireless for email and internet if I want. I can still use the applications if I choose, just can't use it as a phone. Considering the iPod that I washed about 8 months or so is failing, I am glad that I can reuse this expensive contraption.

TsPoet - Verizon will buy/trade in your AT&T iPhone for a pretty decent credit in their store. If you don't want to keep it as an iPod/Touch this could save you some money on the new iPhone 5. They may have changed their policies, but this was the case back in June when I started exploring my options.

Pax - good for you! If it fits your needs, that is great! I did toy with the idea of returning to a phone with texting, but I am spoiled now - and it has been so helpful to me in so many ways to have a smart-phone - and for more than playing Angry Birds

[TsPoet]

TsPoet - Verizon will buy/trade in your AT&T iPhone for a pretty decent credit in their store. If you don't want to keep it as an iPod/Touch this could save you some money on the new iPhone 5. They may have changed their policies, but this was the case back in June when I started exploring my options.

I've gone back and forth several times, no one has mentioned this! I definitely need to check into it. I get 19% discount for one and 17% discount for the other through work, which makes them the same price for me. Where I live, ATT reception is terrible, to make a call from home I have to sit on my front porch. To make a call from work, I have to stand way back in the corner of my office plastered against the window.
If I get a verizon iPhone, all of my apps will work on it, or so I've been assured.
I don't have a home phone, and hated cell phones until the smart phone came into being. I prefer email over a phone call any day.

[Catrin]

TsPoet - if it is possible to have someone with a Verizon iPhone try to make a call from your place before you switch I would try it. With my iPHONE I get terrible reception in my apartment as well. Long time to make calls, dropped calls, etc., etc.

I had an HTC Inspire in my apartment, also AT&T. Same number of bars, but I had no problem at all making calls, hearing them, people I called had no problem hearing me.

I've come to the conclusion the iPhone just isn't a very good "phone". That being said, a lot of people appear to have had a very different experience with it than I. I just wouldn't count on the Verizon version working better for you unless you can perform an experiment first. All of that being said, my iPhone probably has a mechanical problem - but I had two in a row that performed basically the same.

Here is a link to Verizon's trade-in program. My 3GS would be worth a $125 Verizon Wireless gift-card if I were jumping the AT&T ship.

I don't have a land-line either - and indeed email and texts are generally better than actual phone calls ~ but I want the phone to work when I need it

[Owlie]

I'm such a Luddite... I have a six year old Razr phone with the texting feature disabled.

I miss my Razr! It was such a good phone, and no trouble until it got to the point where the battery would no longer hold a charge. We couldn't find replacement batteries, so I ended up with a different phone. This one turns itself off all the time.

[jessmarimba]

I've never had a problem with the iphone 3GS. (Except that I dropped it and broke the silent switch on the side). Occasionally in large gatherings I would have problems connecting to a network (and I mean LARGE gatherings - like during a Rockies game, when the couple of towers in that area couldn't handle all of the spectators).

Had 5 bars of full 3G coverage the entire way up Highway 85 on the western side of North Dakota with AT&T! And also full coverage watching the Leadville 100, so I could keep an eye on the live feed about the leaders while watching from where I was on the course.

But I'm still on the unlimited data plan so I wouldn't switch providers anyway.

[OakLeaf]

That's why DH stays with AT&T and I stay with Verizon. Between the two of us, when we're out in the boonies, there's less chance that neither of us will have coverage.

[GLC1968]

That's why DH stays with AT&T and I stay with Verizon. Between the two of us, when we're out in the boonies, there's less chance that neither of us will have coverage.

Heh - we are the opposite (me with AT&T and him with Verizon) for the same reason!

[tulip]

I dropped my ATT iphone 3G back in March. It just so happened that my contract with ATT was up that same week. Thank goodness! ATT coverage is terrible in all the places I need coverage. I got the iphone4/Verizon and have been happy with it. I still have unlimited data, although the texting feature is $5 more. Since I telecommute, I text my co-workers quite a bit during busy spells. I use the phone for work, almost always with the headphones.

My friend replaced the broken glass on the old iphone and now has a perfectly-functioning ipod touch.

[Koronin]

I just have a cell phone with texting/picture texting capabilities. I have no reason or really any use for a smart phone. My cell phone is through AT&T. My parents gave me one that is on their family plan. Long story on that one, short version is they this phone was actually for my grandmother who decided she didn't want one so they gave it to me so I could talk to them without using minutes on anyone phone's or long distance to call. That one is Verizon. The townhouse we lived in for a year I had horrible reception on both phones. Our new house the reception on both is fine.