smartphones in canada

Droc

Droc

2[H]4U
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Mar 20, 2007
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im contemplating getting the wife a smartphone this year but im so far out of the loop i need advice.\
i have a blackberry curve and i can rule it out, its slow, very slow. trying to email photos, loading the thumbnail is like im using a 30 year old computer to open photoshop.

iphone plans in canada are pure rape. i like the iphone, but its too much coin.

that leads me to android phones. so many and i have no clue where to even start. can anyone help to aim me in the right direction?
 
Depends on your carrier, there are great choices on each. The Galaxy S line is a good place to start
 
Hmm, but you guys up there get the cool unlocked iphones, you can take that to any carrier you like can't you?
 
On Telus, get the Desire, Desire HD (coming soon) or Fascinate. On Rogers, get the Captivate. With Bell, go with the Desire Z or Vibrant.

Pretty sure Telus is also getting the Milestone 2 soon enough, I'd also throw that into the mix. But any of those phones would make your wife very, VERY happy. If it was up to me, I'd either go Desire, Desire HD or Fascinate/Vibrant/Captivate (they're the same phone).
 
MaxBurn said:
Hmm, but you guys up there get the cool unlocked iphones, you can take that to any carrier you like can't you?
Click to expand...

We do! They are $659.99 for a 16gb model that are unlocked by Apple themselves. The only problem is that out of all the carriers that support iphone (Rogers, Fido, Bell, Telus, Virgin...did I miss any?) all are more or less the same price. Of course they all offer the phone from them for $200 if you're willing to lock yourself into a 3 year contract (not a typo, it's 3 years here)

The chepeast I've seen for a smartphone plan for an iphone was from Virgin; $55 for a couple hundred minutes per month and a couple hundred megs data. I'm trying to look up this too as I have a hand-me-down 3GS I want to use with somebody but since I work and live in different LD areas the pay-as-you-go model works best for me...and nobody offers that for smartphones :( And I don't even think the older SIM cards even work with a 3GS :confused:

Sorry to partial hi-jack. I believe Android phones are priced the same way.
 
Numan is right; cellphones plans here are pretty crap. High cost, low download, not much options (caller id or voicemail aren't always included). We also get good phones usually but a couple of months later than the US, keeping in mind we're a 30 million people country compared to 300 million :)

Droc, I suggest you play the negotiation game and try to get a good plan for your wife. Go to one carrier and say you have yourself a good smartphone plan (try www.howardforums.com, in the TELUS subforums, there are a couple examples of "retention plans"). Start with one plan and challenge the other carriers. People here have given you the best phones your wife will have access to (at the moment): Galaxy S, Desire, Desire Z, Desire HD (soon).
 
Remember retention plans don't mean squat unless its with the company you are currently with. Unless Telus/Bell/Rogers/New Entrant are willing to price match. Last I checked they aren't. The new entrants are cheaper, and offer unlimited data, but you restricted by 'zones'. There are no national coverage new entrants. I'd suggest looking into who you are with right now. If you hate them, and everyone seems to these days, they negotiate a deal to stay or eat the discount they are offering you and take your business else where.

Contracts are going the way of the dodo for the tech savvy and objectors. Soon discounted handsets will the the past and full price will be the new option along with better customer service. The landscape up here is changing and changing quickly.
 
thanks for the tips. I was with Rogers for my old cell phones and they were just horrible, Bell was worse. I have telus blackberry through work but either way you end up shelling out half a mortgage payment each month for the brutal plans.
 
If you're going to stick with Telus be prepared to get at best mediocre pricing plans compared to the competition but grind them down if you can through retentions. Currently, all the other major carriers offer better retention plans so if price is #1 I'd probably look elsewhere and then get retention pricing since Telus is stingy these days.

Maybe try looking into someone selling off a grandfathered plan and add data too it. You'll likely come out ahead.
 
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