Here is what I did. After using the shift for a couple of months and swaping my sim out of my treo 750 to and from the shift. Which was a pain. Then I started using our corporate sim from the laptop card which works as a backup for our stores DSL/POS system, but I can't travel with that because it is for our backup system. I found another way after reading a post somewhere else.
I went to an AT&T authorized rep. store and bought a go phone. Then I added $100 to the phone which keeps the sim active for 365 days. I then had them add the "Unlimited Medianet" package to the go phone. Basically unlimited data. That costs $20 a month and I don't need to use any minutes for voice. So with the phone itself I get $20 credit on the account, I bought a $100 addon with which I get an additional $5 for ordering that and I come out with a new samsung gophone with a camera, six months of prepaid unlimited internet and no contracts. All for a grand total of $185 with fees, setup charges, and the $30 gophone. So, in six months I have to add another $100 to the sim card and that should get me another 5 to 6 months of service. Depending if they still throw in an additional $5 to the $100 prepaid card I will buy. I currently have $105 of credit after the first $20 was taken off of the card/account. They will charge my account $20 every month until it is used up.
My only concern is if they are tracking exactly how much data I am using on this card. They could turn it off on me but they can't go after me for additional charges because it is a prepaid card and there is no contract. I did use my credit card to do it but I could have paid for it with cash and not had any ties to myself at all. Anyway, the most they can do is to cancel the sim or start charging me a lot more.
Does anyone else have something better?
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I went to the verizon store and they said to get the tablet you have to buy a contract with 3g.
Yep same as t-mobile: USD 599 + taxes + activation fee + at least one month of service.
The Euro version with 16gb internal memory and voice capability looks like a better deal...
Ordering through the website looks like you can do it without a contract.
Yaotl said:
Ordering through the website looks like you can do it without a contract.
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bought mine through Tmobile, no contract, 599 + tax,, payed 100 upfront and making payments of $23 for 19 months and i had to get the lowest data plan, 24.99. i dont want to keep paying for extra data plan, i would like to use it via wifi at home or connect through my vibrant, anyway to maybe do this? i know it needs a SIM otherwise it wont boot up.
adinis78 said:
bought mine through Tmobile, no contract, 599 + tax,, payed 100 upfront and making payments of $23 for 19 months and i had to get the lowest data plan, 24.99. i dont want to keep paying for extra data plan, i would like to use it via wifi at home or connect through my vibrant, anyway to maybe do this? i know it needs a SIM otherwise it wont boot up.
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I'm pretty sure you don't need a SIM card with service attached. Any old sim card should work. Probably must be a T-mobile one since its sim locked; otherwise it'll probably ask for a PIN but not accept any input (at least thats what I got with sim-locked phones previously).
Signing up for any plan is still a contract in my book...
You forgot to mention an extra 35.- activation fee charged to your first cell phone bill.
Volker1 said:
I'm pretty sure you don't need a SIM card with service attached. Any old sim card should work. Probably must be a T-mobile one since its sim locked; otherwise it'll probably ask for a PIN but not accept any input (at least thats what I got with sim-locked phones previously).
Signing up for any plan is still a contract in my book...
You forgot to mention an extra 35.- activation fee charged to your first cell phone bill.
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so would a prepayed SIM work? the i can just connect via wifi at home or via my vibrant... nothing in regards to an activation fee i have the paperwork i signed and there is nothing mentioned about it.
Prepaid SIM would probably work.
The t-mobile.com checkout process slaps you with a 35.- activation fee at the end. Its possible that you got it waved somehow at the t-mobile store. But I wouldn't be surprised if you find it on your cell phone bill in a month
Volker1 said:
Prepaid SIM would probably work.
The t-mobile.com checkout process slaps you with a 35.- activation fee at the end. Its possible that you got it waved somehow at the t-mobile store. But I wouldn't be surprised if you find it on your cell phone bill in a month
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lol you are right i was going to be charged an activation fee but they waived it and i canceled my data plan, and i can use the tab with no sim card at all just remove it and just use it via wifi, tried it with my vibrant and it works no issues.... now let the rooting and flashing begin..lol!!!
Well I called Verizon and they connected me to a guy from Samsung. I'm getting just the WiFi tablet )) great day for me
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I thought the WiFi-only tab is delayed until Jan 2011?
I'll show a picture Monday if my mom let's me have it. Hahah its a Christmas gift but I'm sure ill persuad her
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I got a pay as you go sim for 10 bucks so I'd not be faffing moving my card between my existing phone and the tab.
Working fine.
They tried to push me to sign up for a contract, but I held to my guns and turned to walk out. All good in the end.
I can confirm, I got my tab on day 1 with t mobile and they hooked me up with a $10 prepaid sim for data. 3g works.
Can you purchase the DVP 8GB for 100 bucks then CANCEL your brand new tmobile service?
Whats the worse? they'll only charge you 200 bucks for a contract termination right? then you've bought the phone for 300 bucks.=)
nope wont work. cause when you get approved dell emails you and lets you know you recieved a $350 dollar discount so you will be charged 200 from tmobile and 350 from dell for the credit you recieved. they will charge the credit card you used over and over. loop hole is to get a prepaid credit card for one time use
SHAUN231 said:
nope wont work. cause when you get approved dell emails you and lets you know you recieved a $350 dollar discount so you will be charged 200 from tmobile and 350 from dell for the credit you recieved. they will charge the credit card you used over and over. loop hole is to get a prepaid credit card for one time use
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Do you have a link with this information? I looked all over their agreements and conditions of sale, and I see nothing about having to pay back the discount.
Also, how is using a prepaid credit card a loop hole? Wouldn't they call you to get a valid credit card if the one on file doesn't work? Or can't they just send you a paper bill?
It would probably work fine with the exception that there is also a 35 dollar activation fee for new service and you are required to pay a minimum of the first months service. Also just a word of caution that there may be hidden cancellation fees much like with Amazon. Where both the carrier and the company you purchased from charge you for cancellation prior to a specified amount of time. It really doesn't save you as much as you would think. The best option would be to sign up for Borders Rewards and receive the 10% off for purchasing through the Dell Employee Purchase Program which Borders Rewards members have access to.
jessej said:
It would probably work fine with the exception that there is also a 35 dollar activation fee for new service and you are required to pay a minimum of the first months service. Also just a word of caution that there may be hidden cancellation fees much like with Amazon. Where both the carrier and the company you purchased from charge you for cancellation prior to a specified amount of time. It really doesn't save you as much as you would think. The best option would be to sign up for Borders Rewards and receive the 10% off for purchasing through the Dell Employee Purchase Program which Borders Rewards members have access to.
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The Amazon cancellation fee isn't hidden. It's clearly part of their "Instant Discount Policy".
If you intend to use T-Mobile service anyway, paying the first month's service fee is no big deal. You're paying only $20 more than the no-contract price that you would have paid had you purchased the phone outright. However, over the course of 2 years, that $20 adds up even if you pay the ETF, so it's always beneficial to get off contract as soon as you can.
I thought the activation fee was waived, but even if you did have to pay it, you're still saving $95:
Code:
Discount: ($350)
ETF: $200
Service Fee Diff: $20
Activation Fee: $35
___
Savings: $95
I took it to mean that he would be signing up for a new contract and already has one. If this is actually what he was doing then he would also be paying for his existing monthly plan if he wants to keep his existing phone number. Say $50for this example.
$100 phone
$200 cancellation
$35 activation
$50 data only plan (new contract)
or
$60 500 minutes (new contract)
$50 existing plan
total is $435 or $445
total after the discount on the 8gig model with 10% epp is $404.
jessej said:
I took it to mean that he would be signing up for a new contract and already has one. If this is actually what he was doing then he would also be paying for his existing monthly plan if he wants to keep his existing phone number. Say $50for this example.
$100 phone
$200 cancellation
$35 activation
$50 data only plan (new contract)
or
$60 500 minutes (new contract)
$50 existing plan
total is $435 or $445
total after the discount on the 8gig model with 10% epp is $404.
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Incredible - especially considering the standard ECF in Canada is $400!
for tmobile, i believe you cannot modify your account within the first 3 months if you want to buy a phone because the retailer won't get commission if the line is cancelled so they might charge you extra.
This is really cool, was talking with a Bell customer service rep and she told me on how to ''skip'' the activation fees on the data plan for SIM card that came with the Tab.
Bell offers 2 data plans:
-Prepaid service, there are no activation fees, you pay for the service and you need to ''renew'' the prepaid thing each month, paying with your credit card. If you don't renew, the SIM don't work, just like a regular prepaid phone.
-Monthly term, there is a $35 (CAD) activation fee and you are billed every month (no contract, you can cancel when you want) just like your regular cell phone or internet account.
Now the cool part:
Just call in to activate you SIM card to get a data plan and choose ''Prepaid data'', you need to pay just like a prepaid phone with your credit card and ounce it's activated, wait 2-3 days and call back saying you want to switch to ''monthly terms'' (no contract) and they will switch it for free
$35 in MY pocket !
I tried to take advantage of it and for the offer to be valid you need a 2 year contract which can only be done when purchasing device from AT&T which they will never sell this device.
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jasunto said:
I tried to take advantage of it and for the offer to be valid you need a 2 year contract which can only be done when purchasing device from AT&T which they will never sell this device.
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I walked into an AT&T store and they offered this plan. They said it had nothing to do with the device, it would work on any 2 year contract.
They offered me their Mobile Share plan, with steep discounts, e.g. corporate, new account, etc. There is about 10% extra taxes and fees on any Mobile Share plan, but prepaid is flat rate (prepaid $30 plan is exactly $30). I still turned it down because AT&T does not offer tethering with their tablet data only plans, in my opinion they dropped the ball with Google by disabling tethering. We should not have to hack our Framework-foo.apk to re-enable tethering on an AT&T data plan. I told them I was using T-Mobile and tethering instead.
The advantage of Mobile Share is higher priority on towers in congested areas. The disadvantage is higher cost over prepaid for similar data amount. Plus I have not read about anybody that activated a DataConnect prepaid or Mobile Share using the correct IMEI with resulting LTE service. I choose not to believe it (LTE) service until I see it. Yet you can go in the store and they will hack your IMEI (with false value or false account info) to enable LTE service. In my opinion this unprofessional behavior is not *optimal* (LOL).
AT&T has lots of issues with the new Nexus 7 4G/LTE but I think the $100 discount is not an issue - if you are willing to walk into an AT&T store. Good luck.
I did. Already have mobile share plan. Wasn't starting one.
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jasunto said:
I did. Already have mobile share plan. Wasn't starting one.
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On Google Play it states: "Special Offer from AT&T: Through December 31, 2013 receive a $100 AT&T bill credit by signing a 2 year service agreement on qualified postpaid standalone or Mobile Share plans. Activate on device, visit an AT&T store or call 1-800-908-9859 to take advantage of this offer.*
I'm not sure what is "postpaid standalone" plan, unless they mean Individual Plan, e.g. this link. But, comparing Individual to Shared you get 1GB less on same data limit as Mobile Share.
Bad deal for you already on Mobile Share. So $100 credit on Individual Plan loses you 1GB ($10) per month for 24 months. The $100 credit costs $10 * 24 = $240 dollars. This type of *credit offer* is only possible with AT&T. Plus no tethering enforced by Google, unlike the competition.
But, I think the AT&T store manager has some flexibility. One offered me ~20% discount on service, which is still a bad deal unless its a ~20% discount on your entire bill. Really sounds like a bad deal, especially without tethering, so I walked out of AT&T.
Thanks for the info. I understand.
Update:
Thanks da_ferreira for the info below. Great explanation.
I realize if you are simply adding the tablet to an existing MobileShare plan with data there is a $10/month AT&T fee. So, for a 2 year contract ($240 commitment) you will get a $100 credit. Better than nothing, since AT&T charges an extra fee to use additional devices on the same data plan. Most people will agree using a tablet with its own SIM is better than tethering a wi-fi tablet, or similar configuration. My friends had problems with AT&T cable billing, so I hope the AT&T wireless people follow through with your $200 credit.
The $100 credit is a good deal "if you have the extra data" available on an existing MobileShare plan. If you need to purchase additional data it really takes some thought. The options are expanding an existing data plan or buying it directly. If you are buying it directly on an Individual Plan you might be losing 1GB ($10) per month for a 2 year contract, as compared to MobileShare rates.
I did not have existing MobileShare so the Individual Plan was a bad deal for me.
Hmmm...
FWIW, I went to an AT&T store to get my SIM and add the Nexus to an existing MobileShare plan. At the same time, we replaced my wife's Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 with another Nexus and got the SIM for that (same MobileShare plan). The Samsung tablet was not on any contract.
The store waived activation on my device, signed my device up on the MobileShare plan for $10 per month (4 phones and 1 tablet share 20 gig per month on the plan - well, now 2 tablets) and gave us the SIM for my wife's Nexus. When we walked out, agreeing to 2 year contracts on both tablets and taking home $200 in credits. Yeah, it takes 60 days for the credit to appear, but in December I should have a tiny bill.
For me, this was a good deal. Maybe not for all, but since I hate tethering, it solves all my problems.
Grab a SIM card at StraightTalk.com and apply code STWB20OFF T Checkout. Choose free overnight shipping (Until 12/19) and after a little tax in most states comes out to $28. You can order multiple and it will apply a per-otem discount for each in the same order, so I bought 10 and got $200 off right there.
$28 for service monthly and extra $.99 SIM cards usually priced at 6.99!
A little Ebay magic and you could be paying $22/mo. Piggybacking any of the big 4.