[imthebestcool]

Hi everyone,
I'm living in quebec city, and i'm about the buy the new iPhone 5! I'm really exited about but I don't wan't to pay the 60$+ bill every month! Right now, I have an iPhone 4 with Telus and my contract is 35$ + Taxes each month, thing is, I only use 18 Minutes per month, you will probably say, Why do you have an iPhone than? Things is simple, i'm using more than 3500 texts messages per month. I wen't on Fido and I saw that they had contract about 20$+ taxes that include 50Minutes + unlimited Texts messages! I'll probably go with that, but I want to know what would you do! If I take Data ? would I be able to get 300 or 500Mb for less than 40$ a month ?

I need to know what you think!

Thanks a lot!

(Sorry for my bad english, i'm french Canadian)

 

[brad]

I'm with Fido and am happy. Just be sure that this $20/plan applies to iPhone and that it includes data. I thought all their data plans are much more expensive.

My approach for a long time was to use a regular cellphone (not smartphone) and carry an iPod Touch for data and apps, using it just with WiFi. I had a data plan for a couple of months but it was so expensive and I used it so rarely that I cancelled it.

One thing to consider: if you roam with your iPhone in the US, I don't think it's possible to use an iPhone at all down there without a data plan. I have a friend near Sherbrooke who has an iPhone with a voice-only plan, and she uses WiFi whenever she wants data. I'm not sure how she managed that, but I would be interested in that option too.

 

[Guigz]

Did you check with Wind mobile and Koodoo? They usually have interesting barebone plans.

Phone plan aside, what does the iphone 5 does that the iphone 4 can't do? Can you keep the Iphone 4 or is the phone gone when the contract expires? If I were you, I would stick with the phone I have, get a better contract/prepaid and get off Apple's hamster wheel. Then again, you would no longer be the bestestcoolest

 

[andrewf]

I thought Wind's coverage in Quebec was pretty spotty.

 

[brad]

Phone plan aside, what does the iphone 5 does that the iphone 4 can't do?

Panoramas. That's very important if you live in Québec City; the views are stunning. ;-)

 

[imthebestcool]

Plans!

It's just that my iPhone 4 is getting old, i'll get the iPhone 5 for sure! I just want the best plan for the price! I'm planning to buy it Unlocked at 699$, the thing is, is there a better plan fro less than 20$ with Fido? Probably not! My question will be, do you know a plan with internet, but not 40$, nor obliged to be 1Go, just like 200Mb for less than 40$! Wind is not available in Quebec, it's Videotron, but they are not compatible with iPhone due to 1700/2100MHz antenas!

Thanks

 

[Spudd]

Brad, I don't know about contract plans for iphone without data, but I can tell you that you can get a pay-go plan from Rogers (and presumably Fido) for voice only, no data. That's what I have, I pay $10/mo and I love it. Of course I had to pay full price for my iphone up front but over the years that has paid off. If your phone is paid off already you could probably switch to pay-go (depending on your usage this may or may not be cheaper - for me it was as I don't talk that much on my cell). You can also get pay-go data for $1/day as needed, which is very handy occasionally.

 

[m3s]

Buy the phone from Apple direct if they still sell it unlocked in Canada. A carrier locked or jailbroken iPhone is not worth as much. Many other countries can't buy carrier-free iPhones and you can sell them there for great value. People have offered me what I paid for my 4 new. With an unlocked phone, you can almost always grab a pay-as-you-go SIM card in most countries. The only one so far I couldn't easily was USA (the king of modern smoke-and-mirror marketing) Rogers usually has a roaming USA plan. Free WiFi is fairly easy to source now anyways.

 

[Andre]

Data roaming is for chumps. Get a cheap, unlocked smartphone and use a SIM native to the country you're traveling in. You'd be surprised how cheap phone+data PAYGO plans are, outside of Canada.

One thing to consider: if you roam with your iPhone in the US, I don't think it's possible to use an iPhone at all down there without a data plan. I have a friend near Sherbrooke who has an iPhone with a voice-only plan, and she uses WiFi whenever she wants data. I'm not sure how she managed that, but I would be interested in that option too.

 

[GOB]

Did you check with Wind mobile and Koodoo? They usually have interesting barebone plans.

Phone plan aside, what does the iphone 5 does that the iphone 4 can't do? Can you keep the Iphone 4 or is the phone gone when the contract expires? If I were you, I would stick with the phone I have, get a better contract/prepaid and get off Apple's hamster wheel. Then again, you would no longer be the bestestcoolest

It depends entirely how how much you use your phone and what you use it for. A heavy user can perfectly justify replacing his phone every couple of users, a casual user perhaps not. I use my phone so much that the huge speed increase is immediately worth it, in addition to the other goodies. Bigger screen (yet still just as functional), thinner and lighter are all big deals for something you carry around in your pocket all day.

 

[GOB]

Did you check with Wind mobile and Koodoo? They usually have interesting barebone plans.

Phone plan aside, what does the iphone 5 does that the iphone 4 can't do? Can you keep the Iphone 4 or is the phone gone when the contract expires? If I were you, I would stick with the phone I have, get a better contract/prepaid and get off Apple's hamster wheel. Then again, you would no longer be the bestestcoolest

It depends entirely how how much you use your phone and what you use it for. A heavy user can perfectly justify replacing his phone every couple of users, a casual user perhaps not. I use my phone so much that the huge speed increase is immediately worth it, in addition to the other goodies. Bigger screen (yet still just as functional), thinner and lighter are all big deals for something you carry around in your pocket all day.

I'm not interested in being cool. My laptop is years old and I don't own an iPad. Some people actually gain increased productivity out of upgrading their devices. It all depends on what you use a smartphone for. To each their own.

 

[Guigz]

It depends entirely how how much you use your phone and what you use it for. A heavy user can perfectly justify replacing his phone every couple of users, a casual user perhaps not. I use my phone so much that the huge speed increase is immediately worth it, in addition to the other goodies. Bigger screen (yet still just as functional), thinner and lighter are all big deals for something you carry around in your pocket all day.

I'm not interested in being cool. My laptop is years old and I don't own an iPad. Some people actually gain increased productivity out of upgrading their devices. It all depends on what you use a smartphone for. To each their own.

My comment about being cool was actually a wordplay on OP's name.

I agree that some users benefit from the upgrades, but I would put the percentage at less than 5% of the people that own the devices.

Either way, looks like the OP's mind is set on upgrading his phone. To each their own indeed.

 

[bayview]

Just to digress. @spudd - do you use also use your pay as u go iphone when you travel overseas say for 2-4 weeks. Or is there another money saving alternative for overseas and out of province trips. Thks!

 

[m3s]

Just to digress. @spudd - do you use also use your pay as u go iphone when you travel overseas say for 2-4 weeks. Or is there another money saving alternative for overseas and out of province trips. Thks!

You can just grab a Pay-As-You-Go sim card from whatever country you're in. A native sim is usually far cheaper than roaming on a Cdn one. Of course this doesn't work if you took a 3 year contract with an evil telco who quietly carrier-locks-your-unlocked-cell phone via an "update". In some countries, the Pay-Go sim card cost me less to use for a month unlimited-3G than I paid just for the Rogers Sim card with heavy restrictions in Canada. The good thing about Canada is it's a big country, whereas sometimes you're moving around smaller countries overseas you have to keep swapping cards..

 

[Spudd]

Just to digress. @spudd - do you use also use your pay as u go iphone when you travel overseas say for 2-4 weeks. Or is there another money saving alternative for overseas and out of province trips. Thks!

I used it when I went to Europe for two weeks this summer. It caused my balance to go down from over $100 to close to $10. It's definitely not very economical overseas. If your phone is unlocked, it's much better to get a foreign sim as recommended by mode.

 

[brad]

I used it when I went to Europe for two weeks this summer. It caused my balance to go down from over $100 to close to $10. It's definitely not very economical overseas. If your phone is unlocked, it's much better to get a foreign sim as recommended by mode.

+1, although you have to understand that your phone number will change when you're using the foreign sim, and you won't know your overseas phone number in advance. That shouldn't be a problem unless you're using your cell for work, for example, and you have colleagues and clients who need to reach you while you're overseas. Even so, you can just send them an email with your number once you have it, or you could set up auto-forwarding.

 

[dave2012]

I haven't found an economical solution myself yet for Canada, but while in the US I have:

$14.95 tracphone from the drug store with 1220 minutes good for 425 days for a mere $100. Calling back to Canada uses double minutes. I expect I'll manage the full year for the $115!

Pay as you go Verizon broadband, bought when needed for $50 for 1 month 1GB total or for shorter trips $30 for 1 week 250MB. I plug my Verizon USB modem into a small Cradlepoint router so I have a WIFI hot spot in my vehicle. Macbook, iPad all work for email, web etc. El cheapo tracphone for calls.

Still looking for a Canuck solution...

 

[Guigz]

7/11 plan? I forgot what it's called, but you can get unlimited data for 10$ a month + prepaid for minutes.

 

[FrugalTrader]

If you are a low-moderate smart phone user, I'm digging the Koodo plan for $40/month. 250mb, 150 canada wide minutes, unlimited txts, unlimited calling after 5pm, VM/CID.