HTC has been selling phones under the big carriers for quite awhile. An unlocked Hero would run 750 to 1000 dollars, it's 180 with the 2 year contract discount. I stayed away from verizon because of what you mention with providers turning off features. Verizon locks down the GPS in every phone unless you pay for and use their maping service, they are notorious for this kind of crap. Sprint as of now is offering 450 minutes + unlimited mobile to any network mobile minutes with unlimited data/sms/mms for 70 a month. I get a 22% discount through work, so this ends up as the best deal. I don't have a need for a global phone, but I'm staying away from tmobile because I do want actual coverage outside the metro area.
On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 7:07 PM, b_s-wilk <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > > Mike > > HTC is a mobile phone company from Taiwan. They have been making and > selling phones under the T-Mobile name for several years. You can buy the > mobile phones outright with no contract or get the branded ones through a > provider like TMo and pay for them through a contract. HTC Dash and HTC Wing > have WiFi, but not touch screen, some new models have both, > http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/HTC-phones-m_45-a_0.html, > http://www.htc.com/us/selectcountry.aspx. > > It might be better to buy the unlocked unbranded phone and use T-Mobile > PAYGO. That way everything will be available, instead of having a provider > cripple features that are inconvenient to them. You can get a > multi-SIM/MaxSIM card and put more than one PAYGO provider in you phone at > the same time. Sprint is good, as long as you don't plan to use your phone > outside the US. Need quadband GSM for worldwide coverage. > > iPod Touch is awesome. Wish I had second gen with Bluetooth, mic and > speakers so I could use it as a VOIP phone. When we were in Greece this June > on Samos island [down the road from the Tavern at the End of the World] with > no WiFi nearby, the Touch was wonderful for watching the movies I remembered > to load. Four of us crowded around the iPod and had a great time laughing > our way through Office Space, Beavis and Butthead, and WB cartoons. Kept our > neighbors up and drinking late. I'm still amazed at the quality of the video > display. In other locations there was plenty of free WiFi. > > Betty > > > ************************************************************************* > ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** > ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** > ************************************************************************* > ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
