Joshua D. Drake wrote:
I do not recommend buying off-contract. It is usually a wash if you end up breaking the contract in terms of penalties versus buying off-contract and if you end up not breaking the contract you get a great deal.
yup -- look at the specific numbers, but last I checked, EVERY carrier had the same set-up -- sign a contract and we subsidize the hardware a lot, or buy the hardware for an inflated price, and we'll charge EXACTLY the same monthly rate -- no discount at all for providing your own hardware.
I really resent that scheme, and am hoping that some day they will simply offer you the option of buying or renting the hardware, (with a reasonable discount in exchange for a commitment to a contract, if you want).
But if you're going to buy the hardware outright, there are other options, like the Nokia n900, for instance: it's not Android, and may not be "established enough", but it is real genuine, familiar, full featured Linux, including Python scripting. (the n900 is a bit old now, if you're thinking about it, you might want to wait for the upcoming n9)
I have a n800, and I honestly don't use it much at this point, but that's not because it's not a nice machine (and nice OS) -- and the n900 keyboard would make it nicer). Mine isn't a phone -- so I need WiFi to do anything with it, making it far less likely to just whip it out to quickly Google something. I do use it when I travel if I don't want to haul a laptop, and it's pretty nice for things like watching movies once you've translated them to the format it likes. I'd thought I'd do more with hacking it, but haven't -- not because it's hard to hack, but because I just don't end up spending my free time doing stuff like that.
-Chris -- Christopher Barker, Ph.D. Oceanographer Emergency Response Division NOAA/NOS/OR&R (206) 526-6959 voice 7600 Sand Point Way NE (206) 526-6329 fax Seattle, WA 98115 (206) 526-6317 main reception [email protected]
