Read my lips: NO...FREE...PHONE!

[Helix]

I think also that people don't realise that the market has become saturated. At one point the free phone was also to get people who didn't have a mobile phone at all. That percentage tipped a while ago so they don't need to offer incentives to get you on their plan/network.

[retro]

I wish this was the way it was over here in the UK. "What? You mean I can't get a free iphone 5s? I pay you guys £15 a month. Surely that should cover the cost of a phone like that?"

"Er, no. Try paying your bill for about ten years before it would cover the cost of that extortionately priced handset."

[sms001]

Tracfones are cheap and plentiful....I currently have over 600 minutes ...I'll have to buy more or lose all the minutes.

I keep a 'business' (Chicago area code for some of my old computer clients) phone through Tracfone. It's gathering minutes too - up into 4 digits now. Hard to beat $70 a year. (I re-up it January with the minimum minutes and get the year option for $50.)

[roxtar]

the "free" phones have been garbage since the beginning.

If you want sci-fi level tech in your pocket, you need to be willing to pay for it.

/pre-ordered the GS3 when it came out... ~$200 plus a 2 year contract

[Shalom]

Okay, okay, not a great keyboard, but good keyboards died with the Sidekick line. RIP, keyboards.

I first parsed that as Selectric, and was nodding my head. Then I re-read it.

[otakuneko]

I first parsed that as Selectric, and was nodding my head. Then I re-read it.

Ok I guess I should've qualified it "good keyboards on phones."

Now, I know not of these typewriters of which you speak, but good keyboards on computers died when IBM and Lexmark stopped making the Model M. Mine has outlasted a dozen computers, and at the rate it's going, will outlast me.

[Shalom]

Supposedly, the clickeyness of the Model M was designed to mimic the feel of a Selectric.

I'm typing this on a Northgate Omnikey Ultra, built circa 1988, which has the same design as the Model M, and weighs about the same also. Northgate went out of business because none of their keyboards ever broke, so they had very little repeat business.

Unicomp is still selling what they claim are Model Ms to IBM's original design. They cost less than half as much as a Northgate/Avant Stellar did when it finally went out of production (i.e. $79.99 vs. $190), so I have no idea just how comparable they are. You can still get original Ms on ebay, though.

(One interesting bit about Unicomp; IBM made so many varieties of the Model M, for so many different PCs and terminals, that if you need a specialized one, you can give them the original IBM part number and they'll replicate one for you.)

[otakuneko]

I found a Unicomp knock off of a Model M-13--the Model M, but with a clitmouse in the middle and mouse buttons below the spacebar--at a used parts store one day.

It was horrible. Everything was wrong about it.

I think I tossed it in the trash when I moved last year.

That experience turned me off Unicomp entirely. I'm not sure I'd trust any of their products. Still, their return policy is...well, at least it's better than Newegg's.

And oh, hey, we're supposed to be talking about phones, right? Well you know what phone had a great keyboard? The Sidekick 3. You know what phone was also big and bulky but could also stand up to ten times the punishment a mere iPhone can? The Sidekick 3. I wish I could easily just swap out the hardware in a phone, like you can do with a computer. I'd still be using that sucker.

Oh and, the only "Free" phone I ever got was the one my dad bought me.

[Grendus]

I still have my old Galaxy S. No numbers after it, just Galaxy S. The first one. Still running Android 2.2. I'm the laughing stock of the Computer Science department at my uni.

Things damn near indestructible though. I've dropped it, dunked it, sweated so hard on it that it started registering touches on the screen (sweat is capacitive I guess).

[Silent-Hunter]

Ah the good old buckling spring keyboards. My high school gave me one that still worked. Now, this keyboard outlasted 10 generations of the newer ones, cause the other students would abuse the hell out of them.

The only phone I ever got for free was the hand-me-down Motorola DynaTAC my dad gave me. It was big, and a bit heavy but it fit in my bag and I could use it to make calls, which is what phones are really for. Funny thing about it was the same kids who had iPhones and Razrs and such thought it was the coolest thing ever. I still don't know why. I miss that phone. The US switched the analogue networks off a year after my dad gave it to me.

[wolfie]

If you still have a long wait on your contract, you may also want to check Craigslist and ebay for replacement phones. Not free, but they can be well short of $100.

And will probably turn out to be useless - scammer figures it's a great idea to get a fancy phone with the insurance, sell the phone, report it as stolen, and get a replacement under the insurance. Mobile ID number goes on the "blacklist", and whoever bought it off Craigslist or eBay now has a $100 "brick".

[Shalom]

whoever bought it off Craigslist or eBay now has a $100 "brick".

That's why the legitimate sellers will give you the IMEI if you ask them. Run it by the carrier; if it comes out clean, you complete the transaction, otherwise you tell him to put it where the monkey hid his nut.

[Sapphire Silk]

You'd be surprised at how many customers get pissed off at the prospect of paying only $20-$50 for a phone. They want it free or no deal.

They're being unrealistic. Most phones now are smart phones; they are very expensive, upwards of $700 new. The cell companies could subsidize a $200 phone of the old flip variety back in the day, but to do that now would raise the monthly rate too high for most consumers. Your monthly bill is just as important as the cost of the phone itself.

Europeans and folks in China and Japan have been paying full price for their phones for a long time (that's why Apple hasn't been able to get traction with the iPhone in China . . . too expensive). Americans have been babied by the phone companies and now that the market is matured there is little room for slashing prices.

If you want a cheap phone buy a Trac Phone. If you want a shiny new iPhone or Android phone, crank a crowbar in your wallet and get ready to pay. The public is just going to have to get used to the fact you can't buy a Lamborghini for the price of a Civic.

I still have my old Galaxy S. No numbers after it, just Galaxy S. The first one. Still running Android 2.2. I'm the laughing stock of the Computer Science department at my uni.

Things damn near indestructible though. I've dropped it, dunked it, sweated so hard on it that it started registering touches on the screen (sweat is capacitive I guess).

I've still got old flip phones from the 90's; they work fine. I could always go back to them if I just wanted a basic phone.

I accidentally put my original iPhone in the wash, didn't know the rice trick. Zapped it good, but it taught me to handle my phones with care. I still have my iPhone 3GS, but the battery won't hold a charge. It's a glorified iPod, but it still works as long as it's in a dock or cabled into a power source.

I'll be paying for my current iPhone for awhile. Once I pay it off, my monthly bill will drop a bit. Since I tend to keep my phones for several years at a time, it will pay off for me eventually. I did buy phone insurance (which I don't normally do) because it allows me to upgrade at no cost; T Mobile will pay off the old phone for me.

It makes sense; depreciation means the phone will be worth less as time goes buy, and getting people to continually buy new phones keeps people on the hook.

[wolfie]

That's why the legitimate sellers will give you the IMEI if you ask them. Run it by the carrier; if it comes out clean, you complete the transaction, otherwise you tell him to put it where the monkey hid his nut.

And it's why the smarter scammers will wait to pull the "report as stolen and get new phone under the insurance" until AFTER they've got the money from the purchaser. IMEI will show as clean when the prospective purchaser runs it with the carrier, but by the time they receive the phone it's a brick.

[otakuneko]

I've gotten a couple phones off ebay and one off Amazon Marketplace without a problem. >.>