iansltx

I received a similar "out of stock/preorder" email to what Robert got yesterday. Just another data point. I didn't pay for expedited shipping...interestingly, when I bought my Mogul way back in 2007, Sprint shipped it overnight.

Interesting...they'll be allowing Mobile Hotspot for not-too-much-extra per month. if the data allotment is addtive with the standard 2.5GB, then you could get 6GB of data, plus 300 minutes, for $45, less than the cost of a 6GB Sprint mobile broadband package (albeit with no chance of ever using 4G).

Sad to see that the iPhone won't show up in Sprint stores, nor will it be usable internationally (despite the HSPA radio inside the 4S).

Aww, so the iPhone can't do SVDO? Sad panda.

...and of course the GSIII-32GB is in the more expensive bin (but not the most expensive one...that's reserved for the iPhone 4S).

Re: repairs, what am I hearing about a $35 repair fee? Does that cover any repair that wouldn't result in an insurance claim?

Then again, both times I've dropped my Epic by a Sprint store to get it repaired, they've ended up handing me a replacement phone. Both times were more than a year after I bought the first Epic (one ~14 months in, one ~20 months in).

I've never needed to file an insurance claim...the only phone I've ever gotten wet was my Touch Pro, which continued functioning perfectly afterwards and never required a repair or replacement (I actually bought that phone outright, but it was during a period where Sprint insurance could be applied to such a phone).

So with all that in mind, I wonder what I should do here. I want to make sure I can get my phone repaired/replaced if the problem is the fault of the phone (every single one of my problems have been). I don't, on the other hand, need strictly-speaking insurance because if it's my fault that the phone is broken (has never happened) I'll just suck it up, get a cheap, unsubsidized Android phone and go from there.

Any suggestions, interwebs?

I noticed and made the association with the C64, though I never owned one. I did play Lemonade Stand on an Apple ][c though.

Depends on where you are. My mom keeps a Tracfone active in case she runs out of minutes or needs to roam on Virgin Mobile...$7 or so per month and solves the roaming issue completely. All that said, I've roamed very, very little in the ~5 years I've used Sprint (it's all about where you live).

On the plus side, Sprint can afford to offer cheap rate plans on the VMo iPhone because

1. They aren't subsidizing the phone. At all. Probably making money on it, in fact.

2. They don't have to pay anyone for roaming charges, since VMo phones don't roam.

So they're willing to offer a $30 plan of some sort (which has a reasonable amount of minutes if you mostly use messaging/data), and have unlimited available for $50, $5 more than T-Mobile or AT&T unlimited via Straight Talk. The plus of Virgin Mobile here is that you don't have to find an Apple store and order the SIM-only kit to get your prepaid iPhone; it's all sold in one (well, many...Sprint stores everywhere) place.

The plus against CricKet? More coverage, a slightly cheaper, slightly more generous-with-data-before-throttling unlimited plan, and a 1200-minute plan that's a full $15 per month less expensive than CricKet's only iPhone plan. If you only talk around a thousand minutes per month (which is way above where I sit on my Sprint account, even counting every single minute), the $40 plan plus the non-subsidized iPhone would end up saving you money vs. CricKet after month 10 or so.

Heck, if you don't mind not being able to roam, you could compare the 1200 minute plan to Sprint's 450-minute Everything Data plan. Total cost: $80 per month. Despite a steep $450 subsidy on the device, you'd come out ahead on Virgin Mobile after 12 months, assuming again that you're averaging 40 minutes or fewer on the phone each day, and use less than 2.5GB of data in a month.

I bet Sprint sells more of these phones than they think they will...

Ordered my SIII (32GB blue) a few minutes ago, as an (early, see my thread on the topic) upgrade. Didn't get the e-mail Robert did, but did get an upgrade confirmation email with the phone purchase info etc.

One thing I'm curious about is whether the phone will come with a 32GB microSDHC card preinstalled, for a whopping 64GB of total storage. The phone description page seems to indicate this...and then you see a 32GB card being hawked (for a disgustingly expensive $99.99) on the accessory purchase page.

Speaking of which, I didn't buy any accessories. I've got plenty of stuff that runs on microUSB, and I like my cheapie Skullcandy wired stereo headset more than, say, some Bluetool product.

Is this the first mention on the board of the LTE 800 FITs? When I saw "FIT" I immediately thought, "Wait, Waco?"

In any case, in rural central TX the two providers with the most coverage are the CLR licensees, AT&T and Five Bar...er...Five Star Wireless. Sprint and Verizon are limited to 1900 there, though VZ has put up multiple towers in the area such that their coverage, depending on where you are, is better than Sprint's (sometimes it's the reverse however). Put another way, you *can* do 1900MHz as a rural solution if you're forced to, but it's far from ideal...but you may have to, if your roaming partner in the area decides to stop CDMA investment at 1x and switch to GSM/EDGE (and, recently, HSPA/+).

Quick update: my upgrade eligibility got moved up to 6/1/12. Just ordered the SIII (32GB, Blue). Fingers crossed, hoping it gets to me on launch day

From what I hear, I can keep my current (SERO Premium) plan by calling Sprint when I activate the device. Which means that I'll be paying ~$67 per month, inclusive of taxes and fees, for 500 minutes + any mobile + unlimited n/w + unlimited messaging and data (on LTE when it comes out) + unlimited calling to my parents' landline + insurance. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

Why is the parents' landline listed in there? I asked for 5pm nights and weekends as well as Pick 3 back in 2008...and got both added to my then-$30 SERO plan ($43.28 including insurance, taxes and fees). 5pm nights and weekends became unavailable when I went to SERO-P, and my parents' cells were two of the three Pick 3 numbers I picked, but that left me with unlimited calling to the number that I called most during college. End result: it's been a long time since I've used more than 100 anytime minutes

Oh yeah, and I'm looking forward to my new phone. The OG Epic is awesome and all that, but I want download speeds above 2 Mbps when NV comes out, and the added speed won't cost me anything extra per month since Premium Data was required when I got this phone anyway.

Funny how Google Voice Actions have been around since Android 2.2 (iirc a year prior to Siri)...and yet Apple decides to attack S Voice now.

It's not like the folks who are buying the GSIII will switch to the iPhone 4S due to the delay. They might grab an HTC One S/X instead but that doesn't help Apple any. The iPhone is in a completely different category than either of the two new monsterphone models, so trying to prevent its existence in the US is just silly in my book. If Apple wants more sales, they should at least put an LTE radio into the iPhone, and maybe upgrade the CPU to an A5X while they're at it...

Meh, I've bought a number of devices shortly after they came out. My 3rd-gen iPad (bought in a store before many had their online-shipped orders) is the latest one to come to mind. I think my MacBook was similar. I only waited on my Epic because Sprint didn't start SERO Premium until 9/30/10 or so. I played with Windows 7 on a first-gen MacBook Air before the taskbar changed from a carbon copy of Vista's, and used Vista in a production environment at RC2. My Epic has had leaked firmware on it nearly as much as it has had stock

So yeah, I know the crap that happens when you're an early adopter, and am prepared to deal with it. If I wanted a solid, somewhat bland phone I'd just get the Galaxy Nexus. But I want something with a microSD card slot

EDIT: I will also maintain the insurance plan that I've had since I came to Sprint nearly five years ago. When the device screws up, I'll hop over to the Sprint store a couple miles from where I'll be living, starting in August, and see if the store will make it right. There's a Panera right below the Sprint store so I can wait while they repair/replace

Now where is the RF spec comparison between the Samsung epic and the EVO LTE. I would be very curious to see that one.

That would be interesting. I'd look up the FCC docs, but I'm in a lazy mood right now

No sense clock for me either. Too big. I have a clock on the top right already. I like the beautiful widgets 1x4 weather better.

 

But... No Sammy for me. The GPS on the epic burned me bad. The GPS on the EVO LTE is friggin amazing! The flakey Sammy radio stack is also another reason. That thing takes its time to flip from roaming to no roaming. I don't blame the hardware, I firmly believe it was all software issues. And how can you release a phone that can't roam on PCS? Another software bug they failed to fix. Guess I should have steered clear when they released the phone with the upload speeds broken and sprint kept saying nothing was wrong with it. I am sure they were just repeating what Sammy was telling them.

I noticed the upload speed issue when I first got my Epic. Then I applied the software update and the problem went away.

I had GPS issues with the phone, but that was mainly due to running pre-release firmware (e.g. DK28). For the times I've used GPS on the phone recently, it's been fine.

I guess I'm also lucky that the roaming I've needed to do on the phone has always been on the cellular band. Go figure.

If the SIII ends up having crappy radios, of course I'll take it back and swap it for the Evo, though I'll miss being able to swap batteries when one gets old. I've owned HTC devices before (Mogul, Touch Pro) and they've served me well, with crystal-clear voice quality, etc., and my former roommate's Rezound looks awesome, but there are a few touches on the Samsung (e.g. better camera software) that I want, so I'll try the SIII first

As an avid Apple user (my VZW iPad 4G is sitting next to my OG Epic, near the 2007 iMac I'm typing this on; my 2009 MacBook, recently upgraded to 8GB of RAM, is also nearby)...Apple is being petty.

If their hardware is so awesome (in the case of the iPad, it is) and they can stay ahead of the competition, they don't need to litigate. People can tell the difference between an iPhone and a competitor before someone even turns the device on, and Apple is eating any single manufacturer up in terms of sales/market share. What are they complaining about?

Personally, I hope that HTC, Samsung or Motorola come out with some awesome innovation, patent it, then force Apple to play nice on cross-licensing when Apple wants to get into the game. It's not like Apple hasn't copied from other manufacturers before...the pull-down notification bar in iOS 5 is very, VERY similar to the notification shade that has been in Android since its inception. Then again, it's kind of tit-for-tat; Google copied Apple's multiple-apps-in-one-icon UI element with Stacks in ICS.

Maybe, from Apple's viewpoint, it's sad that they have to actually compete for customers with Android devices that have superior hardware specs (though iOS tends to be smoother than Android despite these specs). But for the rest of us it's a very good thing.

Also, I'd rather have an Android phone than an iPhone. Fragmentation notwithstanding. For one thing, I love me some AmazonMP3 (as an actual app, not their web app that works on iOS). For another, even with the iPhone's awesome keyboard, a 3.5" screen is pretty darned small for doing useful stuff. It almost feels like an upsell for the iPad at this point

I'm willing to take a chance on the Samsung's radios. Yes, it only supports 5x5 LTE (I'll bet it could support 10x10 with a firmware upgrade, though I think it will be awhile before Sprint refarms non-G PCS such that they can do 10x10 channels). However it has a removable battery and as much RAM as the cheapie nettop I bought last summer. That's saying something.

Doesn't hurt that I also purchased Beautiful Widgets (so i can get a Sense-like clock) a couple years ago, and I just run LauncherPro on my phones anyway

So...I'm impatient.

Just got off the phone with Sprint and "bought out" my upgrade eligibility from 8/1/12 to today, for $45. So, barring issues with my "SERO Premium" plan (I paid $10 more per month starting 10/1/10 in order to be able to use an Android device, plus another $10 for premium data, over the old $30 rate), I should be able to preorder a lovely blue 32GB Galaxy SIII later on today.

Yes, I could have waited until the phone is actually out to buy out my eligibility, or waited a month and a half beyond that and gotten my upgrade without paying a buyout fee. But, the way I figure, preordering the phone now will ensure that I get it as soon as Sprint possibly can send it (barring customs disputes, a la Evo 4G LTE). I'll also have that much less usage on the replacement OG Epic that I got yesterday, potentially increasing resale value enough to offset the $45.

Anyway, has anyone else checked out early-buyout opportunities in order to get an LTE phone soon and (relatively) cheaply? How long did you have before normal upgrade eligibility, and how much was the charge to move it up? Did you take it? Which phone are you going to grab with the newfound upgrade ability?

Oh, and if anyone wants a very gently used, albeit likely refurbished, OG Epic on or about 6/21, drop me a PM. A reasonable offer that's better than what I could get from Sprint is very likely to be accepted I'll even pre-root and install a custom ROM on it if you'd like (it's running stock Gingerbread for the moment).

One quick note re: using Sprint as an ISP: Millenicom currently offers a semi-unlimited (~50GB/mo) package on 3G/WiMAX. However my bet is that it doesn't transition to LTE, and 50GB is less than Comcast's 300GB (with the new cap update) anyway.

Also, my bet is that, where Clear puts up TD-LTE hot zones, they'll sell unlimited (fixed and mobile) broadband there. They are the only provider with enough spectrum to be able to get away with this (and small enough cells to make sure speeds stay halfway decent). So, kind of like their WiMAX service right now, but better, albeit potentially with limited coverage expansion beyond "hot zones."

Sprint does have more cell sites than VZW/AT&T, and has a decent amount of PCS spectrum in a number of markets...this contributes to their willingness to offer unlimited smartphone data, as well as discounted data card data compared to AT&T, Verizon and even T-Mobile (depending on how you slice T-Mobile's packages). However when peak speeds on Sprint's LTE network can be matched by a mid-tier cable internet plan, you know that there isn't going to be enough capacity there to mount a wholesale assault on wireline broadband.

Maybe if they do spectrum hosting with Dish...

Samsung has made it a point that the Sprint version is NOT physically different from the others. It would be lovely if Sprint had a black version (AT&T is getting a red one), but probably not going to happen.

In any event, cases will be available without any issue.

As a side note, I looked up the dimensions of this phone and compared it to the Palm T|X I used to carry around. The SIII is longer, but narrower by about three-eighths of an inch and a heck of a lot thinner, compared to my old PDA (which I replaced functionally with the HTC Mogul in 2007). So, while the thing's definitely a monstor, it looks like it will still be somewhat pocketable

Why yes, as a matter of fact, I did

Especially with everyone mentioning the possibility of a rural CLWR deployment.

Honestly the RCA should rename themselves to "Non-Duopoly Cellular Association." I sincerely doubt that MetroPCS, Leap or TMo will make a serious push for rural service any time soon,,,they don't own cellular-band spectrum and have historically stuck to urban/suburban markets for the primary thrust of their expansion.

Clear wire joining is even more laughable. Sure, they have deployments live in places like Amarillo...plus the Protection Sites...but their spectrum is too high frequency to offer anything reliably in rural areas without a high-gain (fixed) antenna. Fixed wireless works just fine over that frequency, but mobile...yeah, no.

I will probably grab the 32GB blue version, since it's the same price as I paid for my OG Epic. Add in my Epic's 16GB microSD card and I've got a TON of storage on that thing

Re: TWC fiber, at least around here fiber customers take a completely different traceroute path than HFC folks. It's odd, but in your case it may work out well enough that getting TWC fiber would be fine from a latency perspective. I know that around here the "tbone" is very reasonable latency-wise. But we are in a completely different market (Texas).

And yes, I'm bouncing between Colorado and Texas, so I can use "here" to mean both TWC and Comcast territory

I was pretty much defining AAV as Fiber or Metro ethernet from a cable co or other residential/"Business" provider (Even on Fiber from a residential provider you get absolute shit.) which in general is a bad idea in my area at least, the local cable co has 30ms latency at the very least before you even attempt to reach the outside of their network. If AAV is temporary I can see it working out well for quick deployment but otherwise it's a very bad idea, I rather have microwave to a tower serviced by proper fiber than AAV via string and a largely incompetent NOC/Group of Server Monkeys.

A cableco's HFC network is no indication of how well it does at pushing bits point-to-point over fiber. Though if your cableco were that bad at getting a low latency fiber connection, they likely wouldn't meet the backhaul provider specs anyway and thus would not be used.

Who is the cableco in your area btw? In the Denver area Comcast actually does a good job with their network from a latency perspective; I can get to local sites in Denver in about 12ms, 10ms of which is latency due to being on HFC. Granted, across the street at my alma mater I can get to those sites in 1.5-2ms, but my guess is that if I had MetroE on Comcast I'd have similar performance.

Also, where did you get the idea that residential FTTH is crappy? Do you work for Level3 or something? I've never heard a bad review of network performance from someone who actually has FTTH (none of this AT&T U-Verse crap). That said, it's highly unlikely that an AAV provider would slap a cell site onto a shared GPON branch, the fiber tech that's used in most areas for residential FTTH (some use active Ethernet, which is the exact same tech that the "big boys" use for serving up MetroE circuis to cell towers anyway).