ramjet73

Hey cat! Nice to hear from you. There's nothing wrong with an HTC One for $50 except compatibility with Sprint's current network in Hawaii. The Nexus 5 looks really sweet since it will work on T-Mobile's $30 plan and Straight Talk's AT&T $45 "unlimited" everything (2.5GB of 4G data) plan and still position for the eventual rollout of Sprint's NV/LTE in Hawaii. I'm seriously considering ordering that from BestBuy for $149, even though it means entering a two year Sprint contract to get that price, and selling my Nexus 4.

I'm a little late to this party, but I thought it might be helpful to share some of the things I've been doing to cope with the lack of Sprint LTE in Hawaii. 1. When my contract ended this past June I called Sprint account services (formerly retention) and explained that I didn't want to upgrade my Evo 3D and sign a new contract to get an LTE 4G phone without LTE service but wanted to keep my Sprint account open so I could maintain my Google Voice integration. They understood my dilemma and let me keep my Evo 3D on a $19.95 100 minute, 100 text message and no data account for $19.95/month and the Google Voice Sprint integration still works with that account. I can still use data on my Evo 3D when connected to a WiFi hotspot but usually leave that phone at home since it only has 100 voice minutes and no data plan to support VoIP services. 2. I opened a T-mobile prepaid account and selected the $30/month 100 minute/5GB of 4G data plan. I am using that account with a 16GB Nexus 4 that I picked up on the Play Store in September for $249 and am quite happy with the HSPA+ and LTE speeds I get in areas that have coverage (some hacking is currently required to enable T-Mobile LTE on the Nexus 4). My phone calls are primarily made using VoIP apps over data connections but I still have the 100 voice minutes when needed. 3. This afternoon I purchased a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7" tablet from Sprint for $50 and will be paying about $120 ($5 per month plus taxes and fees) over two years which still comes out to much less than the list price of $299 for that model and even the $179 that Amazon is currently charging for the WiFi only version. It's not the greatest tablet (the Nexus 7 2013 has way better specs) but at about $170 it is much less expensive than the T-Mobile Nexus 7 ($384 with 32MB on the T-Mobile website) and will allow me to test the coverage of the Sprint LTE network as it rolls out on Oahu where I live. While acknowledging that these are all band-aids and not the ideal solution for mobile devices and networks, they allow me to live with the current situation while positioning for the eventual rollout of NV/LTE in Hawaii. I've been a Sprint user since they bought Primeco in Hawaii about 14 years ago and my intent is to subscribe to the $80 unlimited everything plan once the LTE network in Hawaii (at least for Honolulu) is built out. These options may not work for everyone but I prefer to make lemonade out of lemons rather than complaining about things that I cannot control. I do believe that once the Sprint NV/LTE network is available in Hawaii its performance will be competitive with the other carriers and offer much better value than AT&T and Verizon. YMMV.