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Where do you buy your cell phone?


Ottakee
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Do you buy it at the phone store---say Verizon store, or big box store---Best Buy, Walmart, etc., or through an online retailer---like Amazon, etc? Just wondering if there is a difference in service, quality, etc.

 

I am looking at getting a Droid Razr Maxx (need the battery life) and I have seen them for $299 at the Verizon online store or local retail store. I see them though through Amazon for $149 and it looks like you can sign up for the same insurance, same phone plan you already have, etc. If you do this is there an activation fee or can you just do that online at home (like we do with the kids phones when we have to switch when one is lost, etc).

 

I HATE the thought of another 2 year contract and the thought of paying $$$ for the phone and all of the hidden little fees but my phone battery is terrible now and they no longer make the battery.

 

Any other buying tips?

 

Right now we have Verizon with a family plan with 2 smart phones and 3 dumb phones.

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We use Best Buy. They honor our upgrade credit and we watch for deals. Ds and I both got free phones as upgrades, dh paid 50.00 for his (retail was over 300.00). We have no home phone, so we'll continue with our cell phone service anyway. Usually we order online because we're not near a store. We've had free shipping on all of our phones.

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I bought mine at costco - the only difference was it didnt' have as many apps as the one from verizon store. (most of which I wouldn't use anyway.) But, it did cost $100 less, and included a car charger, cases, and a mail-in coupon for an extended life battery.

 

our joke about the verizon store is "when you care enough to pay the very most." we look at phones there, as they are on, but don't buy there. (and just becasue the salesmen work there, doesn't mean they're familiar enough with the phone to be able to explain them.) dh used our two-year phone credit to get his as he only wanted a simple phone and -it was free.

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The last 2 times I've bought mine at Costco. The price was competitive and they included extra items like a headset and car charger.

 

One thing you might check is the operating system on the phone offered on Amazon vs. Verizon. When I was looking at phones I saw a big discrepancy like that and it was due to one of the phones having an older operating system. I believe the newest system for Android is Android 4.1, also called Jelly Bean. Android 4.0, also called Ice Cream Sandwich, is on many newer phones and can be updated to 4.1.

 

When I saw the price discrepancies it was due to the cheaper phone using Android 2.3 which is an older system. You may not care which OS your phone is running but that could be the reason for the price difference. If you do care, you can look the systems up online to find out what changes were made with the newer releases.

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