Cell phone companies???

[Thailand2Island]

Originally Posted by Spammasubi

Wrote: That is true only to the extent of your particular location in the food chain...8-D

I agree with your basic premise that there is value in being disconnected from the rest of the world. This is my eventual goal; I'm close, but not quite there yet. In my professional career, I'm at the peak of my earning power right now & I have certain goals in the short term that will enable me to enjoy life in the long term. I don't feel that my present career is a "sacrifice"; I enjoy my work, and I enjoy being productive and I like being in charge, but I do look forward to the time when this is no longer necessary. Coming to Hawaii is part of that plan. I'm taking a responsible position where much will be expected of me, and I will be compensated accordingly. A few short years of this, then I can "cut the cord" as it were and just coast from there. Then you'll find me chillin' on an outer island somewhere. :-)

[Spammasubi]

ThailandtoIsaland Wrote:
"A few short years of this, then I can "cut the cord" as it were and just coast from there. Then you'll find me chillin' on an outer island somewhere. :-)"

Good Luck. And I sincerely mean that. I hope you are able to find yourself in a position to be able to not only cut the cord but to eventually redesign your i-phone utilizing a 32oz framing hammer and a slab of warm Hawaiian cement.

[Thailand2Island]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

I used my AT&T iphone in Thailand last year. You cannot change out the SIM unless that has recently changed otherwise you'll have to jailbreak your phone.

I kept my cost down by using Skype in wifi areas and turned off data roaming. Incoming texts are free.

Edited to add: Coworker mentioned to me you can buy an iPhone 4S unlocked from Apple and swap the SIM in the local countries - the difference is the phone itself costs a lot more.

I'm still looking into this, and arrive on island in a few days so I have to make a decision soon. In response to some of these comments... You are correct, you can use an AT&T phone in Thailand AND you cannot change out the SIM card. What that means is that you are using it in AT&T's international roaming mode which is crazy expensive. I'm still trying to find one that will allow you to swap the SIM card & use the local Thai cellular provider. I looked into buying an unlocked phone to avoid this whole problem. You would have to buy it from Apple to get a phone that is truly unlocked. The issue there is that Verizon & Sprint won't allow unlocked phones on their network that you don't buy directly from them. I might make this work on AT&T or T-Mobile. But then you have the big upfront cost of the phone. Everyone EXCEPT AT&T will "temporarily" unlock your phone when traveling overseas so that you CAN use a foreign SIM card until you get back to the States. As long as you've had the phone on contract at least 60 days. So I think this is what I will do.

Of course, then I'll have a 2-year contract on a phone that will be quote obsolete unquote by the latest and greatest in a few months. So my wife will get the old clunky iPhone 4s, and I'll hold off until the iPhone 5 comes out. It's going to have some serious engineering upgrades that I crave -- Liquid metal, Gorilla Glass, NFC among the leading rumors. Sorry if there is a lot of repeated info in this post... I'm thinking out loud as my confusion lingers.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Spammasubi

I have Verizon. Works fine on Oahu and BI, Maui too when I was last on those islands. It's a
basic cell phone with texting capabilities I just refuse to use. It just seems quicker to call than try
to punch those small keys into a coherent sentence structure and push send. It's cheap and
I could care less about interent access 24/7. Absolutely nobody in their right mind is going to
steal it, and it's not really a worry if it is dropped or inadvertantly goes swimming with
me. This is Hawai'i, you have to slow down, relax and listen to the birds and waves.

Here's one reason that strategy is aging prematurely... the emerging trend for companies to funnel all their Customer Service away from phones, toward pure internet access.

Your sentiment is great, though not really exclusive with having an internet-enabled phone, but while you are snoozing on the beach the whole world is rapidly changing around you. To quote from the following article, "Phone users are getting left out."

Tech Companies Leave Phone Calls Behind - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[Spammasubi]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Here's one reason that strategy is aging prematurely... the emerging trend for companies to funnel all their Customer Service away from phones, toward pure internet access.

Your sentiment is great, though not really exclusive with having an internet-enabled phone, but while you are snoozing on the beach the whole world is rapidly changing around you. To quote from the following article, "Phone users are getting left out."

Tech Companies Leave Phone Calls Behind - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Good article. Thanks OpenD. While I would love to be snoozing on the beach, I don't....at least, often, and while the world is rapidly changing around me, I am far from being oblivious to that change. Again, a persons need to be in constant digital communication is a matter of their level within the food chain. From my perspective, a lot of e-mail, twitter messages, etc, are background noise. What are truly important in Hawai'i and business in Hawai'i are personal relationships. I cannot over-emphasize this, and I rarely support or enjoy those relationships with an e-mail or tweet. They actually require effort and with the degree and sensitivity expected in those relationships. This is not New York, Chicago or Seattle. It's much different.

[Thailand2Island]

Ok, I'm seriously confused now. I went to the Apple store & picked up a Sprint iPhone. I mainly chose Sprint because they were the only one with a truly unlimited data plan. The others max out at 2 or 4 GB, then start charging more for data which I could see to be a problem.

Here's my confusion (keep in mind I've been living overseas for the past 5 years so I been kinda outta touch)... I thought T-Mobile offers the iPhone?? At the Apple store, they offer only Sprint, AT&T & Verizon. I see all kinds of stories online about the T-Mobile iPhone, and it looks like there is T-Mobile in Hawaii, but I can't find a T-Mobile iPhone. Not even on their website. What am I missing? T-Mobile had been my top choice since they are GSM and would unlock the phone for international roaming. AT&T won't unlock, and Sprint -- as far as I can tell -- is CDMA. Bummer!

Thank you for any constructive feedback. There is a 14-day grace period that I can turn in my phone, so my decision is no irrevocable.

[whtviper1]

T-Mobile has already stated they won't even pick up the iphone 5 - and that the earliest model might be the iphone 6.

Sprint is CDMA.

4GB is a lot of data for an iphone. Unless you are watching movies all the time you aren't likely to hit any limits.

Go to this site and try the calculator to see if you really need that much data - I think you'd be happier with ATT.

Data Calculator - Verizon Wireless

http://www.motoringcrunch.com/news/m...ile-iphone-5-6

[Thailand2Island]

That Verizon page is a good tool; I've always wondered how much data I'd be using per month. When I plugged it in, I came up with 5.2 GB/mo and that's without any music streaming. I'm expecting to start using Pandora (which was blocked overseas) and that would push me up over 8 GB/mo.

I don't like being in the position of watching my megabytes, and I definitely don't like paying charges for exceeding my limit. That makes me think the unlimited data plan is best for me. I know Sprint isn't rated as the best provider on the island so I'll drive around to see how Sprint's coverage works for me. If the coverage seems ok, I guess that's what I'll stay with.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Thailand2Island

I thought T-Mobile offers the iPhone?? At the Apple store, they offer only Sprint, AT&T & Verizon. I see all kinds of stories online about the T-Mobile iPhone, and it looks like there is T-Mobile in Hawaii, but I can't find a T-Mobile iPhone. Not even on their website. What am I missing? T-Mobile had been my top choice since they are GSM and would unlock the phone for international roaming. AT&T won't unlock, and Sprint -- as far as I can tell -- is CDMA.

Yeah, T-Mobile has a million iPhone users on their network, even though they don't sell the iPhone and for at least a couple more months iPhones only run at 2G speeds. I don't know if that says more about the loyalty of T-Mobile customers, or of the power of iPhone fandom. Probably some of each.

I think the fact they were in limbo so long because they were expecting to be merged into AT&T has a lot to do with it, too.

Nevertheless, I am one of those fiercely loyal T-Mobile customers, not in the least because of how supportive they are whenever I travel internationally. And I prefer my Android phone over an iPhone for a number of reasons I've previously outlined, including the ability to easily change my own battery for $15, vs. my friend needing to take his in for an authorized swap at about $100. Or the notification system which keeps me on top of all my disparate apps and communication channels, which Apple doth not have.

In any case, now that you've got your iPhone and your Sprint network, and have a few days for evaluation before you're fully committed, why not take a little time to look at what is available that ISN'T iPhone?