I live in Vancouver BC, as such the carriers here are mostly Rogers, Bell, Telus and WIND (who are actually kinda cool, cheap too).
Telus Milestone was purchased 2 years ago on a 3 year contract, I bought it at exactly the worst time when it was one of the better options for Android handsets in Canada just before all the handsets made their way over to here from the states. It's old, was old when I got it (since the Droid was at least a year old at that point) and is having additional issues on top of just being heavily underpowered right now, such as 'phantom touch screen input' issues... which needless to say make the phone less useful than a brick at more and more frequent times. I've never wanted to hurt a piece of technology in my life, but it's taking almost everything I have not to just say fuck it and throw this piece of junk at a concrete wall just for the small gratification I may derive from that.
So here are my... here's the deal. I have no issues with the iPhone and think I'd be plenty happy with one since it kinda seems the most reliable and does 'everything' as good or better than anything else (performance, apps, camera). I have slightly more an issue with Android just for the small things having used the OS in it's broken 'old' state for so long and hearing it's issues are kinda a core thing regardless of hardware (the process priority, and unresponsive apps etc). I really dig the Metro stylings of the Phone 7 handsets (dude I own a Zune HD and still love the thing dearly) but they are clearly old hardware at this point and I'm unclear as to whether the new lumia 900 is anything special (since all the advice is stay with your current windows phone... which isn't good advice for someone who doesn't own one).
My price range does in fact make it ideal to not have to pay $500+ for a handset at this time since if I do make this jump right now, and I really freakin' want to, than I'll have to eat all the dumb termination fees Telus throws at me and most likely a few other things as well if I also jump to Rogers for a lumia (number transfer).
So does anyone have advice for getting a good new phone to replace my old busted one, that won't destroy my bank account but also is something (if I have to get another 3 year contract) that I'll be generally happy with for most or all of that 3 years. In my mind I'm looking at the Lumia 900... or a dang iPhone 4. The small things against me getting an iPhone are simply that I'm not at all invested in the iOS stuff, I used to have an iPod Touch before my Zune and was incredibly happy when I could uninstall iTunes at the time, I'd hate to have to use that again, but also I recognise that I could in fact deal with it if that truly is a better option for me (the iPhone 4 is a good phone).
Definitely switch to WIND. WINDTab means that you'll be able to buy a phone, pay it off, and should you want to switch carriers or get a new phone, you just pay off the remainder of your phone. It's awesome! Also, they're cheap. Provided coverage isn't awful in Vancouver, I'd go with WIND.
Now, the 3 platforms...
Android
I'm still partial to Android, especially after getting the Gingerbread -> ICS upgrade on my Nexus S. Made my phone feel like a whole new phone! It's great! Strong contenders for Android are the Galaxy Nexus, the HTC One and the Galaxy S III. All solid phones, can't really go wrong with any of them. I'm thankful that I never had to experience the sort of rage that you have had with your phone.
iOS
Not much to say here. The 4S is a good phone. Nothing wrong with it. What can be said is that the 4S is mid-life cycle, so I wouldn't really recommend purchasing one now. The next one, I gander, is around 5/6 months away. Really, they're a fine phone. If that's what you want, then go for it, but you may want to wait. (pure speculation that you shouldn't take seriously: I would not be surprised if the new iPhone is just a bigger revision of the current 4S... something with a ~4" screen)
WP7
People have been ranting and raving about the Lumia 900 for quite some time... but I'm not sold on WP. I do like the Zune/Metro styling (I've always liked Zune Software), but I just don't think I'd enjoy the platform. Has never really appealed to me, and always looked like something I would not like to use. Also, I was curious, so I did a Google search: it looks very unclear at this juncture as to whether or not the L900 will get WP8 software... which is a bit unnerving (at least for me). I do believe you're also limited to Rogers with the L900. Just something to ponder.
I'd get another Android phone in a heartbeat, but perhaps it's best for you to see if the grass is really greener on the other side, then re-sod your own lawn. You'll never know if you don't try!
Keep in mind that Wind uses the 700 MHz AWS frequency spectrum for their phones, which nixes a lot choices, Lumia 900 and iPhone included. That being said, I'm in the exact situation with MAGZine where I had a Nexus S and the ICS upgrade which makes things pretty awesome. I'd put my vote in for Wind if you're looking to switch.
If you were to buy out your contract, it'd probably be around $20/mo as I've heard - so $240 for your one remaining year. If your budget is $500, then the remaining $260 could be put towards a new contract at your choice carrier, which would probably get you whatever phone you wanted, plus a contract you never wanted. I'm partial towards Wind, and if you were to buy out your contract, I would head there and nab the Galaxy Nexus for $199.
I will preface this by saying I worked at Futureshop's Cell Shop for a very long time and am now employed by Bell, but I'm going to try and be as non-bias as possible. I'm gonna explain a couple of key differences between carriers that you probably want to know before making any kind of switch, but if you're not interested in them and just want to see my phone recommendations, skim down to my next post (since I hit the character limit for this).
The reason that WIND's subscription base hasn't picked up dramatically since they pushed into Canada is simply that, while their plans are interesting, they don't have the infrastructure in Canada to support their customers. WIND is owned by an Egyptian company called Orascom; while that seems like it might not be important, it's key to the reason why their network is unreliable even when moving within the same city. The other two mini-carriers (Solo Mobile and Chatr) both benefit from the fact that they are owned by Bell and Rogers respectively and thus can use the infrastructure of those two companies. WIND doesn't have that luxury; that's the reason that even within a city that "says" it has WIND coverage, you'll find certain areas of the city just have absolutely no signal. This is in Calgary, the second place that WIND launched; BC was the last, so they're the furthest behind infrastructure-wise.
The second thing to keep in mind between the big three (Rogers, Telus, and Bell) is that there's an unknown factor in how reliable a Cell network is that carriers don't advertise, and it's the method they use to switch between towers. When Rogers switches you from one tower to the next for coverage, they drop the tower you're currently on as soon as you're in range of another tower. It switches you to the new tower quicker, but the issue is that if you're on the fringe of that tower and not moving into it's primary range quick enough, you get service that drops in and out even though your phone displays bars. This is the primary reason Rogers customers encounter text messages that just get "lost" on their way from one phone to another, and to a lesser extent dropped calls. Telus and Bell both switch towers in a way similar to a monkey swinging on vines. When you enter range of a new tower, you won't actually disconnect from the first tower until you have a firm grip on the second tower; the next "vine", so to speak. Once you've got a good signal from the second tower, it'll disconnect the first tower, which leads to less of those pesky dropped text messages.
Carrier-wise, since it seems like you aren't unhappy with Telus' service, I think your best option is going to be Telus. Based purely off of friends that have Rogers, and the amount of customers that came into Futureshop complaining about Rogers, you are going to have a far worse customer experience in the long haul at Rogers than either of the other two. Unless you [i]really[/i] want the Lumia 900 versus the Lumia 800, there's not a good reason to go to them at all.
Why Telus?
1) Network. The network uses the same towers as Bell, which means you're getting the largest and most reliable coverage available in Canada right now.
2) Early Upgrade. The main thing that's going to save you a ton of money sticking with Telus versus going somewhere else is the Early Upgrade. Even if a straight upgrade isn't available, Telus allows you to upgrade early while paying something called an EDUF (Early Device Upgrade Fee). The way this is calculated is they take how much they subsidized the phone for (i.e. if you got $500 off the phone) and split it over the cost of your contract (36 months). In this example case, it's $13 a month. Your EDUF is just whatever is remaining of that cost (so 1 year x $13/mo = ~$166 bucks). Way cheaper than cancelling out of a plan, and renews your for a three year term.
3) Customer Retention. Telus will do a lot to ensure that you don't leave them at all, much less with time left in your contract. If you talk to their Customer Retention line and let them know you're thinking of leaving, you're all but guaranteed to get a great deal on a plan or add-ons just for staying with them.
4) Options. Telus has the two operating systems you want. The choice between WP7 and iPhone is really reliant on 2 things: which one you like better right now, and how much faith you want to put into the Windows App store. I love the clean look of Live Tile, but for me, the lack variety in terms of quality apps available to Windows Phones rules them out. If you're not looking to use anything outside of the basic phone apps, this is fine; however, if you do want more apps, you need to know going in how extremely limited that store is right now. You're putting a lot of faith into that store getting better when WP8 hits (provided the Lumia 800/900 even get the update to WP8, which is pretty likely but not guaranteed).
5) Promos. Straight up, right now Telus has a promotion when you go in-store to renew or activate with them that gives you a minimum $50 off the cost of the phone if you trade in your old phone. So if you can live with not smashing the thing on the ground, you can save fifty bucks off an iPhone, which is nice.
That's a lot of text so I understand if you didn't read it, but I'd say in 8/10 cases people complain more about the carrier they end up with than the phone they got. Picking a carrier also helps you narrow your phone choices down quickly.
@mikeblais: but... cost. Telus and Bell are awful on cost when compared to WIND or even Mobilicity. AFAIK, Rogers does seamless call transmission across it's own towers, but will flat-out drop the call if a non-rogers customer joins the tower's network (e.g. Wind -> Rogers). Unless if you often travel outside of the city centre, I couldn't imagine anyone actively choosing to use Robelus. versus WIND/Mobilicity, the only advantage they have is network coverage (and the iPhone, I suppose...).
Also, I don't mean to nit-pick, but being an Egyptian company is not a 'key reason' as to why the network is unreliable. The key reason is that Robelus has enjoyed a competition-free marketplace for a couple decades now, and now do not want to play nice. The amount of anti-consumer activity going on in Canadian telecom is ridiculous. Why pay the world's highest mobile rates? I'd choose WIND or Mobility if nothing else but to send a message. $40 for unlimited talk, text and data and caller ID (which is ridiculous that companies still charge or bundle Caller ID)
I suppose it's fair to examine the coverage before jumping to Wind. Having lived in Calgary, Waterloo, Toronto and Markham, I haven't had too much trouble with reception. I loose reception in either huge, giant concrete buildings or occasionally on the highway between Toronto and Waterloo. Check to see if the coverage is suitable for you, but if you're a city goer most the time, I suspect you'll be fine.
The problem with WIND in Calgary is that there's gaping holes in their coverage
Example: Chinook Mall has a WIND booth and has coverage where the booth is, but if you walk down the mall your service drops.
That's probably because it's a big old mall with some serious concrete and steel in the way of the outside world so they built a mini antennae at the kiosk itself in order to sell phones to people.
My 2 cents, I work for Rogers, I literally sell phones to people every day, Don't go with Rogers right now unless they are the only carrier with good coverage near you.
Wind is pretty damn great, I'm with them and have been for years, I pay 40 bucks a month for unlimited everything, north america wide calling, world wide texting, unlimited data, hell even tethering is free on my plan (although it's an older one so tethering might have been phased out.) the tab thing works well and the phones are unlocked from the get go. Customer service is great, recently my sim crapped out and I was getting no service constantly, took it in, no charge for a replacement sim, no questions asked really, told the guy the problem and he just tossed me a sim and said let's figure out what's going on here. (Again I work for rogers and I'm good at my job but wanna guess how many rogers reps would treat you that well? Trust me it's not many.) I also recently moved and had no internet for a while, I used 15 gigs of data on my phone that month by tethering the whole time, it was a very good alternative.
I have a galaxy nexus with them and I love it. it's $199 up front and tetraband so I can take it pretty much anywhere and sign up if I want/need to.
I hear they will be getting the lumia 900 soon, which would also be cool, they have the 710 right now but if you're a tested reader you probably need something beefier than the 710.
As for the different platforms, here's how I figure out what to sell to a customer
Business processional/dumb teenager that thinks BBM is the best thing ever = blackberry. (I might give them more attention when the new OS and hardware comes out)
Hipsters/slightly smarter teenage with rich parents/drug dealers/people that understand what data means basically, = Iphone
Anybody that seems like they know what they're doing or could at least figure out how to program a VCR (believe me that's an issue) = Android you have to tinker with it but you can really create a great experience for yourself if you have the time/patience.
Tech illiterate, but social, people who are always on twitter/facebook/etc. = windows phone, the active tiles and such are actually very cool and simple, everything you wanna know is right on that home screen and it's easy to understand and work with.
There are definitely issues with Wind's network at this point, but their data plans are really the only ones that are reasonably priced (OK, so are Mobilicity's, but I'm not as familiar with their service). Wind does offer true "unlimited" data, in that they will never charge you more money, no matter how much you use. They will throttle down your speed if you use more than a certain amount in a given month (for me it's 5 GB), but it's pretty slow to begin with so it's not like there's much difference. I will warn you that some areas have severe network congestion problems. Wind's data is nowhere near sufficient to use as a primary internet connection (trust me, I tried that). Don't plan on using the network for any real-time stuff like gaming or VOIP, since the service is too unreliable.
All things considered, Wind's data packages are a really good value, as long as you're not doing anything too demanding. Beats paying twice as much with Rogers/Bell/Telus.
I'd like to let you guys know that I really appreciate the surprising level of good discussion here. I'd like to bring up a small issue of possibly wanting to transfer my number from my current Telus account over to WIND (or any other provider). I've seen some people having problems when doing this relating to Telus either not properly cancelling the account or just having poor experiences when doing this, mostly relating to how Telus handles these things and having issues with the number after the transfer completes (stuff like not being able to receive a call from a telus phone). I know these issues may or may not pop up, and really my only question is would it be worth it to transfer the number if I'm slightly paranoid about encountering some issues or is it best to suck it up and tell my friends to put in the work to change over to a new number for me.
I do like my current number, it's dead simple in a really weird way.
Thanks again, in the next week or so I'll make the move to WIND or to a new phone on Telus if they beg me hard enough when I go to cancel my contract. The significantly cheaper monthly plan that actually has real data (telus offers me 500mb for $50....) is incredibly tempting, I don't stream ANYTHING because of this limit and don't think I would but with the low data cap I have to watch my consumption even when already being super tight on data, it's frustrating and feels like I'm living in the past.
@DJJoeJoe: Here's another personal story for your reference. I had a Telus account (for the record, it was prepaid) prior to Wind, and moving my number to Wind was problem-free.
Got the HTC One S for about $12 with the $80 I got for trade-in from my Milestone, $120 charge on my bill next next month or something for the rest of the buyout for the Milestone. She did want to upsell me on my data plan, which I may do. They discontinued the 500mb plan (go figure, it's tiny) and for $15 more a month (currently 67.20 with all charges, will be $80+) I can get 1GB a month. She said I had 14days to decide since it was a promo or whatever, I chose to wait cause even though 500mb has been very limiting I tend to do well by it and 1GB isn't exactly crazy either.
This HTC One S is blowing my little mind, especially since I've been using such an old phone for so long. Boy does it take pictures fast too haha.
You're right that some areas have pretty bad network congestion. On the flip side, some areas are ok! I live in Waterloo, Ontario and use Wind as my primary internet connection. With HSPA+ in the area, speeds are okay and for the most part stable. Totally played Diablo III on it okay. But you're still right, some areas are rough and as always YMMV.
I live in Vancouver BC, as such the carriers here are mostly Rogers, Bell, Telus and WIND (who are actually kinda cool, cheap too).
Telus Milestone was purchased 2 years ago on a 3 year contract, I bought it at exactly the worst time when it was one of the better options for Android handsets in Canada just before all the handsets made their way over to here from the states. It's old, was old when I got it (since the Droid was at least a year old at that point) and is having additional issues on top of just being heavily underpowered right now, such as 'phantom touch screen input' issues... which needless to say make the phone less useful than a brick at more and more frequent times. I've never wanted to hurt a piece of technology in my life, but it's taking almost everything I have not to just say fuck it and throw this piece of junk at a concrete wall just for the small gratification I may derive from that.
So here are my... here's the deal. I have no issues with the iPhone and think I'd be plenty happy with one since it kinda seems the most reliable and does 'everything' as good or better than anything else (performance, apps, camera). I have slightly more an issue with Android just for the small things having used the OS in it's broken 'old' state for so long and hearing it's issues are kinda a core thing regardless of hardware (the process priority, and unresponsive apps etc). I really dig the Metro stylings of the Phone 7 handsets (dude I own a Zune HD and still love the thing dearly) but they are clearly old hardware at this point and I'm unclear as to whether the new lumia 900 is anything special (since all the advice is stay with your current windows phone... which isn't good advice for someone who doesn't own one).
My price range does in fact make it ideal to not have to pay $500+ for a handset at this time since if I do make this jump right now, and I really freakin' want to, than I'll have to eat all the dumb termination fees Telus throws at me and most likely a few other things as well if I also jump to Rogers for a lumia (number transfer).
So does anyone have advice for getting a good new phone to replace my old busted one, that won't destroy my bank account but also is something (if I have to get another 3 year contract) that I'll be generally happy with for most or all of that 3 years. In my mind I'm looking at the Lumia 900... or a dang iPhone 4. The small things against me getting an iPhone are simply that I'm not at all invested in the iOS stuff, I used to have an iPod Touch before my Zune and was incredibly happy when I could uninstall iTunes at the time, I'd hate to have to use that again, but also I recognise that I could in fact deal with it if that truly is a better option for me (the iPhone 4 is a good phone).
Definitely switch to WIND. WINDTab means that you'll be able to buy a phone, pay it off, and should you want to switch carriers or get a new phone, you just pay off the remainder of your phone. It's awesome! Also, they're cheap. Provided coverage isn't awful in Vancouver, I'd go with WIND.
Now, the 3 platforms...
Android
I'm still partial to Android, especially after getting the Gingerbread -> ICS upgrade on my Nexus S. Made my phone feel like a whole new phone! It's great! Strong contenders for Android are the Galaxy Nexus, the HTC One and the Galaxy S III. All solid phones, can't really go wrong with any of them. I'm thankful that I never had to experience the sort of rage that you have had with your phone.
iOS
Not much to say here. The 4S is a good phone. Nothing wrong with it. What can be said is that the 4S is mid-life cycle, so I wouldn't really recommend purchasing one now. The next one, I gander, is around 5/6 months away. Really, they're a fine phone. If that's what you want, then go for it, but you may want to wait. (pure speculation that you shouldn't take seriously: I would not be surprised if the new iPhone is just a bigger revision of the current 4S... something with a ~4" screen)
WP7
People have been ranting and raving about the Lumia 900 for quite some time... but I'm not sold on WP. I do like the Zune/Metro styling (I've always liked Zune Software), but I just don't think I'd enjoy the platform. Has never really appealed to me, and always looked like something I would not like to use. Also, I was curious, so I did a Google search: it looks very unclear at this juncture as to whether or not the L900 will get WP8 software... which is a bit unnerving (at least for me). I do believe you're also limited to Rogers with the L900. Just something to ponder.
I'd get another Android phone in a heartbeat, but perhaps it's best for you to see if the grass is really greener on the other side, then re-sod your own lawn. You'll never know if you don't try!
Keep in mind that Wind uses the 700 MHz AWS frequency spectrum for their phones, which nixes a lot choices, Lumia 900 and iPhone included. That being said, I'm in the exact situation with MAGZine where I had a Nexus S and the ICS upgrade which makes things pretty awesome. I'd put my vote in for Wind if you're looking to switch.
If you were to buy out your contract, it'd probably be around $20/mo as I've heard - so $240 for your one remaining year. If your budget is $500, then the remaining $260 could be put towards a new contract at your choice carrier, which would probably get you whatever phone you wanted, plus a contract you never wanted. I'm partial towards Wind, and if you were to buy out your contract, I would head there and nab the Galaxy Nexus for $199.
I will preface this by saying I worked at Futureshop's Cell Shop for a very long time and am now employed by Bell, but I'm going to try and be as non-bias as possible. I'm gonna explain a couple of key differences between carriers that you probably want to know before making any kind of switch, but if you're not interested in them and just want to see my phone recommendations, skim down to my next post (since I hit the character limit for this).
The reason that WIND's subscription base hasn't picked up dramatically since they pushed into Canada is simply that, while their plans are interesting, they don't have the infrastructure in Canada to support their customers. WIND is owned by an Egyptian company called Orascom; while that seems like it might not be important, it's key to the reason why their network is unreliable even when moving within the same city. The other two mini-carriers (Solo Mobile and Chatr) both benefit from the fact that they are owned by Bell and Rogers respectively and thus can use the infrastructure of those two companies. WIND doesn't have that luxury; that's the reason that even within a city that "says" it has WIND coverage, you'll find certain areas of the city just have absolutely no signal. This is in Calgary, the second place that WIND launched; BC was the last, so they're the furthest behind infrastructure-wise.
The second thing to keep in mind between the big three (Rogers, Telus, and Bell) is that there's an unknown factor in how reliable a Cell network is that carriers don't advertise, and it's the method they use to switch between towers. When Rogers switches you from one tower to the next for coverage, they drop the tower you're currently on as soon as you're in range of another tower. It switches you to the new tower quicker, but the issue is that if you're on the fringe of that tower and not moving into it's primary range quick enough, you get service that drops in and out even though your phone displays bars. This is the primary reason Rogers customers encounter text messages that just get "lost" on their way from one phone to another, and to a lesser extent dropped calls. Telus and Bell both switch towers in a way similar to a monkey swinging on vines. When you enter range of a new tower, you won't actually disconnect from the first tower until you have a firm grip on the second tower; the next "vine", so to speak. Once you've got a good signal from the second tower, it'll disconnect the first tower, which leads to less of those pesky dropped text messages.
Actual Good Advice
Carrier-wise, since it seems like you aren't unhappy with Telus' service, I think your best option is going to be Telus. Based purely off of friends that have Rogers, and the amount of customers that came into Futureshop complaining about Rogers, you are going to have a far worse customer experience in the long haul at Rogers than either of the other two. Unless you [i]really[/i] want the Lumia 900 versus the Lumia 800, there's not a good reason to go to them at all.
Why Telus?
1) Network. The network uses the same towers as Bell, which means you're getting the largest and most reliable coverage available in Canada right now.
2) Early Upgrade. The main thing that's going to save you a ton of money sticking with Telus versus going somewhere else is the Early Upgrade. Even if a straight upgrade isn't available, Telus allows you to upgrade early while paying something called an EDUF (Early Device Upgrade Fee). The way this is calculated is they take how much they subsidized the phone for (i.e. if you got $500 off the phone) and split it over the cost of your contract (36 months). In this example case, it's $13 a month. Your EDUF is just whatever is remaining of that cost (so 1 year x $13/mo = ~$166 bucks). Way cheaper than cancelling out of a plan, and renews your for a three year term.
3) Customer Retention. Telus will do a lot to ensure that you don't leave them at all, much less with time left in your contract. If you talk to their Customer Retention line and let them know you're thinking of leaving, you're all but guaranteed to get a great deal on a plan or add-ons just for staying with them.
4) Options. Telus has the two operating systems you want. The choice between WP7 and iPhone is really reliant on 2 things: which one you like better right now, and how much faith you want to put into the Windows App store. I love the clean look of Live Tile, but for me, the lack variety in terms of quality apps available to Windows Phones rules them out. If you're not looking to use anything outside of the basic phone apps, this is fine; however, if you do want more apps, you need to know going in how extremely limited that store is right now. You're putting a lot of faith into that store getting better when WP8 hits (provided the Lumia 800/900 even get the update to WP8, which is pretty likely but not guaranteed).
5) Promos. Straight up, right now Telus has a promotion when you go in-store to renew or activate with them that gives you a minimum $50 off the cost of the phone if you trade in your old phone. So if you can live with not smashing the thing on the ground, you can save fifty bucks off an iPhone, which is nice.
That's a lot of text so I understand if you didn't read it, but I'd say in 8/10 cases people complain more about the carrier they end up with than the phone they got. Picking a carrier also helps you narrow your phone choices down quickly.
@mikeblais: but... cost. Telus and Bell are awful on cost when compared to WIND or even Mobilicity. AFAIK, Rogers does seamless call transmission across it's own towers, but will flat-out drop the call if a non-rogers customer joins the tower's network (e.g. Wind -> Rogers). Unless if you often travel outside of the city centre, I couldn't imagine anyone actively choosing to use Robelus. versus WIND/Mobilicity, the only advantage they have is network coverage (and the iPhone, I suppose...).
Also, I don't mean to nit-pick, but being an Egyptian company is not a 'key reason' as to why the network is unreliable. The key reason is that Robelus has enjoyed a competition-free marketplace for a couple decades now, and now do not want to play nice. The amount of anti-consumer activity going on in Canadian telecom is ridiculous. Why pay the world's highest mobile rates? I'd choose WIND or Mobility if nothing else but to send a message. $40 for unlimited talk, text and data and caller ID (which is ridiculous that companies still charge or bundle Caller ID)
I suppose it's fair to examine the coverage before jumping to Wind. Having lived in Calgary, Waterloo, Toronto and Markham, I haven't had too much trouble with reception. I loose reception in either huge, giant concrete buildings or occasionally on the highway between Toronto and Waterloo. Check to see if the coverage is suitable for you, but if you're a city goer most the time, I suspect you'll be fine.
The problem with WIND in Calgary is that there's gaping holes in their coverage
Example: Chinook Mall has a WIND booth and has coverage where the booth is, but if you walk down the mall your service drops.
@mikeblais said:
That's probably because it's a big old mall with some serious concrete and steel in the way of the outside world so they built a mini antennae at the kiosk itself in order to sell phones to people.
My 2 cents, I work for Rogers, I literally sell phones to people every day, Don't go with Rogers right now unless they are the only carrier with good coverage near you.
Wind is pretty damn great, I'm with them and have been for years, I pay 40 bucks a month for unlimited everything, north america wide calling, world wide texting, unlimited data, hell even tethering is free on my plan (although it's an older one so tethering might have been phased out.) the tab thing works well and the phones are unlocked from the get go. Customer service is great, recently my sim crapped out and I was getting no service constantly, took it in, no charge for a replacement sim, no questions asked really, told the guy the problem and he just tossed me a sim and said let's figure out what's going on here. (Again I work for rogers and I'm good at my job but wanna guess how many rogers reps would treat you that well? Trust me it's not many.) I also recently moved and had no internet for a while, I used 15 gigs of data on my phone that month by tethering the whole time, it was a very good alternative.
I have a galaxy nexus with them and I love it. it's $199 up front and tetraband so I can take it pretty much anywhere and sign up if I want/need to.
I hear they will be getting the lumia 900 soon, which would also be cool, they have the 710 right now but if you're a tested reader you probably need something beefier than the 710.
As for the different platforms, here's how I figure out what to sell to a customer
Business processional/dumb teenager that thinks BBM is the best thing ever = blackberry. (I might give them more attention when the new OS and hardware comes out)
Hipsters/slightly smarter teenage with rich parents/drug dealers/people that understand what data means basically, = Iphone
Anybody that seems like they know what they're doing or could at least figure out how to program a VCR (believe me that's an issue) = Android you have to tinker with it but you can really create a great experience for yourself if you have the time/patience.
Tech illiterate, but social, people who are always on twitter/facebook/etc. = windows phone, the active tiles and such are actually very cool and simple, everything you wanna know is right on that home screen and it's easy to understand and work with.
Good luck, Have batman
There are definitely issues with Wind's network at this point, but their data plans are really the only ones that are reasonably priced (OK, so are Mobilicity's, but I'm not as familiar with their service). Wind does offer true "unlimited" data, in that they will never charge you more money, no matter how much you use. They will throttle down your speed if you use more than a certain amount in a given month (for me it's 5 GB), but it's pretty slow to begin with so it's not like there's much difference. I will warn you that some areas have severe network congestion problems. Wind's data is nowhere near sufficient to use as a primary internet connection (trust me, I tried that). Don't plan on using the network for any real-time stuff like gaming or VOIP, since the service is too unreliable.
All things considered, Wind's data packages are a really good value, as long as you're not doing anything too demanding. Beats paying twice as much with Rogers/Bell/Telus.
I'd like to let you guys know that I really appreciate the surprising level of good discussion here. I'd like to bring up a small issue of possibly wanting to transfer my number from my current Telus account over to WIND (or any other provider). I've seen some people having problems when doing this relating to Telus either not properly cancelling the account or just having poor experiences when doing this, mostly relating to how Telus handles these things and having issues with the number after the transfer completes (stuff like not being able to receive a call from a telus phone). I know these issues may or may not pop up, and really my only question is would it be worth it to transfer the number if I'm slightly paranoid about encountering some issues or is it best to suck it up and tell my friends to put in the work to change over to a new number for me.
I do like my current number, it's dead simple in a really weird way.
Thanks again, in the next week or so I'll make the move to WIND or to a new phone on Telus if they beg me hard enough when I go to cancel my contract. The significantly cheaper monthly plan that actually has real data (telus offers me 500mb for $50....) is incredibly tempting, I don't stream ANYTHING because of this limit and don't think I would but with the low data cap I have to watch my consumption even when already being super tight on data, it's frustrating and feels like I'm living in the past.
@DJJoeJoe: Here's another personal story for your reference. I had a Telus account (for the record, it was prepaid) prior to Wind, and moving my number to Wind was problem-free.
Got the HTC One S for about $12 with the $80 I got for trade-in from my Milestone, $120 charge on my bill next next month or something for the rest of the buyout for the Milestone. She did want to upsell me on my data plan, which I may do. They discontinued the 500mb plan (go figure, it's tiny) and for $15 more a month (currently 67.20 with all charges, will be $80+) I can get 1GB a month. She said I had 14days to decide since it was a promo or whatever, I chose to wait cause even though 500mb has been very limiting I tend to do well by it and 1GB isn't exactly crazy either.
This HTC One S is blowing my little mind, especially since I've been using such an old phone for so long. Boy does it take pictures fast too haha.
@CROM
You're right that some areas have pretty bad network congestion. On the flip side, some areas are ok! I live in Waterloo, Ontario and use Wind as my primary internet connection. With HSPA+ in the area, speeds are okay and for the most part stable. Totally played Diablo III on it okay. But you're still right, some areas are rough and as always YMMV.