Shopping for new iphones. Uuuuuugh.

I walked into the AT&T store yesterday hoping to walk out with 2 new phones. We both currently have a 6S. Wife’s phone is a complete wreck (busted screen, home button no longer works, battery is shot...she’s “that person.”)

Mine is okay but I’m totally maxed out on storage; mostly just pics of kids.

AT&T has a “BOGO” deal on the XR when you sign up for an unlimited plan, which would be virtually the same as our current  monthly bill.

Unfortunately, it requires a “new line,” meaning, according to them, one of us would need a new number.

Does anyone know of a “workaround” to this? We have a couple old ipads that the kids use just for games, maybe once or twice a week. Maybe we could start a “new line” on one of these and just lock out the phone/texting???

PS: I’m trying to figure out WTF to do with the roughly 30GB of photos on the current phone. I’m maxed out on cloud storage and I seriously doubt my dinosaur of a PC/Laptop has enough storage. Any thoughts there?

- Luddite

poopshovel again said:

 

PS: I’m trying to figure out WTF to do with the roughly 30GB of photos on the current phone. I’m maxed out on cloud storage and I seriously doubt my dinosaur of a PC/Laptop has enough storage. Any thoughts there?

- Luddite

This is an easy one: Get an external hard drive. 120gb can be had for $20; 2tb for $50.

Switch to T-mobile. New customers get crazy deals and there's no service contract. 

Just left ATT for sprint.  Got a killer deal.  Unlimited data, S9 phones for 5 a month, 400 in gift cards and a monthly bill about 100 less than ATT.  The IPhone deals were great too.

Buy an android so you can use memory cards

Ask AT&T why you shouldn't leave for Verizon/Sprint/whatever. I'll bet they have a way to retain customers.

mtn said:

poopshovel again said:

 

PS: I’m trying to figure out WTF to do with the roughly 30GB of photos on the current phone. I’m maxed out on cloud storage and I seriously doubt my dinosaur of a PC/Laptop has enough storage. Any thoughts there?

- Luddite

This is an easy one: Get an external hard drive. 120gb can be had for $20; 2tb for $50.

Cool. Thanks!

10 years ago AT&T was pretty much the only choice for good cell service in the sticks (where we live) Not sure if that’s still the case(?)

In reply to poopshovel again :

The best service around is Verizon but they are absolutely brutal to deal with and typically the most expensive 

My wife tried and liked Sprint.  Signal strength is a big deal because of how thick our walls are. We found them to be the best value although not the cheapest.  

poopshovel again said:

10 years ago AT&T was pretty much the only choice for good cell service in the sticks (where we live) Not sure if that’s still the case(?)

Start checking coverage maps and ask your neighbors which cell service they use. A lot can change in 10 years.

frenchyd said:

In reply to poopshovel again :

The best service around is Verizon but they are absolutely brutal to deal with and typically the most expensive 

YMMV. I found Verizon easier to deal with than AT&T. There's something to be said for a company who basically just does cell service. The Death Star does a little bit of everything, and it can be a challenge getting routed to the right person. At least it was for me. After about a year and a half of AT&T, we switched back to Big Red. 

IMO, both have excellent coverage these days.

I agree with threatenting to leave. And if they won't help you, then leave. It's not that big a deal to switch carriers these days.

Google Photos app, backup photos for free, unlimited space, etc.  Done.

Backup raw photos to your PC using a cable and put them on an external drive.

Clone the external drive so you can keep one in a safe or safety deposit box.

Go to an actual Apple Store and tell them what you want, they'll sell you the phones you want, transfer your data, etc. without the Telco's nonsense and you can shop around for Telco if you want to as you own the phone and the Telco doesn't.  Apple also occasionally has refurbs and the like if you don't want to spend THAT much on a new phone.

Stefan said:

Google Photos app, backup photos for free, unlimited space, etc.  Done.

This, if you don't need full res.  And I would imagine for most photos taken with a phone, you don't. 

Because I really am I Luddite: Would switching carriers mean new phone numbers? That would be a deal-breaker. 

Do the people working at the ATT store really have the ability to negotiate rates/terms? This would be the best option for us as the store is 5 mins away vs an hour of driving with kids in tow.

You can keep your numbers, when switching carriers. 

Sprint, oh hell nah! 

poopshovel again said:

Because I really am I Luddite: Would switching carriers mean new phone numbers? That would be a deal-breaker. 

Do the people working at the ATT store really have the ability to negotiate rates/terms? This would be the best option for us as the store is 5 mins away vs an hour of driving with kids in tow.

They have to call and negotiate.  They of course have direct access to CSR's versus going through the phone tree.

You can and should keep your numbers when switching carriers and if you are having to drag kids around, then I might try calling AT&T, etc. first and see what deals you can get there before stepping into the store.

You can order the phones from Apple, etc. and just set them up to whatever carrier you choose.  Keep in mind, phones aren't completely compatible between carriers, so choose your carrier first and then make sure you get phones that work on that network.

I was at Tmobile store today and a 20 something guy bought a  $1150  iPhone , OUCH

I wish  there was a way to deal with the few good Phone salesman  ,  most are too hungry and will push the  $50 case , $200 ear pods etc.

If all else fails, add a new line to get the deal. Put the new line on the iPad and the existing lines on the new phones. Remove the SIM card from the iPad and it’s wifi only. 

‘’Might not be the cheapest, but it’s the easiest

Steve_Jones said:

If all else fails, add a new line to get the deal. Put the new line on the iPad and the existing lines on the new phones. Remove the SIM card from the iPad and it’s wifi only. 

 

‘’Might not be the cheapest, but it’s the easiest

This was kind of the answer I was looking for. Thank you. “Hopping down to the Apple store” really isn’t a great option as we’re kinda in the middle of nowhere.

Only drawback might be that the bogo phone needs to be 'active' with the sim card for a certain amount of time.

ProDarwin said:

Stefan said:

Google Photos app, backup photos for free, unlimited space, etc.  Done.

This, if you don't need full res.  And I would imagine for most photos taken with a phone, you don't. 

This seems great until you realize that when you download your pics from Google Photos to your local machine, Google (because they know what's best for you) replaces all the meta-data "created on" dates with the date of download, destroying all temporal continuity...TOTALLY AWESOME for documenting your family memories! And there is no convenient workaround.

1kris06 said:

Only drawback might be that the bogo phone needs to be 'active' with the sim card for a certain amount of time.

Once it is active, leaving it in a drawer is the same as just never making a call, no way to tell. You’ll be paying for the line, they don’t care if you ever use it. 

Or buy the phones outright and use Google Fi? You pay for the data you use. 

Granted I only go into the office 3 days per week and can hook up to WiFi there. But I use Wifi at home, and even greasy spoon diners have free WiFi now. I can't remember anywhere I've been in the last few years I've been that doesn't have free WiFi.

After buying my phone two years ago, I've never had a monthly bill (for 1 phone) above $30.

JamesMcD said:

ProDarwin said:

Stefan said:

Google Photos app, backup photos for free, unlimited space, etc.  Done.

This, if you don't need full res.  And I would imagine for most photos taken with a phone, you don't. 

This seems great until you realize that when you download your pics from Google Photos to your local machine, Google (because they know what's best for you) replaces all the meta-data "created on" dates with the date of download, destroying all temporal continuity...TOTALLY AWESOME for documenting your family memories! And there is no convenient workaround.

Which is why you should never, ever use a single backup solution.  Paired with a backup drive to hold the raw files, you can still have the meta data, it’s just may not be as direct to access.