It took me about 5 years to get an iPod and you’d think that with the hoops I’m going to have to jump through to get this phone that I would’ve waited at least that long. I’m not entirely sure why, maybe it’s the timing – I’m really tired of my Treo 650 and Bell Mobility and my contract is almost up and I might as well spring for what I think is the neatest phone out there right now. Unlocking the things has basically become a one-click affair, and the price for the 8gb model at $399 is not bad at all.
So, the first order of business is obviously to get one of these badboys. This will likely happen near the end of March when an American friend of mine living in Toronto goes back home to visit his family. Interestingly enough, I’ll be in Peru when this happens so I won’t even get to see the damned thing until after both of us are back in the city. I’m estimating that this will set me back about $440, taxes included.
Step two will be to deal with Bell. Now, I’ve been with Bell for about 8 years now and up until recently I’ve defended them – I’ve never really had any problems. But ever since I got this Treo it’s been downhill. They signed me up to a 3 year contract which basically ensures that I’m stuck with them and with a crappy phone until it’s done, which is 10 months from now. The phone is big, the software sucks, I lost my stylus in Detroit when I went the auto show and don’t even care to replace it, etc. Bell’s selection of phones is pretty terrible, expensive and on top of all that they’re CDMA. It’ll cost me $200 to break my contract and I’ll probably end up doing that, unless I can find someone to transfer my account to, which might be possible and would save me some cash.
After all that is done I need to sign up with Rogers, hopefully avoiding a contract, on some sort of iPhone-friendly plan (read: unlimited data). I’ve been on the phone with them the past couple of days and have a pretty compelling option that will run me about $60 plus tax but includes unlimited data, text-messaging, free incoming calls, and a bunch of other stuff. I’ll likely go with something like that and pick up a cheap phone so that I can rip the SIM card out and plug it in to the iPhone.
After all of that, maybe around $700 including the iPhone, breaking my contract and buying a cheap Rogers phone to avoid a contract, I’ll need to unlock the thing. I’m planning on using ZiPhone (despite the terrible website), but we’ll see how that goes.
I’ll be able to spread the cost over a month or so, so it won’t really be much of a hit to the wallet at all, but I still wouldn’t mind transferring the Bell account to someone and saving myself $200. If you want a free Treo and are willing to take over a 3 year contract with 10 months left on it, then let me know!
