Database Develop

[Q] Bionic Worth the extra $100?

Hello,
I would like to first start out by stating that I am new here and have been reading and researching about a lot of different phones for my verizon upgrade.
I have narrowed it down pretty much to the Droid Bionic and the X2. However I currently do not have 4g access in my area so its not hugely important to me to have 4g. The price difference between the x2 and bionic is $100 more so its a bit of a jump. Also I currently have an LG Vortex so I know that almost any phone is an upgrade.
So I want to know if it is worth the extra $100 over the x2 if 4g is not needed.
I know it has 1gb ram vs 512 on the x2 or if maybe there is a more recommended phone idea (I know this is the bionic forum) I really like the 4.3 in the screen size and would not really want to go below 4" is screen size. I tend to be a technology power user and will be taking advantage of as many features as possible and maybe some custom themes/roms.
Yes I know the bootloader is locked but I feel that it will be unlocked soon I see the drive in the community for that so if not by Motorola it will be by someone.
Thanks I appreciate the input... If you recommend another phone please post why vs the x2 and bionic.

Do you gave a radioshack around your area?
I got my bionic for 199 jus a little over a week ago
Not sure if they are still having the sale but worth a check
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium

This is why i went with the bionic.
I had the Droid X2 for 3 months, it was a ok phone nothing to show off, the Loud-speaker was somewhat low not very clear,The cpu/gpu was not the greatest or on par want i wanted it to be or hoped it would be,The screen was pretty good,the biggest problem's i had with the droid x2 was radom reboots/boot loops on stock, and the music poping sound from my music from the speaker of the phone, and this phone was a replacement for the Samsung Fascinate.
now to the Bionic
I have had this phone for about a week now
Its very fast, The Cpu/Gpu are very fast on stock i am not even rooted running all stock have a ton of apps on the phone and it runs very fast, and the screen is very nice looking, sound is very nice sounding, speaker sound is very good, no poping or anything of that, the 3g works very nice very fast, loads web pages very fast. the 1gb of ram helps alot with the o.s. the front camera is very nice and takes nice picture's and the 8mp camera works very well, and the 1080p recording works very very very well, i recorded my friend for 10 minutes messing around and it was very clear and the sounded very clear and nice.
When you get 4g the phone will scream, but it will eat the battery alive,
But i would if you have 3g on or 4g get the extended battery. i did get the extended battery and its alot longer lasting but alittle bigger, so if you get the extended battery get the case made for the extended battery it will not fit a nomal case. i already tried.
but i would chose the bionic because overall its a great builit phone, and verizon/moto already has a patch coming out in nov to fix them, and there is a great dev team working on roms/themes for this phone, so its only going to get better for this phone
if you are from the TOLEDO AREA please pm me and i can get you in contact with a guy who will help you out. he is a manager from a toledo store

I do have a radioshack but im on upgrade pricing and i've checked the website and a few resellers the best i have found is $249 but i would be getting a car charger and screen protectors at no additional charge.
I will double check radioshack but they never seem to be cheaper here.
PS. Unfortunately I am not in the Toledo area. Thanks for the offer though.

amazon online has a good price, or you can call verizon customer service and explain to them and most of the time they will be more then happy to help you. if you look at my thread below, you will see verizon customer service does help and they go out of there way for the customer. so you should start there if you want to try to get a discount if thats what your aiming for.

If you hold on to your phones for more than 18 months, I recommend choosing the Bionic. With a 1GHz dual core processor, 1GB RAM, decent graphical hardware and high resolution screen, it's going to have much greater longevity than a phone lacking any one of those features.
Dual core isn't a big benefit right now, but as soon as Android and third party programs more widely support multi-core processing, it will become very important. And 512 MB of RAM is barely sufficient for todays' high-end phones, much less for the operating environment a year or two from now.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

jcnogo said:
I do have a radioshack but im on upgrade pricing and i've checked the website and a few resellers the best i have found is $249 but i would be getting a car charger and screen protectors at no additional charge.
I will double check radioshack but they never seem to be cheaper here.
PS. Unfortunately I am not in the Toledo area. Thanks for the offer though.
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Even with upgrade, you can still get Radio Shack's $199 deal. But the tax, $70 in Los Angeles, kills the deal. The best deal is still with Costco. They are out of the accessories, but they give you a mail-in rebate, instead.
If you really need a phone, get it Bionic. If you can hold off a few more weeks, you'll have more phones to choose from and find better deals on Bionic.

irsmurf said:
If you hold on to your phones for more than 18 months, I recommend choosing the Bionic. With a 1GHz dual core processor, 1GB RAM, decent graphical hardware and high resolution screen, it's going to have much greater longevity than a phone lacking any one of those features.
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Typically I do hold onto my phones for that long at least usually more like the 2 years between upgrades.
As for amazon the price is 249.99.
Radio shacks website says 299.99. with $100 mail in rebate (making it the 199) if you trade in your old phone but i can't be a smart phone. Also I am on a family plan and my mom already did the trade up to smart phone with $100 rebate so i have no line i can cheat that with... One more thing I currently have unlimited data and do not wish to lose that.
I'm not as concerned with the price as I am with making sure it is worth the extra cost.

if your going to pay close to $300 your better off just calling verizon customer service and ordering from them, and getting the extended battery while your getting the phone. but thats just me, it worth the price. its a great phone with alot of power and alot in its furture. but i will stop opening my big mouth lol

Killz86 said:
if your going to pay close to $300 your better off just calling verizon customer service and ordering from them, and getting the extended battery while your getting the phone. but thats just me, it worth the price. its a great phone with alot of power and alot in its furture. but i will stop opening my big mouth lol
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LOL I would rather not pay $300 or close to it but as far as its going i am not finding anything cheaper. although i did hear costco what is the price there?

i looked it up online on there website and its says $279.99

Ok so it seems I'm at that sub $300 price and stuck there... I might call and see what the price would be with extended battery. like you suggested

I had the X2 for almost a month, and am much happier with the Bionic. The original X was an awesome phone, the X2 was slightly better, and the Bionic is in a different league. I don't have 4G coverage either, but the 3G performance is more than adequate.
Good luck!
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium

With my VZ upgrade and Amazon, the phone comes in at 220 bucks and I can keep my existing unlimited data usage. I too am about to take this plunge, I have found no solid reason to not get the Bionic, the dual core is an advantage in the future.

Check with Costco
Check with Costco. The are selling it for 199 with a car dock and several other extras. This deal is in store and not online.
By the way, I came from the Thunderbolt and the Droid 3, and this phone is much better than both for most of the reasons stated above. It took several tries with some defective units, but I am content now.

Hmm I would check with costco but I would need a membership or someone with one to buy me a gift card in order to make purchases from there.
Also if you buy from costco and lets say the phone is defective would i have to take it back to costco or could i go to a verizon store to get a replacement? being that the nearest costco is 45miles away

This is a terrific phone for many reasons. One, if you're into the whole "rooting" thing, and if you're not, you need to jump on the bandwagon!, the ROMS already being pushed out for this thing are amazing, which means in the future, this could very well be the phone that has numerous ROMS, etc, like the original Droid. It's very fast, I have never had any problems with mine. The problems that I have read about will be addressed with an OTA update, however, if you would not like to root.

U can get a 6o day free membership easy.just check online
Also try bestbuy and wirefly.com and letstalk.com both offer free shipping overnight not positive though
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium

jcnogo said:
Typically I do hold onto my phones for that long at least usually more like the 2 years between upgrades.
As for amazon the price is 249.99.
Radio shacks website says 299.99. with $100 mail in rebate (making it the 199) if you trade in your old phone but i can't be a smart phone. Also I am on a family plan and my mom already did the trade up to smart phone with $100 rebate so i have no line i can cheat that with... One more thing I currently have unlimited data and do not wish to lose that.
I'm not as concerned with the price as I am with making sure it is worth the extra cost.
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Don't go by radioshack.com pricing. Online pricing is different than in store pricing. The in store price on the Droid Bionic is currently $199.99 with no mail in rebate.

I got my Bionic @ Verizon for 149.99 (after Phone-Trade-In)
They advertise it at $299, but if you stand there and take to much of the Sale Reps time, he will bring the price down just to get you out the door. Then after he agrees to the $249, then ask about the $100 Phone-Trade-In. (He he says its not available anymore, then Verizon.com Lets you Trade in all kinds of phone https://www.trade-in.vzw.com/home.aspx - that site will tell you the price they will give you for different phones, and you can even trade in multiple phones to rack up some extra cash)
So far, I'm not impressed with the Bionic. And I'm EXTREMELY Annoyed at the fact that it doesn't allow apps to be Moved to the MicroSD Card. If give you the option to "Move to Media Area" but thats the 8GB of Internal Memory. The phone claims to have 16GB of Internal Memory, but it only allows you to access 8GB for music/photos/etc.
I paid $99 for a 32GB MicroSD card, which is just sitting in the phone not being used, because the Bionic Doesn't let ANY APPLICATION store cache/files to it. Evernote, which has always used the MicroSD and Has a option in the Settings to use the MicroSD, will not save to it. Instead it uses the Internal Memory. Games that download Extra Files, stores them to the Internal Memory instead of the MicroSD. I have two Games which require an additional download of roughly 300MB each, thats nearly a Gig of Space already gone from the Internal Memory. Then there are my Google Docs saved for offline access, E-Books saved for offline reading, and Many other things eating away at the small 8GB of memory. I Think this is do to the Bionic having the Phones Internal Memory Partitioned incorrectly, which is causing Application to think that the 8GB of Internal Memory is actually a SD Card. But oddly the Bionics Built In Camera application WILL save to my 32GB MicroSD. But its the only one out of the 14 Applications I've installed. Verizon Claims this is an error on the App Developer, and since Apps are 3rd Party, they provide no support.
There are other bugs; but I believe there is a update coming in Nov (I think someone mentioned it)
The Bionic Comes with a lot of Bloatware that can't be uninstalled unless you root the phone.
The Camera is kinda Crappy. Expected way better pictures from a 8MP camera. Its shoots HD Video, but they are small resolution videos.
Its quick, and HD games run smooth.
I've never had any other DRIOD, but I've had many ANDROID phones, and the Bionic is certainly not one of the better Android Phones. But thats expected from Motorola, since they have to customize everything, which sometimes causes them to fall short on functionality. I haven't owned a Moto-Phone since the Razor (which was a big fail)
If you get it, and Don't like it, you have 14 days to change - but know they will charge you a 35$ restocking fee.
Good luck in your choice

Galaxy Tab 8.9 at BestBuy for $400

Galaxy Tab 8.9 is at BestBuy for $400 until Saturday. Is there any chance it will.be any lower in the next 2-3 months for any reason? If not I gotta go get one.

I think no chance.

Thanks for that post
I have 2, replaced 2 Motorola Xooms. A friend has the 10.1 and stares at my 8.9 with envy.
Best part, if it goes cheaper, best buy will match the price. (ie. after reading this post I printed the webpage and brought both receipts to Best Buy and got $54 back for each.)
BUY IT

I agree, I picked on up for the wife for Christmas, she has been dying for this one!!!
Like smac says Best Buy will price match if it goes lower.
Thanks

I just bought one last week. Picked it up for $350 at best buy, it was on sale and this was an open box. Someone didn't use it at all, they didn't even take the plastics off of the device. Their loss is my gain.
I couldn't be happier with my tablet, I have mine overclocked at 1.6ghz and I had 7k score on Antutu benchmark before it froze up. 1.51 holds steady fine though with an even benchmark of 7k almost flat. I'd get one even if you have to spend the little bit more. Unless you want the Prime, but you should be able to return your tab and pick it up within the allowed return time.
Good luck!

Is this in store only? I still see it for 449.99 online?

I think the sale is over but they run promotions on different models a lot. Such a beautiful tablet, keep your eyes open!

hey yeah.. ask if they have any open box ones.. they are still under warranty and the 14 day best buy return.. and to get one for 350 is the way to go. I got mine open box for 400 and it was flawless.

Got mine at att for 430$
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I957 using xda premium

Got mine at AT&T for $450 with a free SkyRocket. The sales guy told me about the deal since i wanted the SkyRocket but i told him I wasnt interested in getting a $35/mo data plan to get the tablet. He said I didnt have to get a data plan for it as long as I had one on the SkyRocket (which obviously you have to). AT&T LTE is stupid fast here in Kansas City, on the store phone it was pulling 40Mbps down/12Mbps up consistently, saw in the history where it has been as high as 50Mbps.

I don't know how long it goes but Best Buy was having a promotion for Galaxy Tabs today that gave you a $50 gift certificate on purchase.

AWiseMonkey said:
Got mine at AT&T for $450 with a free SkyRocket. The sales guy told me about the deal since i wanted the SkyRocket but i told him I wasnt interested in getting a $35/mo data plan to get the tablet. He said I didnt have to get a data plan for it as long as I had one on the SkyRocket (which obviously you have to). AT&T LTE is stupid fast here in Kansas City, on the store phone it was pulling 40Mbps down/12Mbps up consistently, saw in the history where it has been as high as 50Mbps.
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dude told me i could cancel the tablet data plan in a month. hope he is right....

49.99 on T mobile

I think it is on sale for 49.99 on T mobile website now
could that price attract more people to develop for this phone?

Lokulan said:
I think it is on sale for 49.99 on T mobile website now
could that price attract more people to develop for this phone?
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Click to collapse
Yes it is. I don't know if this will attract many more people to the device though. That would be nice to have more devlopment.

Best Buy has been Price Matching them for $50. I got 2 there, Firmware was D41510e now D41510c with TowelRoot
Thanks to Ilxaot
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2770938

I ended up getting one at Best Buy. Thanks for the heads up.
Sent from my LG-D851

...and I paid $150 for mine... :crying:

D1358531 said:
...and I paid $150 for mine... :crying:
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If it makes you feel any better, I bought one for my mother at full price a few months back.
Sent from my LG-D851

Homer J. Fong said:
If it makes you feel any better, I bought one for my mother at full price a few months back.
Sent from my LG-D851
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:laugh:

D1358531 said:
:laugh:
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Same got its for 150 so sad how its cheap now

Got it for 169€.. 49,99 is just awesome for this phone!

Bought it. Have it now. Didn't know you couldn't root e firmware, so kdz flashed back to c, ran towelroot, checked the bootloader unlock just to make sure, about to do recovery. Thanks for the info!

LupineDream said:
Bought it. Have it now. Didn't know you couldn't root e firmware, so kdz flashed back to c, ran towelroot, checked the bootloader unlock just to make sure, about to do recovery. Thanks for the info!
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Same here. This phone is amazing, totally worth $150, but even more awesome for $50.
I just got done flashing back to 10c firmware and I'm trying to unlock the bootloader and flash a custom recovery. Looking for a stock ROM without all the bloat - CM11 sounds awesome but it looks like there are still a few issues (no video recording/playback and camera not taking pretty pictures - though I have to read and see if any of that has been fixed).

Well that was fun.
Just got back from a local Best Buy here in Las Vegas, I called ahead of time to check stock and to verify their "Price Match Guarantee" thing - I could have just ordered it from T-Mobile's website but, why wait a week for it to ship if I can get it tonight, right?
So, on the phone they try and blow me off constantly: the first girl I spoke with said they wouldn't price match, the second said they wouldn't price match if it's not in stock, then I got someone to ask the Manager (who would not speak with me on the phone, oddly enough) and he said they wouldn't honor the Price Match Guarantee on any cellular phone even in spite of that being totally inaccurate. I finished the call by saying "You'll honor it when I get there..." and then promptly ended the call.
Go to the store a half hour later, get the second phone from the shelf - the first one the girl handed me didn't even have a phone in the box, oops... - and then went to Customer Service and asked for the Manager, who came out from the back area and wondered just what I wanted (it was like 5 mins to closing time).
I said I need to price match the LG L90 with T-Mobile's current full retail pricing online at $49.99 and then he basically went into full damage control mode and did like 15 rebuttals to me about why they couldn't/shouldn't/wouldn't match the price: he whipped out his smartphone and started doing research, checked the T-Mobile site but kept hitting the "Add to cart" button before the page even loaded and I kept saying "You have to let the page load first so you can see the actual price."
He just kept at it for nearly 10 mins trying to show me it required activation - I replied "Nope, it's the full retail price at $49.99 and they are offering you the SIM activation kit for another $15 (which is crazy since the L90 comes with a brand new unactivated SIM in the box, I mean really). He kept sticking to his story that it required you to activate it and I kept saying "No, you're wrong there because it's a prepaid device and if it was in stock in the stores I could get it and not deal with any of that and activate it at home when I wanted." He jumped on the "not in stock" thing and I said no, they're out of stock in the local stores here (which they are when I called to ask) but this is an online price for an online retailer and he knew I wasn't going to back down.
I said "Look, there's two outcomes here: 1) you sell me the price matched smartphone and I leave a happy customer and continue doing business with Best Buy in the future, or 2) you don't honor your own policy for the Price Match Guarantee, I leave pissed off, angry, and frustrated, I go home and order it from T-Mobile online for the same price, you lose a customer forever, and then I hand-write (not email) a nice detailed letter to the Vice-President for Customer Relations at Best Buy Corporate about my experience here where I'm 100% in the right and within 48 hours of his Executive Assistant getting the letter I'll get a phone call, an apology, and at least a $50 Best Buy Gift Card for the hassle you ended up causing me tonight."
He didn't like that very much, nor do I think he likes me either but, for a change this customer actually was right.
So I got the phone for the $49.99+tax as I expected when I walked in, proof below...
Tips if you want 'em:
- Best Buy's Price Match Guarantee states that in order for the price match to be available, the actual web page at Best Buy's website must say "PRICE MATCH GUARANTEE" on the page just above the price - the LG L90 does say that so, that's one
- If you read deeper into the Best Buy Price Match Guarantee guidelines there's a disclaimer about contract cell phones - they are excluded from the price match guarantee directly - and I made it clear that I knew this and that this is not a contract phone, it's a prepaid phone - that's two
So the Manager had no actual ground to stand on and was left with no choice but to honor the Price Match Guarantee as written on their website and also on a flyer in their stores (you have to ask to see it, actually, they don't post it for their own silly reasons).
Anyway, just earlier tonight I was looking at craigslist for an L90 believe it or not and decided to check in here for info about any updates, root, bootloader unlocking, etc, and lo and behold I caught this thread so, thank you for sharing the information, OP...
So far I like it overall. Coming from a G2 it's a bit of a letdown of course but, after some tweaking and other playing around I'm sure I'll like it even more.
</end_silly_Best_Buy_battle_rant>

I am surprisingly happy with this phone. I thought it would be a big step back from my galaxy s4 but I am pretty happy with it. My s4 had sim card issues.
My biggest complaint is that it is not 4g LTE.

darkmx-6 said:
I am surprisingly happy with this phone. I thought it would be a big step back from my galaxy s4 but I am pretty happy with it. My s4 had sim card issues.
My biggest complaint is that it is not 4g LTE.
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I'm with you. I shelved my G3 for the past couple of weeks.
Sent from my L90

I think the cheaper price point will bring more users, probably not many more people developing. Either way good price for the phone.

I believe the only negative impact would end up falling on LG as opposed to T-Mo as LG has allowed T-Mobile to cripple the device with the 10e firmware update. Be forewarned, if you get it now, it'll have that firmware pre-installed and it's a fuss to get it rolled back to 10c to root and then another pain to be able to access a recovery.

I able to get this phone from my work. (Big retail box chain in US. Guess what? They price match!) I liked around the specs for this and was pleasantly surprised about the performance for the price. I walked out with the phone for under $100 and am happy with this device. Always Always look at competitor pricing and find a place that can give you guarantees. Sorry about that terrible experience @br0adband!
Regardless this is a great phone with great specs at a great price, MSRP or not. I might even learn a thing and try my own mods if it isn't rocket science!

DEAL: Best Buy Offering Moto Z DROID Force for only $99, INCLUDES JBL Speaker Mod!

Best Buy is now selling the Moto Z DROID Force (pre-order) for $99 on a 2-year contract extension ($200 off) and tosses in the JBL SoundBoost speaker for free! Kinda amazed by that, considering its retail pricing.
Best Buy Link

I have always heard that buying from a big box store is a bad, very bad idea.
Granted I don't know the details of why.
Just something I remember seeing

I took advantage of this deal. I didn't do a contract, I did the monthly payment plan, which ended up only being $21 per month instead of $30 if I bought direct from VZW.. So, i'll only pay $524 for the phone. I also got the JBL speaker mod, included for free with the pre-order, and I grabbed an Incipio battery mod also.
As for purchasing from a "Big Box" store, Best Buy Mobile is just like any other indirect retailer. You can have good employee's and a good experience or visa versus. Being that they have huge buying power from the Manufactures, they end up being able to offer better deals, sometimes, than the actual carriers. Just be clear and concise with what you want and you'll be just fine. I speak from direct/personal experience in this matter. I had about 7 or so years in the wireless industry, including a year or so of working for Best Buy Mobile. I'm in IT now, but still associated with the electronics and wireless industry.

I also jumped on the deal and it was smooth. They didn't have the JBL Mod in store, but they will be contacting me as soon as it comes in

JBL speaker is actually pretty sweet. I wouldn't have paid for it otherwise.
It's REALLY loud and damn good quality! I'll probably use it more for watching stuff on the phone to get full effect.

PolarBearMI said:
I have always heard that buying from a big box store is a bad, very bad idea.
Granted I don't know the details of why.
Just something I remember seeing
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Click to collapse
In the days of carrier contracts and subsidized phones with contracts, this was true. Here's why.
Let's say a phone retails without contract for $600. The subsidized price for signing a two year contract is $300. Verizon carries it in the store for $300, so does Best Buy. Since BB is a third party retailer for Verizon, they get paid a hold back (commission) for signing the customer up on the contract. The hold back comes usually at 6 months into the contract and varies on device ($175 - $350).
Ok, now let's say you decide you can't carry the contract any more. Verizon will charge you an ETF to break the contract (to recoup cost of the device). BUT...let's say you bought it at Best Buy...and instead of charging you $300, BB was selling it for $100...because they were expecting a $350 hold back from Verizon in 6 months. Well if you cancelled before BB got their commission, YOU now owe them XXX amount of money. It's a part of the secondary contract you sign with a third party retailer.
In modern times, this isn't an issue because phones are not tied to plans, per se.

Has anyone tried getting the discount when buying the phone outright from best buy? Still on unlimited data and not willing to give it up, but no way I'm paying$720 for a phone.
Sent from my XT1254 using XDA Free mobile app

kongyang9o said:
I also jumped on the deal and it was smooth. They didn't have the JBL Mod in store, but they will be contacting me as soon as it comes in
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Make sure you clearly have a receipt stating you are owed the speaker. On my other line I did the free 64GB micro SD card and free VR from Best Buy for the S7 and same thing, they were out of both. A few weeks later and no call, but they showed as in stock. Turns out the rep rang it up wrong so I was never going to get a call. Luckily the manager believed me and gave me both, but that was pure luck. Make sure your receipt shows that it was ordered for you.
Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

I REALLY wish they could upgrade a phone on a business account. I want this phone badly, but don't want to pay $30/mo from Verizon.

Took advantage of this deal. Went fine, great price, got the speaker, then turned my old phone into an iPad. All in all, quick and painless experience.

nexgen10 said:
Took advantage of this deal. Went fine, great price, got the speaker, then turned my old phone into an iPad. All in all, quick and painless experience.
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how did you turn a phone into an iPad?

HotShotAzn said:
how did you turn a phone into an iPad?
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He put an Apple sticker on the back. Sorry I couldn't hold myself.

HotShotAzn said:
how did you turn a phone into an iPad?
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Verizon is running an iPad deal rn. We got an iPad mini for $149. Got $110 credit for turning in droid turbo.

Gvndeb60 said:
Make sure you clearly have a receipt stating you are owed the speaker. On my other line I did the free 64GB micro SD card and free VR from Best Buy for the S7 and same thing, they were out of both. A few weeks later and no call, but they showed as in stock. Turns out the rep rang it up wrong so I was never going to get a call. Luckily the manager believed me and gave me both, but that was pure luck. Make sure your receipt shows that it was ordered for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Walked in the other day just to follow up and the manager approved the transaction. They still didn't have it in stock though, so they just ordered it to ship to my door.

Very tempted for the Best Buy offer + my birthday coupon, but is it worth it?

I got my Note 8 last year through Best Buy with Verizon, and there was a sweet promotion that pretty much rendered my Note 8 to only cost $306 by the end of my two year device payment plan. It's my main phone use of today.
About 3 weeks ago, I found someone selling a Galaxy S8+ of a few month's use with LOTS of charging accessories for only $200! I went to pick that up because it was such a steal and it would be cool to have a backup phone to say the least.
So now it's the month of August, and Best Buy awarded me a 10% off coupon on select items. Apparently, it works for the Note9! And the trade in they're offering is $450 for an S8+/Note8 towards the new Note9. So $100 off + $450 = $550 off a $1000 smartphone! And if I am able to sell the AKG headphones, this new phone is practically a few hundred dollars!
But then I'm thinking to myself...is it really worth it to switch to the Note 9 as my main? I can sell away my Note8 for extra money back in this overall "dilemma" and I'll just continue to make payments as if nothing happened because I doubt Verizon will know whether I have the phone on hand or not. lol
What do you guys think? I have until Thursday evening to jump in on this. Is this worth it for the amazing deal I've found here?

Some speculation, but the terms on the Best Buy trade-in offer mention it's via a gift card and coupon. I'm not familiar with how Best Buy applies coupons, but it could be that the two coupons might not stack if this is the case... unsure. Otherwise, I think it's a decent deal, yes.

vacaloca said:
Some speculation, but the terms on the Best Buy trade-in offer mention it's via a gift card and coupon. I'm not familiar with how Best Buy applies coupons, but it could be that the two coupons might not stack if this is the case... unsure. Otherwise, I think it's a decent deal, yes.
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I was on chat with a Best Buy representative last night for an hour to verify everything, and he told me to keep screenshots and come into the store to place the order while having them process the trade in so it would all work.

A Note 9 for sub $600.00 is worth it, just from a math perspective.
Here is the breakdown you provided. You paid $350(Note 8) + $200(S8+) = $550 All-in.
If you got the Note 9 it would breakdown $1000(Note 9) - ($100(coupon)-$350(S8 Trade In))=$550 for a Note 9; if you sell your Note 8 for more than $550 you profit.
If not you still win because the most you will have spent for 2 banging phones is $900.

chavist said:
A Note 9 for sub $600.00 is worth it, just from a math perspective.
Here is the breakdown you provided. You paid $350(Note 8) + $200(S8+) = $550 All-in.
If you got the Note 9 it would breakdown $1000(Note 9) - ($100(coupon)-$350(S8 Trade In))=$550 for a Note 9; if you sell your Note 8 for more than $550 you profit.
If not you still win because the most you will have spent for 2 banging phones is $900.
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Oh uh, the Best Buy deal only allowed one trade in device, so it would be the S8+. That phone is eligible for $450 towards the Note 9. The birthday coupon takes off 10% from the regular price, so that's $100. That's how it came to be 550 off the phone. The Note 8 could just sit with me or I can sell it either way. Hehe

Of course it's a great deal! This phone is substantially better than the Note8 in my opinion (as a Note8 user/lover), if nothing else just for the battery! Although there is a lot more I am excited about (pen with BT for photos, more storage, more RAM, new color, contrast with signature ink, improved camera, stereo speakers, etc.).
I'm not 100% sure how it works, but you may have to pay off Verizon for the Note8 though. I thought I had heard that if you try and buy a phone that has not been paid off, it won't work. In other words, you could not sell your Note8 and have the other person stick their SIM in it. I could be mistaken, but I would look into it!

PsiPhiDan said:
Of course it's a great deal! This phone is substantially better than the Note8 in my opinion (as a Note8 user/lover), if nothing else just for the battery! Although there is a lot more I am excited about (pen with BT for photos, more storage, more RAM, new color, contrast with signature ink, improved camera, stereo speakers, etc.).
I'm not 100% sure how it works, but you may have to pay off Verizon for the Note8 though. I thought I had heard that if you try and buy a phone that has not been paid off, it won't work. In other words, you could not sell your Note8 and have the other person stick their SIM in it. I could be mistaken, but I would look into it!
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Nice to hear from a fellow Note8 user. I was debating about if it is really worth it, but I would really like a fatter battery for sure!
I'm not going to do anything to hand over the Note 8 though, so passing up the S8+ is my full intentions.

GigaSPX said:
Nice to hear from a fellow Note8 user. I was debating about if it is really worth it, but I would really like a fatter battery for sure!
I'm not going to do anything to hand over the Note 8 though, so passing up the S8+ is my full intentions.
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I actually also have an Orchid Gray Verizon model. It is easily my favorite phone that I've ever had. The ONLY things keeping it from perfection (in my opinion) are: (1) battery size, (2) lack of stereo speakers, (3) fingerprint scanner annoyance. Those have all been fixed (along with the obvious processor upgrade and camera upgrade and pen upgrade), so I am 100% positive this will be a dream phone for me. There are literally no other phones I even care about or am jealous of (I often get phone envy...). This thing is going to be amazing, which is why I splurged and got the 512GB model to make it the ultimate dream phone, future-proof phone (in case I keep it for a long time!).

PsiPhiDan said:
I actually also have an Orchid Gray Verizon model. It is easily my favorite phone that I've ever had. The ONLY things keeping it from perfection (in my opinion) are: (1) battery size, (2) lack of stereo speakers, (3) fingerprint scanner annoyance. Those have all been fixed (along with the obvious processor upgrade and camera upgrade and pen upgrade), so I am 100% positive this will be a dream phone for me. There are literally no other phones I even care about or am jealous of (I often get phone envy...). This thing is going to be amazing, which is why I splurged and got the 512GB model to make it the ultimate dream phone, future-proof phone (in case I keep it for a long time!).
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I think I'm going to do it, just hoping I won't get screwed over in store saying it can't be applied even though it shows it for me online.

I loved my note8 until it was stolen...
Anyway, I pre-ordered from Samsung. I drove over to Costco and they are giving away some type of $70.00 charging kit with your purchase but you must finance the phone which means a query to your credit report. For some reason you can't just purchase the phone outright.
Bestbuy did not have any deals on this phone. I spoke with their Samsung rep who demoed the BT from the other side of the store and took photos... Pretty damned amazing!
B&H Photo/Video has a pretty nice deal but I didn't see any way to trade in your old phone with them. + they are charging you NYC Tax which is pretty damned high!
Anyone know where the best deal is on this phone? For now, I'll stick with my order from Samsung's website. They still haven't charged my CC as of this time which makes me think that maybe I won't be getting my phone on Friday. UGH! Since my Note 8 was stolen, I've been without a phone for the past month and it's been a pretty damned painful month but I survived .

Secondlaw said:
I loved my note8 until it was stolen...
Anyway, I pre-ordered from Samsung. I drove over to Costco and they are giving away some type of $70.00 charging kit with your purchase but you must finance the phone which means a query to your credit report. For some reason you can't just purchase the phone outright.
Bestbuy did not have any deals on this phone. I spoke with their Samsung rep who demoed the BT from the other side of the store and took photos... Pretty damned amazing!
B&H Photo/Video has a pretty nice deal but I didn't see any way to trade in your old phone with them. + they are charging you NYC Tax which is pretty damned high!
Anyone know where the best deal is on this phone? For now, I'll stick with my order from Samsung's website. They still haven't charged my CC as of this time which makes me think that maybe I won't be getting my phone on Friday. UGH! Since my Note 8 was stolen, I've been without a phone for the past month and it's been a pretty damned painful month but I survived .
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Where are you located? The deals I'm trying to take advantage of is available through Best Buy themselves.
How did your phone get stolen? You can't track it?

GigaSPX said:
Where are you located? The deals I'm trying to take advantage of is available through Best Buy themselves.
How did your phone get stolen? You can't track it?
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I tracked it then they turned it off. From here, I went online and hopefully deleted all of my stuff that was on there. Unfortunately, my micro-SD Card was not encrypted so if you see me on Redtube be forewarned, it might not be pretty...
I went into a local BestBuy store. The sales guy didn't have 1 deal for me other than what was already on the Samsung website.

GigaSPX said:
I got my Note 8 last year through Best Buy with Verizon, and there was a sweet promotion that pretty much rendered my Note 8 to only cost $306 by the end of my two year device payment plan. It's my main phone use of today.
About 3 weeks ago, I found someone selling a Galaxy S8+ of a few month's use with LOTS of charging accessories for only $200! I went to pick that up because it was such a steal and it would be cool to have a backup phone to say the least.
So now it's the month of August, and Best Buy awarded me a 10% off coupon on select items. Apparently, it works for the Note9! And the trade in they're offering is $450 for an S8+/Note8 towards the new Note9. So $100 off + $450 = $550 off a $1000 smartphone! And if I am able to sell the AKG headphones, this new phone is practically a few hundred dollars!
But then I'm thinking to myself...is it really worth it to switch to the Note 9 as my main? I can sell away my Note8 for extra money back in this overall "dilemma" and I'll just continue to make payments as if nothing happened because I doubt Verizon will know whether I have the phone on hand or not. lol
What do you guys think? I have until Thursday evening to jump in on this. Is this worth it for the amazing deal I've found here?
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I have written this before and will write it again. You guys and gals in the USA are spoiled with Smart phones. The deals you get are amazing. No such deals exist in Southern Europe in fact I may add the whole of Europe.
In this country we have to pay top price for smart phones.
My note 7 (both of them) came with nothing. S8+ came with nothing, Note 8 came two months later with a DEX. This time after numerous complaints to Samsung in this country we managed the amazing deal of trading in our 12 month old Note 8 costing 1,020.00€ for the Note 9 costing 1,030.00€. We got 500.00€ deducted. Never known such a deal and probably never will again! :highfive:
In your case you should jump at such an offer. :good:
Ryland

Alright, just to update:
I went to my local Best Buy to do the whole process in store, and the employee helping me was confused at my coupon code working for the unlocked Note 9. He called the manager and 2 other employees came and huddled up to see what was going on. They were calling me out about the Unlocked Phones being in their exclusion list, but I told them it worked in my Cart online, and showed them all the screens and from the app. Then I told them to try using the code on another unlocked phone they have available in store that was regular priced. They pulled out a Galaxy J7 phone that was $220, applied the code.....BAM! $22 SAVINGS! THE CODE WORKED!
The reaction on all their faces were priceless! So I go ahead and placed my order for pickup, and they processed the S8+ I had on have for $450. Now I just have to wait for tomorrow to pick up!

GigaSPX said:
Alright, just to update:
I went to my local Best Buy to do the whole process in store, and the employee helping me was confused at my coupon code working for the unlocked Note 9. He called the manager and 2 other employees came and huddled up to see what was going on. They were calling me out about the Unlocked Phones being in their exclusion list, but I told them it worked in my Cart online, and showed them all the screens and from the app. Then I told them to try using the code on another unlocked phone they have available in store that was regular priced. They pulled out a Galaxy J7 phone that was $220, applied the code.....BAM! $22 SAVINGS! THE CODE WORKED!
The reaction on all their faces were priceless! So I go ahead and placed my order for pickup, and they processed the S8+ I had on have for $450. Now I just have to wait for tomorrow to pick up!
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That's awesome! I feel like BB always tries to screw people over and limit deals, so I am happy to hear you won the battle!

PsiPhiDan said:
That's awesome! I feel like BB always tries to screw people over and limit deals, so I am happy to hear you won the battle!
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The taste of victory is pretty sweet! ?
And I asked them about my Note8 currently being in a device payment plan. Really, I could still sell the phone for profit and still continue paying it off at the end of the two years because it's easy to just switch Sims and just go on with your day.

My Best Buy order switched to "Ready for Pickup" today, so excitedly, I drove into the store to, you know, Pickup my phone.
However, they said I wasn't able to pickup until tomorrow. Kinda frustrating to say the least.