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Originally Posted by Severian

So you think the iPhone 5 is at its best price now?? I'm thinking of getting the 4s and then later upgrading to the 5.???

the iphone 5 is at the only price it will ever have. it will not go down until the next iphones come out. so you get the best value in the early phase of its design cycle (it doesn't mean it's worthless later, but it will be older and cost you the same as today) --> all apple products are priced the same way.

the issue is what kind of carrier you have or want, where you live, what type of service, how much $ to burn, etc.

if you have a carrier you like and want to stay with said carrier, then upgrading to the iphone 5 (if available) is a no-brainer.

if you want out of indentured servitude and want to explore the flexibility of non-contract carriers, then cricket has the iphone 5--- virgin doesn't yet have it. i got virgin with the 4S for now and love it, but I only get 3G.

cricket does 3G-only as well, even with the iphone 5. virgin does 4G but only for certain android models right now-- i'd suspect this might change when they get the iphone 5, but i'm not sure if and when this will happen. it's a bit of a clusterfuck, but cricket leases 3G access from sprint, and sprint owns virgin in the usa (virgin is a global brand but not a global provider).

you gotta shop around and figure what's your highest priority-- a better phone, a better network, lower intial cost vs. lower cost over the next 2 years, how likely you are to incur overages, etc. lots to consider, and it's an individual choice. if you want all the bells and whisltes an dthe strongest network then verizon is the way to go but it will cost you and they don't offer unlimited data (unless you have an old plan then you're grandfathered in). if you want the cheapest overall cost then virgin first then cricket.

you could get the iphone 4 (not 4S) from cricket for $400 and unlimited everything for $55/month (virgin is $500 and $50 respectively so at the end of 2 years it costs $20 less for unlimited). actually the cheapest plan with virgin is $30/month with unlimited text+data and auto-renew payments but talk is limited to 300 minutes (this can be a pain when you have to "wait on hold for the next available operator" or have long discussions with clients, etc.--for me unlimited talk is cheaper) see here: http://www.pcworld.com/article/257210/virgin_mobile_iphone_4s_vs_carrier_deals_compariso n_chart_.html

also take into account that apple care for 2 years is another $100-- this now includes water damage and physical destruction (with a $50 fee) that were not previously covered, so it's very useful to me (i paid $650 for my 4S, i'd rather add another $100 than lose it all). the thing is, apple care is attached to the hardware, not the person, so if you sell it, the warranty can go with it also (you recover your cost). an alternative to this is to find some aftermarket repair shop but since i use my phone for work reliability is a priority.

tl;dr: if you ask about the iphone in and of itself, i'd say "hell yeah, best tricorder ever"