Help me pick a Smartphone Plan/Provider
Seriously, help.... I have a flip phone through Koodoo with an awesome tip calculator and it's all I've ever used. I'm completely ignorant towards these new fandangled smart phones the kids have these days.
But with the Galaxy S3 finally coming out I plan on picking it up on probably a 3 year contract. I could buy it outright but I think(?) it makes more sense to sign my life away with a company.
I'm looking to spend around $50 to $60 a month but could be persuaded to spend more if I need to.... hell right now I spend $30 a month on unlimited text and 5pm evenings and weekends.
My habits currently are that I don't really talk much on my phone, I more text with it than anything. I imagine I'll be primarily using the new phone at work/home where I'll have wifi, but when I'm out running or biking I'll want to track my progress with some sort of fitness gps app. When I'm golfing I'll probably use an app for that as well. I'll also want to check in on work/home emails and of course check Calgarypuck so I'll obviously need some sort of data plan... and I don't want to worry about exceeding it each month so I would assume I'll need more than 100/200mb a month(?), but I have no idea.
A buddy of mine is on Virgin and seems to like it, but he's originally from the UK so he takes advantage of the free international texting feature.
I've also looked at Wind (and read the thread on here which is mostly good feedback) but I've been informed that if I go through Wind, I'd only get the S3 model with 3G capability.... I'm not sure if I need more than 3G capability. Hell I barely know what 3G and 4G LTE is... I just know 4 is faster. I also worry about Winds coverage/dead zones within Calgary.
I've heard horror stories about the major competitors but at the same time I've heard some good customer feedback about them too so I'm not opposed to any specific company... ie) I don't have any rational/irrational likes/dislikes
Basically I'd like to avoid any hidden fees and activation fees if I can... also are there "hidden" plans or price matching you can get if you try and play the competition against each other? Is there anything else I should be thinking about or looking for in a plan/provider that I'm missing?
Oh I also should mention I'm pretty much local to Calgary 95% of the time, but if I do travel I wouldn't mind being able to take the phone without having to fear about some massive roaming/data charge on my bill... but I suppose that's what sim cards are for?
Have I gotten across how ignorant I am with this yet? Appreciate any and all suggestions/advice.
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