NoFakie
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Posts posted by NoFakie
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Sounds like you've found a rogue au shop there. Go for it! I was in last week and the woman there said the only way to limit data to something cheaper than the regular 5000yen/7GB was to go kakehodai which is 3000 off the bat. My missus calls a lot, so it'll be good for her, but not for me because I'm grumpy and never call anyone. Once I get a smartphone, I just want a regular mobile number for incoming calls and will use a VoIP thing like Skype out or Line Phone to call out. Line is 390 yen a month for 60 minutes to other keitais.
Sticking with au, but a couple of weeks ago, it sounds like they sent out what looks like junk mail but was actually "fast coupons" worth up to 20,000 off a new phone, redeemable on the new Iphone. On 2ch, people said it has something to do with au's Iphone 5 having a crap antenna and a limited area for LTE reception, leading to lots of complaints. The higher trade-in price for the 5 than the 5c/5s is supposed to be for the same reason. The criteria for who got a coupon sound a bit mysterious and I don't think we got one
, but there is no 4G where we live so we wouldn't have been affected by any problems with that. If you're on au, check your mail to see if you got one. -
If there are four of you, renting a car will be cheaper than anything involving the Shinkansen at regular prices. Probably more of an adventure too.
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My wife has decided to finally get a smartphone. I have a iPhone 5. We are currently with Softbank because of the free calls between our phones. My daughter also has my old iphone 4 with the free service of calling our two numbers only. I'm wondering if we should just continue on as is or try switching to something better or even more economical. I'm kind of a big dummy when it comes to plans, switching carriers...sims...paybacks... and all that. Man, it's confusing.
Anyone know of a page or site explaining the options available to us here in Japan..??
There are so many options and different ways of using them (x amount of calls to different groups people, y data a month) that no one can explain them all. For paybacks and stuff, it will depend when the individual contracts are up and how "invested" you are in one company's stuff. Your iphones are "invested" in Softbank because they won't work as well on another carrier and you are "invested" in Softbank itself because you'll have to pay to leave outside the one chance you get every two years. Free calls are becoming a less important bonus though, especially with family members on smartphones, because there are many Skype-like services you can use for free. Major non-business call users (i.e., women) also like to use Line now which is free. For multiple smartphones in the same family, some companies offer a nice discount. Au does, but you have to use their optic fiber Internet and its not available where I live.
If its a case of simply getting a smartphone, someone like Biglobe will give you a smartphone handset with a regular number and 2GB (1GB + 1GB free for a years' commitment) of data a month for about 4000 a month plus calls. If you call more, Y! Mobile will give you 300 free calls a month and 1GB data for 3000 a month. Shop around and the phone set should be free or 20,000 yen max. A Nexus 5 is free if you're coming from au or docomo (not softbank because they are part of the same group). While these options may only seem 3000 or so cheaper than the cheapest deals on au/softbank etc. that's 3000 every month, so 36,000 a year.
I'm going to get a U mobile sim which is 2200 a month for 3GB of data and a phone number. Calls are 20 yen for 30 seconds, so maybe 200 a month for me if I call my wife on Line. A pretty good handset, say Nexus 5, to use on it is 30,000, which assuming two years usage is 1250 a month, so about 3800 a month for phone+handset. I pay about 2500 now just for phone and incoming emails. 3GB a month on au with an Iphone 5s thrown in would cost about 7,400, though I would get free calls. An Iphone 6 would be about 8,000 a month, 4000 a month more which over two years is getting close to 100,000 yen. Note that au/softbank Iphones will probably not work with cheap sims when you go overseas. They will probably be difficult to work with cheap sims in Japan as well. You also have to stick around for two years to collect the full discount that makes the phone plus service 8000 a month. If you leave early, you will have to pay off the remaining balance on the phone, a phone that is locked and probably won't work with another carrier.
Lots of the big denki stores now sell sim free phones and sims, so you can ask about them and what they do at Yodobashi, Bic Camera etc.
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The reviews are out on the big tech sites now. I'll order one for my missus when I get the time. 25,000 back for the 5 means au are paying my missus 10,000 yen to upgrade to the 6 (and stay with them, of course).
For myself, I've come to a decision and it is to wait
I'm going to see what the new Nexus is like next month. If its too expensive I'll get the current one, which should be cheaper then anyway.
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Apparently big Shinzo is on their case and next year could see the end of sim locking. No faffing about etc. etc.
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Let's telling farty breath au what we think of their prices!
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Not bad is it that.
Wonder what they do with the old ones..
Some of them may get a quick refurb and go to Applecare.
In addition to having a sim lock you have to remove, it sounds like the au iphone 5 has a very limited antenna that won't work well with many providers. It won't even work with a 3rd party sim that uses au's own signal (there aren't many but the main one is mineo). As a phone to keep for the future, the au iphone 5c or 5c sound much better. Hopefully the 6 will be the same and the sim lock will be crackable so my missus can drop au in a couple of years' time.
I'm going mnvo sim for sure, probably with a Nexus 5. A simfree Iphone 6 wouldn't be such a bad choice either, because one of them will probably be worth 40,000 in two years' time, just like a simfree Iphone 5 does now. Apple stuff really holds its value.
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There's a campaign on from 9/19 so the trade in for an au Iphone 5 16GB is 25000 yen in points for a 16GB. Oh well, more to think about.
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Rob Green was very poor and should have stopped the first one and probably the third too. I didn't see the second half.
Apparently the free one month campaign for the Jsports online thing was the first month of the season up to 9/15, not one month from when you apply. You can still get the first week free though as a trial.
I doubt Moyes is mad enough to go to Newcastle, but I'd take him! We're the closest team to bonnie Scotland!
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Pardew one game off the sack! C'mon on Brucie, finish him off next week!
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Also, changing to a new provide seems a no-go now, as they all now lock you in to a more expensive (3,000 yen talk+ much more for data) package?
If you've been on au (etc.) a while, your contract with them will probably not be in synch with you changing your phone. Most of them sell smartphones with the cost split over 24 months and give you a discount that will take 24 months to collect in full. Your contract also runs for 24 months, but unless you joined after smartphones started and have always changed phones bang on 24 months, your contract and your paying off of the phone won't be at the same time. Changing phones does not extend your contract with that company. Having them separate acts as another bind keeping you to that company. The discount split over 24 months means you won't get full discount if you leave early. The 24-month contract means you have one chance every two years to stop using them without paying a fine. Because the two are usually out of synch, you'll generally lose one way or the other when you leave. Its a fantastic scam. I hope the bosses at the companies have enkais where they sit around patting each other on the back on how well they have worked it. The fact that all three do it means there is de facto collusion.
Breaking contract with a phone company involves a fine of about 10,000 yen. However, 2GB of data plus calls on a sim company is 2,000 yen. 2GB of data plus unlimited calls, the cheapest smartphone plan, on au is 6,500 yen. So, if you don't make many calls, you will save the cost of breaking your contract in three months. If you want to save money, you just have to suck it up.
fwiw, a sim free 16GB Iphone 5 is worth 15000 yen more second hand than an au one. So if you bought a sim free one from Apple, you get something that will be worth much more in two years time than an au or softbank one. Unless you make lots of calls, your own sim free phone plus a sim should be 3000 a month cheaper than one of the big three. Your phone will also work overseas with cheap local sims, which a softbank or au one may not.
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Whatever happens, Cameron has majorly effed up by allowing the referendum and had no idea that it would unleash the mayhem that it has.
By not putting devo max on the paper as lots of yes people wanted, they've also created more support for the yes camp.
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I went yesterday and they had a chart up saying you get 18,000 points for trading in a 16GB Iphone 5. Indeed no hassle, and good if your phone has a few dings.
My plan is have a go at making my wife's old phone sim-free and getting a U mobile sim to stick in it for me to use, so no trade in. If it doesn't work, I'll sell the phone and buy a fully sim-free one that the U mobile sim will work in.
If anyone does a trade in, I reckon you're best off using the au points straight away on your new phone. Otherwise they'll just be another reason to stay with au in the future and not look into alternatives.
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fwiw, I think its the same with Internet providers. Use them disposably and keep changing to get the new customer deal. You'll get a free ipad or playstation or something every two years (or whatever it is).
As for the value of any existing Iphone you may have, some folks will be happy with the screen as is, and will actually prefer a 5 or smaller older ones. So the value may not fall as rapidly as you may think. A new OS they are not compatible with would do more damage.
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Au have announced their Iphone6 price. You can order one from 4pm today.
http://campaign2.au.kddi.com/iphone/ryokin/price.html?bid=we-ipo-2014-00201
For the 16GB, its 605 yen a month (just under 15000 equiv total) after the discount for existing au peeps. Its free to new customers and folks switching from another carrier to au. The mega sized one is 500 yen more per month.
I think my missus' 24 months are up in November, so we might get one then. Apparently the number contract for U mobile is 12 months, which means you could do a year with them and, if its a bit rubbish, then bring your number back to au and be wooed as a new customer and given whatever the new flash phone is then.
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That amount is what came up on kakaku.
I just had a little look on aucfan, the price discovery thing for yahoo auctions, and 22,000 was the average, with some junk ones pulling it down and several going for more. That was searching for the serial number me040j, which gives you exactly the same model. If you have the box, the charger and unused headphones and put it on Yahoo Auctions with a buy it now for 25,000, I reckon someone would pay it. Someone without Applecare who's dropped theirs in the toilet. The cheapest buy it now for that model is over 35,000.
The sooner you sell the better though!
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Far be it for me to defend Apple, but when my missus got her iPhone 5, it was almost the cheapest smartphone in the au shop. She actually wanted a phone with a bigger screen like a Galaxy or the HTC one, but they would have been 20,000 more, even though such phones are cheaper when you see them on sites like Engadget. The Japanese pricing is all screwed up. I'm just pleased au didn't have a big discount on the 4S at the time, because we would have got one of them and been stuck with a little screen.
A bit more research suggests an au Iphone 5 converted to sim free will not pick up an LTE signal. Inaka is solid 3G so its not a problem for me. What is means though is that if you want to go the 3rd party sim route, its best to start with a sim-free phone, not a converted one from au or Softbank. A docomo Iphone will take a 3rd party sim without conversion and will get LTE, because most 3rd party providers use the same docomo network.
By the looks, an 16GB au Iphone 5 is worth about 22,000 in mint condition. That's quite a bit of money to get back, so selling my wife's and getting a simfree phone with a bigger screen, e.g., Nexus also appeals.
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Footie's back with Arsenal Citeh. Could be well tasty and I guess Welbeck will play. I can see him getting 15 if you play him in the middle. 15 would be a good return for Falcao, given that he's new to the league.
Man U vs Rio Ferdy, Joey Barton etc. A good chance to get going!
Southampton away for Newcastle. Maybe 3-0 to them.
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u-mobile thing is interesting...... service same quality/level as docomo?
Dunno, it's why I've not left au and gone onto Y! Mobile which used to be Willcom. I've seen people fail to get a Softbank signal in my house, so I'm wary of any provider, esp. a minor one like Willcom, not giving me a signal. I can't remember folks having problems with Docomo round here though.
On the sim companies' websites, coverage is simply given as "check the docomo website". From bloggers photos, it looks like U mobile even sells sims with the docomo logo on. It sounds like there is a special procedure to get your phone going, but presumably its the same after you're up and running. I guess you could buy a 1000 yen, max 1GB a month disposable data-only sim to try out if you want to test reception. The Gevey sim thing you use to unlock your phone is about 650 yen on Amazon.
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The best thing about that is that Apple has always said you don't need a big screen or proper multitasking or customization or the other things. They always said not having such things was better. Just like the PowerPC chips were better than Intel's.
Just for the absurd way phones are sold in Japan, I think my missus could change phones on au from her Iphone 5 to an Iphone 5C (pointless, because it's exactly the same thing with a different colour case) for 135 yen a month for two years, about 3200 total. I guess this would cost au 20,000 yen plus. However, if we don't do it, au won't give us any discount for saving them 20,000 yen. The pricing system is designed for people who chuck their phone away every two years.
A little more searching suggests U mobile will give you a 3GB a month SIM and a regular phone number for 2170 a month on Docomo's network, LTE included. A SIM free Iphone is okay, so that's what I think I'll do. With 3GB I could even let my kids watch youtube.
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This device comes across as a swiss army knife with lots of crap blades.
Its not a garmin because it doesn't have gps.
You can't exercise standalone with it, because you can't run with headphones plugged into your wrist.
You can't communicate with it without an Iphone in your pocket or in your bag.
Regardless of how it looks, it seems to be quite restricted in what it can do.
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Apparently you can unlock a Japanese Iphone with a card sold by a company called Gevey. Once unlocked you can change providers to a sim only company.
A quick look at kakaku.com suggests 1GB a month is under 2000 yen with calls. Apparently you can keep your existing phone number, though they lock you in for a year.
My missus iphone 5 is paid off soon, so I might get her to get a 6 (might as well to get the discount), swipe her 5, and go onto a biglobe sim myself.
Biglobe uses Docomo's network so coverage should be good. Getting a signal is the biggest worry around here.
Most of my calls are to my missus, so we can just do Line or something to keep that free.
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I have a question.
OK so I am going to get a dekai iphone 6, and stay with au, the complete bastards.
But I can't work out how much worse off I'd be if I got a sim free.. rather than buy through au.
Looking at the au site now, for example I can get a iphone 5s for 68,040 yen (2835 yen x 24 months).
Or is it 24,850 yen over 24 months with effectvely 1800 yen off per month.
It's unclear if that is if I join up for a new data plan or not. Is that waribiki available for current customers just moving to the new phone? Or would I effectively be pying 68040 for the phone over 24 months?
Can someone clear that one up for me. My head is confused.
What you want to do is change sets, kishu henkan, so you will get the waribiki. With a 5s its only slightly smaller than the discount for new customers and ones coming from another carrier.
If au applies something like the prices on the Apple Japan site, the 6 is 10,000 more than the 5s, and the big 6 10,000 on again. At present, kishu henkan to a 5s, or a 5c if colour is more important than performance, is 135 yen a month for 24 months for the 16GB after the waribiki. So the big six will be that plus 20,000 total, plus a bit more for being new, so I'd guess 2500 a month. A second hand au iPhone 5 that's paid off will be worth a fair bit though if your phone is in good nick. Maybe 20000, so that could really ease the pain. Ask at Sofmap, Dospara etc.
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With au, there is a thing called the "monthly discount". Its a stupid name because you only get it while paying off a phone.
So once your phone is paid off, your bill goes down by the amount you were paying for the phone and goes up due to the loss of the monthly discount.
For cheaper phones, the monthly discount covers the cost of the phone, so the bill stays the same once the handset is paid off.
Canned Coffee
in General off-topic discussions
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48! He's older than me. Is she going to knit him a cardigan?