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I'm kind of confused by all of the options. I'll have to figure out what is going on with my contract before making any decisions. I can't remember when I started this current contract because I lost a phone while snowboarding and had to get a new one.

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Thanks. So a kishu henkan gets me that discount then... that is good. That makes a fair bit of difference...

Hahaha! You do proof reading? Please tell me it's not in English?! I don't think I've ever seen a single post from you that doesn't have at least a good chunk of it that is incomprehensible.  

Confusing is is what they're trying to do isn't it.

 

I feel the ideal thing is to sign up, spend 2 years with one company, then move over to another one etc.

The cheapest way to do things

 

They don't seem to offer as much (if much at all) for people who stick with them for a long time.

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I totally get that feeling too. My wife and I need to sync up the timing of our contracts so we can leave / join different phones companies at the same time to save money. Not giving anything for customer loyalty is really strange, isn't it?

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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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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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I didn't mention this, but I actually had a last minute considerable change of heart, and ended up pre-ordering with au.

:doh:

It was just seeming too much of a cash outlay buying the thing all at once, especially with the buy back on offer.

Changed my plan as well which will reduce the monthly cost and allow me free calls which is an improvement on before,

Hope I won't regret it.

 

Got it ordered within 10 minutes of going online, so let's see when I can get it.

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Lady Peetan went to the au store yesterday to discuss her upgrade from a 16gb 5 to a 64gb 6 (apparently 32's aren't being made anymore??), totally flummoxed by the process.

 

If she carried on without upgrading or changing her contract she would end up paying about 1,000 yen more per month because of tethering and end of the discount period etc.

 

However, the guy's billing numbers for her contract completely mismatched her last bill. Strange.

 

She has some discount vouchers and will trade her phone in though, so at least that will make it cheaper.

 

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?

 

Just seems so strange the way contracts work here.

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Good god, could this possibly be any more cringeworthy. I hadn't seen this bit.

It even misses the bit before where Tim Cook comes out after U2 play their crappy new single and he says "wasn't that just like the best single you have ever heard?".

 

Just pukey horrid.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_zYOXTd47c

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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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Good god, could this possibly be any more cringeworthy. I hadn't seen this bit.

It even misses the bit before where Tim Cook comes out after U2 play their crappy new single and he says "wasn't that just like the best single you have ever heard?".

 

Just pukey horrid.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_zYOXTd47c

 

Yeah lucky me ( and others ) now have U2 on their Apple device regardless of whether they wanted it or not.

And to add insult to injury you can't delete it.

Thanks Apple and U2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I turned auto downloads off the very moment I got a warning that I was near my 7gig monthly allowance one month. I was astounded that so many small updates could accumulate, but since turning it off I've noticed that some apps release an update as much as twice weekly! Crazy- and really not worth risking a crawl connection for.

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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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