Mr. BFS and I finally took the plunge into the 21st century and bought smart phones. We each are now a proud owner of our very own Samsung Epic 4G from Sprint.
Samsung Epic 4G Price
The first part of the plunge hurt pretty badly. Each phone costs $499 retail. The in-store credits brought the price down to $300 and each phone also had a $100 mail in rebate. In the end, each phone with cost about $225 with tax. But for right now, I signed a receipt that said they could charge me $650 for 2 phones! Oh well…
Samsung Epic 4G Unlimited Data Plan from Sprint
If you get a smart phone to blog like I did, you need an unlimited data plan. Sprint’s unlimited data plan for Sprint cell phones runs about $70 per phone PLUS an additional $10 per phone if it operates with 4G. That’s a $160 for our two phones. We save 15% by using my company’s discount, but our bill will still come to at least $140 a month. That’s $60 more a month than we were paying before, so our vacation account will now only be getting $190 a month instead of the $250 it has been getting every month for years…
Mr. BFS and I did renew our contract on the phone to get a renewal bonus they weren’t offering in the store, so at least that will help. We ended up talking them up from $100 to $140 since we have been customers for at least 8 years so far. Yay for $140 to lessen the pain! 
My Review of the Samsung Epic 4G
So far, so good. The screen is big enough to read email and play Angry Birds with no problems to my eyes. I also like how clear everything looks even when you zoom in or out.
My Favorite Features of the Samsung Epic are:
- Big Screen – I love that this is one of the biggest smart phone screens I’ve ever seen.
- Apps – I even have a Budgeting in the Fun Stuff App now thanks to Blog2Droid. Jesse may also be building me a BFS iPhone App soon. I’m also addicted to the Weather Channel App now, hahaha.
- Angry Birds – This is the most addictive silly game I have ever played…
- Email – It lets me know whenever I get a new email and now I don’t have 50 messages waiting for me when I get home. WOOT!
- Slide-Out Keyboard – It is actually possible to answer emails with an actual QWERTY keyboard!
- Speech to Text – As long as I’m not in my cubicle, I never type anything anymore, lol.
- Swype – If I do have to write a quick text, swype makes it even easier than a keyboard. I still like the keyboard for longer messages though.
- Great Camera – The pictures are so clear!
- Browser – I love being able to look stuff up anywhere. It’s also pretty fast.
The Negatives of my Samsung Epic
- Size – It is much bigger than my old phone.
- Cost – $450 up front and $720 extra a year is hard to swallow. I’m also scared silly that I’ll break it somehow…
- Lifestyle Inflation – If this is like every other convenience I’ve ever paid for, I won’t ever let it go.
Do you have a smart phone? If so, what do you like about it? If not, what keeps you from splurging on it?
That sounds pretty sweet! My phone plan is up in July, and I plan on getting a smartphone as well. My wife has one now because she’s technically still under her mom’s family plan and only has to pay her like, $30 a month for the unlimited everything! Yes, I’m jealous. But, I’ll have my sweet phone soon enough. I can’t wait to be a techy again!
I have an iPhone that is paid for by work, and I can’t really imagine not having it. I have my email and all my contacts for work with me wherever I go. Also, by having the internet right there on my phone, any conceivable piece of information that I need when I am out and about, I can just search the web for it.
I’d say at least once a day I think of something that I need to do for work, and just email myself a reminder.
So it’s a phone, phone book, and also a very powerful tool for getting just about any piece of info I need. Can’t beat that.
I have a Blackberry, and love having everything I do online available. I sync everything through my google account, so if it spontaneously combusted, I’d be out a bit of inconvenience and money, but wouldn’t lose any information.
I fought getting one for a long time, but, now that I have it, can’t imagine going back.
I have a Droid X, and I enjoy it. Really, it makes it easy to do a lot of things. It’s one of those things where once you have a really good smartphone and get used to the features, you don’t want to go backwards in technology.
Angry Birds can be addictive. I downloaded it, wasted far too much time in the first few days on it, and haven’t gone back to it since. It was a good move, since I haven’t really played any games at all in at least 12 years – and got that same obsessed feeling starting up after a day or two. Had to cut it off ASAP
I’ve a semi-smart phone from ATT that I bought because it wasn’t considered to be a “smart phone.” Because of its I could get the unlimited data for $10/mo compared to $30/mo (at the time) for all other “smart phones.”
I loved having email on my phone…to a point. Eventually, clients, customers and others knew that I could respond to email immediately, and thus expected immediate responses. I’ve since taken the data plan off my phone, and I feel liberated.
I’m sure I’ll go back to email on my phone (you almost have to now!) but that isn’t to say I enjoy being away from work when I want to be away. Having it on my phone made it really hard to disconnect my time from my work time.
That sounds really cool but seems like a lot of money to drop on a phone. Of course if it’s worth it then I wish you the best.
I’m currently using an old Sanyo on the Sprint network and since I’m always near a computer I never felt the need to upgrade to a smart phone. I’m really happy about not doing this since I’m able to save a good chunk of money. To each there own.
Smart phones are cool. My blackberry doesn’t even come close but it’s a work phone and I would feel silly having 2 smart phones, although I know several people who do (a work one and a personal one).
I must be the last person on earth without one nor do I want one! I think they are cool, I just don’t want to be connected all the time.
I LOVE my sprint plan! I think I pay less than you because The Wife and I share minutes (something you may want to look into after a few billing cycles).
I am actually getting a new phone in the next 4 to 6 weeks. I have the HTC Hero now, which I love, but if I don’t get one in the next 4 to 6 weeks I have to wait till November.
Why did you choose the Epic vs. the slide out keyboard Evo shift? Both have QWERTY and the shift is 50 bucks cheaper?
I have a Blackberry (through work) and don’t like it at all. I used to have an iPhone but didn’t see the need to carry around two phones so when our plan came up I just got a cheap free phone and forward all of my calls to my work phone. My Blackberry is about three years old and is starting to act up so I think I’m going to get a Droid based phone soon.
Did you see the Angry Birds shout out in the Rio Super Bowl commercial?
I have a smart phone and I definitely need to upgrade it. Just don’t want to spend the money right now with moving and all.
I have a blackberry so old it’s steam-powered.
I admit I have not made the plunge yet…Suffice to say that I am on call 24/7 and with a smart phone (because I know me) it will translate to 30/24 if that were ever possible
One thing I will say is that if I do migrate to a smart phone I better get the rebate! I bought my last 2 phones and the rebates never did appear even though I went into the store to find out why (1 had lost paperwork apparently and regarding the other the store stated they did not receive the bar code which the sales person attached automatically).
Eventually I am sure I will get one….just not quite yet
my co-workers all use iPhones (Blackberry), They’re addicted to them as most people are.
But they “couldn’t live without them” or so they say.
I’d like to have internet-on the-go, but ….
the reason I do not own such a device is
the cost.
Even my wife says she doesn’t need one. Me? I’d like to hear Pandora stations thru’ the car stereo mp3 jack (Michael Hedges, Eric Tungstat, Don Ross, etc.). That would be worth some amount of expense. Right?
Once the expense comes down, I’m sure I’ll find a way to get one … or maybe Satellite Radio instead.
Enjoy the “Smart” phones. After seeing (our friend) Donna’s app for the positioning of star systems that one night @Normangee … Wow! Definitely cheaper than a $75,000 Ford SUV. (wink)
Wow – congrats on the new phone purchase. I got a droid about a year ago. I didnt want to get one because my old phone worked fine, but then I knocked it into the toilet. That was the end of that, and I got a great deal on a new phone.
Yeah!!! My husband and I purchased My Touch 4 g from Tmobile, this weekend. They had a big special this weekend with a rebate, so we purchased 2 My Touch phones and then added an additonal line for my Dad. Unlimited data on 2 phones, ulimited texting, and 3000 minutes between all of us, unlimited calls between the 3 lines, ending up paying 155 per month. We had shell shock the 3 phones, 2 cases for 530.00 but we will get 450.00 of that back with a mail in rebate. I was pretty impressed with the service I recieved with Tmobile in the store,and that I only had to pay 80 for 2 smart phone, and a flip phone.
How have you found the app for the smart phone? Any suggestion on the free apps?
Wow, it looks like a ton of you love your smart phones and a few don’t like the leash problem it creates. I get that.
@Life, don’t rush it if you have to lay down as much money as we did, lol.
@Bogey, I need to start using all my features…
@Jason, yeah, I doubt we’ll ever go back either.
@Squirrelers, yeah, I beat Angry Birds last week and am now just trying to get 3 stars on all of them…truly addictive…
@JT, see, I just don’t tell my job that I have it now…
@Ravi, it really is a LOT of money to spend on phones. I know.
@First Gen, I wouldn’t have gotten this one if my job provided one…
@krantcents, lol, that’s why I wanted one.
@Evan, I picked the Epic since it has a bigger screen…the bigger, the better you know.
@IPA, go Droid!
@Jenna, hold out as long as you can – it is more expensive and so hard to turn back!
@101 Centavos, LOL!!!
@Deidre, I hope your rebates do come eventually – that stinks!
@ODWO, it is really costly. Keep on holding out until you just can’t anymore.
@Jeff, hahaha, I threw my old phone in the toilet on accident a few years ago but it kept working after it dried out.
@Tonia, we’ll have to check out each other’s phones this weekend!!! You got a way better deal than we did…
I’ve owned a smart phone for a while, but it’s becoming a bit outdated compared to the newer ones out there. And yes, owning one did increase our cell phone bill as well, not to mention the initial cost of the phone – which is why I think I’m holding out before buying another one. I’m trying to squeeze out as much of the money spent on that phone as possible!
get the epic 4G!!
What can I say. I really love this phone. It’s quick. It’s fast on the download. Typing is accurate. The camera is good. The styling is great. It’s slim. Having the larger screen just makes everything so much easier – and it’s exciting for multimedia.
[...] example, I’m still stinging a bit over the $450 Samsung Epic smart phones we bought last month and the extra $60 a month that cell phone plan will eat up. [...]