Bionic delayed but I want a smartphone now!

[leland_7]

The Bionic is delayed supposedly till summer or i could even be longer. I'm using a LG Choc 3 flip right now and I'm ready to move into a smartphone fast.

If you guys/gals could please help me weigh this one out. Here's goes my scatterbrained rant. Hopefully you all can decipher what I need to do:

I'm out of contract and I plan to stay on with VZW so I'll likely be signing a two-year commitment at some point in the near future.

That being said, I'd like to get the bionic for a couple hundred bucks instead $6-700 buying at full price. I, along with everyone else, want in on the unlimited data 4G. A little worried now that the tier might be implemented before I can snag a Bionic.

So, do I grab a Thunderbolt to lock myself in? But, I WANT me a Bionic and then I'd need to purchase it at full price. I mean I could sell the Thunderbolt to recoup some monies back toward the purchase of the Bionic but will the release of the Bionic place a substantial decrease in the for sale price of a used Thunderbolt no matter how well I baby it?

Alternatively, maybe I purchase a used smartphone for the next few months to tide me over? Seems like ppl love the D1 or DX? Could I get one for a really decent price? Would there be any concerns calling VZW and signing up for 3G service? That way I get a smartphone, I'm still eligible for my 2 year contract discounted Bionic and maybe I'll get lucky and the unlimited data option will still be in play? And to boot, I could familiarize myself with rooting and such.

Other thoughts/options??? Really could use some guidance.

 

[Suuperflie]

Do what I did and buy a used OG Droid in good condition til the phone you really want comes out. Then you can tinker with rooting and roms to see if it's something you're interested in without fear of bricking a new phone.

 

[hookbill]

Do what I did and buy a used OG Droid in good condition til the phone you really want comes out. Then you can tinker with rooting and roms to see if it's something you're interested in without fear of bricking a new phone.

I'm not trying to encourage anyone to root, I have nothing against rooting either. I'm also not trying to encourage anyone to be dishonest. But truth is that if you brick a phone under warranty they can't tell you rooted it. So either way, you can get an original Droid or get the new one without worry.

 

[leland_7]

thx super and hook for the posts. any ideas on the best deal right now for purchasing a thunderbolt?

 

[shneeko6]

Amazon has em cheap. I wanted to wait for the bionic as well, but since it was delayed, i bought the tbolt. No regrets. I love this phone. Not really worried about the bionic now.

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums

 

[Quicksilver7714]

If your going to buy it out right with out a contract I would head over to Best Buy and have them price match the $600 full retail price that Verizon has it for. That's what I did. Then if you don't mind getting the bionic at Best Buy mobil later on a contract, spend the extra $60 on their buy back program you will get up to 50% of the advertised full retail price of the phone. That's $375 gift card toward the purchase of the bionic and any accessories and what ever else you want to buy with what is left over. NOTE, with Best Buy's by back plan if the item is damaged they will not give you the full 50% back, the value will go down.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[Suuperflie]

thx super and hook for the posts. any ideas on the best deal right now for purchasing a thunderbolt?

Or just pay $125-$150 max on a D1 in good condition from a reputable seller on ebay. There are ****loads being sold all the time. If you don't have a smartphone already, a D1 will be a good upgrade from what you currently have. You don't need to go straight from dumb feature phone straight to a TB(a phone that's already outdated BTW). Save your upgrade for something that's gonna be sheet hot when it comes out. Then you have a phone that won't be outdated by the time your contract is up again.