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poidude wrote: If you've compared Shared Everything and it's not for you (it sounds like you may have just a single line), then your options are: 1) Keep your existing plan, keep your unlimited data and pay full retail price for a new phone or obtain a phone from a 3rd party that does not require a contract renewal. 2) Keep you existing plan, switch to tiered data (e.g., 2GB for $30, 5GB for $50, etc.), and get a subsidized phone (requires contract renewal).

Sounds about right. Those are pretty much your only options. Buy a new (or used) phone off Ebay, Amazon, Craigslist, etc, and you can keep your current plan, or you can upgrade your phone and get the discounted price for a brand new phone, but you'll have to switch to a tiered plan.

OR you can just wait out your contract, cancel your service, and go out and get a pre-paid phone. The Samsung Galaxy Proclaim on Straight Talk is $180, requires no contract, and for $45 a month you get unlimited talk, text, and data (throttled after 2 GB). Also, it uses Verizon's 3G network.

Or you could take advantage of Straight Talk's "Bring your own phone" plan. Same plan as above (unlimited talk, text, and data for $45 a month). You just bring a GSM phone (AT&T, T-Mobile, or an unlocked device), they'll send you a SIM card, and you can use your plan that way (you can get some really good brand new AT&T smart phones for less than $300 brand new - Infuse 4G, Atrix 4G, iPhone 3GS, Galaxy S II).

Virgin mobile also has some really cool phones, and it uses Sprint's network (if Sprint has decent service in your area).