ridiculous prices on Mobile phones


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Hello Guys,

It's been a while since I posted. Hope you guys are fine.

There is something bothering me quite strongly. How can people afford to pay ridicules prices on smart phones these days. Iphone 5 is something like 500+ pounds sim free and on contract it starts with something in the region of ?35-40 a month. The S3 is about 450-500 in that range sim free and any decent phones are not cheap.

I met this girl the other day and she bought a sim free 64gb iphone 5 for ?699!!. Her mum paid for it and she was saying she is paying her mum back but I don't get it's just a phone right and there are so many other things in life where money is needed. I have been always taught by my parents that spend for what is necessary to live and save the rest it will come in handy one day and it has believe me in my life. But I don't get it how people can spend so much money just like that.

I mean how can you sleep at night when you spend so much. There are people in third world who don't get a decent meal for days and spending so much money just like that seems ok with people?? I don't get it. May be I am old fashioned.

Thoughts are welcomed.

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There are people in third world who don't get a decent meal for days and spending so much money just like that seems ok with people?? I don't get it. May be I am old fashioned.

Thoughts are welcomed.

I spent 70$ for my phone, with a 100$ a month contract.. So that 3,600$ over the course of 3 years I'll pay just for my phone. Also I hate when people bring up the people in third world countries. I don't give them a cent even when I don't spend it.. so yea.. I have no problem buying stuff for myself. I work had for my money and I treat myself. It's not like they get all the unsold phones. Or that for every thing not sold they get a free cheeseburger. Why even bring that up? There are people starving in my own city.. I don't care though.

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How bout this? I earned my money and I will use it as I see fit. If I'm capable of saving up enough money to purchase a top of the line electronic device then it really is non of your business how and where I spend my money. And nice attempt at bringing in third world countries, the same countries my tax money has gone to help for years and yet there has been no change in any of them, so no you can't guilt me into not purchasing anything no matter how frivolous it may be, I bust my hump to get it, it's no one's business to tell me how to use my money

If you're content with cheap crap, fine, but not everyone feels the same and like enjoying the fruits of their labors

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^^I am in to Cricket, films, IT, READING...

Cricket? I find it absurd to spend that much money on a ticket.

Films? I havent bought a movie in years

IT? I would not spend a dime on any technoligic device

Reading? Books, what is that

All joking aside, we all have our things we would rather spend money on than others. And why not buy a bat for someone in a third country rather than yourself? Why not give them a TV to watch films and news? Why not spend money on a internet connection so all a small town can gave high speed access? Why not buy them books so they can learn? If we worrying about all the problems in the world, we all would be bankrupt :)

Moral of the story is like I said: Its your money, you can do whatever you want with it. And noone can say squat.

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There is something bothering me quite strongly. How can people afford to pay ridicules prices on smart phones these days.

I don't care how people spend their money but I don't see how people afford all that they do. I see people on government assistance and yet they all have iPhones. Those things are freaking expensive.

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I bought my iphone 4 sim free when it was launched. It cost ?499.

I have now had it for over 2 years, so you are talking about less than 70p a day. Considering I use my phone a hell of a lot, I really don't think 70p a day is that expensive!

I have been always taught by my parents that spend for what is necessary to live and save the rest it will come in handy one day and it has believe me in my life.

So let me guess you live in a small house with no luxuries at all? You don't have a TV, computer etc etc. You don't have the internet? Oh, how are you posting this then? So yeah, somehow I think you are bull****ting there.

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It is pretty crazy paying ?400+ for a phone, you can get a nice core i5 laptop for that price, far better than a phone. I'd pay ?150 max for a smartphone. You can get pretty decent zte and hauwei phones for under ?150 these days with 1ghz, 4" 840x480, 5MP, Android 4.0/4.1. Qualcomm is supposed to be releasing some mid-range level quadcore (s4 play) chips which should bring decent performance to cheaper phones, wouldn't mind one of those in a ?150 phone.

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It's a luxury device but in the scheme of things it's not a giant luxury like an Aston Martin or a Ferrari which is in no way practical. A phone has become an important part of many people's lives, they use it a lot and they want something that is a joy to use and not going to be a pain. Life is short and there is no point going through life being a complete penny pincher and never having fun, people work hard for their money and why not treat themselves. A phone isn't just a phone any more, it's an mp3 player, sat nav, gaming machine, point and shoot camera and pocket computer all in one.

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I get my phones on contract. I don't buy much for myself, so I like my phones and tablets. I'm sorry there are people in third world countries, but I'm not in one.

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I think cellphone prices are ridiculously low. Even the best celllphones out now are way cheaper than a peice o junk cellphone costed years ago.

There's so many touchscreen cellphones that cost even 50 to 100 dollars on the market, without even being on a plan.

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Here's what you have to keep in mind, well at least in my case. We have 4 iPhones in the house. I have the 5, my wife has the 4s, my daughter has the 4, and my son has the 3GS. Now.. Honestly.. We go to the movies MAYBE 1 time a year at best. We rent everything from Redbox or our cable provider. We do not have a house phone, since we all use mobile devices. We do not eat out as often as we used to, but we make it just fine. Our mobile devices is our lifeline to everything now. I am also an IT Manager for a very large corporation so it helps

Now what I DON'T agree with though is, like someone else said, people living on freakin government assistance and driving brand new cars with $3000 rims and brand new clothes with iPhones and the likes. That freakin ****es me off to no end!!! :angry:

As far as 3rd world Countries go.. That guilt trip was ran dry in the 80's. There are to many people right here in our own country who need help, not the lazy welfare ones, but to many people in our own country who need help first, before I start worrying about some other country who can't take care of themselves.

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The problem seems exclusive to the US, since there's been NO phone (inc the 64gb iphone 5 I have now) that I couldn't get for free on a reasonable contract.

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Just LOL at some of the gross over reactions to the OP....

He hasn't had a go at anybody, suggested how you should spend your money and didn't use the third world reference as a guilt trip in any way whatsoever. It's painfully clear that some of you either feel incredibly guilty about the money you spend or have real issues with those less fortunate than yourselves.

Congratulations on not giving a damn ( obviously this is not directed at all replies in this thread ) about those who, through no choice of their own, have far less than you. :rolleyes:

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Just LOL at some of the gross over reactions to the OP....

He hasn't had a go at anybody, suggested how you should spend your money and didn't use the third world reference as a guilt trip in any way whatsoever. It's painfully clear that some of you either feel incredibly guilty about the money you spend or have real issues with those less fortunate than yourselves.

Congratulations on not giving a damn ( obviously this is not directed at all replies in this thread ) about those who, through no choice of their own, have far less than you. :rolleyes:

How is "I mean how can you sleep at night when you spend so much." not having a go?

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My apologies I didn't mean to to have a go at anyone. I meant to post the topic in different manner as Malki said and it came out in different manner. Sorry guys I din't meant to have a go at anyone

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My apologies I didn't mean to to have a go at anyone. I meant to post the topic in different manner as Malki said and it came out in different manner. Sorry guys I din't meant to have a go at anyone

Don't worry about it. I didn't take it as you having a go at someone. With the differences in cultures and the fact any post offends someone, it's hard to post anything any more.

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I think it's sort of okay. Your phone is basically a small computer.

I paid ?500 for my Xperia S (without a plan, you can't buy a phone on contract in Belgium - a Galaxy S3 would be ?600ish) and pay a little below ?15 a month for unlimited calls to my network (= family and most friends), 1 hour of calls to all networks, 2k texts and 2GB of data. Over two years that comes down to around ?860 ~= $1120. Not that bad for a load of connectivity and utility if you ask me. Plus it's replaced my music player, GPS and point-and-shoot (I have a DSLR too). ?500 isn't too far off a standalone 32GB music player, proper satnav and a point-and-shoot camera actually.

The monthly fees some of you pay are ridiculous though. $100 a month, seriously?

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I'll probably pay within the region of ?900 for my phone over the 2 year contract. Which was a brand new phone with a good tariff to keep it going.

To me, that seems okay. It's a utility like everything else, but as I can afford to get something with a bit more luxury, then I will pay more for it.

Obviously with the new App Store / Play Store type stuff a lot of people will spend even more to add features. So mobile phones are expensive stuff!

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