 
ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA | OMG Like just because it works with purses and shoes doesn't mean the concept would work for phones  | |
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 | RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | Re: OMG Wanna bet? I would venture a guess that many of the fashionistas have a drawer full of ex-trendy phone toys.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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mlong
Premium
join:2000-05-27
Parker, CO
 ·Qwest.net
| Re: OMG I'd have to agree with you RadioDoc  . People are willing to rent in order to keep up with technology or just try out all the phones. A look at forums like Howard Forums and you see some people go through phones as quickly as the come out.
I think this is a great idea and it was just a matter of time.
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Make money on the stuff you never use: »www.crowdrent.com | |
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rahlquist
Redeye
join:2001-10-30
Villa Rica, GA | This could be a huge boon to homebrew cell phone developers. They can rent a platform and develop on it. Sweet.
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Fed Up With Stupidity?
Patentlystupid.com | |
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djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA | Re: OMG Its also good for people who lost/broke their phone and are not eligible for an upgrade yet.
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AT&T U-Hearse
Your funeral. Delivered.
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| | | hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH | Re: OMG But for roughly $50 you could get a replacement if you have insurance to fix that. | |
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| mrbueno
join:2002-08-03
US
| This was done back in the late 80s and early 90s and was widely accepted and it worked well. I can imagine with the economy in a downturn this could potentially work well. While the typical American consumer perfers "owning" things, recently there is a backlash against contracts and people seem to like the "freedom" of not being bound to a contract.
It could be that or the complete lack of financial responsibility being displayed by people recently. | |
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RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | Is this just equipment rental? Sounds like you still have to have a service plan of your own.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs:
| Re: Is this just equipment rental? said by RadioDoc :Sounds like you still have to have a service plan of your own. Yes, you are just renting the phone from them. Its a bring your own service type of thing.
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Intel Q6600 @3400Mhz/GA-EP35-DS3P/2x 2048Mb G.Skill/Seagate 750.10/EVGA 8800GT's SLI/Silverstone 850W/Custom water cooler | |
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| | RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
2 edits | Re: Is this just equipment rental? Thank you for the clarification. The website is pretty dense about it. I see Karl has edited the story to reflect that now too.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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Fubar
join:2001-02-20
Phoenix, AZ
| said by RadioDoc :Sounds like you still have to have a service plan of your own. Correct, This only the Handset | |
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| stufried
Premium
join:2003-10-13 | Think of it as "Phoneflix." You choose the phone you want, use it for as long as you want. When you are done, put it in a prepaid mailer and return it. The next phone in your queue shows up. | |
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pabster
join:2001-12-09
Waterloo, IA
 ·Mediacom
| Looks good. Plenty of folks would like to toy around with the latest and greatest, maybe just for a one-month rental. See if they actually like the phone and would be willing to invest full price in it (for the folks who don't or can't get the cut-rate contract-extending subsidized pricing...) It's a neat idea. | |
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Pv8man
join:2008-07-24
Hammond, IN
| you know you know, I wouldn't doubt that there might be a market for phone rentals, with the mobile business growing every so steadily, and mediocre phones that some carriers are trying to con people into getting,
(Lookin at you wi-fi less blackberry storm) | |
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iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
·Comcast
·Qwest.net
 ·magicjack.com
 ·BeeCreek Communica..
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Heck, I'll do it... I'm well into my Sprint contract, but not at 22 months yet. $$34 ($24 + membership fee) to rent an HTC Touch Pro to see what it's like? Count me in...
No, seriously. I'll probably sign up pretty soon. Heck, I can see grabbing an account with these guys, then reviewing phones as they come out. The result: ad revenue from the reviews to subsidize the cost of the rentals, and all's cool.
Granted, 10 months of renting is about the same as the cost of actually buying the device, and some of these phones don't come out every ten months. But for short-term trial usage the concept sounds awesome. And if you want to try out phones for an extended period before upgrading and extending your contract, this is the way to go. | |
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swilliams
join:1999-09-07
Mount Prospect, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Heck, I'll do it... said by iansltx :I'm well into my Sprint contract, but not at 22 months yet. $$34 ($24 + membership fee) to rent an HTC Touch Pro to see what it's like? Count me in... No, seriously. I'll probably sign up pretty soon. Heck, I can see grabbing an account with these guys, then reviewing phones as they come out. The result: ad revenue from the reviews to subsidize the cost of the rentals, and all's cool. Granted, 10 months of renting is about the same as the cost of actually buying the device, and some of these phones don't come out every ten months. But for short-term trial usage the concept sounds awesome. And if you want to try out phones for an extended period before upgrading and extending your contract, this is the way to go. I'd do it too (the Touch Pro) for a month or two. Would be totally worth the $60 (or whatever) to make sure I really like the phone before dropping some serious coin on an upgrade.
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You can't walk a straight line girl... if you're wearin crooked shoes | |
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| | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO | Re: Heck, I'll do it... Sprint, I presume? 'cuz I hear tell Verizon's model is pure crap-n-a-stick. | |
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swilliams
join:1999-09-07
Mount Prospect, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Heck, I'll do it... said by iansltx :Sprint, I presume? 'cuz I hear tell Verizon's model is pure crap-n-a-stick. Sprint for me, yes. | |
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| hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH | you don't need to pay a membership fee. Its actually around the same price by paying a member fee than not with the price of the phone per month. | |
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keyboard5684
join:2001-08-01
Youngsville, PA
·Teliax VOIP
·WestPAnet Inc.
·WestPAnet Inc. CA..
| Why People talk about doing it because of SAVING money? What carriers are you with? I guess I am not with the whole gotta be "fab" stylin mofo with the greatest new pink thing that comes out of Motorola's ass.
You know, I have had the same phone for over a year. I went to stores, looked at them, checked how solid they were (remember the razor - lol), and listened to people wither bitch about there phone or say it was great. Then waited to see if it was still great in 3 months.
I now have a Katana. It is solid, small enough (I hate Blackberries, had one, I feel it unnecessary to have a holster for my phone), and has lasted a long long time.
When my phone dies, Sprint will be drooling for me to renew my contract (they call me monthly now) and give me one hell of a deal on whatever phone I want.
Americans need to stay away from malls or something for a while. Geez, I just got a job offer in Belize, move my whole family there. There are no malls there, there are cellphone carriers, there are no fancy clothing stores, just normal shops. People there have lives and just do not spend that much time focusing on looking cool or having the latest features. They spend there money on things like the pool in there backyard or a trip to the beach.
Geez. Sorry, I am okay now. I just cannot believe people are so obsessed with the newest thing as soon as it pops up that they are willing to pay that much on top of there phone bill. No wonder the economy sucks, priorities. Give credit to people with screwed up priorities. | |
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Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC
| Re: Why I have co-workers (technically higher-ups) that switch phones every few months, contract or not. If they can rent the latest phone, especially Blackberries, that's a benefit.
If we need to check out a phone to see how it will hold up before we decide to purchase it for workers, this is a great idea. I could just rent a Storm and then give the go-ahead for people to get it.
Sure, this isn't great for everybody. For people who just want a phone that works (the free phones) or who don't need full-on blackberries, this is overkill. | |
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PolarBear
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium
join:2005-01-03 | I agree with Jahntassa: I'd rent a smart phone for a month to make sure I damn well like it before not only paying for it, but renewing my wireless contract for it. | |
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| thatguy5245
join:2004-05-25
Dunbar, WV
·PHONE POWER
·Suddenlink
1 edit | I would definitely do this. The think people don't realize are these phones are out for like 6+ months in Europe before becoming "New" on T-Mobile, AT&T etc. The phones usually are retailing for around $800 before they get to the carriers and they subsidize them. So this would save people money who like to play with toys before they get retired to my ex smartphone closet.
Edit
Not what I was thinking. Not many Unlocked phones I was hoping to rent the Touch HD. Hopefully their selection will increase.
Sim Card Options available
AT&T: BB Bold, BB 8820, Iphone 16 & 8 GB, Samsung Epix (WM 6.1 Pro)
T-Mobile: G1 (Google), Sidekick (Tony Hawk Edition)
Unlocked: Iphone 16 & 8 GB, Razr2 V8 Luxury Edition, Nokia E90 Communicator, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N96 | |
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| | stufried
Premium
join:2003-10-13 | Re: Why It would also be a great way to take a phone out on a testdrive if you aren't committing to contracts or long term contracts with them. | |
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sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Morristown, NJ
·Optimum Online
| Any others? I'm thinking of getting some kind of smartphone, but I can't plunk down that kind of cash for a phone/plan without checking it out. Two years is a long time to stick with a carrier/phone that may suck.
This place seems shady though. Anyone know of something like this? Ideally I'd like to test drive the iPhone and whatever the top competitor is. email+web is the main use, but an ssh client for emergencies would be nice, as would a vpn client and vnc/rdp support.
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with every mistake we must surely be learning | |
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nekkidtruth
You fail at life.
Premium
join:2002-05-20
London, ON | Re: Any others? What exactly seems "shady" about it? Just out of curiosity. | |
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| hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH | T-Mobile does one year contracts if you sign up in the store. | |
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tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Floral Park, NY
| idk I think some reputable cell phone dealers will let you switch your phone for a comparable phone within 2 weeks of signing up if you really don't like it, and exchangeable for 30 days if the phone dies or has problems.. the rest is handled by mfr warranty and/or service plan. Provided you did your homework before signing on the dotted line, that makes this company's idea worthless. | |
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Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC | Re: idk If you're in mid-contract, it's a lot easier to spend $30 on a rental than let the provider 'borrow' $600 while you're playing with it. | |
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Sogster
@dai.com | rent to own The plan looks solid. But I wouldn't do it unless they have a rent to own thing going on. An unlocked iphone is about 40- 50 dollars on that site (non-member). If i decided to rent that thing out for a year I've pretty much paid for it. | |
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ny78flyer
@verizon.net | Re: rent to own I see your point but I wouldn't rent same device for a year. if you are planning to rent one for year...better to buy one | |
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stufried
Premium
join:2003-10-13 | Anybody Troubled By Their Security They want your social security number at sign up, yet their site doesn't even have SSL security. Anyone else troubled by this? I tried to sign up for a guest account and was going to dig around a little more, but this has stopped me in my tracks. | |
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Mattie_B
join:2008-05-16
| If you want the latest and greatest Just sell your old device. I buy a new phone every six months or so and don't mind paying retail. The benefit of buying outright is the phone is yours to keep or sell.
I just re upped my contract to get a 16GB Iphone last week. I'll be putting my Tilt up for sale sometime in the near future. Should be able to get a couple hundred out of it unlocked.
I paid $399 for it minus a $100 rebate so it cost me $299. Assuming a rental fee is $20 a month for the six months I used it I'd have paid a rental fee of $120. I'm only out $100 if it sells for $200 and that's a low figure.
I guess for people that must have it yet can't really afford it will work out good. Much like leasing a car. | |
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Startup Offers Smart Phone Rentals