Best Data Plan for Smartphone (HTC Desire)

[Noisy Crow]

Hey guys,

I am going to replace my phone with an HTC Desire.

I haven't decided whether to buy it from Telus and go with one of the their plans (I get a few minor extras through work EPP, but nothing really useful to me) or to get an unlocked phone and go provider shopping.

Any advice would be appreciated! :)

[SilentJay]

It depends on what you'll be doing/what you feel you might be doing. If you're going to be surfing the internet, downloading applications, tethering, you'll probably want to see if you can secure a 6gb for $30 plan.

Are you coming from a blackberry?

[Noisy Crow]

No, not from a Blackberry. I had (still have) a PocketPC that worked well ... when I replaced my phone last time I just went for a more-or-less basic phone to tide me over until new gear came out....

I am more interested in data than voice.... my current plan has 250 minutes and I usually don't even hit 50 minutes....

[Pyro]

I don't know about Telus, but I'm on Rogers with a 150MB plan.
I don't usually go over...but I usually on browse or go on the Market on it
If you think you will youtube or do things on facebook like upload pictures etc all the time get more
if you just want to browse and have some widgets for the news/sports/fb updates etc you don't need alot of data imo
just watch that you don't go over

[Noisy Crow]

I don't know about Telus, but I'm on Rogers with a 150MB plan.
I don't usually go over...but I usually on browse or go on the Market on it
If you think you will youtube or do things on facebook like upload pictures etc all the time get more
if you just want to browse and have some widgets for the news/sports/fb updates etc you don't need alot of data imo
just watch that you don't go over

I'm not worried about videos and pics.... for those I'll just use WiFi when I am at home. Data will be for weather, looking up directions, email... that sort of stuff mostly.

[Pyro]

500 MB is overkill then imo
thats exactly what i do too

if you can get a plan similar to mine that's what i would recommend. you shouldn't need more then that

[m_bisson]

i have 500mb and i never go over 150... I use it mostly for email and stuff too. The web surfing sucks on blackberries, so that may be why i'm so low. If i had something that could load webpages for real then i'm sure i'd use more.

[SilentJay]

Its definately a slipperly slope. When you realize that you can do more than just checking emails/weather/directions/websites, the data piles on pretty quickly in a non blackberry device. That said, if you're not streaming movies and downloading things via tethering (although its handy!!), a 1GB plan will probably cover your bases.

The 3 gatekeepers, aka Canadian telcos, just finished up their 6GB/$30 campaign not too long ago - i'm sure you could still get in on that if you asked nicely, regardless of the poison ...er... carrier, you select. Why I keep mentioning 6GB is because unless you're looking at a 500mb plan, everything else is either more than $30 or something rediculous (ie. $25 for 150mb).

I have a phone from each of the 3 bastards - Bell/Telus/Rogers, and have noted that in the GTA, Bell HSPA shockingly provides the consistently strongest coverage, followed by Rogers, then Telus. Really, the service you recieve from any of them should be the deciding factor. I kinda notice that the newer HSPA networks (Telus/Bell) have less traffic on them and therefore produce better throughput when tethering... Not sure if this is an isolated example or not.

As a side note, I'd also like to point out that there's the new carrier choices, Wind and Mobilicity - the latter offering unlimited everything (voice/data) for about $45/month. While their coverage might still be a bit spotty outside of their signal epicenters, if you're in the GTA, the coverage is quite decent and improving on a daily basis.

[Pyro]

what silent jay says is true
does telus do an unlimited for 3 months? then you can see how much you woudl actually use....when i first got my phone i used it alot but after a while the novelty died down

[Noisy Crow]

Sounds like my best bet is to hit Telus up for the $30/6GB plan. They have pretty steep discounts on hardware if I sign up for three years.... I don't mind signing up for a three year plan...

[SilentJay]

Don't restrict yourself to only Telus unless you're adamant that you love them unconditionally. Take what they offer you, and shop it around - You can then elect to go to another carrier, or call Telus and try to push them for a little more, citing "carrier B is offering xxXx"

[zoso]

Depending on where you will be driving i would say go to wind, if they support your phone. i pay 55 a month for 100 minutes and texts and unlimited Data, i rarely talk on my phone it's alwyas texting or shooting the shit online with it, plus i can tether it